Mangos
The mango, Mangifera indica, is the king of all tropical fruit. No tree has touched as many lives throughout the tropical world as the mango. When one speaks of the mango, thoughts of childhood, delicacy and happy times are evoked. South Florida makes a tremendous place to grow the mango because our climate is very similar to the monsoon climate of India, the mango’s native land. Our summer, marked by heavy rains and ample sunlight, and our winter which brings multiple cold fronts and dry weather is the perfect combination to grow the mango. The warm, wet summers allow the mango tree to grow steadily and the cold temperatures and dry conditions of our winter initiate the bloom of the mango tree which in turn brings the world’s most delicious fruit. Very little care is needed to successfully grow and produce mango fruit because the mango tree is beautifully adapted to our soils, climate and rainfall patterns. In order to have a small, healthy, productive tree one should place the mango tree on a minimal fertilizer schedule combined with low water input and minor selective pruning.
PLANTING AND PLANT SELECTION
It is best to plant a mango that is young, healthy and grafted. A young and healthy tree will quickly establish and should bear fruit in two to three years. The tree should be grafted and not from seed for several reasons. A tree from seed is the product of the mother tree which is one type of mango (a cultivar) and the pollinating tree which is another cultivar. Because of this combination, you never know what type of fruit your seedling will produce. A tree that has been grafted is essentially a clone of the parent tree and is therefore sure to be the type of mango you desire. A grafted tree will also produce fruit several years ahead of a tree from seed. When planting your mango, a planting hole should be dug slightly larger than the container of the mango tree. A good size to purchase is a two to three gallon container. If the soil is very rocky, try to break up the surrounding soil so the roots have somewhere to grow. The main thing to remember when planting a mango is to plant the tree at the proper level. The roots of the tree should all be under ground and the trunk should be above ground. Placing a trunk below the soil line can cause the trunk to rot resulting in severe nutrient deficiencies and general poor growth. Usually planting the tree at the same depth it was in the container will suffice, but always check to make sure it wasn’t planted too low or too high in the container. It is not necessary to amend South Florida soil.
WATERING
Correct watering of a new mango is crucial. The tree should be watered immediately after it is planted. This watering should be thorough, causing any air pockets in the soil to collapse. The soil should be tamped down gently at this time to further insure the removal of air pockets. Be careful not to water your mango too often. Over-watering a tree can be just as deadly as not watering a tree at all. The best way to judge if a new mango needs water is to check the soil to see if it is dry. After the first few days of watering, the watering schedule should begin to decrease at steady increments. Switch to watering every other day, then every three days and finally once a week until the tree is no longer dependent on your watering. Planting during the rainy season (June-August) is by far the best way to easily establish new plantings. Most mangos are established within three to six months from time of planting. One your mango is established, no supplemental irrigation is needed.
MULCHING
After a mango has been planted and watered, mulch should be added to complete the planting. Mulch is highly beneficial. It can beautify your planting, suppress weeds, add nutrients to soil, alter pH, protect new plantings and retain water. One of the greatest benefits of using mulch is its ability to protect your new mango from damage. Public enemy number one of newly planted trees is the string trimmer. If you have a newly planted tree that is not growing well, check for nicks and cuts around the base of the tree caused by accidental strikes from the string trimmer. When a tree’s bark is damaged, the tree’s transportation system and food supply are damaged. The roots cannot get energy from the leaves and the tree may stop growing or sicken and die. A ring of mulch around a newly planted mango will protect the tree from being mechanically damaged.
FERTILIZING
Mangos benefit from a regular fertilizer schedule but do not need to be fed in great amounts. A standard fertilizer tag lists the macro elements nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium or N-P-K as a number sequence. So a 6-6-6 fertilizer would have equal parts of all three elements. Nitrogen is responsible for the vigor of the tree and leaf production while potassium works to enhance flowering and fruiting. Until recently, it was thought that nitrogen should be added to mangos in a granular form. New research indicates that simply mulching your mango tree will provide it with enough organic matter to supply the tree’s nitrogen needs. Applying extra nitrogen will result in strong vegetative growth and poor fruit quality and is not recommended. The second number on a fertilizer tag, phosphorus, does not need to be added to you mango either, as it is supplied by nature. The last number in a fertilizer ratio is potassium and should be added to South Florida Soils to help your mango. It should be applied in granular form with a ratio of 0-0-51. This should be done three times a year: after the fruit come off in August, going into the dry season in November and again when the flowers begin to bloom in February. When the phosphorus is delivered it should be evenly spread around the drip line at a rate of one handful of fertilizer for every inch of diameter of the tree. Much needed minor elements such as zinc and manganese cannot be delivered in
granular form because they will bind to the highly alkaline soil found in South Florida. These elements should be applied in a foliar spray and should be done twice during the rainy season: June and August. The minor element spray should be mixed according to the directions on the package and sprayed on the leaves to the point of runoff. Liquid Green or Ferra-grow are recommended minor element mixes. Iron is another essential minor element that mangos benefit from receiving. Iron should be applied as a liquid drench in the form of Sequestrene 138. This is a chelated iron that is specially formulated for South Florida soils. The application rate is three tablespoons per five gallons of water. The mix should be poured evenly over the drip line at a rate of about three gallons per inch of tree diameter. This application can be done at the same time as the foliar feedings. These fertilizer products can be purchased at Atlantic Fertilizer and Chemical in Homestead.
HARVESTING
Mangos in South Florida generally ripen from June to September depending on the cultivar. For optimum taste, mangos should be picked before they ripen on the tree and left to ripen in the house. A mango is ready to pick when it has reached maturity and is full size. A mature mango has full shoulders and exhibits what is known as a color break. A color break takes place when the mango begins to ripen and a portion of the mango turns a bright color such as yellow, orange or red. This color break coupled with the mango reaching full size, lets you know it is time to pick your mango. Once the mango has been removed from the tree, it should be placed at room temperature inside the home and left to ripen. When the mango becomes slightly soft to the touch, it is ready to be eaten. Temperature in the home plays a roll in ripening with low temperatures slowing the process and higher temperatures speeding it up.
PRUNING
When pruning mango trees, you are trying to maintain height and to improve flowering and fruiting. A well managed mango tree is generally below fifteen feet in height, has a complex structure of branches and has all portions of the tree open to sunlight. It is crucial to maintain the height of your mango tree to allow for ease of fruit harvest and overall management of the tree. Height can be maintained through annual pruning as well as cultivar choice. Many small stature varieties of mango have become available to homeowners. They have a tendency towards profuse branching and smaller internodes (the distance between groups of leaves) which facilitate maintaining a smaller tree and heavy fruiting. Pruning to maintain height begins when the fruit tree is very young. A heading cut should be made at approximately 3’. This cut will cause the tree to develop three to four branches which will eventually become the scaffolding of the tree. Heading cuts should be applied to the resulting branches when they reach approximately 20”. This will again cause branching and should be repeated each time a branch reaches 20”. Strong vertical branches should always be removed in favor of horizontal branches. The horizontal branches will help the tree to maintain its height. This type of pruning continues until the tree is about 2-4 years old. Once the tree has reached the desired height, one to two thinning cuts a year should be
made to help control the height. Major woody branches are not helping the tree to fruit and can be removed one by one over a period of several years. This will result in the rejuvenation of the overall canopy of the fruit tree as well as help to control the height.
