Hi Ethan,

There used to be a great instructional page on Fairchild Tropical Gardens site, about pruning "Condo" Mango trees. It had photos of full, lush, healthy-looking flowering/fruiting trees that were under 5' tall. It stated that keeping them small just meant a few sessions of pruning back, annually. I cannot find the page anymore:(.

My Condo Mango trees are all young, and all but 1 (dwarf Julie) are well under 8'. I'm allergic, so I need to keep them short and neat so there is no chance of getting sap on myself. So far, they seem to be quite slow-growing. I have all the small varieties I could find.

From Pine Island Nursery's website:

"Condo Mangos - The term "condo mango" was coined by Dr. Richard Campbell, Ph.D. whom is the curator of tropical fruit a Fairchild Tropical Gardens in Coral Gables, Florida. It refers to varieties that are conducive to container growing, thus are small by nature and can be kept even smaller through selective pruning. Condo mangos are suitable for balconies, greenhouses, or for planting in suburban backyards. By cutting the tips of the branches once or twice a year the trees can easily be maintained at six to ten feet according to variety. Training the tree to stay small is very easy, and the fruits of your labor are sure to impress."

Do you have any?

Lisa

Thanks Lisa,

yes I currently have two mangos, I ordered them in from FL. I purchased a Valencia Pride and a Lancetilla. The Lancetilla is supposed to be a condo mango that may be maintained at 10'. I plan on keeping this one in a pot, so with the pot, potential height is 12-14', my greenhouse is not that tall! I guess my choices are prune or die, it wont make it in the cold, outside the gh next winter. The Valencia Pride is going in the ground with its own temporary gh and lights for next winter (and winters here after).

Thanks for the info, I've seen referance to Fairchild's pruning page but have not found it also, it is a shame, it seems many of their pages are no longer.

happy growing,
-Ethan

hello Lisa,

is Lancetilla one of the ones you have? If so, I take it you keep it under 8'? My Lancetilla was already about 5' tall, bareroot. How many arms (main branches) do you allow to grow? I have 6-7, was thinking of cutting to 3-4 to thin out the eventual canopy. Any thoughts?

My Valencia pride, I'm going to try to grow in an espalier style. I think a semi-flat wall of mango tree might be easier for me to protect than the normal rounded look? We shall see.

I think when they list size of fruit trees, its just a measurement of how some varieties can be maintain at certain heights with pruning. It doesn't mean that its not productive as smaller plants or even larger plants but it can easily be manage to stay at around that height. Just my thoughts.

Well, keeping the 6-7 branches mean that it will be more bushy and probably aren't going to get as tall. Thinning it out means you will probably end up with branches that will end up more taller, but will develop into more sturdier/stronger branches. Well that's the experience I had with pruning plants. It will depend on what you want. But if you are going to prune them, send cuttings over here I would love to get that variety, we could do a trade or something.

Eggo,
thanks for your input into this issue, if I do decide to prune now or in the future you are first in line. Perhaps for some sapodilla? My thoughts behind the pruning was for stronger branch structure (to hold all the fruit). I have seen pictures of huge mango trees with a rounded canopy but have also read of some growing more "vase" like. My thoughts were to prune to 3-4 branches starting from the top of the tree. Trim the leftover branches back to 2-3 nodes. From those nodes allow 2-branches per?

This one will stay in a pot, go into the greenhouse (my house?) for winter. I was thinking a vase style might take less space? I have 0 experience with growing mangos so this is all new.

Another benefit about sharing cuttings w/someone, if I kill these mangos, I can ask you for a cutting.

I'm not sure if a vase type of pruning will save you space. I think we're talking about the open center pruning where you try to prevent shading from the top growth in effort to let light in. My experience with this has been that the branches grows more outward but I'm able to keep it from getting taller but its horizontally larger.
The most save spacing technique if its a concern for you would be a type of trellis setup. You keep the plant on flat on a 2 dimensional framework and don't have to worry about the branch being able to hold the fruit as you will have support for them.

thanks Eggo,
I hope to keep my Valencia Pride (in ground) using the trellis technique (espalier?). The Lancetilla is in a pot, still have not trimmed it yet........just want to be sure before I grab the shears. I need to start thinking of the Lancetilla as a large bonsai and giving it care as such.

I saw several Mango trees at the Mount's Botanical Gardens,
on Sunday that were flowering/fruiting at under 4' tall. They were umbrella shaped and looked very healthy. The labels were unreadable, so I don't know the varieties.

It was nice to see mango trees so managed, yet so attractive.

Lisa

4' plus the pot, that will fit inside my greenhouse for sure. Umbrella shape echos Eggos suggestions too. Thanks for the inspiration Lisa and Eggo,

the Red Sea Botanical Garden thanks you also. ;o)

-Ethan

So when will the Red Sea Botanical open up to the public? =)

Ethan, did you get your Sapodilla seeds? I sent you the ones from the very best-tasting fruit. The seeds looked like they already wanted to sprout, which is why I sent them in seed-starting soil.

Hope they arrived safely!

Lisa

Eggo-the RSBG (and brewpub) is open. Anytime you want to leave the beautiful LBC and brave our weather please stop by. BTW we are selling annual memberships. :0)

Lisa-no seeds yet, I hope when I get home there is a nice suprise. Thanks again though, I'll let you know when they do get here. Were the fruit large or small?

-Ethan

Ethan, uh oh, now I'm worried about the seeds!

I think they are from a Makok. Very sweet, melting, brown flesh, with no reddish tint. The fruit was medium-sized, but I've seen lots of Sapodilla trees with small, medium and large fruits on the same tree. So, I don't know if the size means much.

The fellow from Excalibur drove around and picked from many trees, so I really don't know the variety I sent you. It was the best-tasting one and the most oval-shaped.

Lisa

Brewpub! lol And Lisa is making me crave some sapodilla, argghhh. =)

Check out the link below. Its to an espalier setup that a couple had put together for their trees in Australia. Although their not potted specimens but the setup is amazing. Theres a mango espalier somewhere among the pictures also.

Here is a link that might be useful: espalier fruit trees in Australia

thanks for the link Eggo,

here I thought I was going to be the only person in the world with an espalier mango, oh well. I liked the white sapote also, why dont I do that with all my trees? It would create room for more trees, and space to expand the brewpub/giftshop at the botanical gardens.

-Ethan

Hi,

Here is a picture of my Glenn mango tree that I have in a 20" pot.I ordered a book from Fairchild Tropical Botanical Gardens in Miami, the book is by Richard J Campbell, the title is: Tropical Mangos
"How to grow the world's most delicious mango" according to the book, the glenn can be kept at 6 to 8 ft with pruning. We'll have to wait and see with time, if it gets too big for the pot I can always plant it in the ground and I'll just have to protect it from frost a few days in the winter.Didn't get any flowers yet, but lots of new growths, maybe next year...

Nancy

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:1312891}}

wow Puglvr,
what a beautiful yard. The new red growth on your mango looks great.
Good luck,
-Ethan

Thanks Ethan. I love the color of the new growths on the Glenn, they are very colorful till they fully mature to their normal green color.Hope to get fruits in a year or two. Good luck with your espalier mango!