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swrancher

Mango Tree Pruning

14 years ago

I'm trying to prune my young Mango trees correctly so they will produce lots of Mango's and stay manageable. I understand a cut at the growth bud line will normally produce just a single branch. Where do I cut exactly to make it produce multiple branches from the cut? I know its outward from the growth bud line but how far outward? Any simple explanation in laymens terms would be greatly appreciated.

Comments (21)

  • 14 years ago

    Here's a link on pruning young Mango trees that might be useful.

    Congrats on your new Mango tree and good luck!!

    Here is a link that might be useful: Pruning young Mango trees

  • 14 years ago

    So when they say "a single cut is made" they mean cut off the leave on the top? I have been pinching out only up until this point. This has produced shoots but I wonder if I should be cutting the top of the plant off instead.

  • 14 years ago

    Thats kind of what I'm still left wondering as well. All the online how-to's on Mango pruning don't really walk you through the entire process or show enough pictures of what and where exactly to cut for each result.

  • 14 years ago

    swrancher,
    Tomorrow at the Broward Rare Fruit Council meeting the speaker will be talking about pruning tropical fruit trees and I think will be able to give you the best explanation and description of how to prune a mango tree properly.

    With a mango tree you should prune a little bit above the nodes. It is supposed to create the strongest branching from that point.

  • 14 years ago

    Abayomi & Swrancher...do a search on Puglvr's post and mango pruning. You will see: 1. She is clearly not afraid to prune down a mango tree. 2. The results are stunning. 3. That she's also done a good job documenting her results. Take the bull by the horns lads and make the cut!

    Murahilin...of course you'll be filming the speaker and demonstrations in order to provide us all with DVD copies right??!! LOL!

  • 14 years ago

    Thanks ohiojay. I read the site but again...it's not spelled out. But I take it from your comment I should chop the stem below the top set of leaves?

  • 14 years ago

    SWrancher and Abayomi,

    I think OhioJay was talking about some of my post from several months ago...not the article I posted.

    Here are some old posts(with pictures on how I pruned my Mango tree) Disclaimer...I'm not telling you to prune your trees this way...I'm just showing you how I did MY trees, I don't want you to be disappointed if yours don't come out the way you want it to...this is just my own personal experience with my trees. Good luck!

    http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/tropicalfruits/msg0717305814486.html

    Here is a link that might be useful: Pruning my Mango tree

  • 14 years ago

    That's the ticket!

  • 14 years ago

    Got it.

  • 14 years ago

    I pruned a lot of the branch tips on my biggest tree, a ten+ foot Valencia Pride tree about 1 or two inches past the last bud/growth line. Today I noticed it has anywhere from two to four branches growing right before each cut so I must have done somthing right, its doing exactly what I wanted it to do...Hello, lots and lots of Mangos next season!!!

  • 14 years ago

    Swrancher, congrats on your pruning techniques sounds like you did right! Good luck with all those mangoes next season! Remember if you end up with way too much...I'll send you my address,lol...

  • 14 years ago

    I have a number of plants started so some room to experiment. With the biggest (6ft) I will take the plunge and cut it down to about 4 ft. With the small ones I am will just continue to pinch out shoots. I have a 9 month old "Guinea" mango (large fruit) that has 3 main branches and each of those has a branch or two.

    Perhaps I should post a picture. Curious as to any advice with this one.

  • 14 years ago

    Maybe two or three weeks ago I pruned the top few inches off my newly planted Rosigold Mango tree to make it start branching. The same day also did the same on my Angie Mango tree as I was not happy with the way it was starting to branch itself. Although both trees seem healthy, neither one has sent out any new growth yet, is there something I can do to help them along? or should I just be more patient and wait? I'm thinking of using a little miricle grow on the Angie. That tree has been planted since early July and its a bit larger and more established then the Rosigold tree.

  • 14 years ago

    I was going to say maybe some fish emulsion. When I do that I tend to get new growth right away.

  • 14 years ago

    be patient 2 or three weeks is a little quick. 3 to 4 weeks you should see little green bulbs start to show in the crook betwwn the leaves and the trunk. then the new branches will start from there. i am not sure if cold weather will interup the process or not. i have 12 trees that all started as 3 footers with no branches. i prune them all the time and i have never had one respond poorly. so i would just wait.

  • 14 years ago

    Good news! Today, I noticed four or five buds forming on one of the two trees I pruned the top off a few weeks ago to make it start to branch. Its the Angie Mango tree I got at the Fairchild Mango Festival last summer. The other small tree that I pruned the top off is my "Rosigold." Its still not showing any sign of new buds yet, although it looks otherwise healthy hopefully it will wake up soon before it starts getting chilly.

  • 14 years ago

    Ok I took the plunge and cut almost half the branches of my 2 year old tree off at junction points. I would post before and after pics here if it was simple to do....

  • 14 years ago

    Abayomi, host the pics on ohotobucket and use the code with in it

  • 14 years ago

    Abayomi:
    To display pictures in your post here in this forum, open a free internet image hosting website. I used Photobucket.com. Upload the desired pictures to your account. Then use these instructions to post the picture. You will add the address of the picture at Photobucket where indicated in the instuctions you find in the link I attached. When you get to Step 3, I suggest you use option 2....it was the easiest to understand for me.Once you get the hang of it, you are just pasting the web address of each picture into a brief programming statement. Good luck. Its not hard...just a bit tedious.

    Here is a link that might be useful: How to display a picture within your post

  • 14 years ago

    Finally my Angie Mango tree that was pruned a few months ago has some new branches. I'm a little worried about the growth surviving the cool winter weather over the next few months but at least it finally woke up.

  • 14 years ago

    Tony:

    Looks good....now lets pray for no frost or freeze. Happy New Year!

    Harry