Date: 30 May 2020
How to prevent mango fruit drop
Q: My mature mango tree is fully grown 15 yrs old and each year it fully blooms, sometimes twice. Shortly thereafter, all the baby mangos and flowers fall off providing no mangos for the season. I have tried fertilizing, spraying the tree for fungus or other insects, to no avail. I give up, any suggestions?
A: Dropping fruit in pretty common issue with mango trees. There
may be several reasons, or a combination of reasons.
1. Fungal disease (anthracnose), and/or powdery mildew. To avoid
fungal disease problems, spray your tree when it just begins to form the flower
spikes. Treat foliage with Copper fungicide. There is also another
one, very effective for anthracnose: Thiophanate methyl.
2. Inadequate nutrition. Feed your tree with a combination of
granulated fertilizer Mango-Food, liquid booster SUNSHINE Mango Tango and micro-elements Sunshine Honey and Sunshine Superfood
Check out pictures of our mango tree problems that were fixed within a month by
using Sunshine Boosters.
3. Too much rain or heavy dew during blooming and fruit set (see 1 -
use preventive treatment for fungus)
4. Cold. Sometimes the cause of premature fruit drop is from the
cold weather during bloom and fruit set. Usually the most affected varieties are
the early bloomers including Glenn, Haden. The cold damages the developing
embryo in the seed. The fruit starts to develop but because of ethylene gas
given off by the damaged embryo, the fruit is triggered to drop before
maturity. To see if cold temperature was the cause for your fruit dropping, cut open
the fallen fruit. Even if there is a small speck of brown in the seed,
that's enough damage to stop fruit development.
To learn more how to care for your mango, please read this publication.
Date: 10 Mar 2020
Boosting Mango Flowers and Fruit
Q: I've been a long time customer of yours and always been very happy with my purchases. Last year I purchased a coconut cream mango tree from you and while it did flower and show signs of starting to fruit, they soon fell off and I never got any fruit from the tree. This year, there are many more little buds on the tree and much earlier in the season. I want to do whatever possible to get as much fruit as I can and prevent these from all falling off again. Please advise what I should do.
A: Mango flowers can be tricky and there are several factors that may affect setting fruit and especially possible fruit drop. Here are a few ideas that may be helpful...
CONTINUE READING >>
Date: 3 Aug 2019
Grafted or seedling?
Photo: Mr Barcy meditating before planting Nutmeg seeds
Q: I planted an avocado seed and it sprouted quickly, it has been only a couple months and I already have a small plant. How soon will it produce fruit? Can I grow other tropical fruit from seed?
A: Unfortunately, some fruit trees, including varieties of
avocado, mango, lychee, as well as apples and peaches - must be either grafted or
air-layered in order to produce, for 2 main reasons:
- seedlings may take a very long time until fruiting, up to 10-15 years
- seedling gives no guarantee on the quality of the fruit or variety
These fruit trees should be propagated as "clones" - both grafted
material or cuttings are actually copies of the mother plant and will keep the
same fruit qualities. Grafted trees usually start producing immediately.
However there is a number of fruit trees that come true from seed, and
take a very short time to start flowering. Jackfruit, Annonas (Sugar Apple, Guanabana, etc), Papaya, Icecream Bean, Eugenias start producing at a young age (3-4 years from seed).
Recommended fertilizers for fruit trees:
Fruit Festival Plant Food - Super Crop Booster
Mango-Food - Smart Release Fruit Tree Booster
SUNSHINE-Honey - for sweeter fruit
SUNSHINE SuperFood - microelement supplement
Date: 6 Feb 2025
How to get mango trees to bloom and set fruit
Q: Is there any way to make a mango tree set more fruit? My mango trees bloomed like crazy last year but most of the flowers dropped and I had only a few fruit. What do I need to do to get more fruit?
A: Mango trees flower from late Winter to Spring, with the peak blooming season varying based on variety. During this time, mango trees produce hundreds of small, fragrant flowers in large panicles. A healthy mango tree can produce anywhere from 500 to 2,000 flowers per panicle. However, only a small fraction of the flowers will be successfully pollinated and develop into fruit, depending on the tree's size and health.
To support healthy flowering and fruit set, mango trees need dry weather, as excessive moisture can inhibit pollination and fruit development. During flowering period, it's important not to overwater, as the tree is less active in water uptake.
Avoid dry fertilizers during flowering since the tree is focused on reproduction rather than vegetative growth. Continue applying Sunshine Boosters Mango Tango liquid fertilizer to support the tree's overall health and vigor which will encourage fruit quantity and quality. Sunshine Boosters deliver essential nutrients in optimum amounts, proportionally to water intake.
Ensuring a dry, sunny environment and mild fertilizer Mango Tango will help the tree set fruit successfully.
Photo above: Our Mango garden in Sebring, FL is in full bloom now! Early spring in Florida started in January 2025. Surprisingly, all our mango varieties decided to start blooming: - early, mid- and late- season cultivars. It's a stunning view! Check out a short Video.
Photo below: 2024 fruiting trees. We use Sunshine Mango Tango year around.
Date: 24 Jun 2018
URBAN TROPICAL GARDENING:
10 secrets of successful Container Mango growing on a
balcony.
Q: I live in Miami in apartment on a second floor, and I have a balcony with SE exposure. I wonder if I can grow a mango tree in a pot? Will it fruit for me? I recently moved to South Florida and I don't know much about tropical plants; but I tasted real fiberless mangos from someone's garden - it was so delicious and different from those in the grocery store. I wonder if I can have a fruiting tree on my balcony? And if yes, how do I plant and take care of it?
A:
Yes, you can! Here is what you need to do:
1) Temperature. You are lucky to live in Tropics,
keep it on a balcony year round.
2) Light. Position the pot in a spot with the most
sun exposure. Mango trees can take filtered light too, but
the less sun, the less fruit you will get.
3) Soil and Container. Use only
well drained potting mix. Step up the purchased
plant into next size container (3 gal into 7 gal, 7 gal
into 15 gal). When transplanting, make sure to keep growth
point (where roots meet the trunk) just at the top of the
soil. Covering base of the trunk with soil may kill the
plant.
4) Water. Water daily during hot season, but only
if top of soil gets dry. If it still moist, skip that day.
Mangoes (unlike
Avocados!) prefer to stay on a dry side.
5) Fertilizer. Use
balanced fertilizer once a month, 1 tsp per 1 gal of
soil. Do not fertilize during fruiting - this may cause
fruit cracks.
6) Microelements. Apply
SUNSHINE-Superfood once a month. This will help your
mango healthy, vigorous, and resistant to diseases. Use SUNSHINE-Honey to make your
fruit sweeter.
7) Insect control. Watch for scales and mealybugs,
clean with solution of soapy water + vegetable oil (may
need to repeat 2-3 times with 10 days interval), or with
systemic insecticide like imidacloprid only as needed (if
non-harsh treatment didn't help). Most Flea shampoo for
dogs contain that chemical, you may try that shampoo
solution.
8) Trimming. Once potted, do not remove leaves
that are discolored or have spots until new growth
appears. Dark dots on mango leaves, especially in humid
climate like Florida, may be signs of fungus. Treat with
fungicide according to label, and remove only badly
damaged leaves. Trim crown as needed after flowering and
fruiting (by Fall). Train into a small tree, and you may
remove some lower branches eventually.
9) Flower and fruit. Mangoes are winter bloomers
with bunches of tiny flowers coming in thousands. Many of
them set fruit (if pollinating insects present). Keep in
mind that young trees can only bare a few fruit. Normally
a tree will drop excessive fruit and keep only a few that
it can manage. To save the young tree some energy, remove
fruit if too many and leave only 2-3 for the first year.
It will pay you next year with more abundant crop.
10) Variety. Last but not least: Choose the right
variety for container culture! Pick from "condo" dwarf
varieties such as Icecream, Nam Doc Mai, Carrie, Cogshall, Julie, Fairchild, Pickering, Graham, Mallika, and a few others -
check out Mango Chart pdf
and full list of our Mango varieties