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Caring for a plant receved via mail order

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Dauntless



Joined: 20 Nov 2010
Posts: 174
Location: Mesa, AZ

PostPosted: Tue Mar 29, 2011 11:09 am    Post subject: Caring for a plant receved via mail order Reply with quote

My Pickering Mango that is coming from Top Tropicals should arrive tomorrow.
I have never ordered live tropical plants before and according to the Top Tropical instructions I am supposed to pot the tree in potting soil in a pot just big enough for the roots.
The potting soil that I bought doesn't have any fertilizer in it and I have the pot ready to go. Does anyone have any other words of wisdom to help insure success?
It's too bad that I can't just plant the tree where it's going to grow, the hole is already dug.
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mullenium



Joined: 01 Apr 2010
Posts: 192

PostPosted: Tue Mar 29, 2011 10:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

what size did you order? i was tempted to order the last 7gal that they had, but i dont have any more room really in ground, so id have to grow it as potted.. im envious of you =)

but why cant you plant it in ground right away? the earlier here the better it will acclimate.. also good job on the soil with no ferts in it..I hate miracle grow soil with a passion.. although i did just purchase 3 bags of MG perlite.. ugh, it was the only option i swear! =)

when i got my mail order mulberry i waited a bit til the weather warmed up and put her right in the ground, so you should be okay..unless it needs to settle in from the shipping stress and new environment?

i wonder if the pickering is being shipped in burlap rootball? hmm let us know and dont forget to take lots of photos!!
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Dauntless



Joined: 20 Nov 2010
Posts: 174
Location: Mesa, AZ

PostPosted: Tue Mar 29, 2011 11:02 pm    Post subject: Planting Reply with quote

I bought one of the 3 gallon ones. The bigger one sounded like it would cost a lot more to ship. I've already planted quite a few trees this year so I have to watch the prices.

They say that you need to give it time to recover from the stress of shipping. I would much rather just plant it.

I never really thought about the potting soil having fertilizer until now. Since the tropicals are sensitive to it, I was reading labels. So many have fertilizer in them.

It will be interesting to see how this tree is packaged. I set my camera out so I won't forget.
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phoenixtropicals
Site Admin


Joined: 06 May 2008
Posts: 1207
Location: Mesa Arizona

PostPosted: Wed Mar 30, 2011 10:18 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've ordered many top tropicals trees and read there instructions many times... and ignored them. Just put it straight in the ground. You want that tree to grow some roots before summer hits. I also suggest backfilling with native soil from your hole. I am getting away from adding many amendments in the backfill these days. The "vitamins" they sell you at the nurseries are a waste of money at best and bad for the plant at worst. However, I do suggest top dressing the soil with compost when you are done.

Your only potential problem is sunburn because it might get more sun in your yard than it did in the nursery. Put a lawn chair on the sunny side of it to shade it and move it away a foot a week until its not shading it anymore. Put something heavy on the lawn chair so the wind doesn't blow it onto your plant.

Have fun!
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mullenium



Joined: 01 Apr 2010
Posts: 192

PostPosted: Wed Mar 30, 2011 12:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

wow 100% native soil? that's getting pretty bold there =)

my recent plants have been backfilled with native soil and a 1CUft bag of compost (the omni brand from walmart)

yeah the 7gal was like 140 shipped, even though im broke its still so tempting lol

so does B1 help the plants from shock or no? ive been recently using it
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Dauntless



Joined: 20 Nov 2010
Posts: 174
Location: Mesa, AZ

PostPosted: Wed Mar 30, 2011 2:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Here's the new tree. It's around 3 1/2 feet tall and has around 30 baby mangoes on it. Of course I know that unfortunately those will probably fall off. It would be great to taste just one though.
I went with your advice and planted it right away as you can see and I used native soil. Right now since I had to leave right after I planted it, I put a temporary rabbit guard and shaded it with the big rolling garbage can until I can do better later today.
The compost is ready too. Thanks for the tips, I feel better getting it right in the ground.



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Caring for a plant receved via mail order



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mullenium



Joined: 01 Apr 2010
Posts: 192

PostPosted: Wed Mar 30, 2011 5:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

wow looks good! you are seriously making me want to buy one as well lol

it does look a tad close to the wall, i wonder if reflecting heat will stress it?
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Dauntless



Joined: 20 Nov 2010
Posts: 174
Location: Mesa, AZ

PostPosted: Wed Mar 30, 2011 6:59 pm    Post subject: close to wall Reply with quote

It's protected by a Palo Verde to the South and a Gazebo to the West so I figured it would be ok there.
I actually know a guy that has some mango trees planted against a West facing wall and he had to protect it with shade cloth the first couple of years and then after they were filled out he took the shade away. He claims that they are ok with it and his trees look good. It is awfully hard for me to put them against that wall though without having protection. So, to test the theory I bought a cheap Manila and planted against an exposed western wall and I'll follow his lead. I won't do this with my more costly trees. In a couple of years I'll know how well it works for me. Hopefully it will work because it sure would give me a lot more places to be able to plant trees Smile
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phoenixtropicals
Site Admin


Joined: 06 May 2008
Posts: 1207
Location: Mesa Arizona

PostPosted: Wed Mar 30, 2011 8:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Awesome. Look at the mangoes on it. I've never had one arrive like that. They are very likely to all drop though, like you said. Being transplanted the tree will just be too stressed to hold onto them.

Yes, being that close to a west facing wall will be punisher. I agree that once a tree is as big as the wall, it just puts the wall in the shade and there is no reflected heat issue. At least the wall isn't white. A white wall really reflects all the radiation. If the gazebo doesn't put that area in the shade by 2 PM you'll want to put something next to the tree to throw it in the shade during the hotter months for at least the first couple of years. Mangoes take full sun here but add a lot of reflected heat on top of it and they'll struggle.
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Dauntless



Joined: 20 Nov 2010
Posts: 174
Location: Mesa, AZ

PostPosted: Wed Mar 30, 2011 10:24 pm    Post subject: shade Reply with quote

I'm going to make a shade in the morning since I'm not taking any chances.
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mullenium



Joined: 01 Apr 2010
Posts: 192

PostPosted: Thu Mar 31, 2011 12:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

yeah i would really baby that guy.. reading some peoples comments on gardenweb on how difficult Top's plants are to acclimate due to them being shipped bare root

shade it really good and maybe mist it once a day? if you have one of those hose nozzles with a mist setting that would work
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Dauntless



Joined: 20 Nov 2010
Posts: 174
Location: Mesa, AZ

PostPosted: Thu Mar 31, 2011 12:57 pm    Post subject: bareroot Reply with quote

It wasn't bare root. It had soil on the roots and they were in a plastic bag wrapped tight like a pot. On their site it says that they are not shipped in the U.S. bare root. Instead they knock some of the soil off of the roots and ship that way to reduce the chance of shock to the plants.

I'll take your suggestion and mist it.
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mullenium



Joined: 01 Apr 2010
Posts: 192

PostPosted: Thu Mar 31, 2011 2:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

how long did it take to ship? im about to pull the trigger on their 7gal pickering
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Dauntless



Joined: 20 Nov 2010
Posts: 174
Location: Mesa, AZ

PostPosted: Thu Mar 31, 2011 2:19 pm    Post subject: order Reply with quote

I placed the order on March 22nd. They notified me that they shipped it on March 28th and I received it yesterday, March 30th.

You have to post pictures if you order it.
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mullenium



Joined: 01 Apr 2010
Posts: 192

PostPosted: Thu Mar 31, 2011 2:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

i called t he guy from plantogram, he has pickerings in stock although not listed on his website.. he will send me photos sometimes this weekend.. but his trees are 3gal only

i was hoping to get a 7gal, but the plantogram guy said he could throw in a free 1gal barbados cherry which is already fruiting age

hmm decisions decisions
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