Phoenix Tropicals Gardening

[shakaz]

I posted a few months back when my i got some frost burnt sections on my tree. I've since clipped those sections off and everything seemed fine. Spring came and the tree started getting a lot flower clumps popping out and new little green knobs breaking through the old branches. But now when the tree should be thriving it started getting sections of leaves that would lose their color and strength...they start getting brown spots...wilting..drying up..etc...
when i 1st noticed, i sprayed it with neem and cut off yet another section that completely died. I thought it was fine again... but now its starting to happen in more places (i've neemed it a few times since it started)...there's beginning to not be much left of my tree. here's a pictures of what's currently on there still:


anyone know what might be wrong ? thanks

[myamberdog]

well....most likely it's either over-watering or under-watering....
how often do you, how's the drainage, how much and/or have you fertilized - need the details of ALL you've done to it....I think OVER-fertilizing would
be the second finger that would receive the pointing

Bugs would be the third level of investigation.

Also, how much sun is it getting this time of year? Is it planted in a super
HOT spot?

Just tryin' to help......MDog

[shakaz]

I dont feel like i've treated it any different than every other year, BUT...
I do recall a time where i accidentally left the hose on it longer than i meant to. It didn't worry me much since i read mango trees like alternating flood and drought...and figured they must occassionally get rained on all-day in tropical climates
I have fertilized it with fish emulsion twice in the last few months and out of laziness I just eyeballed the solution amounts instead of precisely measuring...so maybe that did it ? I thought fish emulsion was pretty forgiving though, but maybe not eh ?
havent really noticed any bugs on it other than bee's and sometimes a small black fly that kinda looks like a wasp.

if its fertilizer burn do i just have to let it take its course ? and is it normal for fertilizer burn to kill stuff off, then stop, then start killing more stuff, etc... or would it normally just happen all at once ?

[myamberdog]

.....well nothing sounds out of hte ordinary with your care....

maybe pull away some of the soil at the base of the plant and see if
you see any root rot or something like that.....I had a friend who just lost
a mango to root rot, but I really don't think a one time flooding event would do it, like you described.....

sorry I can't be of more help....

myambermutt

[phoenixtropicals]

Looks like salt/fertilizer burn to me. Yes, fish emulsion is generally not going to hammer your tree. I use a cap full in a gallon of water and make a circle around the drip line. Even though its mild you don't want to put it right next to the trunk. It's interesting how the burning on many of the leaves looks like a pattern you'd get when you poured something on them. Some are just burned down one side. Burn coming from something absorbed through the trees roots is usually more symmetric and starts at the tip, like the leaf you have in your hand.

I don't know much about neem oil but I'm going to guess its burning it. I've found that pushing a mango to grow rarely seems to work. They generally just have growth flushes when they feel like. Every time I really tried to get one going it ended up getting burned.

One more question. Did you fertilize your grass close to your mango? When I fertilize my lawn I try to give my mangoes a wide berth.

[shakaz]

nah, never fertilized the lawn. since my last post EVERYTHING has dried up on the tree now...even the stuff that looked like it was gonna survive. My only ray of hope is that healthy new growth has emerged at the base of the trunk (which i'd normally cut off)...and on a couple branches i can see little tiny green spots starting to burst through the branches...hopefully they make it.

here's some pics of the progression (missing a couple steps)...the first one shows unrelated frost burn from the winter but i put it on there to show how full and healthy it used to look.

[phoenixtropicals]

Bummer. Well, at least its coming back from its roots. If you had burned it with fertilizer the whole tree would be ill and you wouldn't have that kind of strong growth at the bottom. I think the oil you sprayed over it burned it. I searched around the web and found a number of instances where people said that neem oil had burned their trees.

[myamberdog]

I think I agree with PT on this - I think the Neem oil is the only explanation
for the burning. The new growth looks robust, but if it is at or below the graft line it won't be the same plant....unless it was a seedling....I don't remember at this point if it was one.....

Myamberperro

[Alisam]

got toasted pretty well just on the outsides (new growth) of the plant, so i feel thankful for that. I'll post some pictures in the next couple days when I get a chance to recover from my trip to Great Britain....



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[shakaz]

It's been a couple years since my mango tree randomly died back to it's stump, I have a pretty healthy mango 'bush' now.


My question is one that I've always had about this tree, even before it started dying...is it normal to get weak, pale, stunted growth flushes sometimes ?
And is it normal for small trees to lose almost all their mangoes ? I have about 3 that stick around...and 50+ that turn yellow and die. Should I chop off pale yellow/pink leaves and weak withering panicles or let 'em stay ? Thanks

Here's more pics:

[myamberdog]

shakaz - ever thought of using 4-6 inches of mulch around that tree to keep the roots cooler and more moist? I just have no idea what is going on with your tree - do you have a local Horticultural Extension office that you could contact.....or maybe Shamus (a local mango grower of yours, yes?) could come over and take a look.....


myamberwoofie

[phoenixtropicals]

You live in Southern California correct? Here are my guesses. The cracking of the bark on the trunk is old frost damage. As the tree grows it is shoving the dead wood out of the way. I agree that keeping some mulch around the base would be beneficial. The damage on the new growth is probably fertilizer burn of some kind. I'd say only use fish emulsion 5-1-1 or 0-10-10 diluted in water every couple of weeks and don't use anything else. Also, make sure your tree gets adequately watered. If you are in SC, I'd guess once a week is enough water.

[myamberdog]

Ah, I didn't know shakaz lived in my neck of the woods! I might add that there is another fertilizer that I use to great success I believe - and that is kelp meal (or powder) mixed with water and poured around the base of plants. I don't believe it will burn plants either....do it every 2 weeks....


M.A.D.

[darkcoolboo]

This happened to me before with one of my mangoes before. The leaves dried up and were still green. The decline was quite fast and it happened right after the winter, even though I had protected it. I did not spray anything or fertilize so I think it had to do with root rot. Then again, it DID come back from the base like you described, but then I returned it to Tropica Mango nursery It kind of scared me out of the mango growing since it was my only tree, but I think I'm recovering. Oh yeah, Mdog, did you ask on the Tropical fruit forum yet?

[myamberdog]

dcb - hmmmm.....what was I supposed to ask over at that other site...forgot....


MangoWoofster