Mango Tree Instructions & Care
General Mail Order Instructions: Carefully unpack your plants as soon as possible. Remove moss from around the roots before planting. Shipping stress may cause some plants to arrive with a varying amount of dry, drooping or yellow leaves and or branches. Stressed plants can usually benefit from the removal of these problem areas. Do not plant your plants directly into the ground. A plastic pot slightly larger than the diameter of the root ball with large drainage holes is ideal. Do not use clay pots. A layer of river rock or pebbles at the bottom of the pot can be beneficial for improving drainage. Plant at the same root level with a well draining mix utilizing a combination of any of the following mediums, peat moss, perlite, coco coir, vermiculite, pine bark, sand. Do not use "native" or "garden" soil. Water your plants and place them in bright indirect light away from full sun and drying winds. In most cases your plants will benefit from providing an environment of enhanced humidity until root function has normalized, typically from a few days to as much as 1 or 2 months. Once new growth appears the plants may be stepped up to a larger pot or planted in the ground. At this point you can gradually move your plants into an appropriate amount of sunlight and fertilization may begin using a balanced slow release fertilizer.
Mango Tree Instructions & Care
Light - Filtered/partial sun initially, increasing to full sun as plant matures.
Water - Water a few times a week during the warmer months and once every two weeks in winter.
Soil - Mangos will grow in a wide variety of soil mixtures with excellent drainage. If your mango is going to be grown exclusively in a container the potting soil needs to be lightweight and nutritive. Start by adding bigger pieces of broken poetry (or similar) and then add a layer of crushed gravel (or similar) the soil mixture we suggest: 40% compost, 40% mulch/peat moss and 20% combination of sand and perlite.
Feed - fertilize mangos spring, summer, fall. The NPK ratios on fertilizer containers list their percentages of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, in that order. Mango trees need higher doses of nitrogen when young, but after they begin to bear fruit, they need less. At that time, they need higher doses of phosphorus and potassium, which promote flowering and fruiting. Use a commercial organic fertilizer with a high percentage of potassium, such 5-8-10, for fruit-bearing trees, or apply these nutrients with organic materials. Compost is a good organic source of both phosphorus and potassium. You also can use rock phosphate, guano, blood meal or bone meal to provide phosphorus, and seaweed or potassium sulfate to provide potassium.
Temperature- Mangos enjoy average temps between low 60’s to high 90’s. Good air circulation and some light penetration is necessary for keeping the tree happy & healthy.