1 FAQ
Frequently Asked QuestionsTree management
Q: How can I protect my trees from frost?
A: The best way to protect trees is to grow them on frost-free land. You can protect young trees by wrapping their trunks in sisalation or similar insulating material for their first winter. Another method is to irrigate for an hour or two until sunrise, just before frost settling.
Q: Should I hedgerow my new plantings?
A: Hedgerowing will depend on tree spacing. Tree spacings of less than 4 m lend themselves well to hedging as opposed to managing wider spaced individual trees.
Q: How tall should I let my trees grow?
A: For efficient harvesting and effective spray coverage keep trees less than 4.5 m high.
Q: How and when do I prune?
A: Young mango trees should be pruned every one to two flushes to maximise branching and fruiting terminals. When trees reach bearing age, prune them each year to maintain size, thin out the canopy and remove dead wood. Prune by hand with secateurs or machine prune. The main pruning is done after harvest.
Q: When should I fertilise my trees?
A: In bearing trees, most fertiliser is applied after harvest. The rest is applied at flowering and early fruit growth. Young trees require regular fertilising every two to three months to encourage continuous, strong growth.
Q: How much fertiliser should I use?
A: The amount of fertiliser you use will depend on soil type, tree size and cropping history. Always do a leaf and soil analysis before planning your fertiliser program.
Q: How much gypsum do I need and how often should I apply it?
A: Gypsum supplies additional calcium to the plant without changing the pH of the soil. The normal application rate is about 5 t/ha or 500 g/sq.m. Gypsum is normally applied soon after harvest, and before flowering.
Q: How much water do my mangoes need, and when?
A: Mangoes are a deep-rooted crop and a mature tree needs a large volume of water. The amount of water required depends on the size of the tree and the time of the year. An orchard's water requirements can exceed 6 ML/ha a year. At peak demand, from fruit set to harvest, a mature tree may need over 2000 L per week.
Q: Why don´t my trees flower?
A: Mango trees are sensitive to climatic conditions at flower initiation. They need a dormant period in winter to initiate flowering. Poor flowering can also result from reduced carbohydrate reserves in the tree from a very heavy crop the previous season, or from late pruning.
Q: Why do my trees flower but not set fruit?
A: Poor fruit set can be caused by poor pollination due to cold weather at flowering, or fungal diseases such as anthracnose in the flowers. There are also several insects that eat the flowers.
Q: My trees are flowering early when the nights are cold. What should I do?
A: Early flowering at this time is difficult to manage. Flowers can be cut off as long as the weather stays cool. Healthy trees will produce new flowers in about six weeks. Remember to cut off just the flower panicle. There is a risk that late flower removal can result in the production of a leaf flush rather than flowers as the weather gets warmer.
Q: Why are my fruit dropping off?
A: Mango flowers will set many more fruit then the tree can hold and will have significant fruit drop. Other reasons for fruit falling off include water stress, poor pollination, disease and insect attack.
Q: When are my mangoes ready to pick?
A: Fruit that is ready for harvest should have a minimum dry matter of 14% and should be well filled at the beak and shoulders. When the fruit is cut open, the internal flesh is a uniform pale yellow. The internal flesh of immature fruit is white.