Mango – Fruit garden

The Mango is the national fruit. In India, mango is available from March to mid-August. The Mango fruit has green skin that gradually turns yellow, orange, purple, red, or combinations of these colors as the fruit matures. Mango trees are deep-rooted, symmetrical evergreens that attain heights of 90 feet and widths of 80 feet. Mango trees leaves are 12 to 16 inches in length and yellow-green, purple, or copper in color when young. Common in the tropical part of the world, mangos are savored for their sweet juice and bright colors. People in India eat mangos ripe, or prepare them green as pickles or chutneys. They are rich in vitamin A, C, and D.

Scientific Name: Mangifera indica
Common Name: Mango

How to maintain mango plant:

Soil:
This is an important factor for successful growth and development of mango crop. The land should be slightly elevated with little slope towards the drain. The drained and basin shaped areas should be avoided because such areas collect more rain water and become water logged. Such situations lead to poor aeration of roots and the roots may turn black and rot, ultimately die. It is a common experience to see that, those trees that are subjected to floods or low lying with poor drainage generally die quickly. This kind of damage has been noticed in the waterlogged areas of Telangana (India). Elevated locations are more ideal for mango cultivation. Soils with too much of slope are prone to erosion and too much of drainage and such soils also get moisture depletion quickly and require frequent irrigations.

Climate:
Mango is grown in both tropical and sub-tropical conditions. It can tolerate a wide range of climatic conditions. For growing mango on a commercial and profitable scale the temperature and rainfall have to be with in a clearly defined range. In addition to altitude, temperature, rainfall and the wind velocity also influence growth and production of mango. Mango thrives well under humid and dry conditions. It requires good rainfall during its growing season i.e. June to October and rainless, dry weather from November onwards. Rainy or cloudy weather during flowering favours the incidence of powdery mildew disease and leafhoppers.

Sunlight:
Mango tree needs lots of sun and heat to thrive. Almost 8-10 hours of full sun is required for optimum growth and productivity of plant. Place container in South faced spot of your garden as south faced spots receive more intense and proper sunlight than other directions.

Propagation:
Mango trees may be propagated by seed and vegetatively. Vegetative propagation is necessary for monoembryonic seed types, whereas varieties with polyembryonic seeds come true from seed.

Fertilization:
It is very important that grafts be established in the field prior to
fertilizer application. Fertilization is recommended 3 to 4 months
after field planting and should be done before the end of rainy
season. A practical guide for fertilizer application is the
development of young shoots, weeks after transplanting. Spray herbal organic concentrate fertilizer on leaves and fruits when growth and fruit development needs supplemental nutrition.

Irrigation:
Manual watering during the dry months by saturating the soil with enough water followed by mulching to conserve moisture. It also serves as source of organic matter and protection or shield of beneficial microorganisms against direct sunlight and heat. Drip irrigation if available could be incorporated with liquid organic fertilizer or compost tea. Especially in areas when prolonged dry periods exist, it is imperative to irrigate the plants in the first three years after planting. Frequency 18 and amount of irrigation depend on rainfall and soil properties. When the tree reaches five meters tall, its root system will also be deeper, and could withstand long dry months especially if the soil surface is cultivated and broken to serve as mulch. Mango roots 2-3 inches on soil surface should be prune off by shallow cultivation to keep the roots at deeper level to avoid dehydration when top soil dry up. This will protect the tree from wilting and fruit drops.
For mango the most critical periods of moisture requirements is from flowering to fruit maturity and leaf bud burst (flushing) to leaf maturity. From full leaf and bud maturity up to flower bud burst irrigation must be withheld. Irrigation during this period adversely affect flowering as too much moisture may induce vegetative or flushing new leaves instead of flowers. Avoid inducing trees just after or during rainy days.

Harvesting:
After flowering, mango fruits ripen within next 2-4 month, depends on the weather and variety you’re growing. In hot and humid climate fruits ripen fast. Pluck fruits when their scent become sweet and tempting. You can harvest unripe fruits too, these’re used in making sherbet, pickles and chutneys.