Mango Tree Branches Weak and Drooping (forum)

Apparo starts with ...
I have a grafted dwarf King Thai (Maha Chanook) mango tree that I got earlier this year. I kept it in it's nursery pot too long - staked the whole time. When I finally repotted it recently and removed the stake I found out that its branches have no strength at all and droop to such and extend that I fear if I left it like that they would break from their own weight if I left them that way. Currently I have it supported by fabric between two stakes.

The tree seems to have just to come out of dormancy in the pasty three weeks and has started putting on lots of new growth as we come into summer. Also it's supposed to be a grafted tree but I don't see any super obvious signs of a graft like I do on my other fruit trees. The only place that it could be looks to be about 75cm up the trunk where the two main branches come out. Do you think this is a graft? (I'm skeptical.) There's new growth below this point.

My question is what should I do? How should I prune it? Please help!

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Picture: 1
Picture: 2
Picture: 3

Time: 18th November 2014 7:05pm

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Original Post was last edited: 18th November 2014 7:04pm
About the Author Apparo
Booragoon, WA
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Thithi says...
My 2cents advise is don't prune it because if you do, there is not much left of it. Leave it bend like in picture 2, the tree would soon push out upward shoot, then you would it grow for another 50cm or so, then tip prune, etc.. etc

That s how i would do it. Let see if Other people may have different advises for you.

Happy gardening

Time: 18th November 2014 8:43pm

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Original Post was last edited: 18th November 2014 8:41pm
About the Author Thithi
MELBOURNE,,NT
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Thithi says...
Apparo, if the graft was done so well, as the trees grow bigger, it would 'disappear'. My avocados and many citrus trees have grafts disappeared like that.


Time: 18th November 2014 8:53pm

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Original Post was last edited: 18th November 2014 8:52pm
About the Author Thithi
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Apparo says...
Thanks for your response Thithi. I'm tempted to take your advice with the smaller branch however for the larger branch I think I'll have to prune it back to 6 inches from where it branches out. If I leave it as it is I think it will snap off in a strong wind.

From what I've read about young mango trees, it seems you can chop the entire top off of them and they'll regrow with more branches than before. That's the theory anyway but it doesn't make me any less nervous : |

Time: 19th November 2014 12:58pm

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Original Post was last edited: 19th November 2014 12:58pm
About the Author Apparo
Booragoon, WA
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Markmelb says...
My idea is to put a second bamboo stake into side of pot and support the brunch with a cloth tie - it will eventually harden up if you take out the growth tip of that branch - I do stuff like that all the time to mke branches go where I want them to grow - young plants need as many solar panels they can get :)

Time: 19th November 2014 2:19pm

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Original Post was last edited: 19th November 2014 2:19pm

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Apparo says...
Well I went and did it; I chopped off the top of the tree. Really didn't want to but the more I looked at it the more this seemed the best solution.

The graft is around 20cm down from where I chopped it and the new growth is from just above this point. I'm hoping these leaves tide the tree over and it puts on new growth at the cut. In theory it should come back bushier than ever.....in theory. :/
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Time: 20th November 2014 10:06pm

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About the Author Apparo
Booragoon, WA
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Markmelb says...
maybe you should also up pot now into your barrel now as what i have found mangos take a while to establish roots again before kicking new growth or leaving as it is until next spring :)

Time: 20th November 2014 10:42pm

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About the Author Markmelb
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Apparo says...
Good idea Mark but I just re-potted it a few months ago so I think I'll leave it for a year or two.

Time: 20th November 2014 11:57pm

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pacific bob says...
hi apparo this is a Thai king 5 years old and i had the same worry about the branches so i cut the top off and that fixed the problem,there still wispy but can hang down without breaking ,had 2 good crops so far ,hope this helps
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Time: 10th April 2019 10:17am

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About the Author pacific bob
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