What is wrong with my mango seedlings? (forum)

zacintosh131 starts with ...
I have about 15-20 mango seedlings grown from a few Kensington Pride seeds.

Some seedlings have taken off really well, other are short and stubborn, barely managing to produce foliage (and sometimes dying at the tip). However, more recently, a few of the stronger seedlings have rotted/died at the base of the stem and subsequently died.

Can anyone please offer some advice on:
- the stem problem?
- how to get the slower seedlings to take off?

I also have new foliage falling off of some seedlings when it's still small. However, I read somewhere that this happens to mangoes after being re potted. Any answers on this?

I have marked each plant so I know what seed they came from in an attempt to figure out which seedlings are clones or zygotes.

The plants are in small pots filled with osmocote 'premium' or 'fruit and citrus' potting mix. I have added a layer of pea straw mulch , but have made an effort to keep that away from the stem of the plant as I know that can cause stem rot.

Perhaps I have separated the seedlings too soon? I was trying to avoid dealing with tangled taproots.

Thank you

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Picture: 5

Time: 4th March 2016 1:46pm

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Brain says...
I actually had the same problem as you.

The culprit, mulch! Even if you have them a few cm from stem. The combination with moisture induces trunk rot. Even older seedlings are very susceptible. So remove all mulch and use a drier mix. Though then you have another problem, if the soil dries out, the seedling will also guarantee to die.

I don't know if the faster or the slower seedlings are the true to type. Opinions differ. A very light touch of worm juice will help them along but from my experience, seedling growth is quite slow initially and there is about 1 to 2 flushes per year if the conditions are right. Miss that, the plant will wait another year.

Once you get to 6 to 8 leaves, the roots are quite tough and can be separated then.


Time: 7th March 2016 4:51pm

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Scott 10 says...
Agree with Brian, I don't mulch my seedlings until much larger (just keep a close eye on them so that they don't dry out).

Possible reason for slower growth is that we are now into March hence the plants go slow now anyway until Spring. Give them a hit of seaweed solution as it will help with root strength which may give them a boost but don't expect too much until after Winter.

Time: 8th March 2016 10:23pm

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zacintosh131 says...
I've removed the mulch and some soil to expose the top of the seed. I'll let you know if the problem persists. They seem to be having a period of growth at the moment. One slow seedling has almost doubled in size in a week after doing very little for the last month or so while others have started producing more leaves.

Is there anything I can give them to encourage growth before winter? They are positioned next to a western facing wall getting full sun and water every second or third day depending on weather.

Time: 9th March 2016 10:18pm

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zacintosh131 says...
Hi, I have removed the mulch and the damping off has eased.

Some of the plants are not going through a period of growth. However, the new leaves on some seedlings are shriveling up and falling off. Can anyone offer some tips?

Thanks in advance

Time: 1st April 2016 4:13pm

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Scott 10 says...
Possibly soil could be too damp causing root rot. I had this happen in the past and the leaves fell off before the plant died. When I dug them up the roots had rotted so maybe have a look.

Time: 3rd April 2016 9:03pm

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A.C says...
I use potting mix plus 20 percent washed filling sand for seedlings and subtropical trees inc citrus also.This mix will drain quicker .Dont mulch ,browning tips indicate too much fertiliser or overwatering or both.Mangoes dont like too much water. Not too much water.Youll be very surprised how little water they will require this time of year as the weather cools off in Adelaide.None of my mangoes are going thru any growth spurt now.Dont panic. Be patient.

Time: 4th April 2016 12:31am

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denise1 says...
The sand is great, I use pumice sand, as it is available. It is specially useful when the plant will remain in the container for a long time-18 months or more, as some potting mixes degrade at this time which makes drainage worse. I only do it for plants that need it and mango is definitely given that special treatment. I usually use less than the 20 percent though for my conditions. Around 10 or 15 percent. As well as giving drainage it allows watering to rapidly wet down to the bottom. You need to watch against rapid drying out which can be somewhat destructive and defeat all purposes.

Time: 4th April 2016 7:09am

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zacintosh131 says...
It seems like the plants are now flushing, but a lot of new growth is dying at early stages. One plant had a significant amount of growth in about 2 weeks, you can see where it was before the flush, but now it is wilting and I don't want to lose it....first picture.

I've really cut back on the watering, but I'm not sure there is much else I can do at this stage of the year with such young plants (like repotting). Hopefully a few survive.

They're positioned new to a western facing wall, and on cement, and they get full sun for a maybe 5 or 6 hours a day. Also there is a small shelter so they don't get the rain when (if there is no wind).

Any miracle cures welcome.
Things I have lying around the garden:
epsom salt
sulphate of potash
seasol seaweed extract
organic fertilizer

Pictures - Click to enlarge

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Picture: 4

Time: 8th April 2016 6:14pm

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Markmelb says...
Dont worry at all - nights are getting cooler where you are like myself and flushing will stop until october when daylight hours and night minimums have increased again. I plan to put mine in bigger pots next spring.
Picture 3 is a 3 or 4 year old Bowen seedling 2mt tall with a recent flush hardening.
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Time: 8th April 2016 9:46pm

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Brain says...
@zac

pic 1 - that one is a goner. When it shrivels like that with the stem, there isn't much one can do. This is likely due to the rot at near the soil level.

2,3, 4 looks normal/ok to me. Note not all new growth will become a fully grown leaves. As long as the seedling has a few leaves, and the conditions are ok, it will survive ... and put on new growth when its ready.

I think your next biggest battle is with the winter cold.

Time: 12th April 2016 5:42pm

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Markmelb says...
Yes Zac - pic 1 doesn't look that great - may lose that one - im testing a few new seedlings im leaving outside like Palmer Keitt Pearl & Chokonan just to see if they survive winter outside. I feel the Palmer will & maybe the Keitt as my grafted Palmer got thru last years real cold winter fine but NDM Keitt & Bowen got burnt needing pruning but Bowen branches i didnt prune actually recovered growing new cambium.

Time: 13th April 2016 1:30pm

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zacintosh131 says...
Hi all,

Just checking in for an update and some advice.

So, quite a few of my mangoes have survived a pretty miserable Adelaide winter. However, they do look a little worse for it. They're around 6 - 9 months and there are little shoots forming - even on two stems with no leaves (still green).

The weather is beginning to warm up, and I'm wondering if I should re-pot them soon. Perhaps when overnight temperatures are higher (still below 10)?

Anything I can add to help strengthen them up a little?

I have avocados in the same situation, particularly one older (grafted) one, if anyone has advice.
There are also some new avocado seedlings popping up, but some have lost the main root through the bottom of the pot. Do I just give it them some seaweed extract and hope for the best?

These passion fruit seedling popped up too. anything I can do for them.

I have a small courtyard that gets full sun for 6 - 8 hours against a large brick wall and has some shade spots due to the brush fence; The plants will be staying in pots. Obviously, I won't be keeping everything, but I'm just having some fun experimenting at the moment, and I hope to try grafting in the future.

Thank you
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Time: 5th September 2016 8:34pm

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Scott 10 says...
Have you had any frost? Another possibility could be a fungal infection. Maybe give them a spray with liquid copper.

They should pick up now it is getting warmer. Keep them near the brick wall which will radiate some heat.

Time: 6th September 2016 4:30pm

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zacintosh131 says...
I don't think there was frost, I wasn't in Adelaide all winter. they're just starting to shoot now, hopefully in a few weeks they'll have some new leaves.

Time: 12th September 2016 8:51pm

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ben from adelaide says...
hi Zack, im just around the corner in fulham gardens, i too have tried the mangoes and am now down to 2 after most died off with blackened stalks. ive ended up moving them inside the house and put them in front of a northern facing window and they have definatley perked up but still quite small. as for the avo's ive got 4 in the ground. 3 wurtzes and a 1 year old bacon. the wurtzes are going awesome. FYI one is in my front yard and gets alot of cold wind. last year just after flowering it actually lost every leaf and looked dead but came good really fast with an awesome growth flush. this winter has been awesome for rain i rkn were in for a good season!!!

Time: 13th September 2016 8:51pm

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zacintosh131 says...
Hi,
I lost some too, I have 5 or so strong ones, and the rest seem to be just holding on, but they're all just showing signs of new growth now (pics 1 and 2).

My main issue thus far has been that the new growth isn't surviving (pics 1 and 3) it looks like it tried a few flushes, but the leaves fell off.

I only have south and west facing windows, but the courtyard they are in offers some shelter from rain (depending on wind) and a large northern facing wall getting lots of sun, so I bunch them next to that.

My wurtz is grafted, but if you could spare a bacon bud one day I'd love to try grafting, then I'd have the A - B type going....Check out this potential candidate as root stock.
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Time: 14th September 2016 1:19pm

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ben from adelaide says...
No worries if u show me how!!!! Its a 1 stick wonder at the minute i will def let u know as it develops and u can come chop off the right shoot. Im gonna keep that one quite small. I got it from diggers in may i rkn.

Time: 14th September 2016 3:23pm

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zacintosh131 says...
Hi, the seedling have grown quite a bit. Some have died, but they're pretty resiliant.

One of my stronger looking seedlings appears to have scales, or some other bug. There is also a nasty looking hole about halfway up the same plant. Not sure if that is related to the bugs.

I have been using a chilli, garlic and detergent mix on chillis, capsicum and leafy greens to knock out aphids, but they haven't been going near the mango plants. Would this work on scales?
Can anyone give me some info on what might be happening, and how to fix it?

They mostly get fertilised with:
- seasol seaweed extract (every 6 weeks-ish)
- a dilute hand scoop of compost out the worm farm (once every few months when I need to empty a tray) and some worms too
- only recently I've started with very light dusting richgro complete garden organic fertiliser with a big water (maybe 2 or 3 applications at the beginning of each season, but not winter) followed by a big drink.
- I have started mulching the one with woody bases and haven't had problems with damping off, this was an issue I had getting them started,

They've had their first spring/summer with a lot of growth so I've just repotted them into slightly bigger pots and given them seasol seaweed extract.

thanks in advance

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Time: 7th April 2018 12:42pm

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Fruitylicious1 says...
Hi Zac

If only one tree is affected with the black spot, it is more economical just to prune below the affected part and get rid of the sick stem before infecting the other healthy specimen. With regards to the white scales just squash them with your fingers. They are not too many anyway.

Time: 11th April 2018 6:57am

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Go says...
How are the seedlings?
The picture is of my 6 month old lancitilla seedling.

Time: 10th December 2018 7:09am

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Jay123 says...
Hi Zac

I need some advice, I am having similar problems with my mango seedlings like you posted on14 sep 16. The seedlings grew fine in the beginning and now the new buds start to die off. The old leaves from last spring/summer are little brown over winter I thought it was due to cold but the new buds are turning brown and falling off. It looks exactly like your pics 1 and 3 of your post. I see you overcome the problem any suggestions please. Hopping you can still see this post.

Time: 20th November 2020 9:49am

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