Secret Mango Project

Sorry for not being around for months.  Life has been . . . psychotically busy.

My village has 500+ year old mango trees on the back side of the pond.  Around each is a hexagonal planter (installed long after the tree was planted) about 8-10 meters across.

A few years ago, one of the trees died.  I assumed it would be replaced, but the planter still sits empty.  Thus, I decided I'd get a seed from one of the ancient trees , get it started, and then slip it into the planting area.

Last year, I left the seed in the fridge too long. 

This year, I redid the started pot with a mixture of dirt and Mel's Mix.  I also just peeled the mango and shoved it in. (Mango lovers, don't cry.  This one fell from the tree and was split.)

1 month later and I had a seeding.

and now, a few days after the seedling sprouted, I have a second seedling emerging.

My big question?  Do I snip off the extra seeding (and any more which follow), or do I plant the whole thing and count on them to merge together when they get bigger?

I need to decide soon.  I'd like to transplant the seeding(s) as soon as possible so the roots will grow naturally.

I think Dstack grows them. He may have some suggestions.

+1! DStack is the mango expert here...

I'd probly snip the one. I doubt they'll merge. But you could end up with a multi-branched tree that would be weaker than if you have just the one strong trunk.

And it's good to see you!!!

Thanks to both of you for the suggestion.  

I've just PMed a desperate plea for help and asked him to please come and join the thread.

Do you mean that other seedlings have sprouted, or that the seedling is branching?  If you have multiple seedlings, I would keep one other as a backup.  But if it's just branching, clip the sprouts so focuses it's energy on one trunk.

Yaaay!  The mango expert has arrived.

So far it looks like a second seeding/  It sprouted about an inch and a half from the first one.

One of the bugs seems to have taken out it's initial leaves.  Seeding #1 is doing fine with 3 leaves.  It's about 4" tall.

Tightly secure a roomy cover of bridal tulle over the good one to keep bugs off it?

I just found out a couple hours ago that I don't want anything resembling a sail on any of my plants right now.  Somehow, I just found out we're getting a full scale typhoon coming in overnight.

So, instead of stretching something over the mango, I was busy trimming all the dead leaves off the sorghum plants so they'd be a little less likely to take flight.

Thought about bringing the little mango in, but it's from tough stock, so I think it will be ok.  If it survives this, it'll be fine spending 500+ years down by the pond.

Escaped Lunatic wrote:I just found out a couple hours ago that I don't want anything resembling a sail on any of my plants right now.  Somehow, I just found out we're getting a full scale typhoon coming in overnight.

So, instead of stretching something over the mango, I was busy trimming all the dead leaves off the sorghum plants so they'd be a little less likely to take flight.

Thought about bringing the little mango in, but it's from tough stock, so I think it will be ok.  If it survives this, it'll be fine spending 500+ years down by the pond.

Good luck with the typhoon.  Be safe.

dstack wrote:Good luck with the typhoon.  Be safe.

Yes, be safe.

sanderson wrote:

dstack wrote:Good luck with the typhoon.  Be safe.

Yes, be safe.

+1. Wait. No. --> +Many

Me too!

Less issues overnight than expected.  Right now, it's wet and breezy.  Weather.com says the things will get worse as today progresses and the real fun starts at about 2 PM.  Hong Kong is reporting that it came in a little less powerful than expected.

Could be worse.  In 2004, two of the four big hurricanes came right over my house.


Just checked the roof.  Some of the sorghum is knocked over, but everything else seems fine.

Sending positive thoughts your way!!

 Hey!  Yeah, EL, Dstack is the resident expert for sure....keep your head down and tush dry!

Woohoo!  the tallest sorghum I've grown so far (just over 2.5 meters) survived.  Most of the others snapped or fell over. 

And a bonus - went up to check on things last night and found I'd caught a rat in a cage trap baited with sorghum.

And, back to topic - the original mango seedling looks great!  The new one looks like a toothpick.  There may not be a need to decide whether to cut it or not.

Now I just want it to get just a little bit bigger before attempting a stealthy tree planting down by the village pond.  I'm planning on digging a little deeper than necessary and mixing some Mel's Mix in with the dirt to give it as good of a start as possible.

I'm glad your mango made it! And sorry you lost most of your sorghum crop. Do you grow sorghum for the grain, or to make syrup?

Guess that rat won't be eating your sorghum survivor!

I scattered sorghum seeds, hoping some would grow. I wanted a show stopper peaking over the side fence. Next summer I will actually plant the seeds! What do you do with the sorghum?

Sorghum wasn't really planned.  It was one of those - Hey, look at all the cool seeds this shop on eBay has.  One was popping sorghum and one was a very tall variety.

The popping kind is short and the rats usually take it out.  The taller kind developed into another purpose (besides providing snacks for my daughter's hamster).  Part of the arrangement of the plants on the roof is to make it a little more private up there (outside and alone is a rare combination in China).  The one of the houses I had reasonably well blocked was redecorated.  Chinese redecoration involves total gutting of a structure, and this time also resulted in a 2 story house growing to 4 floors.)

So, one angle where some existing potted trees were just beginning to do the job suddenly needed taller plants.  My most successful sorghum is planted in the same pots with citrus trees.

if I can get the rats a little better controlled, I want to try the popping kind and maybe grind the grain of the tall kind to mix into bread.

Interesting!

Oh my.  The secondary twig remains, but a 3rd seedling with leaves has emerged.

Now what? 

Escaped Lunatic wrote:Oh my.  The secondary twig remains, but a 3rd seedling with leaves has emerged.

Now what?

Do you have multiple seedlings in one pot, or the ground?  Regardless, you can always transplant the seedlings to separate them.  So if you have two backup trees you can give one away and still have a backup.

Three seedlings from one seed; is that common?  I didn't know that could happen....

No, he must have planted multiple seeds.

I planted most of one mango.  Looks like the large flat "seed" inside really contained several seeds.  Didn't realize that was the case until I did some reading while waiting for it to sprout.

#2 is gone.  #1 has nice leaves but shows no signs of further growth.  #3 is a bit taller, but looks like it may be about to put on more leaves higher up.