Alexi:

Remind me, how big is your tree and how long has it been in the ground? As far as watering, you needn't be concerned about watery fruit until, at very earliest, fruit set. I would think that you could even still water up until about 60 days of harvest without any problem. Watering might cause vegetative growth to form where blooms might have otherwise formed during blooming season (now until Februrary). Depending on your tree size and its age, that might be a good or a bad thing. If you stop watering, the tree will be fine. You could actually withhold water now to be sure you get the maximum flowering and fruit set (if that is your objective). As long as the leaves do not wilt or in other words, show any signs of drought stress, the tree will be fine. It might not grow as fast, but it will survive and fruit, if all of the other conditions required are met. My choice would be to water as long as possible. Since you are in sandy Pembroke Pines, where drainage is not an issue, you shouldn't have any problem.

Harry

Cool. Thanks Harry.

My glenn was actually in the ground for about a year at my old house in western pembroke pines, then after selling it, I took it out and put it in a 25 gallon pot. I planted it in the ground again, which is its current location, back in late June - early July. Using the 6ft fence as a reference, I would say that it's about 6ft and 5 inches tall and is very bushy and showing lots of vigor. The new growth, which I showed in the previous yard update has already hardened-off a while back.

Mango trees like a period of winter dormancy if they are going to fruit well the following spring. Dry winter means more dormancy for the mango tree. If you water the mango tree during the winter you get more leaf, branch and root growth and less dormancy which might be just what you want for a young 1-2-3 year old mango tree. IOW you want growth right now and not fruits.

Northern fruit trees like apples, pears, cherries, peaches, apricots also need a period or winter dormancy and rest to fruit well. They go dormant due to the colder temperatures in places like New York, Michigan and Oregon. Mango trees go dormant due to winter-early spring dryness which is usually what you get in Florida. Plus is what you get in the prime mango growing regions in India/Pakistan where most Florida mangoes originate. Thai/IndoChinese mangoes like Nam Doc Mai are another matter. I think the winters are dry there but I'm not sure.

My older mangoes that I want maximum fruiting from in 2012 are getting zero water right now. My young mango trees are getting water every other day. I even gave one young seedling mango (not grafted) some HD vigro fertilizer a few days ago. I water that one every second day and sometimes every day

Thanks for your advice Zands. My mango trees are pretty young. I'll most likely water them every two days for more root/tree growth like you've recommended. I'll probably let them fruit next season, even though the NDM might bloom again this season. It had some grape-size fruit on it before I cut them off when I planted it into the ground so it can focus on root/tree growth instead of fruit growth. I also applied osmocote slow release fertilizer to all of my fruit trees a month back.

The only thing to keep in mind with late year flushes is that, 1) they are slower to harden off, and 2)they are more susceptible to any severe cold snaps. In other words, if your tree has a late year flush and we get a severe cold snap before it hardens off, you will lose that flush to the weather.

Rob

TG89
In the summer and other hot months with the mango trees growing faster.... I might be watering them every day even if just a bit. This is contrary to what they usually say. Harry once posted that his trees (of all kinds) grew faster with frequent waterings compared to those left to fend for themselves. If the mango tree has lots of fruit then I don't water it. You can end up with split fruit or jelly seed. Jelly seed means mushy around the mango pit

I dig a deep hole when planting mango tree. 2-3 ft deep. I get rid of the subsoil and rocks. Then fill the hole with the top soil I removed plus some topsoil from Home Depot....presently goes for $1.40 per bag. I also mix in some of HD's vigro fertilizer near the top and maybe some Black Cow brand cow manure. Costs 5$/bag but is 100% cow sh!t. Then that baby is going to get a daily dose of H20 for months

You should never add fertilizer to your hole when planting a mango (or in the soil in the pot if up potting). Doing so will burn the new, young root ends. It is also a good thing to wait about 30 days before you apply any fertilizer to a newly planted mango (or any fruit tree for that matter).

Rob

bsbullie--
Good advice. I will do that. One can learn new fun facts about mangoes 365 days a year when you join the GardenWeb Mango Hot Stove League

Thanks bsbullie. I know what you mean with slow late season growth. My lemon zest has one new growth which should be hardening within a week. But it seems to be slower than new growth that's created during the active growing season. I checked the weather forecast, and it doesn't look like there's going to be a cold snap for at least a week. I added some fertilizer at the bottom of the sandy hole before I planted the coconut cream a month ago and mixed it in with the soil at the bottom of the hole. It's not strong stuff and it's slow release so it doesn't burn the tree.

http://www.scotts.com/smg/catalog/productTemplate.jsp?proId=prod70362&itemId=cat50116

I'll keep an eye on the weather forecast.

Thanks again Zands. I have half a bag of black kow manure, which I'll probably be using for my manzano banana. Bananas like manure.

TG---
I feed my bananas cheap 6-6-6 fertilizer. I read they do OK with this. No need to use the better fertilizers with slow release nitrogen and minor trace elements. I had one kind of stunted banana that was doing nothing. It took off after the 6-6-6

Cool. This spring, I'll buy that fertilizer for my bananas.

bsbullie-
do you think its a good idea to add any special soil or manure to the soil at all? `Can I plant in just the plain native sandy soil? Thanks ;)