Brandon, thanks for the info on planting. This is new to me, and I just couldn't imagine anything young taking root in the dense soil I had to hack through to dig the hole so amending it seemed to make sense at the time. I can see how it would create an artificial tub now. I guess time will tell if the tree fully takes. I'll try to gauge the soil dampness better. With the sun around here, the surface dries out very quickly. It may well be that I'm not watering enough, though I'm not sure how to judge what's happening down at the bottom of the roots. jqpublic, I'm zone 9 by zip code but San Jose can be in the 8s too. In any case, the apple trees in the neighborhood seem to do very well. (and Ken - don't worry, I'm tickled pink that it set fruit so quickly. I just don't want to kill it!) Thanks for the help, everyone.

Just because you see papayas doesn't mean everything is honky dory. We had a very warm winter last year, which may not represent the winter and growth characteristics for this coming year. And even if they did freeze they can grow back pretty quickly. So much so that even a year old papaya can look pretty impressive. Better to be safe than sorry. I wouldn't worry about the peach as they are deciduous, and many avocados are quite cold hardy if they have Mexican genes in them... although if it's small you probably should protect it too. The others I think will need protection at some point this year. The only thing that's going to save you is very close proximity to large bodies of water, or very close proximity to a lot of concrete. Just being south of Orlando ain't gonna do it. That cold air funnels right down the middle of the state. Be ready to deal with any frost warnings, and take them seriously. After awhile you'll learn what the temperature at your house is relative to the forecast... My house is always 2-3 degrees colder than the low forecast for my city. Frost can form at 36 degrees "air temp" (which is officially taken 3' above ground level, which is always colder than the air). Calm nights are always colder than windy nights. Clear nights are always colder than cloudy nights. Depressions always get colder than hills. Any over hanging branches stop the loss of heat through radiation, so rarely will you get frost under trees. That's the basic premise of covering plants, btw. On real cold nights use c9 Christmas lights under a blanket. It'll keep them good down to the low 20s IME.

Could you upload your pictures to Photobucket or something like that? Then post those and your issues on the Tropical Fruit forum. There are plenty of FL folks there growing mangos. Without the pics and more detailed description, just impossible to diagnose.

What's the drainage like in the pot? It could be over watered with poorly draining soil becoming stagnant.