Mine are in 24" wide containers now. I think they will be fine in them for a few years, but may end up having to use containers as large as half whiskey barrels. So far, I've found Mangos to be very easy to grow in containers. They love the intense heat we are having and are very healthy looking. I prune mine to keep them small and lush. If you let them get too tall, they will want to tip over every time the wind blows.

Lisa

Here is a link that might be useful: Container Mango

What type of soil did you use? I have Miracle Gro garden soil and Moisture control potting soil, should I mix the two together?

Thanks Lisa!
msjam

I don't care for MG soil mixes at all. I used to use them, but learned over time that they didn't do what I needed. I had too many plants get root rot. MG mixes compact down over a rather short time and drain poorly.

I use coconut husk chips now in all my containers. They hold up to 7 times their bulk in water, release it as the plants need it, last up to 5 years, and drain very well. If you can't find CHCs - Orchid mix, Cactus mix, fir bark chunks or pine bark chunks will make an acceptable additive to any potting soil. The chunkier the soil, the better. WalMart has Orchid mix cheap, about half the price Home Depot charges. I used peat moss, coconut husk chips (or a substitute), about 1/3 and 1/3, with the rest well-rotted horse manure and a standard potting soil. You can add Moisture crystals if you want, but they really are not needed if you have CHCs. I mix a slow release fertilizer (osmocote) in the soil mix.

The ratios can be adjusted as you prefer. I've had great luck by just making all my mixes loose/chunky and using very little actual "potting soil."

I also mulch all my potted trees so when I water them the soil mix is not disurbed. Fir bark or pine bark make very attractive mulches for containers.

Hope your new Mango does as nicely for you as mine have! They sure are pretty container trees!

Lisa

Phillipine mango in a container permanently? I'm not sure that's the best choice for a container mango- they get quite large. Perhaps you can swap it for a mango like the ones listed on the "container mango" link provided in a previous post. I just saw a 30'x30' Phillipine mango tree yesterday, so I can't possibly imagine it in a container- though perhaps it can be done. Good luck, they sure do taste great.

Containerizing a tree will limit their eventual size so it really won't overgrow it's container. I know from having made several bonsai tropical trees. Mangos have a broom style crown so a round container is appropriate and looks well balanced. It does tip over easily - so make it a heavy container. In the tropics, it easily gets uprooted and topples over because of typhoons and strong wind. They are shallow rooted. Even then, the trees survive. You could also use a half wine barrel. It's large enough. The thing is with containerized trees, you'd eventually need to do some root trimmings when it gets root bound (after 5 years or more)- A rather annerving procedure and I have had no experience with root trimming mango trees.

While the tree may be small, the fruit may turn out huge as the container size won't affect it. Getting it to fruit may be problematic. You'd probably need some fertizliers to force it to flower. Then again, I understand that fruits from this process are just not as tasty.

Ive used MG Potting mix on my containerized Mango tree and the tree looks great !

Nice mango Lisa!

Ianna, you are so right, my tall 5 1/2 foot manot was pushed into a 45 degree angle here in California by the strong winds we had a little while ago. The leaves seems to the problem as it picks up the wind. I had to push it back upright and trim off all the leaves on top, about 25% of the tree, it worked, wind didn't do much after that. I can't imagine how it would deal with hurricanes over in the east coast, darn thing probably would take off.

Mangogrower, I seem to have the same problem with MG. How long have you been using it? It seems to have problems with me over the long run, never tried it on mangos but other tropical fruit trees.

I'm not too keen on the MG mixes either and only use them with flowers...nothing that really matters! Lisa...do you know what PH the coconut husks give you? I can get the blocks locally and thought of trying it out. I'm just worried about it being too neutral in PH. Msjam, good luck with your mango!

eggo, I upped my container size on both my Mango & White Sapote trees, and both with the MG soil, both trees are now much fuller and healthier looking, i did this about 1 year ago.

So, do you recommend mixing the MG mix with some regular dirt ?

Mangogrower, I would recommend mixing MG with other potting soils. Were both the Mango and White Sapote already in MG soils before being repotted? Back when I use MG it seemed to have drainage problems as Lisa mentions and at the same time seems to contain too much fertilizer/chemicals or something for root sensitive plants. It did well with heavy feeders like guavas but did incredibly poor with lychees.

At the end though I think if it works for you, just keep doing what you do. White sapote and mangos seem to be more vigorous tropical growers, maybe the MG is more preferable for them.

Ohiojay, the PH of coconut husk chips is 6.4, perfect for citrus. You can adjust the PH as you need, by adding other ingredients. I even use them for container Blueberries, with peat and pine bark being the rest of the mix. The chcs keep the blues happy with constant moisture (but not too much)and great soil aeration.

If you do a Gardenweb search for coconut husk chips, you will find lots of info on them.

The link below is one source that shows a photo and specs on chcs. Is this what you can get locally, or is it coir instead?

I've found a reasonably close source here, at a much lower price than online.

Lisa

Here is a link that might be useful: CHC info and source

It's the coir that is available around here. I just picked up a Persian Lime and will need to repot. I might go out and get some and see how it does. Thanks

eggo, before i upped the white sapote and mango to MG soil, they were in a pot with dirt dug up from the back yard. So, maybe thats why they look better now.

Ohiojay, since coir is finely ground/shredded,and can pack down, I'd recommend adding pine bark and coarse sand/gravel to it for citrus.

I have 3 Persian Lime trees. They are wonderful!!!

Lisa

Lisa, thanks. I'll try that mix with the Lime. I've been looking for one of those for a couple of years now. Our local Lowe's home improvement store usually carries some grafted citrus now and then. Always key limes, calamondins, orange and grapefruit..but never the real lime. Until now! I have a lemon and orange but we use limes all the time for my wife's Thai cooking. I hope it's a good producer! I wish now I would have gotten the grafted key lime instead of starting mine from seed 3 years ago. I see these tiny little bushes at the nursery with tons of blooms on them and then look at my huge tree knowing it's gonna be a few more years until fruiting! And thorns?? Nasty! Ahh the miracle of grafting.

To msjam2

Where did you buy the phil mango tree? I have been looking for it, no luck. And also looking for "CALAMANSI" tree. All I can find is the calamondin tree which I know is different from the phil calamansi. Thanks.