im still tryin to figure it out.. my mangos are on drip emitters, with 2 lines to each tree rated at 2gph per line, so thats 4 gal. per hour per tree.

I just upped it to 1 hour a week since temps are starting to climb up, but even that seems high right now

when summer hits i run it about 4-5 hours a week

I don't water any of my trees after they have been in the ground for more than a year or two.

Mangoes can do without water for quite some time. They'll grow faster with water than without. Regarding blooming, they need some drought stress to really bloom nicely. However, after the bloom commences, watering doesn't have much of an effect unless you have a fungus issue with anthracnose. Then once the fruits form and are sizing up, adding water will dilute the flavor of some types....like Glenn. My trees have their roots into the water table and most of the fruits still taste quite good. I would water new plantings every couple of days when it is dry and warm. After a year,I don't water anymore at all, but if you are very sandy and well draining, you can water once a week and as long as you do not see leaf wilt, the tree will be fine. A good deep watering though is what is needed for those newly planted, not yet established trees.....IMHO.

Harry

wow.. i dont think ill ever get by with not watering my mango's here in phoenix

Thanks Guys! I guess I'll still water them occasionally especially because I have such sandy soil and I also believe like Harry mentioned they do better with water than w/out. I also emailed Pine Island Nursery and asked their advise and they said they should always be on irrigation for best results...

Mullenium, I can truly understand...you guys get some really hot temps in the summer. I'm sure you're trees would suffer greatly w/out regular watering. Lucky for us...summer is our rainy season. As long as we have our typical rainy summers, I rarely water them...only when we hit an extended "dry" spell. Good luck!

Shoot I have my trees on a drip and its the bomb. I have really sandy soil so it lets me really soak em while probably getting away with overdoing it. Mine emit water hitting 8 different points. I have them on high stakes and stick them right next to the trunk. Almost on full blast, I set it to where it doesn't spray anywhere near the rootball, rather 8 points around the tree. Make them roots search for the water. Propped next to the trunk the closest the water gets to the rootball is probably 15- 20 inches. Of course if rootball is dry water it. Who knows how long it will be dry for. When rainy season starts and its average this can be stopped. I have had great results with this, but if anyone thinks this is dooming my plants let me know. Im gonna start watering tomorrow morning for at least a couple hours, possibly longer.

Hi Pugsy - Yeah, I'm like Mullenium - GOT to have lots of summer water for anything to survive - automatic sprinkler and drip and soaking nozzles - use them all. In fact - have them on twice a day for 10 min or so EACH in the dead of 110 summer heat.

Many things don't have such deep roots here, my grass wouldn't surive even 3 days without water during the hottest period.....

So I'm on board with all the sandy soil growers - my mangos do well with lots of water - I'm not sure you can overwater them out here, of even where you are......

But it looks like you will do the right thing - give them a good occasional soaking if your summer monsoons are held up for any length of time.....

Soon March will be here, and then the explosion of growth and baby mangos will commence!!!!! ya hooooo......

mangodogdaddy

Compostworm, sounds like you have a really elaborate watering
drip system...awesome!

Mangodog, I can't wait for March myself...although our extended 10 day forecast looks pretty awesome...Upper 70's to low 80's. I hope this means our cold weather is done. You've got a great watering system set-up too.

In your desert growing areas all plants are transpiring quicker due to the dry air. Robbing the plants and trees of moisture quicker. I have never used drip irrigation but I thought the idea was "constant moisture" levels in the soil. This means lots of little waterings. In sandy soil a large watering will seep down quickly and take minerals and nutrients downward too. So I figure a very slow constant drip would be better. Mangoes etc are not natural to the desert so you are trying to replicate a moister soil year round I would think

Mangoes need a dry season to stress them into producing fruit. So less water (or none) at that time

You see canals with water everywhere in Florida and this gives the illusion that Florida is a rainy state. This is inaccurate because some years we can have month after month of no rain during peak dry season of November to May. Those years we get lots of fires in the Everglades and you can smell the smoke. Florida has a dry season and rainy season same as Philippines and other tropical nations. Only less pronounced because we are further north. Cactus do well here and many are grown for ornamentation. I've seen lots of the kind that are edible as nopalito with the red flowers. I tried cooking the nopalito but did not get that right.

Zands,

The prickly pear fruit are great as well. Highly recommend growing prickly pear for its fruit and pads. I would say its one of the most undemanding and useful fruits of the world. You can also make prickly pear seed flower which is nutritious (or simply blend the prickly pears with the seeds and drink).

now...having said what I said about constantly watering desert plants, there is a book I am reading now called Extreme Gardening: How to Grow Organic in the Hostile Deserts, where the author, Dave Owens,suggests longer/deeper and less frequent waterings. Not only to wash the salts away from those plants sensitive to salt burn, but to encourage roots to go deep, real deep, in pursuit of moisture.

That is contigent of course on heavy mulching (6-8 inches of compost or shredded bark) and varying the watering schedule for the wide range of different plant types - from as often as every 3-5 days for grass to up to 21 days for certain trees and shrubs. Now I confess, I'm so far a bit chicken to change my routine and what's commonly practiced here in the desert. I have many plants I feel would just perish, and some have when I've forgot to turn the sprinkler system back on after shutting it off for repairs or some other reason. But in all fairness that was not having watered them deeply and establishing deep roots prior to cutting off the water on the current schedule it was on.....

I don't know, I just don't think stuff like my baby's tears, growing on the shady north side of one part of my house, could go that long - I mean, how deeply rooted can those frail looking baby tear's be? Just feels like one summer day would do them in......well....I'll have to experiment - certainly I think the Mango Trees and other trees would probably benefit greatly from maybe slow 1 hour waterings, once a week or so.....

mangobeachdog