Here are some pictures of my Mango Trees:

Nam Doc Mai

Cogshall

You can see that some of the newer leaves are a little bit insect eaten, and that they have been burned by fertalizer a bit on the Nam Doc Mai.

They both seem to be growing up rather than out.

I have been watering them both every day. If I don't they seem to struggle after about a day and a half.

I have been reading alot more of the Container Gardening board, and going back through alot of the older container soil and root care threads, and it has been alot to absorb.

My main question now is with the saturated soil that I know is at the bottom of both containers, would it be best to put these trees into new containers with a better mixture or wait until the fall or spring?

Your trees looks really good...considering all the problems...bugs/pests, etc. that you've had to deal with!
The thing that I'm a little concerned about is why if your using a water retentive soil like MG...why you have to water everyday? You said that they struggle after a day and a half. If the soil on the bottom is saturated that is definitely not good for the roots. Maybe you can try giving it a little shade in the hottest part of the day. How hot is it in your zone this time of year? Can you gently lift the root ball(being very careful) to see how wet it is on the bottom...also you can try using a "wick" on the bottom of the pot.

This is my opinion only and I would do what you think is best...but if it were mine, I wouldn't do any pruning right now. It looks like your tree has a nice shape and since you live in a much colder zone than me, I would hate for you to start cutting. Here in FL, we usually have from March thru Nov. where we have warmer/hot temps, so our growing season is a lot longer than yours. One of the reasons I have a tendency to prune away on mine...I always figured it will grow, I have plenty of time for it to branch out. If you feel like you want to trim...I would only do a light tip pruning, just take a few inches off. I would hate to tell you to prune away and not have it come out the way you like...one of the reasons I don't like to recommend it to others, even though I am always doing it to my trees. I look at it as if I mess it up, at least its my tree and I have no one to blame but me,lol...If not...Maybe in a year or so, you can do some light tip pruning on your Cogshall, which should promote horizontal growths...

I use Al's Gritty mix (tapla from the Container forum). It is a very fast draining mix... equal parts of Pine Bark Fines, Turface and Granite Grit(or Perlite). There are different subst. you can use if you can't find the exact ingredients. Just do a search on the container forum under "Al's Mix" for tons of info.

In my humble opinion...wet soil is definitely not good for container plants especially Mango trees. "if" you were to repot, I would try and gently remove as much of the wet soil as possible. Ultimately, the decision to repot is up to you, you will need to decide what you think is best for your tree in the long run. Again, If it were mine and the soil is staying very wet, I would change the soil before the cold weather gets here...just my two cents.

If you don't get more advise on here, I would maybe ask (Al or Justaguy) on the Container forum for more advise on what you should do...I wish I could have been more help.

I posted a link from here not too long ago on Container soils...

Good luck!

Here is a link that might be useful: Soil for Tropical Container Plants

One other thing I thought of after I sent my reply...do you think your plants are rootbound? That could be why you are having to water everyday especially if you are having very hot temps. Could be causing it to look distressed after a day or so? Just a guess? Maybe a few hours shade will benefit the trees in the hottest part of the day.

Keep us posted on what you decide to do, either way I wish you the best with your mango trees. I know how hard it must be for you guys that live in very cold climates to grow tropical fruits. I commend you guys! Not to say we don't have our own problems here(FL) and other warmer climates, but you guys have it a lot more challenging!

Thank you for the replys.

I was able to lift both trees out of their containers to check to see where the water was. I haven't watered in just under 24 hours, and it is pretty clear that I have been over watering. The soil is damp to within 1 1/2" of the top of the container, and the botom 3" are considerably more saturated. If I had to guess I would say that the PWT is right about at that 3" mark. The soil seems to be very compacted as well. I was able to lift the trees out of their containers without leaving any of the soil in the container.

When I transplanted the trees, the roots had begun to circle the original container. I loosened them up some when I repotted them, but nothing drastic. It is possible that they were root bound in their original containers, and never recovered, but the roots have not reached the container walls yet.

I will take your advice and move them to a spot were they will have shade for the hot part of the day, and cut down on the watering to see how they do.

Our weather is funny in the summer. We will have several weeks of low to Mid 90s followed by a week or 2 of 70-75* highs. We normally get a streach in August of 100*+ but it depends on the year. No matter what though we have relativly low humidity.

I have spent the last week trying to read all of Al's container threads. There must be 10 container soil threads as well as some on root pruning and trees in containers. I am going to start trying to put together the ingredients for the gritty mix. I think I have tracked down everything but the pine bark, and some kind of micro nutirent mix. The greenhouses around here seem to have a very poor selection of fertalizers. If it doesn't say Miricle Grow or Peter's All Purpose on it they don't have it.

When I do repot the trees I would like to get rid of as much of the nursury potting mix as possible before I put it in the gritty mix. I was reading through Al's root pruning thread today, and it gave me some ideas about how I want to repot.

My original intent with these trees was to slowly graduate them up to 30+ gallon containers, and dolly them in and out of the house depending on the weather. You mentioned in another thread that your Glen Mango is in a 20" pot and that you intend to keep it there. How is a container that size to handle?

If I knew that I could repot the trees without damaging them, I would do it tomorrow, but I worry that with them growing new leaves and branches, and blooming that if I try to repot them now I may hurt them. I wonder if the risk of root damage from standing water in the container outweighs the risk of harming them by repotting them at the wrong time.

So much to learn.

Thank you for your advice, and I will keep you up to date on how they do.

If it were mine I would totally bare root them and repot them into Al's mix coarse mix now. I have done it many times with mangoes in the FL summer heat without a problem. I just keep the tree shaded for a couple weeks. To use Al's mix you really need to get all of the old soil out of there. If you keep much of the old rootball intact and pot them up into al's mix you will not be able to get an even amount of moisture in the container. It's up to you though. It may be safer to wait until the fall, but with you having to bring your plants inside for the winter I am not sure how they would do freshly repotted indoors.

Jared, I just wish I could have been more help...

"I wonder if the risk of root damage from standing water in the container outweighs the risk of harming them by repotting them at the wrong time."

I would ask Al your question above and see if you can get his expert advise? But if I had to guess, I would say root rot going into fall/winter bringing them indoors would be a bad risk. Pretty much what Jsvand said...

As far as the micro nutirent goes...I never used it on mine. I used the "Dynamite" and added a little gypsum to Al's Potting mix and I add a tsp or Epsom Salts every couple of weeks or so. You can also use Osmocote. Anything that is in a pellet(slow release type of fert. is best for container mango/fruit trees)IMO.

I've had my Glenn Mango in the 20" container for going on almost three years since(Nov.06). I have yet to root prune, and I am thinking I won't need to do it for at least another year or two. For me the roots on my Container Mango doesn't seem grow that fast, so I will keep it in this pot for a couple more years, then I will decide whether to go to a 22" or prune the roots a little? I've just used a Dolly to wheel it to the garage on the occasional freeze.

Good luck!

Thanks again for the advice.

I am going to repot them both this weekend into the gritty mix. Worst case I will have to order two new mango trees from PI next spring (I might do that anyway).

I will link this thread into a new one on the Container board later today to see if I can get some more input.

Thank you both for the replys.

Jardt,
I appreciate you sharing this info. I brought a Cogshall mango back from Tampa last July. I almost lost it. I had to bring it back bare root, I was amazed that I was able to bring it on an airplane. It was quite a challenge but I did'nt want to have all the problems with leaf drop from the tree being in a box for that long. My mistake was not watering the tree enough. I had gone online and researched diffrent sites and thought that it would be best to allow the mango to dry out completly and my mango became dessicated. I noticed that the branches actually looked puckered. I emailed Pine Island Nursery and the guy there told me to water every other day. My mango tree is starting to come around now. I wish that I had asked questions when I had bought it, maybe I could have avoided the problem. I would like to know more about Al's Gritty Mix. I made my own soil with perlite and so far so good. The one thing I was curious about was the blooming time. My tag says fruit ripens in June. When did you get flowers? How tall was the tree when it bloomed? Did you get any fruit to hold?

I have my Cogshall in a 16 inch pot. It has been in this pot since I planted it July 3. When I made the mix for the mango, I incorporated perlite into Miracle Grow potting mix. I followed the advice of several people who said to allow the soil to dry out before each watering. My mango almost died. I started watering every other day, except for when it rained, and now my Mango is coming around again. I am glad I have someone else in the northern part of the country who is trying this too! Good luck to you, and please keep me posted.

Jared, I am so glad that you are growing mangoes up north! Good for you! Have you gotten any fruit to hold yet?

is there a site with the exact quantity of water for each tree e.g. 5 gallons of water for such and such tree every 3 or 4 days?

phucvu: no such thing exists. Your watering amount and frequency depends on the climate and the soil in your container, and of course, how your tree looks.

And how completely the pot is filled with roots.

Cath