What were your low temperatures that killed the Bailey's. As you probably know, this is touted as the most cold tolerant mango. Some people have claimed virtually no damage at 28 degrees or so. I have always considered growing mine outside in the ground, but you make me hesitate to do so.

-Brett

Our coldest morn..and it wasn't much more then a few hours..was 32f. That's what shocked me...to see in spring the whole graft shrivel. Below the graft its made a strong comeback(stronger then the Manila did) and its planted in the ground. What I notice of both Mango trees is ..while fruiting they never flushed new growth those who summers. Not one. I new that wasn't good..but until Baileys die back in spring, I didn't know what a bad sign that was.
If you can hold off the rush to have fruits..its better you do. Or live in a 10b not 10a California climate!
btw,the Baileys bore fruit in 2011 of sweet fruit above AND BELOW the graft..couldn't tell them apart.

Stanofh - couldn't agree more about the "hold off the rush to have fruits" idea - I've had a couple small mango trees push nothing the whole year after I've fruited them, and I've got a much warmer climate than yours!

It just takes so much energy to produce fruits. That being said, for me, my smallish maha chinok was able to hold 2 fruits this year AND push new growth. I think the vigor of the tree has a lot to do with it. Those slower growing "condo" mangoes - forget it! They'll never be able to do both in my climate...as far as I can see. At the most I'll get a single push of growth, which is happening right about now - so basically, let the tree get a moderate size and then just assume the tree will pretty much stay the same if you allow it to fruit....

Good luck!

mdog

Thanks MD. The rules are different here then Florida for sure. The darn thing is..they taste so good. I hope to say its fruits again. One day.

Mango trees are rather unpredictable when it comes to cold. I've seen a week mango tree die to the ground at 32F and another tree make it perfectly at 29F (not even tip damage). I've also seen a large/mature mango tree in Palm Bay FL live happily through many many winters and then die during a relatively mild winter.

* Here is a paragraph from a research article that talks about some temperature killing points of mango that might help in understanding the unpredictable behavior:

"Seedling turpentine mango in pots growing in Gainesville were killed at less than -3�C on February 9 and August 10, 1983, -4.5�C on April 29, 1983, and -5.0�C
on May 16, 1983 (Fig. 5). The response of seedling mango trees is more difficult to explain. Freezing at temperatures above -3.0�C occurred on 2 occasions as reported previously (3); however, in 2 other tests the leaves were not damaged above -4.5�C. Results do not conclusively indicate whether turpentine mangos acclimate to cold but suggest that they do not."

* The title of the paper is: Cold Hardiness of Two Cultivars of Avocado and a Mango

* The URL to the PDF paper is: www.avocadosource.com/.../fshsp_vol_96_pg_212-215_1983.pdf