WOW ------- I want one!!! :'-(

(Crying face...)

WWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

I have a manila mango seed that has sprouted just about a week ago, and I am going to use it to make a "Manila Bonsai". The root looks really cool, almost like it is dwarfing itself... PERFECT for bonsai.

{{gwi:1336558}}

The root almost just comes to a stop and then launches fibrous mini-roots out the sides.
YAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!

There are some folks Down Under who have espaliered just about everything imaginable, including mango (well not coconut and NOT jackfruit!). Take a look:

http://www.rarefruit-sa.org.au/Espalier/Espalier.htm

I never thought of trying a mango bonsai. I might try to graft a pickering this summer to try something like this.

Is anyone else in agony about seeing a mango bonsai'd????
Espalier, yes, for those with limited space perhaps, but to bonsai a tree that gives such wonderful fruit - it's cruel and unusual punishment in my opinion.

But each to his own....

mangogrrrrrrrr

mangopooch, I feel the same on most forms of art :)

Tim

I believe Ethan has an espalier Valencia Pride in Central California.

JF

There was a thread on the bonsai board and some debate as to if the trees work since the leaves are still quite large.

That's incredible! Love those tiny plants, but I refuse to wear pink!

Good memory JF, my VP produced three yummy fruits this year and will hopefully double that production next year (and so on).

-Ethan

looks like the leaves of these bonsai mango trees matches the size of the tree.

I think it is incredibly cool. I've seen tamarind, grumichama, jaboticab, miracle fruit, and some others as bonsai, but I thought some of the mango pics looked nice. Just goes to show that darn near anything can be done to any type of tree. Whether it should or should not be done is a personal choice.

Ethan - do you have any recent picture showing your entire VP tree, I'd love to see what it's looking like with training so far.

As for an ideal bonsai cultivar, I think the Falang/Falan tree Harry has would be great. Outside of that, I don't know if anyone else has this tree.

Tim

Congrats Ethan!

Did you do an espalier on your VP because it's easier to protect?

JF

Tim, here is a pic from last spring w/some of the GH still in place, it grew like crazy this past year and was whacked back to fit in the GH.

JF, yes.

Hopefully this next year I'm going to be grafting a few more varieties on it including Edward.

-Ethan

BTW, bonsai jaboticabas in bloom are about the coolest thing.

Hi Ethan,

You can come here in the spring and get your Edward but in one condition: I have two seedlings that I have for grafting. I need someone who knows what they are doing....maybe MangoDog will come and learn. We were going to hire a master grafter from Mimosa - we can't get anything to take.

JF

...lol....someday, JF, someday.....

mangopooch

Thanks JF,
I already have Edward and was going to plant it with it's own espalier but decided to graft onto my VP instead and save the room for something else.

If only we could get Jeff H. to come out to CA and show us mango grafting, that guy can graft about anything. I'm going to give grafting mangoes another try this year, might have learned a few tricks?

-Ethan

Or monsieur Hagen can create a video one of us can host through youtube if he wishes to remain anonymous :)

Tim

If you guys do decide to get together with a mango grafting party... I would love to go.

Like this thread & I can give you all some insight on this. My Grandfather who is no more had a mango bonsai and it was grown from seeds the year I was born. So, practically the bonsai today is 34 years old with a stem of 3.5-4 inch diameter. The tree is maintained and trimmed by my Dad now and it is approximately 3 feet tall.

I can give you some tips on how to grow the bonsai from seed stage to full grown stage -

1. After you consume a mango, wash the mango seed and try scraping off the remaining pulp and fiber on top of it. Once done, take a towel and vigorously rub all sides of the seed on it till it is dry and easy to hold. Then pick up a big pair of scissors or a Rose Cutter and try chipping the flat sides of the hard seed coating and make a side cut till the point that two fingers can go through to tear it apart. Do it very carefully without damaging the inner soft seed. Once you take it out, give it a wash to ensure it is clean. No need to tear the dark colored skin or anything - just use it as it is.

2. Get a Paper tissue and spray water on top of it to wet it completely. Crumble the tissue paper and squeeze out the water till it just remains moist and not dripping wet. Keep the seed inside the tissue paper and then keep it in a zip-lock bag. Before you zip it tight, blow in some air with your mouth to ensure it is not in a vacuum environment. After that, you can place the packet on top of your refrigerator or television set-top box as both of these keep maintaining a warm temperature. Please note that a germination heating pad is also used and available for your purchase but I am a home gardener and won't like to spend money on buying something that expensive.

3) Don't touch the packet or open it for exactly 7 days even if you are curious. Once you complete 7 days, open it up and you will see a germinated seed with two parts to it - (i) Root: This is a strong tip coming straight out of the seed which is either completely white in color or white at the opening to brown at the tip of it. (ii) Shoot: This is the stem which would either be too small for you to notice or green/white in color but tender. You will be able to identify both quite easily.

4. Now, when you separate the seed from the tissue paper, you might notice that there is a bit of mold formation or it has darkened. Don't get scared of it. Mango seedlings are quite strong by nature - so give it a tender wash under the tap and remove the molds with your thumb or finger.

5) Once the seed is clean (it won't be white clean - as it tends to turn darker in shade during the germination process due to the moisture), plant it with the roots inside the soil and the shoot in upward direction. You need to plant it in a medium sized pot (not a bonsai pot), and cover the top part with a transparent polythene and rubber band to create a green house effect. This helps to grow the shoot and root grow a bit quicker in a moist environment.

6) Let the plant grow over the next 6-7 months and you will see a fairly tall mango plant of 2-3 feet height. Don't think of the bonsai yet as your plant needs to be strong and healthy first with a lot of leaves to absorb as much sunlight as possible. You can even let it grow for an year first.

7) Buy a nice medium sized bonsai planter with good bonsai soil to ensure that water retention is less. The root system of bonsai requires it to be evenly moist and it is only possible when the soil doesn't retain too much water.

8) Take the mango plant out of the earlier planter and try to slowly remove as much soil possible from the root system. You need to do it very carefully so that you don't damage any of the primary roots. Tampering with the tertiary roots (finer ones) wont make a difference. Then try to trip some of the long roots and chop the tap root (main root going straight downwards and thickest at the center) half way to ensure that it doesn't grow vertically any more. You want the lateral roots to take good shape and thicken instead.

9) After that, you should place the plant in the bonsai planter with bonsai soil and cover the roots with more soil. Place a few small stones to hold the plant upright. Now, you need to work on the upper part of the mango plant. Chop off the straight up stem till it is 3 feet tall. Trim the branches from wherever it has grown abnormally. Try to chop of stems which you feel are not making it look neat as shaping the bonsai is what will define the future look.

10) After every six months, you need to continue to keep trimming the plant and gradually you will notice that the trunk will keep thickening as you are not allowing lateral growth.

11) It takes a minimum of 5-6 years for the size of the leaves to gradually shrink in size and it producing more mangoes of smaller size even in ripe stage. In the beginning from 3-7 years, whenever you will have mangoes, it would be bigger in size and less in quantity as it takes time to adapt to the plant-to-tree journey.

I just wanted to share this with you as I thought that you must know that growing a bonsai mango requires a lot of patience unlike many other fruit bonsais. I have started to make my own from the seed.

All the best!