Guide on managing bearing mango

trees
By Baby P. Ramilo, Agriculture magazine (12.2005)
Here's a guide recommended by the National Research
and Development Center (NMRDC) in Guimaras on the
proper cultural management of bearing mango trees.
Pruning
Pruning is the removal of undersirable vegetative parts of
the tree, including dead, insect-infested, diseased and
crowded branches (referred to as light pruning). It is done
to allow sunlight to penetrate the crown, reduce incidence
of pests and diseases, improve quality of fruits, increase
fruit production and make the trees resistant to lodging.
The best time to prune is during summer after harvest to
prepare the tree for the next bearing season. At the same
time, pruning in summer favors faster healing of wounded
plant parts.
An integral part of pruning is training the canopy to a
manageable size, shape and height. If possible, pruning
on the sides should be avoided. Drastic pruning
(topworking), on the other hand, can be used only to
change the variety or rehabilitate old, non-productive
trees.

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Irrigation
Irrigate the trees weekly during flower initiation and fruit
development stages up to one month before harvest.
Adequate water supply will enhance fast development,
minimize fruit drop and increase fruit size. The volume of
water ranges from 60-100 liters per tree, depending on the
size of the tree and available soil moisture.
Fertilization
As much as possible, soil/tissue analysis should be done
to determine the nutrient requirement of mango trees. In
the absence of such, the following rates are suggested:
 5-6 years old:  500 gm-1 kg 14-14-14 (triple 14) or 3-4
kg manure + 500 gm-1 kg triple 14
 7-8 years old: 2 kg triple 14 or 4-5 kg manure + 2 kg
triple 14
 9-10 years old: 3 kg triple 14 or 5-6 kg manure + 3 kg
triple 14
 11-15 years old: 5 kg triple 14 + 10 kg manure
 16-20 years old: 6-7 kg triple 14 + 12 kg manure
 Above 20 years old: 10 kg triple 14 + 15-20 kg
manure
Apply fertilizer on the soil once or two times (split) at the
onset and before the end of rainy season. Fertilizer can
also be applied during the dry season if there is enough
irrigation.
Place fertilizer in canal dug around the tree with 1-2
meters radius from the trunk and 15-30 cm deep or in 6-8
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holes around the tree. For big trees, follow the canopy drip
line.
At flowering, spraying of foliar fertilizer is also
recommended as suppllement.
Flower Induction
Potassium nitrate (KNO3) is the generic name of the
chemical flower inducer used in mango. This contains
13% nitrogen and 46% potash. When sprayed on mango,
it supplies the potassium requirement of the tree and helps
induce flowering.
Before inducing mango trees to bear flower, the following
should be considered:
1. Varied flowering and fruiting habits of different
varieties of mango.
2. Chemical flower inducers should not be used when
the tree is too small or too young, when the leaves and
buds are young, when the tree is sickly, during rainy
days and after harvest or when the tree has fruits or at
the flushing stage.
3. High dosage (2.0-3.0%) should be used when the
weather is cold/cloudy, when trees are just starting to
mature or having vigorous buds and leaves.
4. Low dosage (1.0-1.5%) of inducers is used during
sunny or hot weather, when trees are big, old or fully
mature and when trees are healthy with dormant buds.
5. Induce flowering only once a year.
6. Age of shoots should be 7-8 months (from flowering
to harvest).
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7. Trees that had borne fruits last season but have not
flushed should not be induced to flower.
8. Spray when the tree and leaves are dry and with no
expected rain within the next 6 hours.
Spray KNO3, by thoroughly wetting the leaves but not
dripping. Spray early in the morning (from sunrise to 9:00
AM) or late in the afternoon (from 4-5 PM) to prevent leaf
burning due to direct sunlight.
Management at Flowering Stage
Supplement solid fertilizer with liquid fertilizer (foliar) at 14-
18 and 22-25 days after flow induction (DAFI).
Control of important insect pests and diseases should be
done. Spray insecticide/fungicide only when necessary.
Encourage pollinators (flies and bees) by withholding
pesticides at full bloom (28-32 DAFI). A 10% sugar
solution is recommended to attract poliinators.
Irrigate the trees weekly to enhance vigorous development
of flowers.
Management at Fruit-Bearing Stage
Foliar fertilizer is applied at fruit set (35-40 DAFI) and fruit
development (50-55 DAFI).
Pest control against major insects and diseases is
necessary. Bag (paper) the fruits at 55-60 DAFI at which
they are about the size of chicken egg. This practice
minimizes incidence of fruitfly and other insects, minimizes
fungal and other disease infection, reduces mechanical
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damage and results in cleaner fruit skin. Generally, this
will minimize the use of pesticides.
Irrigation is applied weekly during fruit development and
stoppped one month before harvest.
Pests and Diseases
Flowering stage
Insect pests - leafhoppers, tip borers, scale insects/mealy
bugs, thrips, flower beetles
Diseases - anthracnose, die back
Fruit-bearing stage
Insect pests - mango seeds black borer, fruitflies, cecid
flies, helopeltis, scales, mealy bugs, pulp weevil (in
Palawan)
Diseases -anthracnose, diplodia, scab, sooty mold
Integrated Pest Management
Integrated pest management for mango involves the
following practices:
1. Practice of clean culture which includes pruning,
weeding, thinning, cultivation and burning/destruction of
infested branches and fruits.
2. Regular monitoring of pest population.
3. Using only approved insecticides/fungicides for
mango.
4. Application of pesticide only when necessary using
the recommended dosage and proper timing.
5. Introduction and maintenance of natural enemies and
other biological control methods.
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6. Maintaining of right soil pH of 6-7 by applying
recommended fertlizers and soil conditioners.
7. Using pesticides derived from plant extracts.
8. Combinantion of cultural, chemical and biological
control methods to minimize pests.
 Harvesting
The following are the indications that mango fruits are
ready for harvesting:
 At 110 days (for very warm and dry environment), 120
days (warm climate) and 130 days (cool and high
elevation) after flower initiation;
 Broadening of shoulders at the stem end and fullness
of cheeks;
 Pedicel turns dark green to brown and pulp turning
yellow;
 Presence of powdery deposit or "bloom" on the
surface of the skin; and
 Sinking of 75% mature fruits when submerged in 1%
solution (100 gm salt to 1 liter of water).
Methods of Harvesting
Fruits are either picked by hands or by means of picking
pole and harvesting tools. Harvesting by hand, however, is
more effective in order to minimize bruises or damage on
the fruits. The best time to harvest is between 9-3 PM
when the latex flow is minimal. This will be trimmed and
dried before packing.
Postharvest Treatments
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The following postharvest treatments are recommended
when opting to sell high quality fruits:
 Washing of fruits in water. The fruits are washed in
water to remove dirt on the surface.
 Hot water treatment. The fruits are dipped in hot
water (52-55°C) for 5-10 minutes followed by hydro-
cooling (washing in cool water) and airdrying.
 Vapor heat treatment. This involves heating the
fruits with water vapor saturated air until the fruit pulp
temperature reaches 46°C for 10 minutes.
Packing
Sort fruits as to marketable and non-marketable in terms
of size and quality. Bamboo baskets (kaing) lined with
newspapers are used in packaging mangoes intended for
local market. For export market, mangoes are packed in
plastic crates or carton boxes with individual
compartments.
Ripening of Fruits
There are two ways to induce faster ripening of mango
fruits:
 Calcium carbide or "kalburo". Best results are
obtained by allowing the fruits to ripen naturally (half
ripe, with tinge of yellow color) prior to treatment with
calcium carbide at the rate of 1.25 gm per kilo of fruit.
This is done by wrapping the calcium carbide with
paper or leaves and placed at the bottom of the
container and covered for 2-3 days.
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 Ethyl water solution. The fruits are dipped in the
solution for 3 minutes to accelerate ripening.

Additional:

SPRAYING GUIDE FOR CARABAO MANGO 

Day 1 - Flower Induction      Use higher concentration of

KNO3 nitrate (2-3%) on young trees and even on old trees
during cold months. During dry season, use lower dosage
(1-2%). For 1% solution, 1 kg of KNO3 is needed to 100
liters of water. Stir the KNO3 thoroughly.      Spray, the
whole canopy including the top portion of the tree. All
terminal buds should be thoroughly sprayed or wet with
the KNO3 solution in order to induce flowering. Unsprayed
bud will not flower or flush.      Note: If you want to have 2-
3 sets of fruiting in one tree, spray only the portion of the
tree where you want to have fruits. You can schedule the
other parts after a few weeks so you will have continuous
supply of fruits. 

Day 7 - 25 - Flower Emergence to full bloom      Pest and

disease control is very important on this stage, if left
uncontrolled will wipe out all the flower and fruits.     
Under humid environment, anthracnose disease is
prevalent; pests on the other hand, are a lesser problem.
To control anthracnose, use systemic fungicide and to
control mango hopper and tip/twig borer, use
insecticide.      During dry season, diseases are lesser
problems thus ordinary fungicide can be used. Pests, on
the other hand, will be the major problem so learn to check
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the presence of insects and use appropriate
insecticide.      Use also foliar fertilizer and growth
enhancer, every 7-10 days interval. 

Day 25 - 35 - Full Bloom      This is the time pollination

takes place through the help of bees. During this stage, do
not spray insecticides or fungicides so that the bees will
not be killed. Day 36 - 50 - Fruit Setting      Insects like
mango hoppers, tip/twig borers and other harmful insects
should be controlled by spraying with appropriate
insecticide at 7-10 days interval.      Anthracnose and
scabs attack the fruits which need to be sprayed with
fungicide at 7-10 days interval. Day 51 - 110 Fruit
Development - Maturity Stage      Learn the presence of
diseases such as scab, sooty mold and insects like twig
borer, fruit fly, mango pulp weevil, capsid bug and mango
seed borer - Spray with appropriate chemicals when
needed. Stop spraying  30 days before ripening to avoid
toxic residues on the fruits.      Wrap the fruits when they
reach chicken egg size to make them blemish-free. Use
paper that can endure the rain.