When you grow a mango seed and grow it into a bonsai, a lot of patience is required. It may take a decade before you have suitable starting material. However, you can shape the tree according to your ideas right from the start.
How to grow a mango bonsai?
To grow a mango bonsai, you need a dried mango seed that you plant in garden soil. After germination, leaves form, then the tip is cut off to encourage branching. It takes up to 10 years until the bonsai is stable enough to be transplanted into a bonsai pot.
Preparations
You can germinate the well-dried seed of a juicy and ripe mango, with cultivation possible all year round in moist conditions. Place this in a pot with high-quality garden soil so that it is one centimeter below the surface of the substrate. In a mini greenhouse (€31.00 at Amazon) it is easier to create a moist microclimate. The first leaves appear after three to four months.
Shaping raw material
For the next six to seven months, you should let the mango plant grow so that it develops as many leaves as possible on the main shoot. It grows straight upwards and rarely develops branches in the early stages. Start by cutting off the top with the top two to four leaves. Place the scissors directly over a well-developed leaf.
Alternatively, you can pinch off the terminal bud. In this way you stimulate the formation of branches in the lower area of the main stem, because the resting buds in the leaf axils are encouraged to sprout by the intervention. Once two to three branches have developed on the main stem, cut the plant directly above the last branch.
Growing mango trees
Place the deep-rooted tree in a tall pot that you fill with permeable and slightly loamy soil. A mixture of garden soil with compost and coconut fiber creates an ideal growth base. Replace the substrate annually in spring. Additional fertilization during the growing season ensures that the main stem and branches develop vigorously.
Shaping Bonsai
As soon as the tree develops flowers and bears fruit for the first time, the step towards bonsai cultivation is possible. It can take seven to ten years before you can transplant the tree into a bonsai pot.
Repotting
Take the plant out of the plant pot and remove about half of the substrate. You should not prune the roots. Instead, choose a planting bowl of the right size. In this way, the tree suffers as little stress as possible. The young and green branches can be easily bent and shaped using guy wires. If these become woody, remove the wires.
Care properly:
- administer nitrogen-rich fertilizer in the early growth phase
- Provide potash and phosphate fertilizer shortly before flowering for he althy fruits
- cut back branches after harvest and give autumn fertilizer
- alternatively, mix liquid fertilizer with irrigation water and spray on the leaves
Tip
Mango plants are high maintenance. Especially in the winter months, you have to make sure that the large-leaved foliage is not attacked by pests such as spider mites. Ideal conditions are a must.
