How to Make a Bonsai Mango Tree
You are thinking of planting your mango tree to enjoy directly from the farm fruits, but you live in an urbanized, non-spacious estate. What do you do? Bonsai farming! This is an ancient Japanese farming technique that takes up a relatively small space due to the fact that you plant the mango into a small pot in order to minimize the tree’s growth.
To make a bonsai mango tree, you need to consider the following three things, the first would be the pot’s size and shape, the tree seed type which can be either dwarf or ordinary, and lastly your availability to water the plant. Once the roots begin to sprout you should take your seedling from the nursery, plant it into a pot with highly moist soil, wait for it to germinate, and conduct by regular root pruning to minimize its growth.
The Pot’s Size and Style
When considering the pots to use for the bonsai mango tree, you need to look into the pots’ size and style. The pot should be large enough to cater to the expanding root, thus collecting more nutrients and moisture from the soil allocation.
The pot chosen should be 20 by 20 inches or larger and should have enough drainage holes since mangos thrive with better drainage. Adding a layer of pottery at the bottom as well as another layer of crushed gravel, will also bolster the drainage ultimately leading to better fruition.
A stylish pot is necessary to ensure the bonsai mango tree’s appearance is alluring and producing better. For example, since mango roots require deeper space, finding a deep seated pot can allow for it to grow successfully.
Soil and Seed Type
The best soil for mangos is a highly nutritious soil that is composed of 40% compost, 20% pumice, and 40% forest floor mulch. Other high quality garden soil is also great for mango planting. Using the soil compositions mentioned above will guarantee your tree enough nutrients to last a long time.
If you do decide to maintain a larger-sized mango tree, then the best way of ensuring that it saves space is by limiting its growing area. This is achieved by pruning branches and roots when it’s young.
Planting The Bonsai Mango Tree
Plant your seed an inch below the soil cover to help accelerate the germination. The most appropriate time to germinate for a mango seed is during the spring season, where the soil will enjoy adequate moisture for germination.
Other factors such as warmth and time will help in ensuring a good mango bonsai tree. Merging all the favourable conditions will result in faster germination between 3 and 4 weeks.
After germination, take the seedling into the bonsai pot. During this process, you need to first add ⅓ of the soil, put your plant in then add more soil until the roots are well covered. Water the bonsai properly until the water starts running through the drainage holes, all the way to the bottom of the pot. It is advised to water the plant every three days.
When you see the first fruit develop stop watering until the fruit development stops. In order to ensure the best fruits and productivity from a bonsai mango tree, you should regularly add fertilizer to the soil. After the fruiting stops, take one tablespoon of granular fertilizer and mix it with a gallon of water; use a quarter of this new mixture as fertilizer every four days, while watering daily to ensure the most recent fertilizer input is washed away.
After about six or seven months, the tree will reach full growth, and at that time you can remove all the new buds allowing the tree to grow branches. At the end of one year, the tree may become root-bound, and as such, you need to root prune and replace the soil or re-pot it altogether. The branches also need regular pruning for better branch results and doing that will lead to fruition.
Like any other mango tree, bonsai mango trees often fruit, but the average fruition period ranges from 3-5 years while producing smaller fruits than ordinary mango fruits. A well-cared for bonsai mango tree with enough nourishment can live for 300 years, allowing the owner to enjoy excellent production for years.
In Summary
For a sense of naturally farming mango fruits, bonsai is the best way of beginning. Before planting the tree, you should consider the type of pot and seeds you aim to grow. Moreover, during planting, ensure that your seed is just an inch below the soil to fasten its germination. After the full plant growth, you need to prune the roots to make sure they don’t expand and take more space than required.
The little details like watering on time, using the appropriate fertilizer, while ensuring the tree enjoys exposure to light for at least 6 hours a day will go a long way in ensuring your plant’s success. Adhering to this guide on bonsai mango farming will guarantee some fruits in an average duration range of 3 to 5 years.