How to prevent early flowering in mango? Key points for planting management

Mango is an evergreen fruit tree that consumes a large amount of water and nutrients. If it encounters long-term drought weather, combined with improper water and fertilizer management, once the accumulated temperature is sufficient, flower bud differentiation will be rapid, and early flowering will occur, making it vulnerable to low-temperature cold and overcast weather; the flowers cannot be pollinated, the fruit-setting rate is low, causing reduced yield or total crop failure. So how do you prevent early flowering in mango?

1. Prune branches: After harvesting the fruit, cut off old, weak, damaged, diseased, dense, shaded and crossing branches, and also cut off the remaining fruit stalks, then carry out a thorough garden cleanup. This can promote new branch sprouting and ventilation and light penetration, reduce nutrient consumption and pest and disease damage, and can also delay flower bud sprouting and control early flowering.

2. Apply sufficient fertilizer: Mango flowering and fruiting consume a large amount of nutrients. After harvesting the fruit, heavy fertilizer should be applied, and the amount applied should account for about 80% of the annual amount, to meet the needs of restoring growth and expanding the canopy. Mainly nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, applied in a ring-shaped trench dug at the outer edge under the canopy projection, applying 40-60 kg each of compost, barnyard manure and farmyard manure per tree, or 7-10 kg of compound fertilizer, then covering with soil.

3. Prevent drought damage: Mango dislikes drought and fears waterlogging. This year, severe drought occurred continuously in summer and autumn, flower bud differentiation was rapid, and buds and flowers were drawn and bloomed ahead of time. To prevent drought damage, plow and loosen the surface soil of the orchard to reduce water loss. The autumn and winter drought lasts a long time, so water should be applied thoroughly 1-2 times each month (irrigate if conditions permit). At the same time, dig irrigation and drainage ditches around the orchard to prevent waterlogging from heavy rain and rainstorms. Build up high soil at the base of the fruit trees so that waterlogged water drains quickly. Before winter begins, spray pesticide 1-2 times to prevent pest and disease damage.

4. Top grafting to change varieties: For those varieties that grow and develop rapidly under long-term high temperature weather and are prone to early flowering, top grafting to change varieties should be adopted. Change the entire tree to excellent late-maturing varieties, so that flowering and pollination are delayed, avoiding the damage of low-temperature cold rain in early spring.

5. Regulate the flowering period: Remove early-emerged inflorescences so that they re-bud and bloom. To a certain extent, this can delay the flowering period and avoid cold damage. That is, when the inflorescence is 8-10 cm long, carry out flower removal. However, before mid-February, flower removal can only be done 1-2 times; if flower removal is done too many times, the flowering vigor will be weak and pollination ability will be lost.

6. Chemical flower control: When flower buds appear, spray with 350 times diluted paclobutrazol solution or 1000 times diluted ethephon solution, spraying once every 12-15 days, for 2-3 consecutive sprays, which can achieve the effect of controlling flowering.