Carrie Mango Tree

This is my Carrie Mango tree. It used to have three branches but two of them have broken off. I'm thinking about chopping off the top so that it can grow new branches and balance itself out again. The branch you see in the pot is one of the branches that fell off. I stuck it in the dirt in the hope that it will root itself but the chances of that is pretty slim.

11/14/09
Before chopping off the top of the tree I want to try to salvage the branch since it has gotten pretty big and see if I could make a whole new tree out of it. I'm going to start by cutting away a portion of the bark. Its my hope that this is where the new roots will sprout from.



Here it is after I cut it entirely away. Its called a girdle.



Then I'm going to place a plastic bag around it filled with peat moss.



Here it is. I added a plastic tube at the top to make it easier to water.



The bag was a little saggy so I placed a tie around it to tighten it up a bit.



I put another stick for more stability and there you have it.



I put foil around it to keep the sunlight out since roots won't grow in the presence of light.



I plan on cutting off this branch, regardless of whether it grows roots or not, next spring. Since this was only done as an experiment I didn't do some things that should have been done such as applying some sort of rooting hormone. My main objective was to cut the top off the main trunk to stimulate new branches. Since I would have lost this branch anyway, I decided to try to see if I could save it and make a whole new tree. Check back next spring to see the results.

Update: 11/21/09. I bought some rooting hormone powder (naphthaleneacetic acid 0.20%) to give this a better chance of making it. I mixed the powder with a little bit of water to make a paste. I applied it to the exposed part of the branch and also made additional "wounds" above the original girdle. I also removed the next set of leaves above the girdle. I didn't have any free hands so I don't have any pictures of this process but here is the finished product.



Update: 1/7/10
Here is a pic of the branch I'm going to chop off next spring. As you can see, its growing new leaves and branches. I looked under the foil and did not see any roots yet.



UPDATE: 3/10/10

I've been gradually snipping the branch so that now it is hanging by the bark. I'm trying to induce the branch to form roots since it is barely hanging on. This is how it looks now. I'll probably give it another couple of weeks before I totally cut it off and replant the branch.





UPDATE: 7/21/10

I should have updated this about two months ago because that is approximately when my experiment died. My air layered branch didn't make it. Although I may have a successful air layered mango after all. Read up on my post about my Manila mango to see what I mean.