Dead Mango Graft, New Mango Plant

Alright, it's been a while since I talked about my mango adventures.  That's just because nothing was happening.  In the past few days, some big things have occurred, and not all good. 

First on my adventure list is my mango graft.  A couple of weeks ago, I experimented with our big tree.  I got a healthy green branch and I tried grafting it in the thick trunk.  My challenges included skinning the bark and getting in deep enough since the trunk was pretty hard.  And if succeeded I was afraid the tree would fall on my head.  After a couple of weeks of waiting, the stem finally browned.  It was dead.  I think it was watered too, which made the stem rot.  I'll try again in a couple of days.

Next on my list is my mango plant, which I've been nurturing for over a month now (it used to be this small). It looks healthy, but for some reason it also looks stunted.  I've watered it, applied small doses of fertilizer and I tilled the soil. Did I just achieve in growing a dwarf without grafting?  Hahaha...but in any case, it's still alive and well.  Maybe it's just biding its time.   As usual, my Gotu Kola is making a cameo in the picture.

Finally, I was surprised over the weekend when I looked at my germination pot (where all my random seeds grow before I transplant them).  Here, I placed my new Gotu Kola.  But look at the one beside it.  It's a new mango sprout!  It's been there for weeks without action.  Finally it grew.  But that's not all.  In a couple of days, it has overtaken the Gotu Kola and my original mango plant in terms of height. If you look at the leaves, they're not even mature yet.   Amazing how it jumped out like that.

But wait!  There's more!  The picture isn't so good, but if you look at the seed, it looks like a second stem is coming out.  Is that cool or what?  It's like an adolescent suddenly hitting a growth spurt and growing hair all over.  Maybe I should buy it a deodorant.  Tsk.  And that's it.  It's so cool, but it's also at the side of the pot.  Should I transfer it to the middle considering how bad my transplant skills are (60% death rate)?  Should I wait until it looks stable and hard to kill before moving?  Should I just let it be and hope it grows towards the middle?

In the coming days, I'll talk about two batches of seeds I'm germinating and drying and how I'll employ different methods to grow them just for fun.

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