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So I bought a Kent mango about 3 days ago, it came by courier and was a bit beaten up when arrived as one of the flower stalks had been knocked off.

It's been cool here the last few days, probably around 10 degrees so I'm not sure if this is just shock from the courier. Yesterday I had it in a room at 22 degrees C with grow lights on it all day and night. Then today it's been sunny and Iv had it in the greenhouse which was about 27 degrees C. I have brought it back in overnight until Iv got the heating sorted out in there as it dips down to 16C at the moment and I need to seal up some gaps so it stays around 20C.

After being in the greenhouse today I noticed some of the leaves look a bit odd, I'm not sure what the brown colour is, it's only on about 4-5 leaves, the rest look fine, I think that was the direction of the sun, so is it possible they are scorched ?, as I thought mango could take serious heat and not a slightly warm UK Spring.

The room it's been in with the grow lights is between 60-75% humidity, the greenhouse is probably more like 75-85%

It's been dull up until today, hence the grow lights, but today it was like the tropics in the greenhouse.

The soil is very slightly damp, I gave it a cup of water when I first got it and that's all it's had so it's not waterlogged, just slightly damp.

It looks like it's been doused in copper spray by the nursery so didn't know if this was fungal related.enter image description hereenter image description hereenter image description hereenter image description here Graft is here : enter image description here

Iain Simpson
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  • By the way it's grafted, the top drooped leaf part is grafted onto the stalk part with the different leaves. – Iain Simpson May 10 '17 at 22:48
  • There should be no different leaves on the stem - the leaves on the stem seem similar to the top leaves from the pics, and I'm not seeing any graft point - is it at the bottom of the stem? Was the brown marking present when you received it, and what's that dead looking part of the stem, or is that a bamboo cane in your second photo - I'm not sure this is a great plant, frankly... – Bamboo May 10 '17 at 23:09
  • The graft for the top is behind the top leaves at the top, the bottom half of the stem I think is just old growth as it looks more woody as it goes into the ground. – Iain Simpson May 10 '17 at 23:12
  • Just edited it and added in the graft, I'm not sure if the brown marks were there or not to be honest. – Iain Simpson May 10 '17 at 23:16
  • I don't like the look of the graft, looks ragged and uneven, and is that a crack in the stem coming off the top of it? Either way, there should be no growth off the mainstem below the growth point either, so remove those leaves close to the stem. What about the brown marking though, present when you received it? – Bamboo May 10 '17 at 23:17
  • I'm not sure if they were there to be honest or not, I don't really want to remove any leaves yet as I'm going to wait and ssd if it survives as the nursery said to keep them informed, so not sure if they would take it back if I start pulling leaves. – Iain Simpson May 10 '17 at 23:20
  • Frankly, I'd return it from whence it came and ask for a healthier replacement - I don't think it looks too healthy; there seems to be a problem around the graft and just above it, coupled with the brown marking on the leaves. Its a bad sign they sent it out with growth off the lower stem, any decent grower would have ensured that was removed as it appeared. – Bamboo May 10 '17 at 23:20
  • Yes that is a crack by the way, not sure how recent it is but may have happened in the courier box as it had some flowers missing. – Iain Simpson May 10 '17 at 23:21

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Following on from discussion in comments, I'd return it. The graft is ragged and uneven, and the stem coming out of it has corky marking or scar tissue at its base and a crack in the stem. It's been sent out regardless of the fact there's growth coming off the stem below the graft, which is poor practice, and finally, there's brown marking within the leaf tissue. If the crack in the stem has been caused in transit, that simply means it was badly packaged, and that's another reason to return it, but I think it's unlikely that caused the crack.

Regarding environment, in the UK at this time of year, uv rays are strong - admittedly it's not been very sunny recently, and not warm either, but once that sun comes out, and particularly through glass or plastic, the uv levels will be high and quite intense, less so as we get into late June onwards. Although these plants like sun exposure, you don't know what conditions its been kept under, and full sunlight might not have been part of it. Most young growth, even on sunloving plants, must be acclimatized gradually to sunlight if they have not grown from the start in sun.

Bamboo
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  • Thanks for the advice, Iv dropped them an email with photos to see what they say, in the greenhouse in the sun and also in the house under the grow lights it's in the 20's (C) anyway with plenty of light so should in theory grow fine. It's got flowers on it so I'm guessing it can't have been too bad, although some of the leaf tips do have burn, so possibly been cold at some point . – Iain Simpson May 10 '17 at 23:46
  • After having the nursary speak to the grower and show them the photos they have told me the 4 damaged leaves are due to low temperature damage, which seems to look right if I do a google image search. Apparently the blue stuff on the leaves is plant feed, as I thought it was copper fungicide. They said to keep an eye on it, and if it doesn't bounce back they'll replace it. The cold damage makes sense as it was a couple of days ago when it was about 15 degrees colder than it is here today so not sure if a cold courier depot has done it as it's been in +20c here at all times,its taking water ok. – Iain Simpson May 11 '17 at 11:19
  • The compost was nearly dry this morning so seems to be drinking ok, I'm leaning towards the dryer side with it so it's only very slightly damp as Iv seen the conditions they grow in. – Iain Simpson May 11 '17 at 11:24