I'd like to clarify some of the confusion regarding the "fuse-grafting techniques, and training methods that I have used on some trees. I will employ this same method on the fig trees that I have just purchased. I realize that this technique is not for everyone. I just wanted to share this information with you guys. Use it as you wish. "Fuse-grafting" techniques DO NOT involve cutting into the healthy bark so that the cambium layers can be aligned. No wounds are created by this technique so no insects or diseases will enter or infect the trunks being joined. No special follow-up treatments are needed. It is not labor-intensive. Once the stems are joined together, just follow your regular fig growing routines. The mainstems are simply screwed together to create a fatter, and stronger "trunk". The "composite-trunk" will not be weak, nor will they pull apart. The screwheads will quickly be covered over with new bark, and in time, you will not be able to tell that the heavy, fat trunk was at one time, made up of individual stems. This "grafting" will take a few years, and the spaces between the individual trunks will fill in and smooth over with new bark. Your trees will look like a bundle of tied-up cornstalks for a while so be patient. In addition, this method consolidates plant material which would normally be grown in separate containers. I do not have the space to grow individual trees, so I needed to find a way to grow my fig trees in one container. Fuse-grafting to the rescue. Now I'll have three times the plant material growing in one place ... and maybe three times the figs too. I also like seeing trees with short, fat, trunks with lots of taper supporting a nice rack of ramified branchlets. More branches, more nodes, more nodes, more figs. This preference is a hold-over from my bonsai days. Large diameter trunks convey age and endurance. Exposed rootage does too. I like thinking outside the box. I know that this training method might be too unconventional for some, but I'm going to try it out to see how well it works...or, fails. Wintering-over will still be a problem for me. I have an unheated shed where I stored some fig trees over the winter '06. The trees did OK. I'm hoping for the same results with my new trees. I've also read that fig trees can be brought into a heated room to break dormancy about a month before they are ready to be grown outside. For my zone, this would probably be around mid, to late April. I'll try bringing my trees in on Tax Day and I'll put them outside around Mother's Day. I read that it takes about two weeks for dormancy to break and for buds to swell, and, at least another two weeks before the new leaves start suffer from low light. Any thoughts...pro or con?

Well after further assessing the damage we decided to trim away the messed up bark and just hope for the best. Everything I read on the net says not to paint it with liquid remedies or wrap it (something about inhibiting oxygen exchange) so I think I'll just take a wait and see approach. Meanwhile, If I can get a few more seasons out of it then maybe the sprout that's coming from the roots (left in the photo) will have had time to get bigger. Thanks for the input and if you have any other ideas I'd like to know. Jen F

Where I live there's an Indian ex-pat group that charters a planeload of Alphonso mangoes from home once a year, meeting up at the airport to pick up so many cases each. Intense flavor and color, zero fiber, bruises too easily for the mass market. A friend of ours has been in that group and he was so passionate about Alphonsos, saying that they are the most sought-after mango in all of India, that that's what I planted. I bought it from Top Tropicals in Florida after the local nurseryman told me to, that he would just have to order it from someone like them himself anyway and price accordingly. One place I read said that volcanic soils where the Alphonsos come from may play a part in their flavor; okay, so, I bought some volcanic ash and spread it around it and it at least didn't hurt it any, certainly. My tree actually set a single fruit but at only a few months old was too young to sustain it, which is fine. But the blossoms! My goodness, lots of them, and the perfume! The honeybees loved it. They were just the most exquisite thing. My daughter grew lemons in Vermont, hauling the pot in and out with the seasons, so if you want a mango enough you can do it. Alphonsos grow fairly quickly to great height in the right conditions and I figure that means they'll recover quickly if they need to. (I'm going to keep mine at eight feet or so.) Mallika is a similar type mango that grows more slowly and is supposed to make a good potted tree. Less pruning to keep it to a small size. Have fun!

The stakes are still in place to protect it from young kids riding bikes, rough playing. They trampled the first tree I planted and this is why the stakes are still in place. ==>>> good answer ... understand.. none of us want it staked any longer .... but i suppose they should no longer be called stakes.. to avoid confusion ... but im a bit dull this morning and cant come up with a better term ... for child protection ... i asked: what is that white thing on the edge of your square?? ... what is your base soil type.. have you ever perked it??? is it some sort of deep watering idea???? a second season maple.. should not need much water ... except in extreme drought next year ... and should be free range by the following year .... so there would be no need for the pvc .... imo ... is you lawn irrigated??? .. looks pretty nice .... if so.. once the tree is over transplant issues .... it shouldnt need a lot of extra water .... ken