Mangoes are tropical, evergreen trees that survive all year long without shedding leaves. Even so, there’s a significant collection of leaves at the base of the mango tree, signifying some dropping. This is unusually healthy, and new ones soon replace the leaves.
Since mangoes are primarily tropical fruits, they exist outside winter climates where deciduous trees thrive. So, they don’t get the environmental signals from shorter days and lower temperatures to start dropping leaves.
But mangoes still drop some leaves in the winter. How much, and what does that look like? Keep reading to find out.
Why Is Mango Considered an Evergreen Tree?
Mango trees never totally shed leaves and always have the full canopy look all year round.
It’s also possible that the mango leaves change color depending on the season, often turning yellow then golden brown later. However, that doesn’t stop the mango tree from keeping most of its leaves.
Likewise, mangoes are considered evergreen because they quickly replace the leaves shed all year round. Thus, even when mangoes shed their leaves in the winter months, they’ll also regrow them in that period.
Do Mango Trees Go Dormant in the Winter?
Mango trees don’t produce fruit in the winter months and will usually wait till the next summer/fall season to start bearing fruits again. However, some mango trees will start showing early signs of fruiting towards the end of the winter, only coming into full bloom during the following summer/fall cycle.
Still, mango trees don’t lose all their leaves when they go dormant. Sometimes, they may drop a significant number of leaves gathering under the tree’s base. Even so, the tree still maintains a thick canopy of leaves.
Good Read: Learn when mango varieties are in season in different parts of the US.
What Happens If Mango Trees Start Shedding Leaves?
A mango tree will naturally shed some leaves at different times of the year, collecting into lovely foliage at the tree’s base. However, it’s abnormal for the mango tree to lose many leaves at any time.
When that happens, any of these could be the problem:
- Low protection against weather changes. While mangoes are evergreen, they need protection against extreme weather changes. This is especially true when the tree is just growing. Otherwise, it stresses and starts losing leaves.
- Irregular water supply. Mango trees need a regular water supply to keep their leaves fresh, green, and on the tree. When they don’t get watered enough, it may respond by dropping some leaves to conserve the resources it has for the others.
- Poor drainage issues. Poor draining affects younger mango trees more, causing a significant leaf drop if it’s getting too much water than it needs at the roots.
- Diseases. Mango trees may lose their leaves if they get struck by a disease like powdery mildew and red rust and die back. Fortunately, these diseases can be treated so that the mango gets back to winning ways fast.
It’s noteworthy that a mango leaf can last for five years before dropping. So, if your mango leaves start dropping left and right, it’s time to pay more attention to the tree.
How to Prevent Mango Trees From Shedding Leaves?
You can help slow down the rate at which your mango trees lose leaves, promoting only a healthy leaf loss, by following the outline below:
- Grow in suitable climates. Mangoes do well in tropical climates. So, avoid planting them in areas with substantial winter season changes as that may affect their chances to keep leaves.
- Ensure good air circulation. Don’t plant your mango trees in cramped spaces. Give it enough room to breathe, grow and get air circulation.
- Build a windbreaker. This is only important if you live in windy areas. Otherwise, you can do away with the windbreaks as mango trees grow strong against mild winds.
- Water the tree regularly. It would be best if you watered the mango tree between 2-3 times daily when the rainy season hasn’t kicked in. Be careful with the water quantity since overlogging can introduce new diseases and problems, causing the tree to lose leaves.
- Avoid excess heat. Mangoes prefer to grow in sunny and tropical climates, but that doesn’t mean they don’t hate excessive heat either. So, don’t plant one in a region susceptible to extended heatwaves.
Enjoy Your Mangoes
Now that you know how your mango trees classify, you can take better care of the trees and know when something may be wrong with the leaves.
Most importantly, understand that a mango being evergreen doesn’t also mean you can get fruits from it every time of the year. Fortunately, imported supply helps pick up the deficit during local off-seasons.
