How to plant mango

The surest way is to buy a healthy grafted sapling from a government or other reliable nursery and plant it at the start of the rains, in a deep pit on land that never floods. NABARD advises getting grafted, true-to-type plants from recognised nurseries, and TNAU uses grafted plants for planting.

When to plant

The National Horticulture Board (NHB) says the best time to plant mango all over India is the monsoon: early in the monsoon in low-rainfall areas and towards the end of the rains in high-rainfall areas. As a guide:

• North-west dry zone, northern plains, central India and the east: July–August.
• West coast and other very wet areas: towards the end of the rains, around September.
• Tamil Nadu coast: TNAU gives July to December; October–November planting suits only places like this, where the main rains come with the north-east monsoon.

These months are a guide: plant when the rains have properly wetted the soil in your district, and avoid the hot, dry months of April to June.

Pit, spacing and planting

• Sapling: Vikaspedia's calendar suggests a graft about 60–75 cm tall with a clean, well-joined graft union and no side shoots on the rootstock.
• Pit: NHB suggests 0.5 × 0.5 × 0.5 m in deep, loamy soil and 1 × 1 × 1 m in shallow or hill soils. Refill with the dug soil mixed with well-rotted farmyard manure before the rains so it settles.
• Spacing: NHB gives about 10 × 10 m between trees in dry zones and 12 × 12 m where growth is vigorous; TNAU gives 7–10 m. For a garden tree, leave room for a crown that wide. This is only a rough starting point, not a safe distance from a house, wall, pipe or septic tank, so ask your local horticulture office if space is tight.
• Planting: set the earth ball in the centre of the pit at the depth it stood in the bag, press the soil around it, make a basin and water at once (NHB). Keep the graft union above the soil; TNAU says about 15 cm above ground level. Tie the plant to a stake (NABARD) and fence it where cattle or goats roam.

Growing mango from a seed (guthli)

A fresh mango stone will usually sprout, but the tree may not give fruit like its parent: ICRAF notes that seedling fruit varies widely and can be fibrous. ICRAF also says mango seed dies within about 7 days in open storage at 30 °C, so clean off the pulp and sow the stone soon, in a bag of loose, moist (not wet) soil.

First-year watering (rough starting point)

Check the soil a few centimetres down near the roots: water deeply when the root zone is drying, skip watering after rain, and never let water stand around the stem. TNAU says weekly watering is essential under conventional (basin) irrigation. The intervals below are only a rough starting point, not trial results.

Season	Rough interval (check the soil first)
Monsoon (Jul–Sep)	Usually none; only in a long dry break
Post-monsoon and winter (Oct–Feb)	About every 1–2 weeks if the soil is dry
Spring (Mar)	About weekly
Summer (Apr–Jun)	About every 3–5 days in hot, dry places