Today we will talk about how to grow a fruit-bearing mango tree yourself at home. We will also find out what methods and technologies are available for cultivating mangoes on a windowsill or in a greenhouse.
First, buy a mango fruit from the store. When choosing a fruit, pay attention to its ripeness. Most of the mangoes on our shelves are super wooden. Choose the softest mangoes. After freeing the mango pit from the pulp, the pit should be cleaned as thoroughly as possible. Thinking about growing it in room conditions, you need to understand that you will have a large, quite fast growing plant, which must be provided with light and heat.
Mangoes are easy to grow from a large, flat, egg-shaped seed, extracted, and fruit. Of course, the fruit must be taken ripe. The choice of such a fruit is complicated by the fact that the peel does not turn yellow or red in all varieties; in some it remains green when ripe. To remove the seed, take a softer, slightly overripe fruit; sometimes you can find in it an already burst seed with a sprout showing out. Before planting, clean the pit as much as possible from the pulp, which is not so easy to do because of its fibrous surface. Still, you need to try to scrape off the pulp with a knife, otherwise mold will appear after planting.
The seed should be used immediately after removal from the fruit; dried or frostbitten seeds will not germinate. open bone You can plant it right away by placing it with the root down, close to the soil surface. Mango seeds have a very hard skin, like an apricot. And if you want to succeed in this event, then you should help the seed. Release the sprout from its “shell”.
If the seed is not open, immerse it in a glass of water at room temperature for 1-2 weeks (it must be changed every 2 days), and then plant it, once again scraping the swollen pulp on the surface. Another way is to let it swell in a wet towel, as we are used to germinating pumpkin or zucchini seeds. Do not allow it to dry out.
The soil for planting should be light, like for succulents, mixed with expanded clay or pebbles. The pot has a drainage hole. On top you need to organize a “greenhouse” from trimmed plastic bottle. Unscrew the plug occasionally for ventilation.
Place the pot with the seed in a bright place and keep the soil moist. Regular watering becomes especially important after germination, after 4-10 weeks. Several shoots sometimes appear from one seed at once. At first they grow very very slowly, then growth accelerates.
As soon as the seedlings get stronger, they gradually acclimatize the plant, remove the “greenhouse”, and transplant them into individual, more spacious containers, with fertile soil with the addition of marble chips. Mango is demanding on air humidity, so seedlings need to be sprayed periodically. When keeping plants, you need to take into account that they love space and warmth, and absolutely cannot stand cramped spaces and cold.
Plants bloom at the age of 6-10 years. In our climatic conditions Flowering usually does not occur not only in indoor conditions, but also in greenhouses. IN southern regions it's more real. But fruiting even in southern latitudes on a windowsill is very very rare. The fact is that a huge number of flowers in a paniculate yellowish or reddish inflorescence (there can be up to 10,000 of them) are not pollinated even on plantations, and from very few a fruit is formed. On the windowsill, where conditions are far from those required by the crop, the probability is even lower.
Mangoes should be replanted after the roots have braided. earthen lump. Mango seedlings grow at home quite quickly and vigorously. Subsequently, if you do not want to have a super-huge mango propping up the ceiling in your home, you can shape it by pruning.
Location. Mango seedlings prefer bright, indirect light. But as soon as the mango tree begins to grow rapidly, give it as much light as possible. If you can take it outside, even better.
Watering. During active growth Water the mango tree generously, allowing the soil to dry out between waterings. However, do not allow the soil to dry out. Germinating seeds should grow in a moderately moist substrate. Feed seed-grown mango seedlings with a weak liquid fertilizer solution throughout the growing season.
Substrate. When growing mangoes at home, they need to be provided with a fertile substrate with the addition of peat and always good drainage.
Varieties. Mango is one of the most cultivated crops in the world. In addition to the main species (of which there are about 40), breeders have created thousands of varieties. Fruit-bearing mango trees are not ornamental, although they are not without a special exotic charm.
Another way self-cultivation mango at home
In order for you to be able to grow a mango from a seed, you need to take a seed only from a fresh and ripe fruit. Therefore, it is very important to choose the right fruit - unripe fruits are also suitable for food (in extreme cases, they can be allowed to ripen at home), but to grow from a seed you need a ripe, not stale fruit.
For planting, you need to take only fresh seeds that have not yet dried out. Ideally, the seed should be planted within a couple of days after you remove it from the fruit. If for some reason you were unable to do this, place the seed in plastic bag, or better yet, into a container filled with damp soil, sawdust or sand. This way the seed will remain viable for another couple of months, although there is no 100% guarantee that it will germinate.
The bone removed from the fruit must be carefully cleaned of the remaining pulp. Then take a sharp knife and carefully crack open the hard shell of the seed. If the mango was really ripe, this should be fairly easy to do. Before planting, the seed must be treated with a fungicide (for example, a weak solution of potassium permanganate).
To plant mangoes at home you need big pot with thick walls and durable day. The root system of mangoes develops very quickly; if the pot has a thin bottom, the roots will simply break through it. As a result, you will have a plant with a powerful root (up to 60 cm long) and a very weak sprout. In this case, it will be very difficult to replant the tree without harming it.
Our exotic plant is not too demanding on the composition of the soil, but the ideal option would be a loose mixture of leaf and turf soil that allows moisture and air to pass through well. Good drainage is very important for mangoes. As with growing avocados, the seed is not completely immersed in the soil - a quarter should remain outside. In this case, the seed is immersed with the narrow end down.
The sprout will appear in a few weeks (in the tropics and subtropics it germinates faster, in a week or two, but in our temperate latitudes he will need three to four weeks). How to care for the sprout so that your tree grows healthy and beautiful? It must be remembered that mango is tropical plant, which means you need to create conditions for it that are as close as possible to the tropics.
This tree loves bright light, so you need to place the tree's pot in the brightest place in the house. If the plant lacks sunlight, the tree may get sick. It also loves high temperatures(approximately 22-24 degrees). Therefore, during the cold season, you may need to provide him with artificial lighting and additional heating.
Soil and air moisture is also important for mangoes. Young plant you need to water abundantly and often, and additionally spray: this will help protect the shoots from various pests. But don’t get carried away, the air humidity should be moderate. Mature plant water moderately: the earthen ball should not be dry or waterlogged. Make sure that the tree's leaves do not droop.
The first year after seed germination, you need to fertilize the soil once every two weeks - a month with a completely balanced organic fertilizer, then feeding can be reduced, but you need to feed at least once a season. Three times a year you need to feed with microfertilizers; in the fall, you need to stop feeding.
If you decide to get a tree from a seed, do not expect fruit immediately: plants grown from a seed begin to bear fruit only in the sixth year, and the taste of the fruit may be quite specific. When the mango begins to bear fruit, it should be watered abundantly (but not overwatered) before and after fruiting, and sparingly during fruit ripening.
Now you know how to grow mangoes from seeds, and if you wish, you can replenish your home garden beautiful evergreen exotic.
The fruit of this exotic plant Rightly called the "King of Fruits", mango is one of the most popular, nutritious fruits with unique taste, aroma, which makes it Numero Uno among functional foods. It is often called a "super fruit"
Mango is one of the delicious seasonal fruits grown in the tropics. The tree is believed to have originated in the sub-Himalayan plains of India. This exotic fruit belongs to the family Anacardiaceae, which also contains numerous species of tropical fruit trees And flowering plants such as cashews, pistachios, etc.
The tropical mango tree is cultivated in many regions of India, and its farms are widely distributed throughout the world on many continents. Typically, the fruits grow at the end of a long branch, like a stem, sometimes with more than one fruit per stem.
Each fruit is usually 5 to 15 cm long and about 4 to 10 cm wide, and has a typical shape, but is sometimes oval or round. Its weight ranges from 150 to 750 g. The skin of the unripe fruit is smooth and green, but when it is ripe, it acquires a golden yellow, crimson-red, yellow or orange-red color, depending on the type of variety. The ripe fruit season lasts from April to August.
Delivered in various forms and sizes depending on the variety. Inside, its flesh is juicy, orange-yellow in color, with numerous soft fibers emanating from its flat seed located in the center of the fruit. The fruit has a pleasant and rich sweet taste with a slight sourness. A Mango seed usually has one embryo, but sometimes several.
Health Benefits of Mango Fruit
· The fruit is rich in biotic dietary fiber, vitamins, minerals and poly-phenolic flavonoids and antioxidants.
Mango - tropical evergreen tree. When thinking about growing it indoors, you need to understand that you will have a large, fairly fast-growing plant, which must be provided with light and warmth.
Mangoes are easy to grow from a large, flat, egg-shaped seed, extracted, and fruit. Of course, the fruit must be taken ripe. The choice of such a fruit is complicated by the fact that the peel does not turn yellow or red in all varieties; in some it remains green when ripe. To remove the seed, take a softer, slightly overripe fruit; sometimes you can find in it an already burst seed with a sprout showing out. Before planting, clean the pit as much as possible from the pulp, which is not so easy to do because of its fibrous surface. Still, you need to try to scrape off the pulp with a knife, otherwise mold will appear after planting.
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The seed should be used immediately after removal from the fruit; dried or frostbitten seeds will not germinate. An open seed can be planted immediately by placing the root down, close to the surface of the soil.
If the seed is not open, immerse it in a glass of water at room temperature for 1-2 weeks (it must be changed every 2 days), and then plant it, once again scraping the swollen pulp on the surface. Another way is to let it swell in a wet towel, as we are used to germinating pumpkin or zucchini seeds. Do not allow it to dry out.
The soil for planting should be light, like for succulents, mixed with expanded clay or pebbles. The pot has a drainage hole. On top you need to organize a “greenhouse” from a cut plastic bottle. Unscrew the plug occasionally for ventilation.
Place the pot with the seed in a bright place and keep the soil moist. Regular watering becomes especially important after germination, after 4-10 weeks. Several shoots sometimes appear from one seed at once. At first they grow very very slowly, then growth accelerates.
As soon as the seedlings get stronger, they gradually acclimatize the plant, remove the “greenhouse”, and transplant them into individual, more spacious containers with fertile soil with the addition of marble chips. Mango is demanding on air humidity, so seedlings need to be sprayed periodically. When keeping plants, you need to take into account that they love space and warmth, and absolutely cannot stand cramped spaces and cold.
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Plants bloom at the age of 6-10 years. In our climatic conditions, flowering usually does not occur not only in indoor conditions, but also in greenhouses. In the southern regions this is more realistic. But fruiting even in southern latitudes on a windowsill is very rare. The fact is that a huge number of flowers in a paniculate yellowish or reddish inflorescence (there can be up to 10,000 of them) are not pollinated even on plantations, and from very few a fruit is formed. On the windowsill, where conditions are far from those required by the crop, the probability is even lower.
Therefore, get ready to receive a simply beautiful tropical plant with lanceolate, slightly wavy at the edges, leathery leaves. Young leaves are usually yellow-green or reddish in color, then become dark green on top, slightly lighter on the underside.
Mango is a tropical evergreen tree that favorable conditions is capable of growing into a real giant, so many amateur gardeners are captivated by the thought of growing this “miracle” at home. This idea can be brought to life only if all the subtleties of planting and caring for mangoes are followed. Today you will learn all about the features of growing mangoes from seeds at home (attached detailed photo instructions).
The subtleties of planting mangoes
To quickly grow a healthy and strong plant from a mango seed, you should only use the freshly extracted core. If you do not have this opportunity, try to protect the sensitive mango seed and store it in proper conditions until planting. A small container filled with wet sawdust is a great place to store the pit. Also prepare a suitable container for planting: for these purposes, use a small plastic cup, in which a small drainage hole should first be made.
Advice. For planting, it is best to take an overripe mango seed: if used as planting material seed of an unripe fruit, the likelihood that it will germinate will be minimal.
Once the preliminary preparations are completed, you can proceed directly to the planting process. But before this, you should peel the seed: this will significantly increase the chances of its germination. To perform the procedure, it is better to use a knife, but you should act very carefully so as not to get hurt. Immediately after extraction, the seed is treated with a fungicide solution to protect it from pests, which consider the seed to be an extremely tasty morsel.
For germination, take a ripe fruit seed
The time for planting the seed must be chosen correctly: in the tropics, mangoes are planted during the rainy season (early summer), respectively, and in our climate the plant will grow well when planted in June. Before sowing the seed, determine the location of the root and place it in the soil substrate so that the root is at the bottom. At the same time, you should not bury the mango seed completely (at least 1/4 should remain on the surface). Immediately after planting, slightly moisten the seed and soil with a spray bottle, then cover the container with a lid to create a greenhouse effect.
When a young sprout begins to peek out of the soil, you must immediately remove the lid, and when it gets stronger, immediately transplant it into a larger container.
Advice. Although mango is not one of the poisonous plants, those who have small children in the family should be extremely careful: if you try the leaves of the tree (and children can do this), the health consequences can be extremely unpleasant.
Caring for a plant at home
If you want to grow mangoes at home, be prepared for... this plant very whimsical and often likes to be capricious at any discrepancy between the conditions required. So, you should take the following measures to care for the plant:
Attention. When grown in closed ground(including at home) mango will grow as an ornamental tropical tree, but you should not expect flowering and fruiting from it, since in such conditions the plant is not able to form a sufficiently powerful root system.
It is worth noting the fact that although mango cannot be called unpretentious plant, large financial costs it is not required to grow it. The plant can cause you trouble only because of the need for comprehensive and frequent care. And so, any amateur gardener can easily afford to grow a whole greenhouse of mango trees.
One small feature of the mango tree is worth noting: in some cases, its leaves can change their color from traditional green to an unusual reddish color. But don’t worry about this: after a while the normal color will return.
That's all you need to know about the features of growing mangoes at home. As you can see, this process is not very complicated, and the result is impressive. Good luck!
Growing mangoes at home: video
Mango is not only very tasty and healthy fruit, but also beautiful decorative tree. It grows very quickly. Requires minimal attention. The main thing is to plant and organize correctly optimal conditions For good growth and development. And we will only need a seed from a ripe fruit. Plus patience and the desire to grow something. We'll tell you how to plant mangoes from seeds at home.
Preparing the pit
To plant a pineapple at home, you need its leafy top. We buy mangoes without leaves and twigs. Therefore, we will use bones.
For landing a bone will do from ripe fruit. We go to the store and choose the desired fruit.
We evaluate mangoes visually. The peel should be bright shade(the color itself is not important, since they are presented on the shelves various varieties), tight, smooth, without visible defects. Wrinkles do not indicate immaturity. You can eat this fruit. And the chances of growing a tree from its seed are approaching zero.
Flabbiness of the skin indicates that the fruit is stale. Even eating it is dangerous.
We evaluate mangoes by smell. Ripe fruits have a resinous aroma, brighter at the tail. An odorless fruit will be devoid of taste. He is not yet ready. A sourish smell with an alcoholic tint indicates the fermentation process inside the fruit. Overripe. And how long.
We evaluate the elasticity of the fetus. Ripe – not very hard and not very soft. If the skin is wet and slimy, don't buy it.
We bought a delicious mango and ate it. We prepare the seed for planting. You need to thoroughly clean off all the pulp. Otherwise it will start to rot. If the seed is already split (found in very ripe fruits), the pulp must be peeled off carefully. To avoid damaging the budding sprout.
Pot, drainage and soil
Mango grows rapidly and has a fairly strong root. Therefore, for planting, we take a pot with a strong, thick bottom and drainage holes. When growing, the root of the tree must encounter a reliable barrier. Then he will not be able to develop excessively. The plant will release all its juices into the trunk and leaves.
Mango loves moist soils. After all, his homeland is the tropics. To prevent waterlogging and rotting, when planting, place good layer drainage.
Young plants need light soil. Ideal option there will be a mixture of leaf and turf soil plus river or lake sand. You can use commercial soil for cacti, adding sand to it.
Everything is prepared. Now to the point. How to plant a mango from a seed?
How to grow mango from seed?
First way.
After scraping the pulp from the seed, press it into the ground with the sharp end. A quarter of the bone should remain on the surface. We pour water at room temperature and create a greenhouse from a plastic bottle.
With this method, mangoes take a very long time to germinate, since the seed has a hard shell. You will have to wait about a month for the sprout to appear.
Second way.
Open the sharp tip of the mango bone with a knife. Do not forcefully open it. Place in hot water and leave for a day. Then wrap the bone in polyethylene with a small amount of water, pack it in a foam container (these are sold in meat products in stores) and send it to a warm radiator.
When the kernel splits into two halves, the sprout and root will be clearly visible, untie the polyethylene. Add water periodically to maintain moisture. But a little. As soon as the sprout turns green, plant it in light soil.
Third way.
Scrape the pulp from the pit and split it. Do not remove the shell. Keep it in warm water for 24 hours. Plant in the ground.
Place the pot in a warm place and constantly maintain humidity.
Fourth way.
Chop the fresh mango seed and remove the kernel. Wrap it in a damp paper towel. Bury in the ground. But not very deep. Water periodically.
Fifth way.
Similar to the fourth one. You need to remove the kernel from the seed and wrap it in a damp cloth. Place it on a plate and place it in warm place. Moisten the fabric with warm water all the time.
In a week or two a sprout will appear. We plant it in the ground so that the sprout “looks” up. They put the kernel and sprinkled it with soil about two centimeters. Don't forget about watering. In about a month, the kernel will germinate.
Sixth method.
Remove the pulp from the pit. Crack the shell with a knife. “Push” the bone into a container with expanded clay. Pour water so that half the bone is covered with liquid. Place the container in a transparent bag and tie it.
Every day you need to refresh the water and “ventilate” the greenhouse. When the shell swells and the sprout hatches, we take out the seed and replant it in the ground.
Pinch the young plant periodically. Then it will send out side stems. Don't forget to spray, keep the soil moist and the surrounding air warm. The result will please you.
Mango is the recognized king of fruits. Mango (Mangifera indica) is especially popular in Southeast Asia. In mid-latitudes, grow this plant in open ground impossible. But you can certainly do this at home. Such a gorgeous tree can certainly become exquisite decoration any interior.
IN natural conditions mango is a powerful evergreen tree that reaches forty meters in height. Mango has a wide and spreading crown, up to 15 meters in diameter.
Mango comes from tropical forests South-East Asia. The plant is most widespread in India, Vietnam, and Thailand. But there are already huge mango plantations in the southern United States, Mexico, Central America and even Australia.
Mango fruits have been known to mankind for more than 4 thousand years. “Fruit of the gods”, “great fruit”, “Asian apple” - these are the associations this fruit evokes in its homeland. There is a beautiful Indian legend according to which mango was a wedding gift from the god Shiva himself to his bride Sati.
In the wild, a mango tree can grow up to 40 m in height, and it grows quite quickly, but it will take up to 15 years to bear fruit. But mangoes can bear fruit for 250-300 years.
The tree has long, shiny, lanceolate leaves, which are bright green on the front side. WITH inside leaves are lighter and matte.
Young foliage is lighter, with a tint of yellow or pink-red. They appear at first sluggish and lifeless. But for the plant this is a normal phenomenon, and not at all an exotic disease. They are even nicknamed “shawl leaves” because they bear some resemblance to laundry that has been hung out to dry.
At the mango leaves poisonous juice, which is capable of causing allergic reactions. This may cause a rash and redness on the skin. Therefore, it is necessary to work with the leaves of this tree only with gloves. And in the house you need to determine a place for it that is inaccessible to children and pets.
The plant begins to bloom in an early vein, spreading around pleasant aroma, somewhat reminiscent of the smell of lilies. Flowers form inflorescences consisting of large quantity small flowers, similar in shape to a long panicle. Their color is pink or pale red. These strangely long racemes reach 40 centimeters, and the number of flowers sometimes reaches a thousand.
It takes 4 to 6 months for the fruit to ripen. Externally, they differ in variety. The sizes can be very small, similar to a plum, or they can reach two kilograms in weight. The color of mango fruit also depends on the variety. The skin can be yellow, lime green, or all shades of red. You can often see fruits colored in several shades. Their peel is thick, matte and smooth, with a waxy coating.
The size and type of fruit differs depending on the variety of mango. The flesh of this king of fruits is bright saffron in color, and the taste is a mixture of peaches, melon, pineapple and apricot with a spicy aroma of rose and citrus. Inside each fruit there is one large stone, hard and ribbed.
But wild mangoes in nature have a not very pleasant aroma, reminiscent of the smell of mold, rot and rotting meat. This is due to the fact that in wild forests these plants are pollinated bats. These same mice carry mango seeds. Fortunately, most modern hybrids have completely different taste characteristics.
Mango fruits are not only very tasty, but also very healthy. In them great amount essential amino acids, various vitamins, in addition, 100 grams of mango fruit contains only 66 kcal.
The fruits of this tree were found wide application V folk medicine, especially in Thailand and India. With the help of mango fruits, they fight depression and boost immunity, and are used as an antipyretic and anti-inflammatory agent.
Regular consumption of mango fruits prevents the development of various tumors in the body. The leaves of this plant have strong antibacterial properties. An infusion of these leaves is used for diabetes of any type to normalize blood pressure.
If you are prone to allergies, you should try this fruit with caution to avoid various reactions.
How to grow mangoes from seeds
Growing a new tree is not difficult. This is usually done using seeds. However, one cannot expect a harvest from such plants. But you can subsequently graft such a cutting or a bud from a tree that bears fruit.
For planting, you need to select large and even slightly overripe fruits. The best fruit is one picked from a tree rather than one bought in a supermarket.
The seed is carefully cleaned of pulp and checked for integrity. If there are no cracks or damage in the seed, then you need to start planting it within two to three days, until the seed has dried. If this is not possible, then the seeds should be placed in a jar with a damp substrate of peat, sand or sawdust. This way you can keep the seeds viable for two months.
It is best to plant seeds in early summer.
The algorithm of actions is as follows:
First, the seeds are disinfected. To do this, prepare a pale pink solution of potassium permanganate or another fungicide. biological origin and soak mango seeds in it for several hours.
After this, you need to use a sharp knife to very carefully open the flaps of the bone and remove the core from there. If the fruit is ripe enough, then this is a fairly simple operation.
Be sure to make sure that the seed itself is white and smooth! Only under this condition is there hope that it will be possible to wait for germination.
The kernels are placed in a moist sphagnum substrate or coconut fiber and wait for germination. For this purpose, you can take water at room temperature, but it will need to be changed three times a day.
Typically, it takes 15-25 days for a seed to germinate. Some experts are sure that it is impossible to remove the outer shell of a seed. However, in practice it turned out that seed germination does not depend on this.
After germination, the seeds are placed in small but fairly deep containers with soil composed of fertile turf with pitch and humus in a ratio of 2:2:1.
Be sure to take care of drainage.
The seeds are carefully sprinkled with soil.
For plants it is necessary to create temperature regime at 22-25 degrees and long daylight hours, no shorter than 12-14 hours.
For further growth, you should make a greenhouse by covering the container with film or glass. Every day you need to ventilate for 5-10 minutes
You usually have to wait 6-8 weeks for germination. During the first six months the seedling grows very slowly, but then quickly increases in height.
IN further care caring for the plant requires regular watering and timely application of fertilizing, mainly nitrogenous.
Subsequently, the growing tree is replanted annually using soil of the same composition.
How to replant a tree
IN natural conditions Mangoes grow in hot and humid climates, with temperatures that are constant almost all year round.
These conditions must be taken into account when choosing a place for this plant. In addition, the plant simply needs long-term lighting, which in mid-latitudes requires additional lighting for up to 14 hours daily.
Mango has no special complaints about the soil. The main condition is that the substrate must be acidified. To do this, you can add peat to the soil every year, and when watering, acidify the water with a few drops of vinegar.
The roots of this tree are powerful and well developed, in nature reaching a depth of up to 10 meters. Therefore you should purchase large capacity or even a tub. Best fit natural material- wood or ceramics, massive and stable. It is important that the bottom is thick because the root system can simply break through it.
Planting and transplanting
It is best to plant or replant this tree in late spring or early summer. The plant is replanted as it grows every three to four years, and when its size is too large, you can simply remove it upper layer soil and replace it with fresh one.
Care and watering
The main thing for mangoes is to provide vital the necessary conditions. The most important thing is sufficient lighting. With a lack of light, the plant withers, loses its immunity, and begins to get sick.
Mango loves water, but if you overdo it when watering, the root system may rot. Therefore, it is better to constantly keep the soil slightly moist. Young plants are especially sensitive to drought; they can even lose their leaves if there is a lack of moisture.
Watering and spraying the plants is carried out every two to three days, and in hot weather - daily.
If the leaves of a young mango tree begin to dry out and fall off, the number of waterings should be increased.
Top dressing
Trees need fertilizers to grow and develop, but too much of them can lead to salinization of the soil. And this hinders the development of the plant.
Mineral and organic fertilizers are used.
With the beginning of spring, before the arrival of flowering, watering is carried out once every two weeks with a solution of fertilizer for palm trees or vermicompost containing a sufficient amount of nitrogen. This stimulates the growth of green mass.
In addition, foliage is sprayed two to three times during the summer using a solution boric acid, copper sulfate and zinc sulphide (1-2 grams per liter of water).