are they in full sun???

are you fertilizing them ...???

how big pots are they in ...

you are probably not tying them well enough ... this probably isnt a situation for figure eight knots .... you have to be more aggressive ... and tie them tightly to a stake ...

do you have access to good stakes??? you should probably have a 4 foot stake.. and tie them every 6 inches of so ... until they are.. for lack of a better word.. 'splinted' to the stake ... to force the trunk straight

i cant find an image ... a stake... should be pushed into the pot.. so it is touching the trunk ... and then the trunk tied to it at an interval appropriate.. to hold the tree straight ... like a splint ...

can you show us a pic or two

ken

Hello.
I'm sorry to interfere with this chat, but I have the same problem. Don't know anything about gardening, but love mangos so much that I decided to plant a tree. By a miracle of God it grew pretty fast and have already big mangos hanging from the few branches. However, as shown in the pictures, all branches, with the exception of one, are one side of the tree. We tried to give some support, but one branch broke off.
No idea why the tree is looking so awkward. Meanwhile, just cut about 10 mangos from the branch that broke, can I do anything with the broken branch. Any help will be greatly appreciated!!!

Do you have any idea why the tree is not growing straight? Are strong winds pushing it one way? Too many branches on one side weighing it down?

All trees grow up but not always in a straight line. Yes you can stake it now to force a straight trunk, but when it gets 10 feet tall and new growth still doesn't want to grow straight, what are you going to do? You can encourage the form you desire through pruning and staking when young, but ultimately the tree will do what it wants to do.

aamir.. you are hijacking this post.. you should start your own post ...

and it should probably be in the FRUIT forum ... where they deal with heavily laden fruit trees ...

the broken part is now fire wood ...

ken

I'm sorry. I'm new at all this. I will . Thank you for the feedback everyone!

ken_adrian and mosquitogang201,

I thank you for your response.

Here is the situation in detail.
1. I planted the trees this March on the site, and not in the pots.
2. There is a threat to trees from cattle so I had to guard each tree individually with brick linings around it. (In the image one side of the bricks are removed to expose the tree)
3. I did not ever mulch or fertilize them.
4. I water them every alternate day.
5. I am using #5 rebars for stakes and can not use wooden stakes due to very high prevalence of termites in our area.

Most of the trees are resting on bricks. One can pull a plant in its desired position, but when you leave it, it falls back on the bricks. I wanted to upload more images of the situation, but I guess this website does not permit to upload more than one.

I am afraid of being more aggressive in tieing them to stakes after reading somewhere on a website that if you tie the tree too much than it will grow taller but not stronger.

Here is a photo of another tree fallen on the bricks.

Situation of sun and light

Dear ken_adrian, mosquitogang201 and everyone else

I am waiting for any valuable suggestions. Please tell me from your knowledge or experience that, if I tie these tiny plants every six inches to the stakes (as ken_adrian suggested), it is not going to harm the plants in the future? And why these plants have such weak shoots? I planted a Pongamia pinnata at the same time, which has now grown strong enough to hold itself upright though it is shorter in height, and its stem has twice as diameter as that of my Dalbergia sissoo trees.

How can I force these plants to put more effort into having strong stems instead of growing high very quickly.

Regards,

I'm definitely no expert but here's my thoughts. A tree's goal is to get to sunlight. That is their "food". Understory trees in the forest do not grow straight up, they go in the direction they need to get sunlight. The bricks you have surrounding the trees block most morning and afternoon sunlight - the only time it's in full sun is when the sun is straight overhead. In which case in an upright tree the upper leaves will shade the lower leaves. By growing off to the side it can collect more sunlight to feed itself. Once it starts growing above the bricks the new growth might right itself.. if not you can try cutting the main shoot just above a bud pointing up and let that bud take over.

The way to make a tree grow stronger is to let it sway in the wind. Of course depending how strong the wind is it can also permanently deform a tree. And some trees are naturally stronger than others. I don't believe that staking it aggressively now will cause any permanent harm. Once this growth turns woody and starts to build strength you can leave it staked but loosen it so that it can sway a little bit. Just make sure as the tree grows not to let the stake ties strangle it. Eventually you'll be able to remove the stake. Also remember that when the trunk is 6 inches in diameter, you will not be able to notice any minor waviness that it will have after staking.

Best of luck to you.. that looks like a challenging environment for gardening.

I can't believe any tree would grow in that particular setting. It looks as anti-tree as any environment I've ever seen!

Get those bricks out of there! And find a fence to protect the trees.

You are compacting the soil right now, and that's not good.

I have to agree that the bricks are your problem, likely causing both the bending and the weak shoots. The seedlings are straining to reach light, their main food source. The species you are growing is listed as "seedlings are intolerant of shade" on more than one internet source.

You should be able to tie them every several inches and not experience trouble unless you let the ties get too tight as the tree ages. Ties should not be a problem unless they begin to cut into the bark of the tree.

However, while that might temporarily solve your problem, your biggest problem is the cultural conditions you are growing them in. They need exposure to wind and natural light to allow them to grow as they are supposed to grow. I recommend you find a way to shield them from animals while still allowing wind and light to get through.

Dear mosquitogang201, ilovemytrees, and LilyD74

I thank all of you for your kind suggestions. I will now certainly remove the bricks and try to stake all of the trees more intensively.

I will certainly try to share images long after these trees adjust to any shape.

Regards

Have no idea if you have any access to it, but wood chips (as much as you can get) would probably be best in your situation. Where they grow stonefruit around Las Vegas in the desert, they just brought in literally tons of woodchips/compost to grow in...

video of it:
link