THANK YOU for this forum!! I'm a newbie and planted two mango seeds in loose soil, about 12 days later the seed I didn't think would sprout -Mango 2- sprouted . I'm not sure what happened to Mango 1, at 17 days I was moving the soil around (I discovered gnats) and the seed loosened so I thought it might be dead and went to pull it up out of the soil discovered it had a long 4 inch root going straight downwards into the pot, I didn't tug it out, it gently came out. Is this normal to shoot downwards? when will it come upwards? The root appeared healthy and you can see its green at the knotty curl that goes downward into the pot. I planted Mango 1 in 4 inch soil and Mango 2 in 5 inches of used soil I found in an outdoor plant not realizing it had gnats. Should I also re-pot them to get them out of this soil?? What do I do??? I'm now a parent wanting to ensuring their best health and growth... who knew I'd get seriously attached!
It's fine for it to establish roots before sending out the shoot. I wouldn't repot at this stage, they are a bit young (and you might lose all of the fine root hairs). The gnats shouldn't be too much of a problem if you allow the soil to dry out (the top two inches) between waterings. There are also some biocontrols for gnats on the market.
