March, Mango n Mealy Bug

The month of March, Mangoes and Mealy bugs, all three M's, go hand-in-hand, as spring is giving way to  the hot, sweltering summer months ahead.....

Its only March and the day temperatures here have already touched 40 degrees Celsius. Phew! Wonder what's its going to be like in the month of May?????

Anyways, with Spring new leaves are still getting formed at the tips of the branches and they appear so delicate and different, than the usual greens at this point of time. I thought I will capture their complimentary n blushed, Rosey Avtaar and share here via my blog, before they turn Green. (with envy)

The Mango flowers are giving way to teeny-tiny fruits. This particular inflorescence looked quite dense for a picture.

While its good to see the fruits setting in, its quite disheartening to see these silvery white, cottony, Mealy Bugs, which pose  a serious problem affecting almost all of the the nine odd Mango trees in our yard, this time of the year and year after year, as most of these trees are mature n about 15-20 years old.

Over the years, we have got quite accustomed to seeing these Mealy Bugs on the trees, during the month of March. Anyways, we intend spraying some  insecticides, pesticides, as early as possible, to combat these measly looking pest threatening to hamper the Mango Crop.

And, off course, Can't wait for these teeny-tiny fruits to ripen, so that we can devour them as fresh Mango pickle, aam ka panna (Mango drink), Mango chutney, Mango souffle and as MANGO - the King of Fruits!