Bought a bit more land recently and the previous owner had both durian and mangosteens growing on it. The trees are approximately 3 to 5 meters tall and the mangosteens are producing fruit, but not the durians. 

However, the previous guy planted the trees quite closely together, about 2 to 4 meters apart, which is way too close. Obviously, I now need to thin them out, but am unsure what distance I should leave between trees. I have looked on the internet for measurements, but all the sites I've looked at recommend different spacings. 

So, I'm now turning to you guys out there who are also growing either mangosteens or durians. What distance between trees works best for you? 

Also, I'm thinking of digging up a few of the smaller durian trees (approximately 1.0 - 1.5m high) and planting them somewhere else so that there's more space between the trees. Are durian trees sensitive to being transplanted? 

 

6-7 m seem to be minimum for durian. They grow very wide. I'm in durian area. You could consider planting some fast growing legumes between that give shade to durians the first years. Many here use bananas for that. Bananas are good mulch producers too and help the soil.

 

Mangosteen could have less spacing. I see 4-5 m in some old orchards. They grow so slow that if you plant for the size it will reach after 10-15 years you have too much empty space between for the first years. 

 

2 good places to look for info:

https://pfaf.org/user/Default.aspx

https://tropical.theferns.info/