We survived the dry season, but sadly a few trees did not. In the dry season, it rained only once every 4 to 6 weeks. And altho I mulched the trees thickly some died.

Most of the trees that died were trees that I planted at the very end of the rainy season, so these trees did not have enough time to settle and let their roots grow in preparation for the dry season. About 20 to 30 trees have died, of these around 15 are papaya and banana. 4 are soursop. 7 are jackfruit. of the 30 coconuts planted, 5 have died, but I did not buy them cause I gathered the seeds from the forest, thus the coconut loss is not a big deal. Altho the dead of 30 trees seems like a lot, and of course, I am sad about every single one that died, but about 90% of the trees are still alive and have survived the dry season and should grow stronger and bigger every year.
On the plus side, many new wild trees have started growing especially mango, guava, and some nitrogen-fixing trees.

Last year I bought trees from 2 different nurseries. Most of the trees that died come from the same nursery which is a local one – the other one is a bit further away, therefore I suspect the trees from the local nursery are not the best quality and I will try to either look for other nurseries or go to the other one that is farther away.

On the other hand, the trees I bought from the far away nursery were planted earlier in the rainy season, while the ones from the local ones were planted later in the rainy season. So maybe it is not the fault of the nursery but my planting time and I should give them a second chance.

I learned my lesson.., Never plant trees late in the rainy season.