Container mangoes brought in for winter in Z6. Any recommendations?

[rcantor]

Hi!  I grow citrus and figs under a 1000W HID in a room that faces SW and gets some afternoon sun.  In the Spring, summer and part of the fall they go outside.  I'd like to add other tropical fruit, especially Mango.  I've looked at Pine Island's selection but I'm interested in getting some unbiased recommendations.  It's OK if you're recommendation is to see a shrink    I'm interested in growing up to 3 mangos and would like as long a season as possible.

I've heard about a turpentine taste and of course that doesn't sound appealing to me.  I like sweet only, sweet-tart and rich complex flavors.

I grow in containers of up to 20 gallons but prefer 10 if the plant will still fruit well.  I can adjust the soil mix and fertilizer to what the plant would like.  I need to know basic mango care and if anyone has a link to a good site I'd appreciate it. 

If there are any other fruits that will do well in containers please let me know.

Edited to add:   I want to avoid fiber as much as possible    If you know of good web-order sources for the plants you recommend please let me know.

Those of you in FL probably don't understand how bad the fruit situation has gotten for the North.  It used to be that they picked fruit so early it was tasteless.  Pears were ok since they'd ripen a bit off the tree but of course never as good as tree ripened.  Now they pick fruit so early that they go bad before they ever ripen.  Pears and Mangos go from hard to fermented without ever getting to just OK.

Any help is appreciated.

[fyliu]

Citrus and figs do well in containers provided you root prune every few years. Much better if you have summer heat.

[ftmyersfruit]

ice cream mango is the smallest mango tree I have seen.

[zands]

Both these mangoes are dwarfish, container suitable and have been batted around here endlessly.

• Pickering for "I like sweet only, sweet-tart and rich complex flavors"
• Nam Doc Mai more of a straight honey taste which has its virtues
• Don't buy mango trees with huge fruits that cannot fully ripen at your latitude

[rcantor]

Both these mangoes are dwarfish, container suitable and have been batted around here endlessly.

• Pickering for "I like sweet only, sweet-tart and rich complex flavors"
• Nam Doc Mai more of a straight honey taste which has its virtues
• Don't buy mango trees with huge fruits that cannot fully ripen at your latitude

I forgot to mention I want to avoid fiber as much as possible 

So the Pickering can have all 3 types of fruit?

What do you think of Maha Chanok?

[Rob1977]

Hello fellow F4F/ourfigs member. Nice to see you here. I'm blueboy1977 on there. I too got the mango bug a couple months ago. I purchased Pickering, Nam Doc Mia and Maha. I'm growing mine in 15 gallon pots for now but will up pot to 30 in the future. I saw Ice Cream mentioned but from what I've read it's very prone to anthracnose and mildew issues. The others mentioned above are suppost to at least have some resistance and the size can be controlled for pot culture. Completely different zones though as I'm in 9A/B where the two meet. Good luck and keep us posted!

Rob

[Zambezi]

I've had good results with Mallika mango, NDM and Cogshall so far. Maha Chanok seems like another good option for pots. I can't wait to fruit it!

Have you looked into Annonas? For example Sugar apples (Annona squamosa), Custard apple(Annona reticulata), Atemoyas etc. are great options to start with.
Also sapodillas, guavas, jaboticabas, eugenias, are a few examples of some fruit trees you might want to try in pots.

Good Luck!!..

[zands]

Both these mangoes are dwarfish, container suitable and have been batted around here endlessly.

• Pickering for "I like sweet only, sweet-tart and rich complex flavors"
• Nam Doc Mai more of a straight honey taste which has its virtues
• Don't buy mango trees with huge fruits that cannot fully ripen at your latitude

I forgot to mention I want to avoid fiber as much as possible 

So the Pickering can have all 3 types of fruit?

What do you think of Maha Chanok?

None of the above have fiber....... apples and pears that grow near you have as much fiber. Your location should be mango friendly due to having so many summer days above 85 degrees Fahrenheit

[bsbullie]

Both these mangoes are dwarfish, container suitable and have been batted around here endlessly.

• Pickering for "I like sweet only, sweet-tart and rich complex flavors"
• Nam Doc Mai more of a straight honey taste which has its virtues
• Don't buy mango trees with huge fruits that cannot fully ripen at your latitude

I forgot to mention I want to avoid fiber as much as possible 

So the Pickering can have all 3 types of fruit?

What do you think of Maha Chanok?

None of the above have fiber....... apples and pears that grow near you have as much fiber. Your location should be mango friendly due to having so many summer days above 85 degrees Fahrenheit

Kansas City should be mango friendly??  What on earth are you talking about?   

[bsbullie]

Both these mangoes are dwarfish, container suitable and have been batted around here endlessly.

• Pickering for "I like sweet only, sweet-tart and rich complex flavors"
• Nam Doc Mai more of a straight honey taste which has its virtues
• Don't buy mango trees with huge fruits that cannot fully ripen at your latitude

Pickering does not have a "sweet tart" flavor.  I would not waste my time with Nam Doc Mai either.  No idea what your theory is with "huge fruits", again, growing in Kansas City so it really doesnt matter.

Stick with plants thst are naturally small or can easily be kept smal.  If you must, I would try Pickering, Cogshall,  Fairchild,  or possibly Carrie (the fruit sucks in my opinion but you may be able to get it to fruit before it fails or just becomes too unmanageable ).  Dragging them in and out will become idiots delight as they get older and a greenhouse is basically a must if you are really going to have any success.

[zands]

Kansas City should be mango friendly??  What on earth are you talking about?   

The center of America has three months of hot temps and can produce sweet mangoes. Kansas City summer is only five degrees lower than Miami

http://www.climate-zone.com/climate/united-states/missouri/kansas-city/

http://www.climate-zone.com/climate/united-states/florida/miami/

[bsbullie]

Kansas City should be mango friendly??  What on earth are you talking about?   

The center of America has three months of hot temps and can produce sweet mangoes. Kansas City summer is only five degrees lower than Miami

http://www.climate-zone.com/climate/united-states/missouri/kansas-city/

http://www.climate-zone.com/climate/united-states/florida/miami/

Who cares what high temps are for 3 months of the summer?  Then again, i concede,  you're right,  Missouri is in "mango alley".

[rcantor]

Please let's not fight over this.  The plants will move twice.  Inside near a SW window plus under a 1000W HID lamp in the fall - winter, then outside when they can handle it in the Spring.  I also have access to a green house.  It's something I want to try for reasons mentioned in the first post.

I'm only looking at ones I can keep small.  Pine Island has a list of Condo Mangoes that they recommend but their descriptions are very rosy and never mention the problems that are brought out in this forum.  Here's their list

http://tropicalfruitnursery.com/container-trees.shtml   <-- Scroll to the bottom of the page for links.

Alampur Baneshan, Carrie, Cogshall, Fairchild, Glenn, Graham, Ice Cream, Lancetilla, Nam Doc Mai, Mallika and Pickering

This forum has more up to date offerings, especially Maha Chanok and I'm open to others.

Pine Island says Carrie is a 5/5 stars for flavor.  I'd like to hear your thoughts in more detail on Carrie.  Cogshall is given a 4, Fairchild a 5, Glenn is a 5 but 15' tall, Graham, ice cream and lanticella are all 4s, Malilika, NDM and Pickering are all 5s.  Obviously you folks differ on a lot of these. 

Pickering seems to be the #1 best choice with perhaps Maha Chanok second. 

Thanks for the other fruit suggestions, I'll look in to them.

[bsbullie]

The best thing to do with Pine Island's viewer is ignore it completely.   The term condo mango is meaningless and what they list as a condo mango in terms of ability to kerp as a smaller size is as well.  For pot culture and/or taste, forget Glen, Lancetilla,  Mallika, Graham, Ice Cream and Alampur Banashem.  I suppose you could add Mahachanok to the list.  As mentioned in a different pist, with creative trimming you could probsbly add Frances Hargrave to the list also as from what I have seen, it can be a slow, compact grower under the right care and conditions.

I understand why you want to do this, its just the reality that if you are looking for fruit on a tree in the furst 3-4 years and in a 7 gal pot, dont waste your time.  You will cause problems with the tree in the long run and fruit quality will be basically below average.   Trees brought in a house and put under grow lights will take longer to develop,  not have a good of growth habit as ones grown in mango growing regions, and take longer and be more dufficult to get to proper fruiting age/condition.   That  combines with the fact as all of these will eventually outgrow the abikity to drag them around as you plan, it is just IMO a futile effort.  This is not meant to stop you, just a dose of a realistic view...

[ftmyersfruit]

I have Carrie, Pickering, and ice cream trees in the ground. Carrie is a fast compact grower and gets larger than you think. Pickering and ice cream are very slow growers so far. Carrie flushed about four times as much as the other two over the past two years. I think they are all excellent mangoes. I have had no disease or pest problems with them as they have excellent air flow and structure.

[rcantor]

I understand why you want to do this, its just the reality that if you are looking for fruit on a tree in the furst 3-4 years and in a 7 gal pot, dont waste your time.  You will cause problems with the tree in the long run and fruit quality will be basically below average.   Trees brought in a house and put under grow lights will take longer to develop,  not have a good of growth habit as ones grown in mango growing regions, and take longer and be more dufficult to get to proper fruiting age/condition.   That  combines with the fact as all of these will eventually outgrow the abikity to drag them around as you plan, it is just IMO a futile effort.  This is not meant to stop you, just a dose of a realistic view...

Thanks, I'll look up Frances Hargrave.  Pot size will be 10 - 20 gal and I already hire a moving company for my other trees so this won't be any different.  It may be tilting at windmills but I have to try at least 1.  Maybe I'll just start with 1.  I could use a link to care, feeding and pruning of mangoes.     Pickering vs Frances Hargrave - thoughts?

[fyliu]

Look at this mango pruning PDF. He's growing in a greenhouse in large containers in Japan. I think they're 200 gallons, probably real gallons rather than the nursery gallons where 5gal(#5) holds 3gallons. I met him once and he said he basically has unlimited budget because his employer is wealthy and after the best fruit, not caring about costs. It's also not a very good mango variety by FL standards, and that's by design. You don't want people to start requesting 4 varieties grown in your same amount of greenhouse.

I don't remember if this one has those devices he uses to color up the mangoes evenly. It's nice to see the extent of what can be achieved if one really throws money at it.

[rcantor]

Thanks!