The Tropical Fruit Forum

Seeds arrived in fantastic condition in very quick order.  Great seller!

Quote from: Ulfr on June 17, 2021, 07:37:59 AM

Quote from: yoski on June 15, 2021, 12:22:31 PM

I wonder if the taste is dependent on location. 

It has to be. I know Mike was baiting a bit here but seriously some of the cultivars that seem fine elsewhere taste very different (I assume) here. I am no KP fanboy but there must be something to it, whether it is climate or soil or whatever. I know the older USA cultivars are nothing like the new superstars, but they are still grown there and are preferred there to things like KP. I am really keen to try some of the newer superstars and expect them to be a cut above.

My 4 year old who has no idea about cultivars was NOT a fan of keitt, palmer, Kent or brooks. I eat them but wouldn't buy them again. KP, maha and honey gold are good and she loves them.

You all seem to dislike Kent in Australia! I don’t mind it at all (Mexican/Latin American grown) especially when the flesh turns orange and is not very soft (just gives a bit), and if it’s refrigerated is even better, sweet and carroty but also a bit of acid. The carrot flavor is carotenoids (vit a/beta carotene), clearly evidenced in the orange flesh..

I’m surprised nobody mentioned Tommy Atkins as the worst tasting mango ever propagated. It would score -1 from 1-10 in my opinion. Keitt isn’t too far behind in blandness. I don’t necessarily hate keitt but it’s just too bland and would MUCH prefer a Kent over it.

Haden has classic flavor but a bit stringy and just way too sweet especially when very ripe. If I eat one it has to still be pretty firm. I would rate a hair above keitt.

I have only tasted older varieties, except for ataulfo which is at least kind of newer, and I really enjoy this one especially because it tastes different over different ripening stages but still good during each stage.. Hard is sour, then sweet starts to balance out the sour with some resin,  and very ripe it will be only sweet with slight resin and carrot taste (when the flesh turns darker yellow). I know there are better varieties that would make ataulfo look mediocre, lol. I feel like the colored flesh mangos are generally tastiest..

I'll agree on that.  I WAS NOT a fan of Tommy Atkins when I tried it.  I'd love to hear if anyone has tried an Alphonso grown in Brisbane given the less than glowing Floridian reports.

@miket I can't wait to try and hound you for a scion in three or four years time

I've got 4 trees still growing in pots and the leaf colour varies wildly. Some have deep red new growth whilst others have a creamy yellow.

Ah sorry Mike I should have been more clear. My big list was just that of the typically grown backyard varieties in Brisbane, not ones which I have growing specifically. Thankfully I never put a Glenn, Keitt, or Kent in the ground before trying them. I had a Palmer last season which wasn't bad but generally I'm not a fan.

R2E2 I kind of put in the Calypso category where they aren't my go to mango but they're nice mild change if your lips are burning from the more flavorful varieties. Those two are more like melons than mangos to me. Not bad just different.

Honey gold is great but I haven't put one in the ground as I've read it is disease prone. The ones I have are Alphonso, Maha, Kwan, and lemon zest.  Maha is one of the best mangos I've tried so I got a tree a few days after I first tasted one. Haven't tried a Kwan so I'm happy to hear your good reports on it!  I've tried a fantastic Fonz in the UK but never in Australia so we'll see how we go. I drank the marketing Kool aid on lemon zest.

By hydrocarbon taint are you referring to the turpentine qualities of some varieties?  Or is this a different issue? Some people seem to like a bit of the old chemical flavour. I thought I wasn't one of them but I'm a feijoa nut and I was told by someone they taste like toilet cleaner so perhaps I'm not the best judge of this quality in mangos

I'd like to see this answered for Brisbane, Australia.  Alphonsos just became available over here and I planted two of them due to hype.  I have tasted them in the UK (shipped from India) and they were pretty nice.  I can agree that I think Glenn tastes like watery nothing.  I'll say the same thing for Keitt but I'm only speaking for the ones grown around here.  Calypso is pretty subtle as well but has such a nice texture I don't mind at all.  Nice for a change though generally a prefer things a little more acid-spritzy.  This question becomes totally different when you bring in the "green eating" aspect of it.

Old mango trees are everywhere in Brisbane but most are common "stringy" seedlings. 
Not ranking them at all - typical modern backyard plantings are:

Kensington Pride (Bowen)
R2E2
Valencia Pride
Brooks Late
Kent
Palmer
Keow Savoey (Green eating)
Bambaroo (Improved KP)
Nam doc Mai
Kwan
Honey Gold
Maha Chanok (King Thai)
Glenn
Keitt

I have planted Kwan, King Thai, Alphonso & Lemon Zest.  None are at the point of fruiting yet. I would love to have someone in Brisbane validate my choices or give me hard truths by providing a list of the losers for this area.

Sent an email as I think the PM system is broken again

PM Sent

Hi all - this is loosely related so apologies for derailing the discussion but I've been looking for seeds of this species to be sent to Australia. Has anyone done this before and have seeds available?

Looks like he has been on the forums recently if his "last active" is accurate. Perhaps if the pm system isn't working maybe his notifications for this post aren't either?  Can we contact another admin?  I hope he is ok if something is wrong

Is the PM system not working at the moment? One of my messages didn't get through for some reason and there has been no reply on the other. Don't worry Raul I'm patient but only asking because someone else mentioned that the PM's might not be working.

PM sent

Thanks Forester. Yours looks better than mine. I can't seem to get them past the seedling stage...