Need some help, folks.
I've got the itch to plant a few more, and would appreciate tips/suggestions from those on this forum who have these varieties. Interested in input on taste, resistance to disease, size of tree. I have a roughly 12 x 12 foot space for each tree. A height of around 10-15 feet would be okay if it didn't require brutal pruning, so a smaller growth habit would be nice.
Also: If you have these trees, where did you get them?
I already have the following: Mallika, Neelam, NDM #4, Cogshall, Pickering and Graham.
I'm trying to choose three from among the following:
Indian: Benishan (Alampur Baneshan, as it is often referred to on this forum)
Indian: Imam Pasand (also known, I think, as the Himayath in and around Hyderabad, India)
Thai/Singaporean: Mahachanok
Florida-developed: Angie and Carrie
Open to alternatives
Was looking through old posts and Zands, I think, had said the benishan was prone to splitting.
I grew up eating the benishan (mostly Banganapally/Baiganpally) in India, and considered it superior to the Alphonso; then came the Mulgoba/Malgoba). But that was in the dry, hot environment in which it was developed, and in Florida's more humid climate it may not do as well. Neelam was scoffed at back in the day (I'm talking 1970s) as somewhat inferior, but I'm grateful for the one I have.
There are many benishan varieties: Alampur benishan, Banganpally benishan, Calcutta Benishan, Lal benishan (lal=red; the top of the fruit has a pinkish tinge) , Kaala benishan (kaala=dark; darkish hue), but those may be hard to come by, if not impossible.
Some etymology, if that's okay: It is "benishan" or "benishaan" (pronounced bay-nee-shaan); "be" ("bay") means "without" and "nishan" means "mark" or "blemish." So benishan is without mark or blemish. Pronouncing it "baa" nishan would be the exact opposite. "Baa" is "has."
Most of the space I have will be reclaimed from the lawn area, fenced off and heavily mulched. Have space for 5 trees there; in addition to the 3 mango trees, probably a guava and one other I haven't thought of. A Meyer lemon in a side yard is about dead and has to be cut down. That gives me space for the 6th; a dragon fruit is a possibility, or a couple of lime trees/bushes.