The Tropical Fruit Forum

I ran across this video which explains general detection of ripening. The idea of different color ribbons installed during bloom is interesting.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4qSHrepLL8&t

Thank you pineislander.  That video was helpful.  Looking at the shoulders and spots.  I am still not sure how much ripening to do off the tree for a peach cobbler. 

Hello

My peach cobbler mango tree has plenty of fruit this year.  I know it is difficult to tell when to pick, but unfortunately the raccoons are better at finding the ripe ones.  I am being out smarted.  I need to up my game quickly.  Any further advice of when to pick and when to eat.  I found this

It will go overripe quickly if allowed to start to turn soft on the tree. Harvest it green/firm when the color turns to a lighter shade.

Does it need to sit a few days to ripen off the tree?

Thank you. 

ofdsurfer - You are right on Orange Sherbet.  Corrected.  I am confused on Fruit Punch.

How do those three compare from a production standpoint?

If you like your lychees all out sweet, Hak Ip or Sweetheart.   Many like Mauritius however they do have a distinct subacid component that the Hak Ip and Sweetheart do not have.  The Mauritius also lack that floral component found in Hak Ip and Sweetheart.

On a side note. I know Simon says what is sold and called in Florida as Hak Ip is not the real Hak Ip, it is the only Hak Ip available here.

I am just starting out, and I certainly have a bunch to learn.  It may take me years to figure out how ripeness and freshness affect different varieties.  The process sure is enjoyable. 

The PPK and Bombay seamed to be close to peak ripeness, yet they didn't have any hint of being past their peak.

Harry - I was wondering how ripe the Extrema, the Maha Chanok, and the Cushman were.  Close to peak, a little early, or a little late.

Quote from: spaceoak on June 22, 2015, 08:42:22 AM

Quote from: strkpr00 on June 22, 2015, 07:59:22 AM

I bought a couple of Bombays from Harry's last week. I felt the same way, but I am leaning towards liking it a lot. How heavy of a producer is it?
Purchased a couple more of the Sia Tong to test drive, that one also has me looking for a spot in the yard.

I am leaning towards liking it as well just because I kept going back for more.  It is a little hard for me to rationalize why.  It definitely wasn't better than the Maha Chanok or any of the other top varieties.

I had a similar experience last summer.  I don't typically like resinous flavor in mangoes (though I do like Julie, Juliette and Sunrise), but when I bought some Bombays, I couldn't stop eating them.  Pretty soon, I started craving them, especially the method of cutting along equator of fruit and twisting free to eat with a spoon (out of the mango "bowl" that is remaining--the way some people eat avocadoes).   I wouldn't say they rank up their with the best tasting mangoes, but I would rank it up there in terms of my likeability.  Needless to say, I planted a Bombay out last Fall.  The kind of mango that just grew on me, more and more over time.

Thank you Harry for allowing us to come to a tasting at your office.  You are a generous host.  My family had very little experience with tasting mangoes.  My wife’s mother and my mother both grew up in Coral Gables so we have fond memories of eating mangoes at our grandparent’s house.  My seven year old daughter loves fruit, but had only eaten store bought mangoes so she would tell you she didn't like mangoes.  Harry's office tasting changed that.  She tried everything Harry put in front of her.  She said they were all good except two, and those two were perfect!  Unfortunately she didn't remember which two they were. 

My wife liked the Cushman the best.  Then she place the Van Dyke second followed by the Valencia Pride third.  She wasn't impressed by PPK.  It was too sweet for her, and more like candy than eating fruit.  She was also not a fan of any resin flavor.

I liked the PPK.  It made me stand up and pause the first time I tasted it almost like it slapped me.  It was very sweet with a nice citrus flavor.  The Cushman was next.  The Cushman seems to have a nice balance of sweet with a pineapple acid flavor.  The Maha Chanok was third.  Harry had a fruit from a Maha Chanok seedling that was just a touch better than the Maha Chanok.  Both seemed to have the taste of two mangoes in one bite.  It started with a sweet flavor with a little citrus like acid and finished with what I would call a mild but complex resin like flavor.   

We had never really had a resinous mango so the Bombay gave me a shock at first bite.  It was kind of like a car wreck to me.  It started sweet and ended with a very clean pine like resin flavor.  The resin flavor was not offensive, but not really appealing either.  The thing was so sweet I just kept going back for bite after bite after bite.  I just couldn't stop until it was gone, yet I am still not sure I liked it. 

There was also one I thought was called Excellent. Correct me if I am wrong Harry, but you said it would have a resin flavor.  It kind of tasted like a slightly over ripe papaya.

Overall it was a great and eye opening experience for my family.  We were blown away by Harry's hospitality.  Thank you Harry for the wonderful tasting fruit. 

I went to the event today.  Not much new in the presentation that we don't learn here in the forum.  But I always enjoy a presentation by Chris.  $40 for the presentation that went 2.5 hours followed by about 1.5 hours of tasting then the mango grab where you bought a canvas shopping bag for $25 and take all the mangoes you could carry.  One of my favorites during game the tasting was a mango named "jewel".  I stuffed a few in my bag but I hope I can find them since I didn't have a sharpie to name my selections.  There were way more mangoes than people to the them home.

I went today as well.  Chris is an enjoyable speaker with some good stories.  I thought "jewel" was very good as well.  I am glad you got a few, and I hope you recognize them.  I looked but couldn't find any. 

Quote from: gunnar429 on June 15, 2015, 08:49:49 AM

So, for clarification, if something is a _____________ seedling, then that is the fruit that the seed came from.  So, while all mangoes have 2 parents, the mother fruit is what's used when identifying what type of seedling it is?

In other words, if Juliette is a Julie seedling, then that means a julie seed was planted that was pollinated by another mango such as gary or another, and the resulting seedling tree produced what is now called juliette.  right?

Correct

Unless it is a polyembryonic mango?  Then you have the option of it being a clone of the parent, right?

So if something is a NDM seedling it could be crossed with another mango or a NDM clone!

or if something is a Julie seedling it would be pollinated by another mango.  Even if the pollinator is another Julie, due to the nature of monoembryonic seeds, it would still be different than the parents. 

Just trying to rap my brain around the whole thing.

What I use that works for me is below.

1/3 pathway bark (1/4 inch)
1/3 peat moss (coarse, if you can find it)
1/3 forest compost

It drains well and holds some water.  Although I don't have problems with perched water, you can use a wick if you are concerned about it.

Well, frankly I’m not completely sure if i want to go towards the gritty mix. This is the reason why at first i probably just start with some rootstock as experiment.
My setup is composed as follows: a unheated greenhouse, for the winter and a fairly sunny location for the summer. Here the winters are really damp and cold a tropical plants don't like that. To give you an idea, i see you the last dry soil in my garden in October: the soil will remain constantly wet till march every year. During January the maximum average temperature is about 50°C with regular dips under 32, and a constant high humidity.
Now i can't say i have really had big issues with my plants during winter regarding the dampness: the ones who suffered most were the bananas, but i suspect they suffered more for the constant lack of heat than for the dampness. However, since transpiration is so low, and my mango plants are going to increase their pot size in the following years, i wonder if i may reach a point where the transpiration from my pot become too slow and the root stay too wet for too long. For this reason I’m willing to investigate the possibility of other soil mix that can perform well during my winter
Also, somehow i imagine that sooner or later some root rot will happen and i probably should be prepared by then.

Thank you for the mangoes last week Richard.  They were the first non store bought mangoes my wife had ever tried.  She especially liked the Carrie. 

I am putting in three avocados soon as well.  Also Orlando area.  I was leaning towards Brogden, Lula, and Monroe.  I am interested in some more experienced growers opinions. 

Anybody know what the bettle pictured below is.  Is it ok?  Is it bad for the flowers?  I found three so far.  Only on the flowers of LZ mango.