At the Irvine cherimoya tasting event today, I got a chance to chat with the Director of Nursery Operations of LaVerne Nursery (Piru, CA).
Here is the latest information on La Verne SoCal mangos:
1. La Verne will soon begin to sell grafted Alphonso mangos.
2. La Verne is experimenting with Turpentine rootstock.
Manila seedling is currently used for rootstock. I was told that LaVerne uses the largest/healthiest sprout as rootstock.
3. I discussed their practice of high mango graft lines and expressed a desire (on behalf of home growers/enthusiasts) for a lower graft line. LaVerne practices veneer grafts, and the high graft lines appears to give them the most opportunities for success if the initial graft fails.
4. I was informed that a new mango orchard(s) in Ojai, CA is in the works. Watch out Coachella Valley!
5. I submitted a list of commonly bought/desired mango trees (by the SoCal Tropical Fruit Forum members) in hopes of encouraging LaVerne to begin experimenting with other varieties for SoCal propagation. They currently only propagate Glenn, Gold Nugget, Haden, Keitt, Kent, Manila, Nam Doc Mai#4, Thompson, Timotayo, Tommy Atkins, Valencia Pride, and Villasenor. In general, LaVerne will always be less expensive than PIN, TT, and POG because of shipping costs to CA. However, I was told that LaVerne’s mango propagation program is currently limited by the availability of a reliable source of budwood and the ability of that mango variety to thrive in the SoCal climate.