Which other mango should I get?

[simon_grow]

Hello everyone, even though I have not tasted a single mango from any of my trees, I want to get another mango to add to my collection.  I currently have Maha Chanok, Glenn, Nam Doc Mai, Alphonso, Manilla, Valencia Pride and many seedling mangoes which I will be using for grafting later.  I live in San Diego California where Mangoes grow much slower than in Florida.  I typically get only 1-2 growth flushes a year and the mangoes I currently have flower every year and try to produce fruit every year but I have been removing them so that the trees can put on some size.  I have tasted very few mango varieties and I don't know of any company that will ship Florida grown Mangoes to San Diego so I cannot try the mango before I plant them.  From the varieties that I have tried, I like Kent and Nam Doc Mai. 

I want to plant another mango that produces well.  Size of the tree doesn't matter but the quality of the fruit does.  I want to get a wide spectrum of magoes to plant so that I might at least really like one of the varieties that I plant.  I was thinking of adding, Graham, Pickering, Carrie, Lemon Zest, Mallika or Julie.  Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. 
Simon

[Tim]

Not much of a suggestion but I will have Lemon Zest & Coconut Cream scions to share with you once my trees put out some vegetative growths.  The lone LZ fruit I had fell off earlier this week, the tree's already shifted into growing mode only days after.

[zands]

In you shoes I would look for a mango tree that can extend your mango eating season. With how it tastes being secondary.

Graham, Pickering, Carrie, Lemon Zest, Mallika or Julie. 

My vote goes to Carrie for taste (little spicy and piney, some are turned off and call it medicinal taste) and it having wide bushy growing habit. My Carrie is my best looking mango tree.  If you want photo I will post it. My Carrie seems to flush more than other my others so maybe it will flush more for you too.

[nullzero]

Have you thought about Keitt? Could extend the growing season into the fall.

[mangomandan]

Simon, no sane person needs more than one kind of mango tree in his/her yard.

Luckily, that is irrelevant to any member of this forum.   I think I would second nullzero's vote for Keitt. It's a nice-tasting large mango with a long season.

[Cookie Monster]

no kidding. who needs mango trees when you can buy tommy atkins at the store. duh!

:-)

Simon, no sane person needs more than one kind of mango tree in his/her yard.

[Tropicdude]

Simon, definitely take advantage of Tim's offer for the Coconut cream, and Lemon Zest scions.  as suggested by the others Kiett is a decent late variety mango that is very productive ( at least around these parts ) and is usually very disease resistant.

you already have some excellent varieties in your collection.  so the above three would fit in nicely.

[MangoFang]

Nullzero read my mind!  Keitt is such a late season and long holding mango....
and absolutely fiber free and delicious, I wish I'd put in two or three trees (and still may!).....

Granted I'm in the desert, but I would think the Keitt would be great where you are too!

It is my best tasting mango to date!

Good luck Simon - Grow it!


Fang

[fruitlovers]

Hi Simon, i don't have any suggestion on particular mango cultivars for San Diego as i don't have any experience with this. I would suggest you keep in mind that the cultivars that are considered the best tasting in Flordia will not necessarily produce any fruit or produce well in California. I suggest contacting Leo Manuel as he's been at it for very long time and knows which mangos have produced well in S. California and at what seasons. His email address is rarefruit AT san.rr.com  He also has a monthly newsletter relating to all fruits that you can subscribe to.

[simon_grow]

Thanks for everyones replies!  I will definitely take Tim up on the Coconut Cream and Lemon Zest Scions and Tim, you are definitely welcome to any scions I have available.  I used to have a Carrie mango but it died out of the blue and I have always thought about replacing it with another mango.  I do however have a Piney tasting mango and that would be my Alphonso.  Keitt is a really good mango and its vigorous growth habit would be great in our less than ideal Mango growing environment.  I will probably go with the Keitt and just graft other varieties onto my seedling mangoes.

Fruitlovers, I have checked out Leo Manuels backyard mango trees twice and surprisingly, he did not like the SoCal grown Edwards mango.  You have a very good point that mangoes that taste good in one location may not necessarily taste the same when grown over here.  I have heard that Keitt does well here in California but I just hope it can ripen before Winter time because it is such a late mango. 

My mango trees fruit at wierd times.  My Maha Chanok has a very small partial bloom right now and my Nam Doc Mai just flowered last month and is currently holding about 15 or so pea sized mangoes that I will remove over the weekend.  Please keep posting if there are any more suggestions out there, you guys/gals rock!
Simon

[nullzero]

They grow Keitt mangoes out in Coachella valley. So they must perform well for CA climate, of course the amount of heat is going to be lower. I think it won't have a problem ripening, considering the early to mid fall tends to be hot a dry in SoCal.