Manilita Mango

[sunworshiper]

Zands - the peanut looks great! I see what you mean about grass getting in, but even so, it looks like it is still doing a better job of being a solid ground cover than the the grass in the background. Also, now I think about it, I have concrete edging around the bed with the peanut in it, so that keeps most of the grass out.

Thanks Rob, that looks nothing like mine! Very pretty color. Went and looked at some other threads, and am now uncertain what I've got. My Pickering ripened really late - not until august. Thy should be in June right? I think I need to start a new thread and post more pics of mine as they grow this year.

[zands]

Zands - the peanut looks great! I see what you mean about grass getting in, but even so, it looks like it is still doing a better job of being a solid ground cover than the the grass in the background. Also, now I think about it, I have concrete edging around the bed with the peanut in it, so that keeps most of the grass out.

Thanks! A lot of my perennial peanut patches were planted where my grass had a problem. After the peanut got established the grass would creep back in. It healed those lawn spots. Maybe by throwing off nitrogen but other factors too. One way to get them established is throwing some wood chips mulch among them to help bank moisture. Also a little 10 10 10 or other fertilizer

[sunworshiper]

Good tip on the mulch. That absolutely was a contributing factor to mine being mostly weed free. Here was the same bed at planting in 2010.

I put down 4 inches of pine bark fines which has gradually been covered and decomposed as the peanut starts grew.

[zands]

Good tip on the mulch. That absolutely was a contributing factor to mine being mostly weed free. Here was the same bed at

Yes!  Perennial peanut likes likes likes moisture. Wood chip mulch is its friend. To establish and even maintain if it looks ragged which yours does not. I have seen so many of the peanut roots going into the woods chips and clinging to them

[sunworshiper]

Thought I'd post a couple pictures of the ripe fruit. One of the things I like a lot about this variety is the way they color up. They are really pretty, but they stay green right up until the day to pick them. This is a huge plus for a front yard tree. They go from green to 3/4 colored in the space of a day. I pick them at the end of that day, and put them in my garage - perfect ripeness for breakfast or lunch the next day. In this picture the left two are fully ripe, the right one needs another half day of ripening, at which point it will be fully colored.


And here's a shot for scale. Mine have weighted between 5 and 10oz this year.


Another nice thing is that on my tree with 20 or so fruits, they have been consistently ripening about 1-2 fruit a day. Perfect for fresh eating.

[puglvr1]

What a pretty mango!! I'm sure you will enjoy every bite  ...don't you just love fresh home grown mangoes...nothing like it!

[sunworshiper]

Thanks puglvr! There really is nothing like picking fresh mangos - what a joy!

[zands]

Thanks puglvr! There really is nothing like picking fresh mangos - what a joy!

Coloration looks great! Does it bunch up? Manilita is good choice because smaller mango has better shot at reaching maturity north where you are. Plus smaller means more primitive/not overbred/ especially if it has high seed to flesh ratio. So more cold resistant/

My 2¢ worth theories ......

[sunworshiper]

I'm not sure I understand what you mean by bunch up Zands? The seed to flesh ratio is excellent. The bigger fruit have a seed with some thickness, but not that big. The smaller fruit (by weight) seem to have much smaller seeds, some the thinnest I've ever seen.

[ClayMango]

The perennial peanut is in theory a nitrogen fixer, and the mango tree is doing great. It sized up a lot and is holding around 30 fruit this year. The citrus tree on the other hand is doing poorly, but I suspect it is not due to the ground cover, just all the other disease pressure that effects citrus.

Overall I like it, very low maintenance, doesn't seem to hurt the trees any, and is walkable. The only drawback is that the peanut spreads by underground rhizome, and has escaped into the lawn here and there. But mostly the st Augustine grass holds its own against it. So something to keep in mind.

Also, ground over can help you to control moisture levels. If you are growing cherimoya, you might be in a dry area where holding in water is good. I have decorative plants up close to all my fruit trees, some chosen based on water consumption. For example, my yard is irrigated, which doesn't help mangos here, so having other thirsty plants nearby to suck up the extra water helps. In other places, I take advantage of the tree bring thirsty to dry out the soil - I plant mints, oreganos and lavender up close to tree trunks where it is really dry - otherwise the humidity of summer does them in.

Got a pic of your trees with ice plants underneath? Would be fun to see!

At the Moment I have a very small circle base of Mulch around all Cherimoyas and Peach trees on my slope, however the Ice Plants are starting creep there way around should have been called creeping Iceplants.

[BraumD]

Your backyard landscape looks very pretty and exotic. Also, your mango looks very tasty and good. How long did the mango grow? I also want to plant myself something similar, very exotic and unusual, for example, a mango tree, but I personally have problems with the soil, on it almost nothing grows and I do not know what to do. A friend of mine told me that this problem is very easy to solve by buying the right fertilizer and proper soil care. But I'm not very good at this. I am thinking about ordering a special professional service that can handle everything for me, for example such service https://nampalawnlandscapepros.com/fertilization/ . I have read that this service can help you find all the necessary tools to make the land more suitable for plants. How are you doing with the soil? Have you done anything to make your bud better for your plants?

[pineislander]

I have a Manilita tree about 10 years old and have been watching it bear for 3 seasons now since I bought the place.
The fruit is tasty, grows very clean and bears heavy. It is fairly early for me.
Two problems:
- the fruit doesn't hold on the tree at all, they drop very quickly when colored up ripe
One day fruit is coloring up, next day they are all on the ground.
- while they taste good when picked from the tree with just a slight bit of coloring, if left to full ripe then dropped the flesh texture becomes rather rubbery.

[skhan]

I have a Manilita tree about 10 years old and have been watching it bear for 3 seasons now since I bought the place.
The fruit is tasty, grows very clean and bears heavy. It is fairly early for me.
Two problems:
- the fruit doesn't hold on the tree at all, they drop very quickly when colored up ripe
One day fruit is coloring up, next day they are all on the ground.
- while they taste good when picked from the tree with just a slight bit of coloring, if left to full ripe then dropped the flesh texture becomes rather rubbery.

This was the first year I got fruit from my 4 year old tree.
I was pretty surprised to see how un precocious it was compared to the other dwarf varieties.
I'm actually a fan of the jello texture though but I do agree it loses its flavor pretty fast.

If I had to start over I'd go with Pickering or dwarf Hawaiian.
(If yard space was an issue)

[pineislander]

I wouldn't call my Manilita a dwarf. It is about the same size as a PPK/lemon meringue, Choc Anon, Okrung and a Carrie close by.  They are about 10 years old.