Puerto Rican Turpentine Mango

[simon_grow]

I got an email from Leo Manuel today saying that he has a lot of Puerto Rican Turpentine Mango Fruit Fruit that I may be very interested in for my Mango rootstock experiments. Leo mentioned that the fruit was very sweet and tasted really good but it is extremely fibrous. He explained to me on a previous visit that I can let it fully ripen and then squish it into pulp and suck the juice out like a mango juice box.

I keep Leo updated with all my Mango experiments and he believes this rootstock is one of the better rootstocks for growing in SoCal and he personally has several very large trees on this rootstock. One of the varieties he has on this rootstock is called Todos Santos and it is one of the most productive and disease free trees that also has. It is a moderately vigorous tree with a dense canopy and the consistency of its heavy fruiting is one of its more st attractive features.

Leo also mentioned that some others that have sampled this Fruit noticed that the fibers are not as noticeable if the fruit is eaten in a less ripened stage.

Here are some pictures of the Puerto Rican Turpentine Mango Fruit






Simon

[Future]

Description sounds like Turpentine.  Do you consider this unique?

[simon_grow]

The sap from this PR Turpentine Mango has an extremely strong Turpentine smell, which I actually like.

Also picked up a Rose Giant


And here is what a Todos Santos looks like




And here is one of the best tasting local mango varieties created by Leo, his Leo #2. This one has a Brix of 26% and is consistently excellent tasting.





Simon

[simon_grow]

Description sounds like Turpentine.  Do you consider this unique?

Leo and several others have explained to me that there are many different types of what we call “Turpentine” mango. He got this one from Puerto Rico a long time ago and several of his trees that are doing well are on this rootstock. I don’t think there is anything special about this fruit but there could be something very special about this rootstock for those of us growing mangos in SoCal.

Most if not all the commercially produced mango trees in Florida are on “Turpentine” rootstock but I don’t know specifically which variety they are using. I know it was selected for its excellent adaptability and fruiting ability when grown in Florida but it’s a horrible rootstock for us here in SoCal.

Hopefully this rootstock will perform well in our growing conditions, I know for sure it’s eorked really well for Leo.

Simon

[JF]

Yes Simon, there are alot of turpentines out here. I grew manga blanca which I grafted over because of the low quality fruit; it produce small round fibrous fruits.

[Future]

Description sounds like Turpentine.  Do you consider this unique?

Leo and several others have explained to me that there are many different types of what we call “Turpentine” mango. He got this one from Puerto Rico a long time ago and several of his trees that are doing well are on this rootstock. I don’t think there is anything special about this fruit but there could be something very special about this rootstock for those of us growing mangos in SoCal.

Most if not all the commercially produced mango trees in Florida are on “Turpentine” rootstock but I don’t know specifically which variety they are using. I know it was selected for its excellent adaptability and fruiting ability when grown in Florida but it’s a horrible rootstock for us here in SoCal.

Hopefully this rootstock will perform well in our growing conditions, I know for sure it’s eorked really well for Leo.

Simon

Got it.  I do know turpentine is polyembryonic so interesting the variations yet fruit description (fibrous, sweet, juice box style consumption) remains consistent with PR selection.  Fruit appears larger than the turp I am familiar with.

[sapote]

"Got it.  I do know turpentine is polyembryonic so interesting the variations yet fruit description (fibrous, sweet, juice box style consumption) remains consistent with PR selection.  Fruit appears larger than the turp I am familiar with."

I just about to ask the question since the fruits in the pic have the distinct S shape of those Asian poly mangoes. So hundreds years ago the immigrants came to the West India with no Indian mango seeds as expected, but with the far east Asian mango?

[simon_grow]

I believe many of the “Turpentine “ type mangos have similar characteristics such as small, highly productive, good growing, relatively disease resistant, Sweet, fibrous, and strong Turpentine smell in the sap. I am by no means an expert in Turpentine mangos. I have no ideas about their origins but their use as rootstocks is legendary.

The video from Truly Tropical shows one type of Turpentine Mango that is more rounded.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-l8U_12V1ls

Simon

[pineislander]

Perhaps someone from Puerto Rico might have a common spanish name for this. I recognize this as being a common seedling type mango from the Caribbean known as "Kidney". There are hundreds of roadside and pasture  trees like this across St. Croix, US Virgin Islands. I have heard them called Turpentine but more commonly as "Kidney". Fibrous but can be quite sweet. I see references to it also going by the name 'Mango Long' in other parts of the Caribbean. This may be to distinguish it from types of smaller ovoid shape seedling mangoes. The USVI extension service recommends it for rootstock.
here is the reference:
 http://www.actahort.org/members/showpdf?booknrarnr=1075_21