Help me choose new mango!

[Zarafet]

Good morning,

I am looking to purchase a new mango tree. I currently have manila, gold nugget, Nam doc mai, keitt and ice cream. I am considering the following mangos in this order... Please provide feedback as to which would be the best for flavor, manageability and productivity (I understand preference is subjective, but I need help). In order based on what I read (I haven't tried any listed below)...

1. Carrie

2. Mallika

3. Ugly Betty

4. Lemon Zest

5. Okrung Tong

6. Spirit of 76

7. Choc Anon

[simon_grow]

I haven't tasted Ugly Betty or Choc Anon but my suggestion is for Lemon Zest. It is the best Mango I have ever eaten. You may also want to consider Coconut Cream, Taralay, Fruit Punch(might not be available yet).

Oh yeah, welcome to the forum! I see that you are in SoCal. Mangos grow a bit slower here than in Florida, especially if you purchase grafted trees from Florida. You may want to consider planting some LaVern Nursery Manilla Mangos from Home Depot and then grafting named varieties onto it. Your tree will grow a lot faster.

An alternative method is to plant some mango seeds directly into the ground and graft onto them when they sprout. The taproot will help the plant grow with more vigor. I have some grafted mangos from Florida that have been in the ground about five years and they are only about 5 feet tall.

Simon

[behlgarden]

add peach cobbler and possibly Sunrise to the list.

Unless you absolutely love manila, I would graft over it.

[murahilin]

Of those, I like LZ, Ugly Betty, and Mallika. Mallika and LZ seem to produce well and at least for me, both appear to have decent disease resistance as I don't spray either tree and they produce well. The LZ all get stolen because it is planted next to the road. I haven't grown Ugly Betty yet though.

[SamiC]

I'm in so cal too, looking for a lemon zest and coconut cream. Have you sourced a good place to buy them?

[Zarafet]

Thank you so much every one for your feedback, I have 17 manila seedlings and plan to duplicate my present trees in the event of failure due to the turpentine rootstock on my Florida mangoes.

I found lemon zest here http://m.ebay.com/itm/121658069115 not bad of a price considering it's nearly impossible to find variety in California.

If lemon zest does well here, I'll move it to number one and Carrie to number 2. PS I eat lemons whole with salt so if there's a lemon flavor I'll be in heaven.

[BrettBorders]

Lemon zest does taste like candied lemon peel when its less ripe and like orange sherbert when its more ripe. It has a very agreeable flavor to most. A busy local mango seller it was the most well-liked mango among his customer base.

Carrie is also outstanding. One of the sweetest, most delicious, all-time classic Florida manoes. The fruit is very clean, tree is managable and productive. It is very soft, and it has a resin taste that creates a complex, perfumey flavor. Some dislike it, and I can understand why...but a lot of people love it.

[MangoFang]

....until it's been replaced at the top of my mango list, LEMON ZEST!!!!!


gary

[SamiC]

Thank you so much every one for your feedback, I have 17 manila seedlings and plan to duplicate my present trees in the event of failure due to the turpentine rootstock on my Florida mangoes.

I found lemon zest here http://m.ebay.com/itm/121658069115 not bad of a price considering it's nearly impossible to find variety in California.

If lemon zest does well here, I'll move it to number one and Carrie to number 2. PS I eat lemons whole with salt so if there's a lemon flavor I'll be in heaven.

Awesome, I would never have thought to search eBay.

[behlgarden]

Ebay sellers do not ship with certification so it's always a risk. I got one that was 7 gal and they hacked the roots to ship it. Make sure they don't do that.

[SamiC]

Ebay sellers do not ship with certification so it's always a risk. I got one that was 7 gal and they hacked the roots to ship it. Make sure they don't do that.

Yikes. That sounds like a nightmare.

[FruitFreak]

I've never had these but there's some hype about:
1) Providence
2) Honeykiss
3) Seacrest
4) Venus
5) Fruit Punch
6) Sweet Tart

[bsbullie]

I've never had these but there's some hype about:
1) Providence
2) Honey Kiss
3) Seacrest
4) Venus
5) Fruit Punch
6) Sweet Tart

1) Providence - not commercially available; not going to be available in California unless soemone privately ships a tree or shares budwood
2) Honeykiss - not commercially available; not going to be available in California unless soemone privately ships a tree or shares budwood
3) Seacrest - never released and no immediate plans for release
4) Venus - not going to be available in California unless soemone ships a tree or shares budwood
5) Fruit Punch - not going to be available in California unless soemone privately ships a tree or shares budwood (I don't see any budwood being available for a year or so)
6) Sweet Tart - this is the only variety in the list that may be commercially available

[BrettBorders]

Zarafet,

Based on my one experience tasting your #3 -- Ugly Betty -- I did not like it at all. It tasted "ugly" to me, as well as the looks. I tried to enjoy it and find the good in it, but either I got a bad slice or its not for me. If I had grown a tree and then tasted what I tasted for the first time, I would have been depressed.

[bsbullie]

And I feel Ugly Betty is very good to outstanding.

[spaceoak]

And I feel Ugly Betty is very good to outstanding.

And so the best advice I have heard is to try the fruit yourself first.  Then again the quality of the fruit is dependent many factors, so with out some expert input tasting the fruit can be misleading.  Overall it maybe the best starting place.  Then ask more questions based on what your own taste buds tell you. 

[MangoFang]

BINGO!!!!!!

[FruitFreak]

I've never had these but there's some hype about:
1) Providence
2) Honeykiss
3) Seacrest
4) Venus
5) Fruit Punch
6) Sweet Tart

Rob - Very interesting and that just makes them all the more desirable!  Hopefully, I'll be blessed enough to try these varieties in the future.  Do you happen to be growing all of these?

[Zarafet]

The eBay seller I posted will begin shipping to California in July. They ship with the pot and don't clip three roots!!!! I cant wait!!! They even sell fruit punch mango!

http://m.ebay.com/itm/111698993552?NAV=HOME

[y0rascal]

Is this the actual  fruit punch mango?

[Zarafet]

Who knows, he has great reviews and his page says it's a new variety. Regarding where he got the scions from, I guess I take him for his word... Is it even available generally?

[LEOOEL]

In first place?: 'LZ' (have it; recently bought a tree; no mangos yet; can't wait to taste them for the first time)

In second place?: 'Carrie;' I've had it for years; It's a clean, nice looking mango and tree, man! And, with a unique trip of a taste, flavor.

[zands]

The eBay seller I posted will begin shipping to California in July. They ship with the pot and don't clip three roots!!!! I cant wait!!! They even sell fruit punch mango!

http://m.ebay.com/itm/111698993552?NAV=HOME

This ebay seller has 49 mango trees all different varieties for sale. http://stores.ebay.com/Treasures-of-the-Tropics-Plants?_dmd=1&_nkw=mango.  He has to be grafting many of them himself because many are one gallon size. He is selling three gallon and one gallon at nice prices with $14 shipping

He is in Ft Meyers Florida

[Zeeth]

The eBay seller I posted will begin shipping to California in July. They ship with the pot and don't clip three roots!!!! I cant wait!!! They even sell fruit punch mango!

http://m.ebay.com/itm/111698993552?NAV=HOME

Let us know how this turns out. Fruit punch hasn't been released yet as far as I'm aware.

[WGphil]

My girlfriend and I visited Walter Zill's house two days ago.  We went to buy Mango's but I ended up buying a Providence and Fruit Punch tree in three gallon while I was there. 

   There were four trees, two of each type, that were waiting to be picked up by people they knew.   So they weren't really for sale until I asked if they were.   Even though I didn't go to buy trees, I am not a fool and bought when I got the ok that they would sell me one of each.   

The Fruit Punch was just transplanted into the three gallon and it will have to wait and grow a bit before putting it into the ground. 

The Providence is a much bigger tree at this point.  Verna even gave me Walters first Providence mango to take home since I had never tasted one.    I can see why people are so loyal to them.    Walter wasn't home but gave his ok on the phone about the mango and trees.   Hard to take a man's first anything and my appreciation will last longer than the mango for sure.   Thanks is just not enough for some things.   

You hear how great Walter and Verna are, then you visit and find out they are even better.   We have to go back now to meet Walter.   Lisa and I enjoyed the trip to them greatly.   

Oh yeah, we got mangos also. Honey as well but it looks like they are leaving that business.   We drove 2 and half hours one way for a short visit.  It was more than worth it. 

One thing for sure.  I know these trees are legit and any earnings from my purchase will go to those the profits rightfully belong too.   The trees will also mean a lot more to me than the purchase price due to where I got them.  So I guess its two things for sure.