Can I get opinions on a few mango varieties?

[Johnny Redland]

Im interested in planting one of the following mangos and surprisingly there is not much information on many of them.... a few threads but not much. Interested in opinions from those that have tasted all or most of them.

Fruit Punch: Heard that it has good flavor but some fiber
Peach Cobbler / O2: I’ve read nothing but good things so far, but not much info
Pineapple Pleasure: read it’s not a great producer but flavor is good
Cotton Candy: heard it’s just too darn sweet and not much else going on
Mahachanok: heard nothing but good things and tree can be maintained small
Nam Doc Mai: I’ve tasted but wasn’t impressed. Heard it’s hard to know when to pick it and it could vary in taste from year to year, but if picked right it’s unreal

Any info or recommendations especially with taste, yields, and tree size would be great! Thanks!

[swapnil.tailor]

I am also interested in learning about some of the Mangos (i.e. Coconut). And instead of getting opinion, would like to know good place to order those selected mangos online which can be delivered to North California. 

[Tropheus76]

While I have a bunch of those listed I cant comment on the taste since they haven't fruited for me yet and it looks like the cold did a number on mine so I probably wont.

As for ordering trees, I really like Top Tropicals although I have observed to take their descriptions with a grain of salt. But service itself has always been really good for me.

[WGphil]

Plant a sweet tart and you’ll thank me later...

My 0-2 took the cold better than the fruit punch if that is a concern.

[skhan]

Of those you mentioned, I've tasted Fruit Punch, Pineapple pleasure, Mahachanok, and Nam Doc Mai

Below is based on my unrefined taste:

Fruit Punch is a nice size and pretty fruit.
I think I understand why they call it Fruit Punch.
To me, it has this sort of mild "chemically" taste (from the terpenes I suppose) that reminds me of Hawaiian Punch.
Not in a bad way though.
I enjoy the flavor but wouldn't want a whole tree (multigraft branch status)

Pineapple Pleasure is nice.
The color of the interior of the fruit does look like pineapple sometimes.
Tastes similar enough where I wasn't scratching my head at the name.
The texture was the drawback to me, though this might be a phenomenon of big mangos.
The interior was beginning to get soft when the outside was ready.
I like it enough to be happy have it in a crowded mango season but wouldn't care for the tree (get from a friend or buy status)

Mahachanok is wonderful.
In every way, I can imagine.
It has that wonderful sap smell that Black/Buxton Spice (the classic from Guyana), Coc/Cac, ZINC (at its descendants) have.
Also described by Cookie as a coke a cola smell.
I'd plant a few trees if I could.

Nam Doc Mai is good, not great but just good.
Its pretty simple, not crazy flavors. I don't even think it taste like a mango sometimes.
It's just too plain and sweet for me at fully ripe for me to enjoy a lot.
When I say plain I don't mean plain like a "normal" Florida classic flavor, I literally mean plain like sugar, orange food coloring, and pectin
I find it also has a musky flavor when it's fully ripe.
I enjoy it best at a semi-ripe stage when it has some acidity to round out the flavor.
It still tastes good and would be happy to have it in a limited mango season.
I'm in the process of muligrafting mine.

[Squam256]

Fruit Punch is decent but thus far overrated. Classic-acidic flavor group. Production good at Walter Zill’s place.

Peach Cobbler is an incredible mango. The tree is vigorous, unprecocious, and the fruit goes overripe easily. Was a little disappointed with last years fruit retention

Pineapple Pleasure is also amazing. Very fungus prone. I was able to get 2 young trees to produce “acceptably” last year, but definitely looks like a tree that requires a lot of care.

Cotton Candy is just too new to make any statements on.

Maha Chanok is a great tree and very disease resistant. It’s a good mango, not to the level of the previously mentioned ones but still very enjoyable.

Nam Doc Mai makes me want to take a nap. It’s just too boring. It’s usually a mango people that are new to mangos request and then gradually stop buying when they try other kinds. The fruit tends to split open on the tree a lot. On the plus side the trees are pretty productive.

[Cookie Monster]

Nam doc mai can be an excellent mango, but it must be eaten slightly under-ripe, at which point it is a wonderful mix of sweet and tart and would rank as a top tier mango for me. When eaten fully yellow, it is very sweet and, to most Americans, bland. It is, however, a highly sought after mango among the local Vietnamese population. The older nam doc mai clones can take several years to come into production, and the tree is very prone to powdery mildew. Splitting is not common on the older nam doc mai clones. I believe this to be a problem primarily with the newer #4 clone.

Maha Chanok can vary between bland and excellent depending on the stage which it is eaten. The key with this mango is to accentuate the "coca cola" flavor in the sap by eating just a hair green. This is one of my favorite all-around mangoes, exhibiting good and consistent production with good disease resistance on a smaller statured tree.

[FamilyJ]

Honestly the best thing to do is wait until may and go to different locations and do tastings or buy a piece of each because taste can be totally different. like everyone would say the mango they liked i didn't like at all like Keitt mango or like Tommy Adkins

[Brev Grower]

I have fruit punch and I think it's an excellent mango! Seems very disease resistant and productive, at least so far in my yard. I did not think there was any fiber, kind of reminds me of Edward(texture and color wise) with a more fruity flavor. There is an aroma to the mango that reminds me of Graham, which I like very much. I even have FP grafted to a tree in the back yard because the main one is in the front. The other mango I would comment on is the Nam Doc Mai. I agree with previous posts that the flavor is kinda boring. Very good texture and an interesting bouquet aroma, but just mild and very sweet. Some of my Asian friends think it's the best mango ever, but I think the normal Mango snob who has tasted some variety of mangoes would typically turn them down if others are available. It does seem very productive and NDM #4 is very compact, semi dwarf. Everyone has different tastes and just for reference, my favorites are Carrie,Bombay , Edward, LZ. Not in any particular order.
I have MC, Cotton candy, and Peach Cobbler, but they are not producing yet.

On another note, my daughter bought me a Coconut cream mango a few years back from Top Tropicals and I was very happy with the tree.

[swapnil.tailor]

I think, i wasn't clear about ordering online. I meant to order the fruits online so can taste it before deciding to plant the tree. Are there places from where we can order few sample mango of selected varieties to give it a try?

[561MangoFanatic]

Plant a sweet tart and you’ll thank me later...

I 2nd this!! Highly recommend SweetTart!


Fruit Punch- 1st few I had were washed out & no flavor. Then I had 1 that blew me away & totally changed my opinion on it.
Peach Cobbler/O2- Can’t comment at this time,yet to try. (Been on my hit list since last mango season)
Pineapple Pleasure- agree flavor is good to really good but not excellent..
Cotton Candy- Same as Peach Cobbler
Mahachanok- unfortunately this was my biggest disappointment last season after reading reviews here on the forum... did not like the taste at all but I will try & get a better evaluation this season.
Nam Doc Mai- very delicious, would rate it really good

[Johnny Redland]

Plant a sweet tart and you’ll thank me later...

My 0-2 took the cold better than the fruit punch if that is a concern.

I already have Sweettart and Coconut Cream so those are out. Looks like I may go with Peach Cobbler, but really didn’t want a larger tree. But it is what it is. Thanks everyone!!

[Mugenia]

My favorite mangoes are the Guimaras mangoes from Philippines. I also like the Indian mango for green consumption.  Best when eaten raw dipped with fermented shrimp paste, this mango grows anywhere most particularly popular in the suburbs.

I forgot to ask for my father in-law to bring some seeds over from the Philippines when he came for a visit.

[Cookie Monster]

It took me a few tastings before I found the sweet spot with the Maha Chanok. When eaten fully ripe, they are bland and boring. Try eating a day or two before you would normally consider ripe. When eaten in this stage, they are relatively similar in flavor to sweet tart -- just slightly less intense.

Sweet tart is an outstanding mango, but I'm not fully convinced that it's a consistent producer. Mine seems to have a strong alternate bearing habit. Other than that, it's a top notch mango.

Plant a sweet tart and you’ll thank me later...

I 2nd this!! Highly recommend SweetTart!


Fruit Punch- 1st few I had were washed out & no flavor. Then I had 1 that blew me away & totally changed my opinion on it.
Peach Cobbler/O2- Can’t comment at this time,yet to try. (Been on my hit list since last mango season)
Pineapple Pleasure- agree flavor is good to really good but not excellent..
Cotton Candy- Same as Peach Cobbler
Mahachanok- unfortunately this was my biggest disappointment last season after reading reviews here on the forum... did not like the taste at all but I will try & get a better evaluation this season.
Nam Doc Mai- very delicious, would rate it really good

[WGphil]

With the sweet tart and coconut cream already the O2 makes sense

Difference is good and the flavors are way different
 
A juicy peach perhaps but it widens our fast.

Smaller trees if only those fit

Fairchild
Guava
Pickering

[Johnny Redland]

With the sweet tart and coconut cream already the O2 makes sense

Difference is good and the flavors are way different
 
A juicy peach perhaps but it widens our fast.

Smaller trees if only those fit

Fairchild
Guava
Pickering

I have room but don’t really want to sacrifice it yet. We’re building our new home on the lot so don’t want to get too close to the construction area. I have a beautiful Pickering already that is flowering like crazy. Looking forward to those this year. I’m not really all about the traditional mango taste, as a good friend of mine has about 10 varieties that would fall in that category so I’ll have plenty. I do however have a golden nugget and personally I think that’s the best tasting mango that still falls in that traditional mango flavor category. I rate the taste, texture, fruit size, and yield of that variety as a solid ‘10’. To this day I can’t figure out why it doesn’t get any hype online. 

I’m glad you mentioned the peach cobbler wgphil, can you elaborate on the flavor in your opinion? Thank you

[Squam256]

Sweet tart is an outstanding mango, but I'm not fully convinced that it's a consistent producer. Mine seems to have a strong alternate bearing habit. Other than that, it's a top notch mango.

It seems to require an absurd amount of stimulus to get them to have complete blooms. Real spotty. Kind of disappointing actually.

[Cookie Monster]

Bummer. I've had 3 blooms (with only one of them a full bloom -- which was a stellar crop) in the 6 or so years that I've had mine. Hoping that venus is a little more free blooming.

Sweet tart is an outstanding mango, but I'm not fully convinced that it's a consistent producer. Mine seems to have a strong alternate bearing habit. Other than that, it's a top notch mango.

It seems to require an absurd amount of stimulus to get them to have complete blooms. Real spotty. Kind of disappointing actually.

[mangokothiyan]

My Sweet Tart flowered and fruited heavily last year. From what I have seen, it holds on to a large number of fruits without spraying.

As for Cotton Candy, it is an awesome mango, right up there with the best. Personally, I found it to be much better than Fruit Punch and even Sweet Tart. Same goes for Seacrest; another winner.  I have a 7 gallon Cotton Candy in my yard and Seacrest topworked onto one of my trees. Last year, I got 5 Seacrest mangoes from the tree.

[Squam256]

Bummer. I've had 3 blooms (with only one of them a full bloom -- which was a stellar crop) in the 6 or so years that I've had mine. Hoping that venus is a little more free blooming.

Sweet tart is an outstanding mango, but I'm not fully convinced that it's a consistent producer. Mine seems to have a strong alternate bearing habit. Other than that, it's a top notch mango.

It seems to require an absurd amount of stimulus to get them to have complete blooms. Real spotty. Kind of disappointing actually.

Venus seems to flower a little easier. But enjoy your inevitable bacterial black spot that comes with it 




ZHPP has discontinued grafting it.

[Squam256]

My Sweet Tart flowered and fruited heavily last year. From what I have seen, it holds on to a large number of fruits without spraying.

As for Cotton Candy, it is an awesome mango, right up there with the best. Personally, I found it to be much better than Fruit Punch and even Sweet Tart. Same goes for Seacrest; another winner.  I have a 7 gallon Cotton Candy in my yard and Seacrest topworked onto one of my trees. Last year, I got 5 Seacrest mangoes from the tree.

I’ve been really impressed by Seacrest too. Looks like a real vigorous tree though.

Definitely think Cotton Candy is better than Fruit Punch.

[Cookie Monster]

Actually, now that you mention it, I did have bbs on a couple of venus fruits last year. Glad I got a tree before they stopped propagating.

What's odd about bbs, though, is that some trees get it and some do not -- despite being of the same cultivar. For example, my smaller (12+ year old) keitt gets hammered by bbs pretty consistently -- near total crop loss. However, the older keitt that is just 30 feet away never gets BBS.

Venus seems to flower a little easier. But enjoy your inevitable bacterial black spot that comes with it 




ZHPP has discontinued grafting it.

[Squam256]

Actually, now that you mention it, I did have bbs on a couple of venus fruits last year. Glad I got a tree before they stopped propagating.

What's odd about bbs, though, is that some trees get it and some do not -- despite being of the same cultivar. For example, my smaller (12+ year old) keitt gets hammered by bbs pretty consistently -- near total crop loss. However, the older keitt that is just 30 feet away never gets BBS.

Venus seems to flower a little easier. But enjoy your inevitable bacterial black spot that comes with it 




ZHPP has discontinued grafting it.

Is it bbs you’re getting or “the rot”? Or both? Because they often seem to occur in conjunction.

MBBS is the star shaped lesions that occur before the fruit reaches maturity while the rot always occurs at maturity.

The rot , on Providence:


This would be the first confirmation I’ve seen that the disease(s) have spread to Broward County. MBBS was likely introduced on Manalapan/Hypoluxo area

The rot comes and goes as it pleases. It can destroy 70% of a trees crop and abruptly disappear. Or destroy all of it (Davis Haden, Palmer, Hatcher multiple times) MBBS seems to only build and get worse with time.

[Cookie Monster]

It may be both. I've seen it here since about 2011 or 2012. Har had said that he had never seen anything like it at the time. It starts off as the star shaped lesions, then the fruit completely rots, eventually just falling from the tree. The rotting happens well before the harvest, perhaps 1 to 2 months ahead of harvest on the keitt. I had theorized that the open wounds from bbs were allowing insects and pathogens to enter, thereby causing the fruit to rot, but I never fully understood what was going on.

I would literally lose over 90% of the crop each year, which would be well over a hundred mangoes. And unlike anthracnose, which at least allows the fruit to reach maturity and therefore offers some opportunity to eat it, the rot happened so early in the maturation process that the fruit was a complete loss.

Nordox seemed to help a little, allowing me to harvest at least a small portion of fruit. But I ended up cutting the tree back severely. This year it's finally blooming again; I'm hoping for a clean harvest.

I have seen bbs on other mangoes in my orchard recently. Venus was one, but I don't remember the others. The rotting has only been an issue on keitt.

Is it bbs you’re getting or “the rot”? Or both? Because they often seem to occur in conjunction.

MBBS is the star shaped lesions that occur before the fruit reaches maturity while the rot always occurs at maturity.

The rot , on Providence:


This would be the first confirmation I’ve seen that the disease(s) have spread to Broward County. MBBS was likely introduced on Manalapan/Hypoluxo area

The rot comes and goes as it pleases. It can destroy 70% of a trees crop and abruptly disappear. Or destroy all of it (Davis Haden, Palmer, Hatcher multiple times) MBBS seems to only build and get worse with time.

[Squam256]

It may be both. I've seen it here since about 2011 or 2012. Har had said that he had never seen anything like it at the time. It starts off as the star shaped lesions, then the fruit completely rots, eventually just falling from the tree. The rotting happens well before the harvest, perhaps 1 to 2 months ahead of harvest on the keitt. I had theorized that the open wounds from bbs were allowing insects and pathogens to enter, thereby causing the fruit to rot, but I never fully understood what was going on.

I would literally lose over 90% of the crop each year, which would be well over a hundred mangoes. And unlike anthracnose, which at least allows the fruit to reach maturity and therefore offers some opportunity to eat it, the rot happened so early in the maturation process that the fruit was a complete loss.

Nordox seemed to help a little, allowing me to harvest at least a small portion of fruit. But I ended up cutting the tree back severely. This year it's finally blooming again; I'm hoping for a clean harvest.

I have seen bbs on other mangoes in my orchard recently. Venus was one, but I don't remember the others. The rotting has only been an issue on keitt.

Is it bbs you’re getting or “the rot”? Or both? Because they often seem to occur in conjunction.

MBBS is the star shaped lesions that occur before the fruit reaches maturity while the rot always occurs at maturity.

The rot , on Providence:


This would be the first confirmation I’ve seen that the disease(s) have spread to Broward County. MBBS was likely introduced on Manalapan/Hypoluxo area

The rot comes and goes as it pleases. It can destroy 70% of a trees crop and abruptly disappear. Or destroy all of it (Davis Haden, Palmer, Hatcher multiple times) MBBS seems to only build and get worse with time.

Yes the MBBS lesion allows the rot pathogen (presumably a botryosphaeria or alternaria fungi) to invade the fruit. Any kind of opening or abrasion can serve as an entry point it would seem though.

Brooks descendants are highly susceptible (Keitt, Kent, Hatcher, etc) along with a lot of Haden progeny.

Lemon Zest is also highly susceptible and probably won’t get grafted anymore either:






Eventually I expect this stuff to make it to the major commercial areas (Redland, Bokeelia, Merrit Island). I’ve been trying to warn anyone who will listen.