At the Fruit & Spice Conference. I asked Jim what fruits he'd like to grow in Ecuador but couldn't and his eyes got wide and he just about yelled Mango!!! For a pretty low-key guy, he got really excited about having the chance to eat lots of mangos over here. Guess it's too wet at his location to grow them there.
Jaime
I don't think Jim has made much of an attempt either at growing mangos. There are some anthracnose resistant types that would probably fruit well at his location. I fruit them in Hawaii where rainfall is much more evenly spread out through the year. Jim does have a dry season, unlike at my place. So he could do it. He did complain that his Kuini (M. odorata) didn't fruit, but i think he had it mislabeled as Kuini has very large leaves, and his leaves looked like regular mango to me. Also he should try Kasturi, which he didn't have.
I sent this post on the forum to Jim in an email and he gave the following reply:
i beg
to differ w what you said about mangos here...
the 2 big odoratas you saw were from andy adair who knows his fruits,
and the red flowers and few fruits it produced once fit their
description, im sure thats what they are. i also have 2 other
odorata trees from other sources. and a huge kasturi tree you saw, it
hasnt flowered, and a smaller kasturi graft. but more to the point i
have several mango trees, some of the anthracnose resistant type.
they dont produce.
we had unusually dry weather when you were here, but id say much of
what we call dry season here is more wet and drizzly (tho never rainy)
than even your rainy season in puna.
Here is my reply to Jim:
I appreciate you comments on mango. I didn't know at the time i was on
your farm that you liked mangos so much. Which anthracnose resistant
cultivars do you have? Part of the reason for my Hamakua orchard is to
find the "ideal" antthracnose resistant mango cultivars. I have over 50
cultivars planted. Still a bit early for results, but i have a few that
i think are going to be winners.
Who is Adair? I am also certain my odorata trees are reall article, and
they have huge leaves, nothing like on your trees. I can send you
photos of the leaves later on if you like?
It would be interesting to share climate data and compare climates. I
thought you had told me there is certain time of year when it is dry at
your place? We have no dry season at all, and humidity always is around
90-100%. So if i can produce mangos i think you should be able to do so
also.