Need help from the mango experts

[North_Tree_Man]

Hey folks,
    How is everyone doing? I need advice on determining the best time to pick mangoes for ultimate ripeness. I currently have two Mallikas that are turning light green on the tree, and I have nine Nam Doc Mais that are showing a very light yellow. I know that Mallikas are picked green and ripened in a bag...easy enough. The Nam doc Mai mangoes are stumping me though. I did a destructive test on a smaller one that was turning a blush red. When I cut to the seed, the mango was green as could be, through and through. No hint of yellow near the seed at all. It looked and tasted like a green apple. I'm pretty sure these started in late May to early June, so that puts me well over the 110 days. I'll see about getting some pics up later (currently raining cats a dogs here.) I'm a bit worried about the weather...the cold will be hitting hard pretty soon, so leaving them out isn't going to be an option. Any ideas/advice? As an aside, I also had a pickering that I plucked last week and ripened in a bag with another Mallika...it ripened up well, even though, it started later in June than the Nam Doc Mai.

[North_Tree_Man]

Here's the pic of my destructive test:

https://picasaweb.google.com/Drone523/NamDocMai#5932113873619329650

[JF]

Here's the pic of my destructive test:

https://picasaweb.google.com/Drone523/NamDocMai#5932113873619329650

If the Malika is coloring up and has a little give I would pick it and place in the fruit basket, wait 3 or 4 days and it will ripe. It's easily the best mangos I have eaten this year.

[HMHausman]

The test destructive test photo shows an error....won't open.  Probably wouldn't be too much help anyway.  What about pictures of the more mature fruits?

[zands]

You have reached the green crunchy stage of Nam Doc Mai. It is eaten this way in Asia in addition to the fully ripe stage.
http://www.darwinfoodies.com/2011/07/vietnamese-green-mango-salad-recipe/

People also eat greenish mangoes with a bit of hot sauce and salt

More mangoes+hot sauce http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/539764

[North_Tree_Man]

@JF - Thanks for the reply, I'm not so worried about the Mallikas as I am about the NDMs.

@Harry - Hopefully it'll be dry out tomorrow, so I can take pics for you. Also, the link works fine for me(clicking from this post.) I'll try to re-post it when I post the others. Thanks.

[MangoFang]

Yeah NTM - I can't open the picture either - some kind of posting error comes up.....


gary

[Tim]

[North_Tree_Man]

Thanks, Tim, for posting that for me.

@Zands- I did hear about them being eaten green before, but I thought it would have been a little sweeter. Thanks for the links.

Here are the rest of the pics, starting with two mallika:





They are quite small since I had four to begin with...and the rest are NDM:











In the third Pic down(NDM) you can see some yellow coloration with slight red. That mango got the most sun. I realize that exterior coloration is not the best indicator, so any input from the experts would be great.

[JF]

I would hold off on the Malika for another week. The NDM are several weeks away from fully ripening.

[MangoFang]

...agree with JF.....


MangoFang

[HMHausman]

I agree with JF.....although the Mallika might do fine if picking and ripening begins now.  On balance best to give it another week or so.  BTW, there is absolutely nothing wrong with he tree ripened Mallikas at least at my house anyway.  I have never had an issue with off taste from tree ripening.

[North_Tree_Man]

Thanks guys. I'll just need to bring them in sooner so they don't get too cold. For the NDM, am I looking for a yellow-orangish color to determine ripeness? Do they get that color when fully tree ripened? I guess I can always follow my nose too.