The Tropical Fruit Forum

My brother-in-law lives in Houston and has been asking me for a mango tree he can grow in Houston, either in ground or in a wheeled large container.  I'm located in South Florida so I can grow pretty much any mango out there.  I likely have access to more mango sellers and variety than he does so maybe I can find him a suitable plant.  Any advice on a variety of mango that would be preferable to the Houston area?  Any advice on sources in S.FL also appreciated.   I kinda have a feeling his area could grow many of the varieties as well but don't know for sure.
There's a nursery (http://www.excaliburfruittrees.com/fruits.html) near me that specializes in fruit trees.  They have a huge selection of mangoes so I'll make a visit there soon. 
Thx

As mango lovers, we'd like to add a tree to our yard.  When we lived in Miami we had a mango tree in the yard that would yield some pretty large sized mangoes but pretty run mill generic mangoes I think, nothing special.

We're in Palm Beach now.  We have the yard filled with coconut, banana, and pineapples but lacking a mango tree.  Presently we have a large Florida Maple tree that would need to come down to make room for the mango.

So my question is what variety to grow?  We only have room for one.  I see lots of talk here about top tier mangoes such as LZ, OS, PPK, CC, etc. I never realized there were so many and of varying quality.  I figure we need to taste some of these so I need to find where we can buy some.  One other thing I'd like is for it to double as a shade tree for our picnic bench as our maple has once it gains size.

Anyways what are your thoughts on a choice for a mango tree if you could only choose one or which to avoid?

Thx

I'm kind of new to gardening but wow do the pests keep me busy.  If it ain't caterpillars on my banana trees, aphids on just about every other plant, leaf notcher weevils, mealy bugs on my papayas and lantanas, or white-flies on my peppers, now its tomato hornworms and lots of them. You name it, I got it.  My whole yard is under constant attack.  This gets really tiring.

I noticed some green tomatos half eaten and thought maybe birds.  After close examination I found these:



9 adults and several little ones, munching away.  I seem to be fighting pests constantly over the past couple months.  I'm releasing a couple thousand ladybugs next week in an attempt to fight the aphids and mealybugs and whatever else the ladybugs might eat.  I don't really want to have to resort to spraying all my plants with pesticide all the time.

I placed my single basil plant next to the tomatoes since they supposedly help repeal the worms but I think I need more than one basil plant for six tomato plants.

I just noticed lots of white cottage cheese looking growth clumping under the leaves as well as some on the stems of my papaya trees.  Not sure if it's an aphid of some type or fungus.  How should I treat this?

I sprayed the trees with some Bug-B-Gone since I was already spraying my banana plants for caterpillars.  I gotta say, my garden really has a knack for attracting pests.