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Messages - StPeteMango

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1
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: 2021 Mango Season (Florida)
« on: January 11, 2021, 10:28:50 PM »
NDM #4 beginning to panicle here in St. Pete. It better set some fruit after previous dud years, or the chainsaw is coming out. Pickering, Angie, Providence, Honey Kiss and Fairchild are showing signs of buds developing, but it will probably be a week more before the panicles emerge. We're a couple of weeks behind the folks in South Florida.

2
No Oro Negro, but the Lula in my yard are ripening quite a bit earlier this year. Couple of fruit that fell off ripened okay.

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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: first time mango owner, need help
« on: July 18, 2020, 10:12:42 PM »
If you HAVE to have a mango tree in a container, I'd say go with Pickering. It's small-ish, and grows slowly. But if you have an okay back yard, stick it in the ground. I see containers as necessary for people who live in cooler climates -- or who went overboard and got more trees than their yards can accommodate. Container trees need more care than ones in the ground.
You will get better input on local soil conditions from people who live in the Miami area, but if the limestone is such a pain, perhaps a raised bed would help.

yeah, i figured that out like a week after i bought the plant, the lady at the nursery told me it could be kept in a pot.... HA what a joke, currently its in a rather large pot, im gonna try and keep it there for about 6 monthes until it gets alittle stronger. but im currently looking at getting some container friendly mangos, probably 3 or 4, any suggestions? been looking at pickering, cogshall, carrie and icecream, though ive heard icecream can have fungus problems.

4
You could try the Mustang Flea Market in Pinellas Park. It used to be open Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday mornings, but better check. It's been a long time since I went there, but if its open and you get there early enough, you could pick up some Asian varieties. There are also some forum members who graft and sell trees and, in season, mangoes as well.

5
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Best late season mango
« on: July 10, 2020, 10:58:00 PM »
Providence is a good mid-late mango. Not as late as Honey Kiss, but much bigger in size. Downside with late mangoes, at least in my yard, is that when the rains start the fruit lose a bit of flavor. Harvesting after 7-10 days of no rain has worked for me.
I'm still waiting on the Honey Kiss; problem is, the squirrels and blue jays are already after them.
I had a Neelam for about 5 years, but the fruit was a bit fibrous and never had the clean look of Honey Kiss mangoes.

6
I have a Honey Kiss I acquired from Excalibur in 2015. It gave good fruit last year, and looks to be doing so again this year.
Also, it depends on what you mean by "late" season. It's early July, and the squirrels are already after the fruit. What they leave behind is already yellowing inside. So "late" in my yard is likely by the end of July, early August. Pickering got me off to a very good start, Fairchild and Angie are going strong right now, and Providence and Honey Kiss should be next.
Malika has been a disappointment this year, the NDM a dud as usual, the Cogshall mediocre.
Win some, lose some.

7
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: How many mangoes can a 5 ft tree support?
« on: February 27, 2020, 11:48:31 PM »
My (now) 7-year-old Pickering bore 35 fruit last year. It starts out with many more, but most drop off. It's under 5 feet tall. It's in the ground, though, and not in a pot.

8
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: 2020 Mango Season (Florida)
« on: December 22, 2019, 09:45:10 PM »
Maha and Honey Kiss pushing out their first blooms. We're generally couple of weeks behind the South Florida folks.

9
I got a fair amount of mangoes, but quite a few went bad during the ripening process. Got a lot of rain in early June, before the fruit were fully ripe, and that may have had something to do with it.
Angie, Fairchild, Pickering, Providence and Honey Kiss were good producers. Mahachanok was moderate. Mallika was poor. Cogshall and NDM were the worst: produced fruit that almost all went bad. They're on my hit list now. The NDM will have a Pickering grafted on to its trunk when a friend has the time to do so. Haven't decided what to graft on to Cogshall - Providence is the top contender for now.
Your experience with and confidence in the Providence mango is interesting in light of its supposed vulnerability to MBBS and the general abandonment of that variety in this area.  Obviously it's doing well for you, and you like it enough to want to topwork another tree to it.  My tree hasn't produced yet, but I guess the best course of action is to wait and see if it produces healthy fruit.

How old is your Providence? I planted mine in Jan. 2015, and it fruited for the first time (about 25 mangoes) in 2018, and again this year (around 40). The mangoes are large, but better than that, the taste is to my liking. A bit scruffy this year, with black spots on the skin, but taste was excellent. I'm no connoisseur; I like my Pickering, Providence, Angie, Fairchild and Honey Kiss. The MC isn't bad, but it's quite vigorous and so more work than I need to keep it at a reasonable size.

10
I got a fair amount of mangoes, but quite a few went bad during the ripening process. Got a lot of rain in early June, before the fruit were fully ripe, and that may have had something to do with it.
Angie, Fairchild, Pickering, Providence and Honey Kiss were good producers. Mahachanok was moderate. Mallika was poor. Cogshall and NDM were the worst: produced fruit that almost all went bad. They're on my hit list now. The NDM will have a Pickering grafted on to its trunk when a friend has the time to do so. Haven't decided what to graft on to Cogshall - Providence is the top contender for now.

11
Thanks. I'll look at HD for one of the battery-powered pole saws.


For the Glenn, I managed to just use pruners and a lopper. I'm not even sure what type of lopper it was - I want to say a Corona which was wonderful as it was lightweight and cut all the branches with ease.

Prior couple trees I cut I did use a battery pole saw (the Ego brand of which I also have a chainsaw, blower, trimmer, etc.). It works well for getting to the center of trees. It was especially helpful with the lychees which are a pain in the butt to prune.

12
Nice trim.
What do you use to cut the branches? With the heat and humidity and the number of trees, I may have to invest in a rechargeable-battery pole saw. So far I have used pruners, loppers and a handsaw, but maybe it's time to stop risking heatstroke or a heart attack.
Not looking forward to trimming my mango trees - the MC and NDM have grown quite a bit in the past year.
Love the Pickering, which remains a midget (4 feet after 6 years, 30+ mangoes a year).

13
Planted a 3-gal Wurtz in July 2015. It's about 8 feet tall. Takes well to pruning.

14
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Chickens and mango trees
« on: February 10, 2019, 01:10:22 PM »
Thanks for the input, folks. You have given me plenty to think about.
There are parts of the yard where I could put a chicken run and coop, but it's more exposed to the sun and gets shade only late afternoon. The side that has the 3 mango trees has fencing on three sides and has a better mix of tree shade and sun. I could add chicken wire on one side and that would give the chickens more leg room.

15
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Chickens and mango trees
« on: February 09, 2019, 08:03:09 PM »
Has anyone on this board kept chickens around their fruit trees?
I'm thinking of keeping a few backyard chickens for eggs, and was wondering if it's okay for the chicken-run area to include three of my mango trees. Would all their poop/nitrogen cause issues? Are they likely to scratch up all the mulch (there's lots of it) and disturb the feeder roots?
The boss lady hasn't given the final verdict -- but she loves my weekend omelettes, so I'm hoping she says yes. Fresh, organic, and all the good stuff ...

16
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: When to Pick Wurtz Avocados
« on: October 06, 2018, 09:59:11 PM »
A Wurtz I planted in the summer of 2015 bore 18 avocados this year -- plucked the last two today (they were pretty well hidden in the tree, so I missed them earlier).
Have been eating them the last month. Give them 7-10 days to ripen after plucking them off the tree, and they're fine.
My Wurtz isn't as fast-growing as someone on this thread mentioned. It's about 8 feet tall now.
A Day avocado planted at the same time is a bit taller than the Wurtz, and a Lula is much taller and wider.
But they all take well to pruning. I took a couple of arm-sized branches off the Lula a month ago, and it's putting out new growth in several spots - not just near the cut, but all along the branches. The Lula carried 60 or so full-sized fruit; have already eaten some, and letting others stay on the tree longer to see if there are changes in flavor if I harvest them later.
The Day had just one this year, but it was delicious. Nothing like the Hass, more "watery," but tasty nevertheless.
All the avos are planted in the ground.

17
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: For Guava addicts, pics
« on: September 29, 2018, 05:38:34 PM »
Looks great, Galka!
Do you have disease issues with guavas in Ocala? I would like to plant them here in St. Pete, but have heard that guavas are hard to care for because of high humidity and abundance of insects.

18
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Best September+ Mango besides Keitt?
« on: July 29, 2018, 10:39:21 AM »
"Late" mango is, obviously, a flexible term. My Honey Kiss are good to eat now, and July isn't over yet. The summer has been long and hot, and the fruits are ripening just fine. Doubt any will last into September.
Neelam, at least this year, is more of a late-season mango: It's fruits still need a few (2-4) weeks. The Honey Kiss taste is much better and the tree is quite productive; besides, the rains make the Neelam a bit iffy. And Neelam has fiber, which the Honey Kiss doesn't.
Will decide if Neelam (and Nam Doc Mai) should get the ax next month. Hate to cut down a tree, but it's a small yard and space is at a premium. I have had 0% success at grafting, so planting a new tree is the way to go.
Over the past few years, I found I'd rather have a shorter but very tasty mango season than extend it with mediocre mangoes.

19
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Is Angie a Top-Tier Mango?
« on: July 17, 2018, 10:26:28 PM »
An Angie I bought from Excalibur in 2015 is bearing fruits for the first time, and they're delicious. I was late in harvesting the mangoes because of a parent's failing health, and am only now beginning to pick mangoes off trees.
Found a couple of Angie mangoes that ripened and fell of the tree, and they were great. No regrets about planting this little tree.

20
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Chilly Florida AM
« on: January 04, 2018, 11:17:23 PM »
42 in south St. Pete at 5:30 a.m. today, but my phone said with wind chill it was 34. About the same expected Friday morning. Trees look okay, but the damage, if any, will show up in a few days. The panicles were just forming on several mango trees, with the Pickering in full bloom.

21
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Mango blooming now.
« on: December 06, 2017, 10:12:39 PM »
In St. Petersburg: Pickering in bloom, Mallika buds too small to tell. Maha buds and Cogshall smaller still, may take another week or so to be sure. Neelam, surprisingly, has flushed new growth.
Rain expected Friday-Saturday, then a "cold" spell for our area. May trigger more flowering.

22
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Avocado help needed.
« on: December 01, 2017, 08:36:32 AM »
This photo was taken minutes ago, shows the mulch piled around the raised bed for the avocado:



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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Avocado help needed.
« on: November 30, 2017, 07:59:28 PM »
Around the raised bed, and to some extent within it as well. The sides of the bed are 4 feet x 4 feet. The mulch starts about a foot from the trunk. It is piled higher than the raised bed, extends out a couple of feet beyond it. Can't even see that there's a raised bed. Attaching a photo of how it started out two years ago. The mulch pile is just past the black PVC ring. To show how it is now, I'll take and post a pic tomorrow when there's light.
http://postimg.cc/image/wls59prxl/


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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Avocado help needed.
« on: November 30, 2017, 08:09:05 AM »
I killed three avocado trees before trying a raised bed. The avos are now two years old, and thriving.
The first three trees were planted on level ground, and there was no visible flooding. But the summer rain, I guess, saturated the soil enough to cause root rot.
The raised bed is 4 feet x 4 feet, and a foot high. But I also piled up some soil, raising the level a bit more above grade. Also piled a lot of mulch to support the raised bed - the mulch is about 2 feet deep, and extends 5 feet beyond the trunk. No mulch within 1 foot of the trunk.

25
2017 was not a good year for my yard. Fewer mangoes. I was hoping for a better yield in 2018, but a warmer winter will be just more of the same.

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