With a Jamaican and Trinidadian background, my love for mangoes started early.
I found this thread (
http://tropicalfruitforum.com/index.php?topic=6619.msg86396#msg86396) and was going to bump it, but decided to start a new topic.
One thing a Caribbean person (and I suspect other cultures from all over the tropics) loves about South Florida is the ability to grow fruits and vegetables they grew up with back home. I've been living in S. Fl for about 18 years, and have come to appreciate and grow many of the local FL varieties, and Asian/Indian varieties available here (but uncommon in the Caribbean). But it would be nice to have more of our Caribbean varieties to grow here.
Luckily Julie (Jamaica/Trinidad), Graham (Trinidad), Ice Cream (Trinidad), Bombay and East Indian (Jamaica), Madam Francis & Blanc (Haiti) are readily available at S. FL nurseries. But as we Caribbean folks know there are tons of other local varieties that it would be nice to grow here in S. FL.
So what I want to know is, are any of the less popular/known (in FL) Caribbean varieties thriving here, propogated and available, or do some have trees that they would be willing to share scions? I think it would be good for interested growers of Caribbean origin, and who knows, other growers may become interested to in these varieties.
I visit Jamaica regularly (far more than I do Trinidad), and I don't know why I didn't do this before, but I plan to "import" some scions when i come back next time (probably during Decemeber, although that may not be a good time to graft them), or have some sent up with regularly visiting family and friends. My first goal is to graft two of my favorite Jamican varieties outside of the "big 3" (Julie,Bombay, East Indian) - Number 11, and Blackie (about the size of an egg). I'd also love to get my hands on the local Trinidad varieites Calabash and DouxDoux (sp?). Any others done, do, or plan to do this with scions and/or seeds?
I know there are a few posters here from Jamaican, Trinidad and other island backgrounds, I'd like to hear your thoughts on increasing the availability of these varieties in S. FL.
For the forum as a whole, here are some of the common local often colorfully-named Caribbean varieties, other than those already well known in FL (Julie, Bombay, Ice Cream, Graham & East Indian).
Jamaica: Number 11, Number 7, Long, Sweetie, Blackie, Robin, Stringy, Hairy, Bastard, Beef, Sweetie Come Brush Me, Bellfyull, Kidney.
Trinidad: Calabash, DouxDoux, Cutlass, Long, Rose, Starch, Spice, Ten Pound, Robin.
These lists are definitely not complete, and I know there are many new varieties available. Also sorry that I don't know much about Haitian, the other French islands' (Martinique etc.), Spanish speaking islands', or Guyanese local mangoes.. Also most of the mangoes from the other English Speaking Islands are similar to those available in Trinidad and Jamaica, although there are probably some local varieties I'm not familiar with..would love for anyone to fill in the blanks.
Little quick history for those who may not know, Mango cultivation is the Caribbean was around for centuries, and especially grew in Trinidad and Jamaica and some other islands where large populations of indentured workers from India settled in the 1800s.