If you had to start again, what varieties of mango would you plant?

[Zeeth]

Let's assume you were starting with a blank slate, and you have room for only 3 or 4 trees, what would you plant, and why? Would you go for some lesser varieties that give you an extended season, or would you go with Zill's new varieties?

[TnTrobbie]

3 or 4 varieties?!?! Thats tough. I'd go with

Julie: awesome mango, does great (production/ disease) in my area.
NDM regular: sweet mangoes, some huge, awesome production/ disease resistance.
Mallika: very nice sweet mango [orange, carrot, papaya tones depending on stage], great production/ disease
LZ: pics of 4+ yr old trees now appearing on the forums showing good/ very good production for backyward owners.
     Consistently has high reviews in tastings from forumites whose taste buds I can relate to and trust.

[gunnar429]

Haven't tasted too many, but it seems like damn near everything Walter Zill grows is incredible.

Some I would consider:
Dupuis
Providence (though haven't tried Venus yet)
PPK
Lemon Zest & Sweet Tart (though still haven't tasted them yet)
Edgar
sunrise
honey kiss

still have a few more varieties to taste so this is hardly exhaustive.  Just my 2 cents

[Pancrazio]

Florigon. Glenn looks promising from several point of view but in a cold place with a cold spring, assuring a good pollination with less chances of an aborted embryo and a quick developed fruit seems more important to me now.

[FlyingFoxFruits]

my experience is limited...at first i planted carrie, NDM4, lemon meringue, cogshall, and miracle mango....

now I'd plant, pickering, fairchild(carrot mango flavor, I like), maha chanok, angie, tyler, austin, indera (like a big carrie, somewhat fibrous, very nice!), southern blush (the ones on merrit island taste nice! I hear down south not so much?...i get a distinct coconut flavor from them)

[Zeeth]

my experience is limited...at first i planted carrie, NDM4, lemon meringue, cogshall, and miracle mango....

now I'd plant, pickering, fairchild(carrot mango flavor, I like), maha chanok, angie, tyler, austin, indera (like a big carrie, somewhat fibrous, very nice!), southern blush (the ones on merrit island taste nice! I hear down south not so much?...i get a distinct coconut flavor from them)

I have a similar climate to Merritt island, is it significantly different from South Florida for growing mangos? I've noticed that our ripening season seems to be between 2-4 weeks later than that in South Florida, but I don't know how that'd affect how they taste. 

[LEOOEL]

Not from experience, but from the input of others on this Forum: Lemon Zest.

[Sleepdoc]

J 12
Lemon Zest
Coconut Cream
Angie

[fisherking73]

I would keep my Coco Cream, Fairchild, Pickering and Carrie. Would replace my PPK with Lemon Zest.  And I would have waited before planting my Cogshall and tasted a few more mangoes before deciding what to plant.

[naturelover]

would not have planted Carrie, Pickering, VP

would have planted Cushman, Mallika, newer Zill varieties (Fruit Punch and Guava if it was available then- not really available)

[gpuccio]

Lemon Zest
Cac
Pickering
NDM

[zands]

I would plant:

• Carrie
• Coc
• Kent----- late mango meaning August
• Fairchild
• Keitt   --- maybe on this one. It is late meaning September. Or I would plant a Venus, a late mango I am hearing good things about
• Peach Cobbler ---maybe depending on productivity reports

[FlyingFoxFruits]

have u tasted Angie?

I would plant:

• Carrie
• Coc
• Kent----- late mango meaning August
• Fairchild
• Keitt   --- maybe on this one. It is late meaning September. Or I would plant a Venus, a late mango I am hearing good things about
• Peach Cobbler ---maybe depending on productivity reports

[mangomandan]

I would keep Dot and Lemon Zest. Save a spot for Fruit Punch, should it become available. Not sure which August/late mango to plant--Keitt or possibly Venus (which I don't know much about yet).  I don't know yet whether I would keep Sweet Tart, Peach Cobbler, or Edgar; I want to evaluate them for a couple more years to see if there are any serious drawbacks.

[gnappi]

I have a Julie seedling, a Glenn and a Madame Francis. The first two I put in, but I would plant all three again if my lot were bare naked.

[HMHausman]

I have a Julie seedling, a Glenn and a Madame Francis. The first two I put in, but I would plant all three again if my lot were bare naked.

Not sure if I should praise your loyalty or say that "old habits do die hard."

[gnappi]

I have a Julie seedling, a Glenn and a Madame Francis. The first two I put in, but I would plant all three again if my lot were bare naked.

Not sure if I should praise your loyalty or say that "old habits do die hard."

Not loyalty or a habit.

I planted the two knowing what they tasted like, and have not been sorry at all. The MF could easily be cut down for a newer offering but I like it. I have a Carrie and Lancetella in pots and I'll keep them there in the event I have to underplant something or if something dies.

[Zeeth]

J 12
Lemon Zest
Coconut Cream
Angie

Any info on J 12? The search function makes it hard to look for the letter/number names sometimes.

[Sleepdoc]

J 12
Lemon Zest
Coconut Cream
Angie

Any info on J 12? The search function makes it hard to look for the letter/number names sometimes.

http://tropicalfruitforum.com/index.php?topic=15943.0

I have had a few more J12's from my tree and it is a fantastic mango.

[LivingParadise]

I have a Julie seedling, a Glenn and a Madame Francis. The first two I put in, but I would plant all three again if my lot were bare naked.

Not sure if I should praise your loyalty or say that "old habits do die hard."

Why do some people on these forums feel the need to shame others for their love of fruit, when it has nothing to do with the topics of the threads? I don't get it. There are currently more than 7 billion people on this Earth. Are people actually so egotistical as to believe that all 7 billion people have exactly the same tastes as they do? Or that they should? Variety is the spice of life, and that is especially true when it comes to fruit. The fact that there are so many cultivars of one fruit to choose from, with such different tastes and consistencies, is what makes them so miraculous and enjoyable to such a wide variety of people, from all cultures and corners of the world.

I don't think people realize that for every person shamed on these threads (and it happens on almost every thread in one form or another, over tastes, or growing methods, or plant choices, etc. etc.), many other people who are only reading/lurking thus far are afraid to contribute to the forum because they are afraid to look stupid, uninformed, or to be judged for their choices. There is no hierarchy in fruit, nor fruit lovers. FRUIT LOVING IS AN EQUAL-OPPORTUNITY SPORT. Every opinion is equally valid to another's here, when it comes to taste, because all people's taste buds and preferences are slightly different.

It's great to know what people would do differently if they were to look back, and that can inform a lot of people when they make new choices about planting. But that doesn't mean that there are universal answers to the question, or that any forum members are the authority on how other people feel, or should feel, with respect to their own yards and their own plants.

I would love it if we could stop the constant push towards conformism that is so prevalent in this forum. After all, if any of us were really conformists, would we be such freaks for growing tropical fruit in the first place?

[HMHausman]

My comment hardly constitutes shaming anyone for their opinion. I should point out that the poster admits himself that the Madame Francis could be replaced by a newer cultivar. So by this admission.....there seems to be a loyalty factor at play. I never belittle anyone's opinion.  Except, of course, in partial jest when commenting on murahilin's fruit tasting preferences.

[bsbullie]

I wish the whiners would quit posting their garbage based on limited knowkedge other than feeling the need to attempt to stick up for people, people who dont need the assistance.  Just as some post opinions,  others have every right to post their opinions and they dont have to agree with any other poster.

My opinion, I hate Carrie, Julie and mangoes with fiber.  That is MY opinion and i really dont care who agrees or disagrees with it.  Now take that and stick it in your conch shell...

[Sleepdoc]

I really like Julie and Carrie, and I have no idea how anyone hates them.

I actually like the fact that Rob dislikes them.  Just shows how palates can be polar opposite on certain varieties, yet align on so many others.

[gunnar429]

why is everyone so sensitive lately??? It's mango season!!

I don't mean to sound ignorant, but why should I care about the lurkers?  Either they will choose to participate or they will just learn from what others are saying from the sidelines.  Doesn't seem to be a major problem there either way.  To each his own. 

But, seriously if you can't harp on Carrie's voodoo, turpentine reviews, and members sticking up for Tommy Atkins, what's the point.  Life is serious...a little ribbing keeps it fun.

Don't worry, be happy!  It's fruit season!!!!!!! 

[RichardN]

It's good that Rob doesn't like Julie and Carrie. They could all go home with me... Lol
Back to the topic....
I am a mango addict and it is very hard for me to only pick 4 varieties to grow.
If I were to start all over again. I would not plant Tommy Atkins, Glenn, and Valencia Pride.