Mango Varieties for CA Central Coast

[Oolie]

PC or O2 as it is also known is a pretty late variety.
The less heat you get, the earlier the variety you select should be. North Indian varieties are somewhat resistant to a lot of the fungal issues you get in cooler areas like PM, but unfortunately they usually are not poly, so they have to be grafted.

I'd just plant a seed from an ataulfo and decide in a few years what to graft it over to.

[CharlieLoon]

Just an update

I certainly understand now from folks here, and from reading the 30+ pages of the growing mangoes in SoCal thread, that growing from seedling is best, followed by growing Manila rootstock and grafting.

For right now though we wanted to start with a decent sized tree we can put in the ground. I understand it’s not as optimal. So I’ve picked out a few spots around our yard with the best microclimates and we’ll plant a few mango trees and see which ones do well.

I just picked up a decent sized Kensington Pride (from seedling/ungrafted), orange sherbet (grafted) and a larger Manila mango. From talking with one of the nursery owners here and showing him some pictures our Alphonso actually is doing ok, so I guess that’ll make four mango trees.

The orange sherbet will be espaliered against a southern wall (though shaded in late afternoon and on)that gets quite hot in early afternoon. The Kensington pride will go right up against the water tank near the Alphonso, which reflects a fair amount of heat and obviously provides a source of temperature buffering overnight (in winter through spring, when full). Technically it’s a full sun location, but the tank has actually been shading the shorter Alphonso until about 12pm. The KP is tall enough to start catching sun earlier. The Manila will go in an all-day full sun area that will get some reflected heat from a nearby south facing wall. It’ll be near a concrete walkway for some heat retention/release overnight, and I was thinking about putting in some white gravel around the base  to reflect more heat, though I haven’t read much about if people have success with that. It does sound like in the more marginal climates that the heat island effect of concrete helps quite a bit, though it obviously means less availability for nutrient update. I thought “mulching” with white gravel allows me to still easily fertilize and get those heat benefits.

Will let folks know if I get any success here in SLO. Any failure just gives more opportunities to try something different.

Will spend the next week or two prepping the soil good!

[CharlieLoon]

So I guess a follow up question is what’s better when it comes to picking a ground cover in the root zone to increase the temperature of the area, however small? Something white and reflective that increases daytime temperature more, or a darker rock that absorbs heat and moderates the low temperature at night?

My thought is since it’s relatively cool here even in summer, that whatever I can do to increase daytime temperature is ideal. Would other agree? I would use something permeable, of course.

[Brebarian]

In my opinion, it's the nighttime temperatures that'll getcha, so if I were choosing between two colors of rock mulch, I'd go for the darker. It'll still cause plenty of heat soak in the daytime, and I was under the impression that white reflects light and doesn't absorb heat well, which would probably cause the opposite of the intended effect and cool things down.

For what it's worth, I just use wood/leaf mulch. It's biodegradable and slowly builds the soil, it's somewhat dark in color, and I suppose between the color and the breakdown of the organics it might add a fraction of a degree in warmth.

Your tree selection and locations sound solid!