The Tropical Fruit Forum

I have never geocached or exchanged seeds, but I wonder if they might benefit each other in combination? Some sites might work as seed exchanges. Some sites might work as plant a seed or seedling and lets see if it survives? Some sites night be small food forests and might get bigger and more nice using a geocache. I don't know? Just an idea I had a last week.

I'm interested in tropical fruits & plants less likely to attract & be eaten by animals & people. Some plants may be less attractive if the have poisonous leaves for example like rhubarb. Some may have a strong smell like mint, rosemary or garlic. Some may be not grown commercially. Some might not ship well. Some might look strange. Some may be grown in a foreign land. Some may be hard to pick when properly ripe. Some may stay green and not be noticed. Some might be unfamiliar to the general public and wildlife.

I noticed the iguana near me do not eat my mango tree seedlings, everglade tomato, mustard greens, peanuts, acai palm tree seedling or Jamaican strawberry tree fruit.

I am mostly concerned about iguana, ducks, racoons, birds, and people, but here is a website on Deer Resistant Plants and Flowers to Grow in your Garden

http://www.thegardenhelper.com/deer.html

If you know of any other resistant edible plants I'd like to hear about it.   

What are the tropical fruit staples or varieties that you would focus on if you could only harvest 12 trees a year on your property? Do you pick 3 trees to harvest n January 2 trees in Feb., 1 in March, .... ? Or do you pick 12 trees which have a very long season. Or a little bit of both? Maybe you plant 12 types of Mangos? Maybe you would plant 6 Sweet Tart mango trees and 6 coconut cream? Or  1 black sapote, , 1 Carambola, 1 Mamey Sapote, 1 Avocado, 1 Jack Fruit, etc. What would you pick if you where going be limited to 12 trees? You can still buy fruit in season at the grocery store that is in season. You are not on a deserted island.

Say your favorite mango tree was grown from seed and named after your wife.
Seed vaults won't safeguard that particular variety for the future.

https://www.seedvault.no/

Top working the last remaining tree to another variety won't help protect diversity either.

Perhaps a database or app is needed?

The information or app would could maybe be de-centralized & backed-up?
The information could maybe help track & document which varieties are endangered.
The information could maybe help people exchange scions or seeds of mango trees to help stop certain varieties of becoming extinct.
Metal plant tags & sharing information such as GPS coordinates and how many trees are left online might help protect phenotypic diversity of cultivated mangos.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/258728609_Phenotypic_Diversity_of_Cultivated_Mangoes_in_Oman

Space mangos in backyard or estate differently than on a mango plantation. Mango trees planted in backyards or estates can be planted closer together, since there is no need to have wide rows to allow heavy equipment to pass by.

Mango spacing is changing with new information and technology.
Why to prune - The idea behind small mango trees

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXzpjZA38N0

How to prune canopy management for mangos

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zh1AnvNa6mc


New mango plantations are planting them closer together.
1 Acre = 43,560 square feet

10 meter spacing or 32.8 ft
208 / 32.8 = 6.3
6.3 x 6.3 = 40 TPA: trees per acre
4 tons of mangos

5 meter spacing or 16.4 ft
208 / 16.4 = 12.68
12.68 x 12.68 = 160 TPA: trees per acre
12 tons of mangos per acre

Mango spacing calculation:
square root of 43560 = 208
14.4 ft spacing
208 / 14.4 = 14.44
14.44 x 14.44 = 208.64 TPA: trees per acre

Ultra High Density Estate Mango Production
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYIclJPs4ME

4.5 meter x 4.5 meter or 14.76 feet

3 meter x 2 meter spacing

3 meter x 1 meter spacing

Average height of tree is 7 feet

674 TPA: trees per acre

8 ft spacing
208 / 8 = 26
26 x 26 = 676 TPA: trees per acre

7 ft spacing
208 / 7 = 29.7
29.7 x 29.7 = 882 TPA: tress per acre

Staggering each row in a diamond pattern probably allows the trees to grow larger also.   
Example: @   @   @   @   @
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Currently I planted my first few mangos about 15 ft apart, but I have planted seedlings in between them now.  So what started out as 3 trees is over 40 and climbing every week as we eat more mangos and plant the seeds. Currently have Glenn, Jakarta, Lemon Meringue, Sweet Tart, Maha Chanok, Neelam, Orange Sherbet, Rosigold, Irwin, East Indian, and a bunch of seedlings most of which are Ataślfo and Kent. Most of the seedling will probably be grafted and moved.

 I wonder if ultra high density mango production can be done with no watering once plants are established? If all varieties can be grown with this method or only compact varieties? Which varieties should I focus on and grow? What problems should I expect? What is the optimal mango spacing? etc etc

I am interested in what varieties you would plant together in the interest of creating a new variety and why they are paired together?

This thread is focused on the use of seed balls to plant polyembryonic mango varieties or other tropical fruits, during rainy season.  There are websites like: http://www.seedballs.us/ and videos ... search "Masanobu Fukuoka Makes Seed Balls" to see more about how seeds are put inside a mixture of clay and dirt to protect seeds until they germinate.  Using seed balls to plant mangos may not be ideal since the seeds need to be so fresh, but then again maybe being encased in a clay dirt ball helps protect the seed longer?

If you know of a good mango variety that is polyembryonic or a tropical seed that germinate easily, post it here so those so inclined can test this method of planting. Thanks.