This forum is mostly about sharing information to help each other successfully select fruit varieties to grow and enjoy at home. I am very thankful for information,friendship, fruit, and plants others have shared with me over the years. I want people to be successful with the varieties they plant and I am excited about Little Gem.
I think Little Gem is worthy of inclusion on a short list of mangoes with many desirable qualities for the home grower along with Pickering and Honey Kiss. I believe it will become more popular like those two as more people grow and taste it. I am excited because the tree is healthy and the fruit stays very clean even this late in the season with no spraying at my location.
Yes there is still fruit on the tree on September 8th.
Some other mango varieties suffer to varying degrees from BBS and fungal diseases in my yard.
Don't forget that Honey Kiss was almost discarded before it was rescued from oblivion. Thankfully it got a chance to make a second impression. It takes years to really know the potential of a variety. Little Gem may not have enjoyed instant popularity but I believe it will grow.
Some of the contradictions about its quality may be accounted for by the fact that it is one of those mangoes that can taste very different based on when it is picked and how long it sits before it is eaten.(on the same tree in the same season) My tree is blasted by full sun from sunup until sundown and is grown in very poor soil without an irrigation system. It develops very good color and a concentrated flavor when properly ripe under my conditions. Even during very rainy periods it does not get washed out. Picked in June or early July and ripened off the tree it is nothing special (unless you like more resin and a more Carrie like flavor) but certainly still edible. Best eating quality and color seems to be reached about a week or even longer after they easily come off the tree, which usually begins about mid July here. I haven't seen any other pics of the fruit with more than a blush of color.
I think people are picking and eating them too early.They reach perfection when other mangoes would be considered overripe. If properly mature they finish coloring up off the tree at least at my location. Shaded fruit from the interior canopy have less color of course. As a homeowner mango it is just about ideal,the fruit don't all ripen at the same time,multiple pickings needed with about a 7+ week window of high quality. It think it would be great for a small seller that retails fruit.
No real incentive for large growers of commodity fruit to pick a tree many times over the season until it is bare.
Time is money for picking crews, especially if they get paid by the amount they pick.
