Zill 40-26 Fruit

[pineflatwoods]

If 40-26 is slower growing it would work for a time, but eventually you will need to prune every year.

[MadFarm]

I have a Sugarloaf and a Venus planted 20' apart (from trunk to trunk).  I'm thinking of adding a 40-26 in the middle.  Based on the comments in this thread it might work.  I'd be very grateful if some of the growers can comment on whether they think it would work or the growth habit of the tree.  Thank you so much!

Why wouldn't it work? Like pineflatwoods said, eventually some yearly pruning would be in order, which should be done after fruiting anyways.  Don't let the spacing nazis scare you.

[JR561]

40-26 grows painfully slow, that much spacing is overkill.

[Pan Dulce]

I picked mine up in December 2022 from TAF and planted it out as a nice sized 15 gallon tree last August. Mine flowered quite heavily last year and this year.  I cut the fruit off last year to push vegetative growth and will be allowing it to hold fruit this year. It’s around 5 feet tall and 5 feet wide, hoping it holds 4-6 fruit this summer.

FWIW, I normally bump 1 gallon mango trees into either a 15g or 25g pot straight away and typically can get the trees into the 5-6 foot tall range within 12 months. So I’d rate Zill 40-26 as a lower to medium vigor tree since it took me 18 months to get it into the 5 foot tall range.

[DocTropical]

Pan Dulce, what’s your regimen for beefing up small mango trees? I have smallish Little gem and PPK trees I want to get to size quickly. I’m in central Florida (Orlando), so the trees grow more slowly than in SoFL and can be hurt by cold snaps.

[Pan Dulce]

I transplant 1 and 3 gallon trees into 25g pots filled mostly with yellow sand amended with some organic matter. I always root prune hardened circling roots and orient softer roots out and downwards into the pot. I run slow release Florikan year round and 8-0-12 palm tree fertilizer during warm months. I tend to apply them in half the recommended amounts initially, slowing increasing the % until the caliper gets to around an inch in diameter. If it’s a summer transplanting, I keep them in dappled sun to full shade for a month after transplant, then do the slow move into morning sun then full sun over the course of a few weeks.  If it’s early winter transplanting, which I prefer, then they go straight into full sun. If you’re able to transplant after the last growth flush, or early winter you’re taking advantage of mango tree phrenology. The large pot volume provides for expanded root growth which typically ramps up during the late fall and winter months.

I studied Arboriculture and Tropical Fruit Tree Production at UF while getting my Hort Science undergrad, and tree phrenology is the first subject matter you look at when planning out any tree related tasks.

[MangoMaven888]

I have a Sugarloaf and a Venus planted 20' apart (from trunk to trunk).  I'm thinking of adding a 40-26 in the middle.  Based on the comments in this thread it might work.  I'd be very grateful if some of the growers can comment on whether they think it would work or the growth habit of the tree.  Thank you so much!

Why wouldn't it work? Like pineflatwoods said, eventually some yearly pruning would be in order, which should be done after fruiting anyways.  Don't let the spacing nazis scare you.

Haha!  Yes I'll make space for it.  Last tree I swear 

[Squam256]

Looking like a good year for it

[Coconut Cream]

I hope to be eating at least one of those little beauties when they are ready!

[MangoMaven888]

Looking like a good year for it

LOADED    Super excited to pick up my tree once it's ready

[MangoMaven888]

Looking like a good year for it

I believe this tree can suffer from magnesium deficiencies.  Do you perform any special care to your 40-26 trees for this type of production?

[Jagmanjoe]

I transplant 1 and 3 gallon trees into 25g pots filled mostly with yellow sand amended with some organic matter. I always root prune hardened circling roots and orient softer roots out and downwards into the pot. I run slow release Florikan year round and 8-0-12 palm tree fertilizer during warm months. I tend to apply them in half the recommended amounts initially, slowing increasing the % until the caliper gets to around an inch in diameter. If it’s a summer transplanting, I keep them in dappled sun to full shade for a month after transplant, then do the slow move into morning sun then full sun over the course of a few weeks.  If it’s early winter transplanting, which I prefer, then they go straight into full sun. If you’re able to transplant after the last growth flush, or early winter you’re taking advantage of mango tree phrenology. The large pot volume provides for expanded root growth which typically ramps up during the late fall and winter months.

I studied Arboriculture and Tropical Fruit Tree Production at UF while getting my Hort Science undergrad, and tree phrenology is the first subject matter you look at when planning out any tree related tasks.

My apologies if this is a dumb question but I have never heard of YELLOW SAND and in addition to asking what it is, where do you get it since I am in Central Florida as well?

[Coconut Cream]

I have never heard of YELLOW SAND and in addition to asking what it is, where do you get it since I am in Central Florida as well?

Playground sand or construction sand at any Home Depot is $5/bag for a 40 pound bag.

[Honest Abe]

Sugarloaf is a medium grower with a lengthy canopy a little more dense than Keitt.  Venus is about the same in rate of growth but more dense canopy. I would say they would overtake it fairly quickly with that spacing, but Alex and many growers on here would be more help.

I’ll say that Cecilove or Pickering grow very slowly for me but even for them
I need 15 foot of spacing for full Sun if sandwiched between two faster growing varieties.

[DocTropical]

My apologies if this is a dumb question but I have never heard of YELLOW SAND and in addition to asking what it is, where do you get it since I am in Central Florida as well?
[/quote]

My understanding is that many people use (widely available) builder’s sand.

[JR561]

Ive used so much of that builders sand.

[Pan Dulce]

The yellow sand I was talking about is the prevalent type of sand being sold as fill from the upland scrub on the Central Ridge.  The primary areas that are currently being developed for new residential communities near me are Apopka, Minneola, south Winter Garden, and Groveland. I’ve seen many large sandhills excavated along the turnpike north of SR 50, 429 both north and south of SR 50. I just pull up to the excavation sites with my trailer and ask if I can buy a few yards. That type of sand is fairly comparable to the fill excavated from the coastal ridges where I used to live in Brevard County.

[mikesid]

 
 Tree wants to keep flowering and its already holding about 16 fruit. Only planning on letting it hold one or two to maturity.

[MangoMaven888]

I finally got my hands on the elusive mango 40-26.  Huge thanks to Alex at Tropical Acres! I cut it at the stage shown in the photo: slight aroma, melting soft flesh. From the very first bite, I knew this mango was something special. It wasn’t West Indian, Indian Alphonso, or Coconut group, at least not the one I had.  No this is something different.

It delivered floral notes, but unlike anything I’ve tasted before, and I’ve tried over 75 mango varieties.  There’s a hint of resin near the skin, and the flavor lingers beautifully long after you finish eating.  Hours later, I was still thinking about it and how good it was. The flavor is spicy, complex, and hard to pin down, it's something entirely new.  This isn’t the sweetest mango I’ve had (an Apricot mango I tried after was sweeter), but the 40-26 is definitely on par in quality, just with a completely different, more sophisticated profile.

This mango is not for kids.  It’s for grown-ups.  It’s for mango connoisseurs with refined palates who appreciate depth and nuance over sheer sweetness (and by no means is this mango not sweet btw).  The hype is definitely real and deserving.

I've read Ice Cream mango has a complex difficult to describe flavor profile as well.  I'm curious, Alex or anyone else who’s tried both, how would you compare 40-26 to Ice Cream?  I know both are thought to be Julie progeny, and I can’t help but wonder if the names "Ice Cream" and "Creamsicle" aren't just a coincidence.

Final thoughts - this season, the top 3 mangos for me have been 40-26, Apricot, CAC.  The only reservation with planting 40-26 immediately is productivity a bit farther West in Florida.

[Woodinitbean_ice]

This makes me even more eager to make a graft order whenever that option will be available again