Author Topic: What are the Best Condo / Dwarf / Semi-dwarf Mango Cultivars for Florida 9b?  (Read 1525 times)

Epicatt2

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Since we've just been going on about fast-growing mangoes I thought I'd ask about what are our members' favorite condo, dwarf, or semi-dwarf mango cultivars for Florda 9b might be.

I'm currently growing:

BEVERLY
FAIRCHILD
ICE CREAM
IRWIN'S
PICKERING

'Beverly' was like 8ft tall in a 7gal pot and suddenly just up and died for no reason that I could tell.  Oddly my 'Fairchild', in a 5gal pot and six feet tall, died back too, but is still alive above the graft union and has sprouted a few new leaves so it may recover.

Now I am wondering what other dwarf of semi-dwarf mango cultivars you would suggest.  I'm open to suggestions or recommendations.

Cheers!

Paul
==


« Last Edit: July 03, 2023, 01:03:52 PM by Epicatt2 »

Dahen

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Re: Best Condo / Dwarf / Semi-dwarf Mango Cultivars for Florda 9b?
« Reply #1 on: June 27, 2023, 04:52:00 PM »
Nam doc Mai is one of my favorites
Just planted
Carrie
Julie
Sugarloaf
But haven’t gotten fruit yet
Which one of the smalls is your favorite?

Epicatt2

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Re: Best Condo / Dwarf / Semi-dwarf Mango Cultivars for Florda 9b?
« Reply #2 on: June 27, 2023, 06:07:29 PM »
Mine have bloomed and set fruit but so far have not held them to maturity (so I don't know yet which one might be my favorite).

Paul M.
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Greater Good

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Re: Best Condo / Dwarf / Semi-dwarf Mango Cultivars for Florida 9b?
« Reply #3 on: June 27, 2023, 06:33:46 PM »
Julie
Cecilove
Dwarf Hawaiian (Tete Nene)
Rosa
Nam Doc Mai #4
Juliette

Too big for Condo
Keitt
Haden
M-4
Pineapple Pleasure
Sugarloaf  (E-4)
Beverly
Venus
Carrie
Orange Sherbert

johnb51

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Re: Best Condo / Dwarf / Semi-dwarf Mango Cultivars for Florida 9b?
« Reply #4 on: June 27, 2023, 08:27:02 PM »
Also, Honey Kiss and Little Gem. I believe you can keep them compact, if not small.
John

Epicatt2

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Re: Best Condo / Dwarf / Semi-dwarf Mango Cultivars for Florida 9b?
« Reply #5 on: June 27, 2023, 08:49:20 PM »
Thanks All for the replies so far.  (Hoping for still some more suggestions.)

I think this is an important topic for those of us fruit fanatics in urban areas who only have a city lot to grow on.  In such case shrubby things and smaller trees –like small sized mango cultivars– are ideal.

Cheers!

Paul M.
==

bovine421

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Re: Best Condo / Dwarf / Semi-dwarf Mango Cultivars for Florida 9b?
« Reply #6 on: June 27, 2023, 09:05:13 PM »
Malika condo Amrapali dwarf
Tete Nene Julie Juliet Carrie Ice Cream Coconut Cream Little Gem  Dot  Mallika PPK  OS  Pina Colada Cotton Candy Buxton Spice Karen Michelle M-4 Beverly Marc Anthony White Pirie Lychee Cherilata Plantain Barbados Cherry

Galatians522

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Re: Best Condo / Dwarf / Semi-dwarf Mango Cultivars for Florida 9b?
« Reply #7 on: June 27, 2023, 09:47:56 PM »
Cogshall has been somewhat dwarf. Diamond and Peach Cobbler may be in that category as well.

Epicatt2

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Re: Best Condo / Dwarf / Semi-dwarf Mango Cultivars for Florida 9b?
« Reply #8 on: June 27, 2023, 10:22:01 PM »
Cogshall has been somewhat dwarf. Diamond and Peach Cobbler may be in that category as well.

Cogshall sounds okay.  Not sure about Diamond, but Peach Cobbler is a LARGE tree, isn't it?

I really need to opt for the smaller cultivars.

Paul M.
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bburdzel

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Re: Best Condo / Dwarf / Semi-dwarf Mango Cultivars for Florida 9b?
« Reply #9 on: June 27, 2023, 11:17:14 PM »
Cogshall has been somewhat dwarf. Diamond and Peach Cobbler may be in that category as well.

I have grown two peach cobbler trees.  The first one grew like a weed, but Ian took that one away.  I planted a replacement and that one is also a fast grower.  Pretty sure it turns into a pretty large tree.

From trees that I've grown Pickering, Dwarf Hawaiian, Ice Cream and Honey Kiss seem to be the smallest. 

I did see Squam say that sometimes Honey Kiss is not dwarf, the two I bought grafted were both very slow growers.  I grew one from seed and that one seems average.  I also met someone a couple of weeks ago that said it was slow then just shot up last year and became a fast grower.  It was maybe 15' tall when I saw it.  Weird. 

Also, my pickerings didn't have many fruit this year thanks to some pruning by me, followed by Ian shredding it.  It's put on a lot of size this spring.  Seems to grow at an average rate without fruit.  Lots of flushes but compact, maybe 6-8" each time it pushes.  When it fruits though (its unusual it didnt) its loaded and that slows it to a crawl.  I have one side of the tree 2 feet shorter than the other, just because it had fruit on that branch.  So, yeah you can manage it with pruning but I would not say pickering is just a dwarf tree.  Walter Zill has the original tree in his yard and its at least 25 or 30 feet tall though its 30+ years old.  My gut tells me it will outgrow a pot eventually, so go big with it.  Its a fantastic mango.




 


Bill (Cape Coral)

Mangoes I have:
Valencia Pride, Karen Michelle, Pineapple Pleasure, Pina Colada, M4, Coconut Cream, Seacrest, Sugar Loaf, Pickering, Honey Kiss, Peach Cobbler, Spirit of 76, Glenn, Cotton Candy, Gary, Lemon Zest, Orange Essence, Dwarf Hawaiian, Ice Cream, Sweet Tart, All Summer

Greater Good

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Re: Best Condo / Dwarf / Semi-dwarf Mango Cultivars for Florida 9b?
« Reply #10 on: June 28, 2023, 08:17:39 AM »
Himsagar USDA looks to be a variety that stays small and manageable. Alex from Tropical Acres says it has a very nice Indian type flavor.

kapps

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Re: Best Condo / Dwarf / Semi-dwarf Mango Cultivars for Florida 9b?
« Reply #11 on: June 28, 2023, 12:26:15 PM »
Angie is also a fairly dwarf tree. Mine is 5 years old and I’m letting it get to ~8ft but it could be kept smaller. Fruiting is what keeps them small. After a bad 2022 with no fruit, mine almost doubled in size.

Epicatt2

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Re: Best Condo / Dwarf / Semi-dwarf Mango Cultivars for Florida 9b?
« Reply #12 on: June 29, 2023, 01:31:11 PM »
Again, thanks for the suggestions, but I have been doing a further bit of reading up on small/dwarf mango varieties and these several seem to match what I am considering for small/dwarf cultivars:

UGLY BETTY
GRAHAM
ORANGE ESSENCE
SINDHRI
SWEET TART

So, any of our TFF members who are growing or have grown any of the above five:

If you have grown these do you recommend them, or not, and why?

In your experience are these five cultivars:  productive / disease resistant / flavorful / easy growers for you / accepting of pruning without 'sulking' / suitable for 9b?

I need to eventually put some mangoes into the ground on my city lot here in Tampa so with limited space I need smaller (or at least prunable) options.

Cheers!

Paul M.
==

Galatians522

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My comments on Peach Cobbler are based on one tree that is only about 6 years old. Apparently, it is an anomaly.

Honest Abe

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Sweet tart gets massive.

Pickering, cecilove, and Beverly all stay very small for a very long time, but they all have potential to get big after many years just not massive or atleast not in a grower’s lifespan.  there are others for sure.

johnb51

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Sweet tart gets massive.

Pickering, cecilove, and Beverly all stay very small for a very long time, but they all have potential to get big after many years just not massive or atleast not in a grower’s lifespan.  there are others for sure.
You could substitute Cecilove for SweetTart.  That's what I did.  In general, you should stick to a regular pruning schedule after selecting your varieties.  From what I've heard, Richard Campbell prunes severely, but I've never been to his place. 
John


Honest Abe

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I have heard from Alex Salazar that if you prune a vigorous variety aggressively for a number of years, the tree will produce only vegetative/foliar growth and completely stop fruit production….The tree will be under too much stress to produce leaves and forget about fruit.

Learned this when I had a dream to keep my very vigorous baileys marvel small, he said I better top work it to something less vigorous. if I really want it 12x12 forever, i will have to settle for baileys marvel LEAVES instead of fruits. 

We love our BM mangos though so for now, we will have one large mango tree in the collection.

Epicatt2

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I have heard from Alex Salazar that if you prune a vigorous variety aggressively for a number of years, the tree will produce only vegetative/foliar growth and completely stop fruit production….The tree will be under too much stress to produce leaves and forget about fruit.
[snip]

Abe,

What you say above makes sense when one is dealing with a large-sized mango tree.  That is why I'm aiming to choose dwarf or semi-dwarf mango cultivars.  That way when trimmed the %-age of pruned material taken off the whole of a small cultivar is far less and is surely less harmfull to the cultivar if it is small type to begin with.

Cheers!

Paul M.
==

Lostkeys

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Re: Best Condo / Dwarf / Semi-dwarf Mango Cultivars for Florida 9b?
« Reply #19 on: July 02, 2023, 05:27:35 PM »
Cogshall has been somewhat dwarf. Diamond and Peach Cobbler may be in that category as well.

Cogshall sounds okay.  Not sure about Diamond, but Peach Cobbler is a LARGE tree, isn't it?

I really need to opt for the smaller cultivars.

Paul M.
==

FWIW, I recently saw a Peach Cobbler that was planted 6 years ago in the Redlands that was about 20 ft tall.
« Last Edit: July 03, 2023, 03:15:58 AM by Lostkeys »

hipasfolk

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I'm also in central FL 9b and so far these are what I've currently got: Dwarf Hawaiian, Pickering, NDM#4, and Pina Colada. I'm contemplating Cecilove, and either Little Gem or Honey Kiss for my last spots in the <10ft zone of my yard.

Epicatt2

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Helpful ideas from all y'all who made suggestions for smaller mango cultivars on this thread.

I just replaced my large 'Beverly,' which unexpectedly suddenly just up and died, with a new one in a one gallon pot and 'lo that one just died, too, so I'm giving up on 'Beverly' after all that.  All my other mangoes seem to be doing well.

I just ordered a larger-sized NDM#4 in a 3 gal pot.  Hoping this one will thrive and produce soon.

Haven't decided if I'll spring for another dwarf cultivar right away, but again thanx for all the suggestions!

Paul M.
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Galatians522

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Re: Best Condo / Dwarf / Semi-dwarf Mango Cultivars for Florida 9b?
« Reply #22 on: July 03, 2023, 01:45:51 PM »
Cogshall has been somewhat dwarf. Diamond and Peach Cobbler may be in that category as well.

Cogshall sounds okay.  Not sure about Diamond, but Peach Cobbler is a LARGE tree, isn't it?

I really need to opt for the smaller cultivars.

Paul M.
==

FWIW, I recently saw a Peach Cobbler that was planted 6 years ago in the Redlands that was about 20 ft tall.

The Peach Cobbler at my Dad's here in central Florida is only about 8' at 6 years old. The Fruit Punch and Harvest Moon that are planted 40'away are twice that size. I assume that the rootstock is responsible for that since this is not the norm for that variety based on what people are saying. Either that or we got a mis-labeled tree.

Oolie

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Re: Best Condo / Dwarf / Semi-dwarf Mango Cultivars for Florida 9b?
« Reply #23 on: July 03, 2023, 03:05:19 PM »
Cogshall has been somewhat dwarf. Diamond and Peach Cobbler may be in that category as well.

Cogshall sounds okay.  Not sure about Diamond, but Peach Cobbler is a LARGE tree, isn't it?

I really need to opt for the smaller cultivars.

Paul M.
==

FWIW, I recently saw a Peach Cobbler that was planted 6 years ago in the Redlands that was about 20 ft tall.

The Peach Cobbler at my Dad's here in central Florida is only about 8' at 6 years old. The Fruit Punch and Harvest Moon that are planted 40'away are twice that size. I assume that the rootstock is responsible for that since this is not the norm for that variety based on what people are saying. Either that or we got a mis-labeled tree.

The turpentine isn't 100% true to seed, but I have noticed a few posts on how trees that are normally dwarfish tend to grow vigorously when not pumping out fruit, and PC is one of the ones that doesn't fruit well in certain locations. Maybe that's a factor.

Dahen

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Does anyone know of any dwarf varieties that are good for eating green ?just went to a Buddhist temple .. turns out I like all mangoes ripe or not  ;D

 

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