Growing Mango trees in Southern California

[Alippincott]

I am a few years into attempting several mango trees in Visalia.  I am not the individual who has a youtube channel out of Visalia who grows mangos and all sorts of sub tropicals though lol. I know it is not Southern California but my results may be of interest in a few years.  I have a handful of the top tier Zill varieties on turpentine (M4, E4, LZ, Sweet Tart, Fruit Punch, Pickering) planted throughout with mostly Kent seedlings mixed near and around them in case I need to graft over at a later date.  I am crossing my fingers that I have good luck with the turpentine trees as I am lucky to be on prime farmland soil and I get plenty of heat units.  I also have a few Keitts that I believe should be grafted on LaVerne (Everde) Manilla as well as something Everde labeled as a "square mango".  Not sure what that variety is as I have had zero luck finding anything about it online or through the Nursery that I bought it other than at some point they did stock a "square" variety lol.  The oldest of the group and not by much is a 3-4 year old Kent Seedling and a couple of Laverne Manilla seedlings that are a few years in the ground now. I just wanted to thank everyone who has provided so much wonderful information to this forum discussion as it has been incredibly helpful and thoroughly enjoyable.

I used to live with my wife in Visalia. It is definitely hot there! We met up in the Sierra Nevadas working together at a camp. I love following Tropical Central Valley. My front yard is inspired by him with packing as many trees into a small space. I have 8 or so mangos growing incredibly well that were grown from seed, mostly sweet tart. With how windy it gets here, I think having a dense canopy is good for protection.

[CaliforniaGold]

I am a few years into attempting several mango trees in Visalia.  I am not the individual who has a youtube channel out of Visalia who grows mangos and all sorts of sub tropicals though lol. I know it is not Southern California but my results may be of interest in a few years.  I have a handful of the top tier Zill varieties on turpentine (M4, E4, LZ, Sweet Tart, Fruit Punch, Pickering) planted throughout with mostly Kent seedlings mixed near and around them in case I need to graft over at a later date.  I am crossing my fingers that I have good luck with the turpentine trees as I am lucky to be on prime farmland soil and I get plenty of heat units.  I also have a few Keitts that I believe should be grafted on LaVerne (Everde) Manilla as well as something Everde labeled as a "square mango".  Not sure what that variety is as I have had zero luck finding anything about it online or through the Nursery that I bought it other than at some point they did stock a "square" variety lol.  The oldest of the group and not by much is a 3-4 year old Kent Seedling and a couple of Laverne Manilla seedlings that are a few years in the ground now. I just wanted to thank everyone who has provided so much wonderful information to this forum discussion as it has been incredibly helpful and thoroughly enjoyable.

I used to live with my wife in Visalia. It is definitely hot there! We met up in the Sierra Nevadas working together at a camp. I love following Tropical Central Valley. My front yard is inspired by him with packing as many trees into a small space. I have 8 or so mangos growing incredibly well that were grown from seed, mostly sweet tart. With how windy it gets here, I think having a dense canopy is good for protection.

Right on!  I spend as much time as I can up in the Sierras.  I will be at Courtright reservoir next week!  Looks like you went the opposite direction as me lol.  I went from Nipomo to Visalia.  I have watched a lot of Tropical Central Valley's content and he gave me some confidence in pushing some of the limits our here.

[K-Rimes]

I finally did what I’d been waiting for and planted out this hillside with 20 mango seedlings from FL fruit. A mix of LZ, Orange Sherbet, Zinc, Sweet Tart, Carabao, Kensington Pride, Zill 31-26, and a few others. Many were polyembyronic. I will probably just leave them be and not top work unless there are major issues with them. I do know LZ is terrible for PM, but it was mono so maybe I will luck out. We will see.

Soil is excellent, reasonable organic matter, and well draining. Even better on the hill.

[greenerpasteur]

I have 6 mango indoor. They are all recently dig up tree beginning of the year and grafted a few months after. I put it inside the garage so it can do well and will ground them next year.

My other 5 large mango is doing great. Some are flushing (M4, Sweet Tart) and Maha is flowering.

[SHV]

I finally did what I’d been waiting for and planted out this hillside with 20 mango seedlings from FL fruit. A mix of LZ, Orange Sherbet, Zinc, Sweet Tart, Carabao, Kensington Pride, Zill 31-26, and a few others. Many were polyembyronic. I will probably just leave them be and not top work unless there are major issues with them. I do know LZ is terrible for PM, but it was mono so maybe I will luck out. We will see.

Soil is excellent, reasonable organic matter, and well draining. Even better on the hill.

Nice!  Is that a south facing slope?  Good timing as well with the upcoming heat wave.  Please keep us apprised how they fare after this winter.  If they make it past the first year, they really establish quickly. 

[John B]

Had a good Sweet Tart harvest this year. Never thought I’d be eating these mangoes into Christmas, but that was a treat. No fertilizer or spraying this year. Most of the fruit were from the second flush, which is usual for me. Had some really large mangoes too.

[simon_grow]

Sweet Tart is awesome and I had mangoes into January and February in 2024. The fruit quality was still excellent, even in the cold weather.

[John B]

Yes, ST is still excellent and where I’m at, this tree gets plenty of extra heat on a hill. I had to pick all the remaining ones early because the rats have discovered their taste. It was usually the citrus but now this.

[spaugh]

Nice John, that's pretty much the best fruit possible in CA.  Probably very few fruiting sweet tart trees in CA.  Good job

[John B]

Nice John, that's pretty much the best fruit possible in CA.  Probably very few fruiting sweet tart trees in CA.  Good job

Thanks, Brad. I agree. This last rain with some mixed in heat brought out another flush.

[MasOlas]

John, our feral cat delivered a medium sized rat to our back porch last weekend. When I went back out in the morning she was nice enuf to leave the head and the guts for us. Such a good kitty!

[Ivy]

I have a question regarding Powdery mildew.  I know that sulfur is effective when sprayed before PM gets bad. May and June are the 2 months when PM is the worst in Southern California.  Is it a good time to spray sulfur now? How often to spray? How much sulfur do you use for 1 gal of water?   My tree is starting to bloom but flowers are still not open. Thanks.

[simon_grow]

I have a question regarding Powdery mildew.  I know that sulfur is effective when sprayed before PM gets bad. May and June are the 2 months when PM is the worst in Southern California.  Is it a good time to spray sulfur now? How often to spray? How much sulfur do you use for 1 gal of water?   My tree is starting to bloom but flowers are still not open. Thanks.

Hello Ivy, at my location, Powdery Mildew is bad year round. PM is especially bad for me at this time of year as it affects my flowers. There are different kinds of Sulfur out there so it’s best to follow the manufacturers instructions. I use micronized wettable Sulfur I purchased off Amazon. I have an extremely aggressive PM so I use a high Dose of Sulfur but general recommendations are for 2-4 Tablespoons of Sulfur per gallon of water. It’s best to spray it with the addition of a non ionic surfactant which significantly increases its effectiveness.

You must spray the entire tree and ensure you do it very early in the morning or late afternoon as it gets dark. If you spray it in the heat of the sun, you will definitely burn your plants. I spray only on cooler days. I try not to spray if the temp is above 78F.

For Sulfur to work, you really must stick to a strict spray regimen of every 7-10 days. It’s best to start spraying early, even before panicles emerge.

When spraying, you have to keep shaking the solution to ensure it doesn’t settle.

[Ivy]

Thank you Simon . I appreciate all the information. It seems that tomorrow is going to be a good day for spraying.