Author Topic: Any truth to story of Tim Thomson going out of business?  (Read 10552 times)

ScottR

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Any truth to story of Tim Thomson going out of business?
« on: June 13, 2017, 11:08:49 AM »
On another forum a person posted that he heard that Tim Thomson (mister low chill mango) has gone out of business!
Any body know if this is true or not? If true not surprised!!

joehewitt

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Re: Any truth to story of Tim Thomson going out of business?
« Reply #1 on: June 13, 2017, 02:57:39 PM »
Well, he's been acting like he's out business for a long time now. Last year I heard from someone who visited him that he was no longer selling direct to customers, only in bulk to farmers. Perhaps that's what "out of business" means. When I met him he had a twinkle in his eye and spoke with excitement of other fruits he was breeding, and said his children planned to take over his projects.

ricshaw

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Re: Any truth to story of Tim Thomson going out of business?
« Reply #2 on: June 13, 2017, 03:48:02 PM »
I agree with Joe.

Would not be surprised.

edzone9

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Re: Any truth to story of Tim Thomson going out of business?
« Reply #3 on: June 13, 2017, 07:59:02 PM »
So the " Cold Hardy Mango Trees " Where never properly evaluated?

Ed
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murahilin

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Re: Any truth to story of Tim Thomson going out of business?
« Reply #4 on: June 13, 2017, 09:07:47 PM »
Lol, cold hardy mangos.

ricshaw

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Re: Any truth to story of Tim Thomson going out of business?
« Reply #5 on: June 13, 2017, 09:30:34 PM »
So the " Cold Hardy Mango Trees " Where never properly evaluated?
Ed

I think Tim believes his cold hardy Mango varieties were evaluated.

Others disagree.

shaneatwell

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Re: Any truth to story of Tim Thomson going out of business?
« Reply #6 on: June 13, 2017, 09:53:14 PM »
I dont like how gleeful people are in tearing someone down who's trying to do something new. I think the gloating is much worse for us in general than any shortcuts thompson might have taken. I think we should celebrate the attempt or maybe be a bit disappointed that it was done wrong, but not happy to see him fail.
Shane

bsbullie

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Re: Any truth to story of Tim Thomson going out of business?
« Reply #7 on: June 13, 2017, 10:09:23 PM »
I dont like how gleeful people are in tearing someone down who's trying to do something new. I think the gloating is much worse for us in general than any shortcuts thompson might have taken. I think we should celebrate the attempt or maybe be a bit disappointed that it was done wrong, but not happy to see him fail.

Your statement assumes not only that he knew what he was doing but that there is any chance of a cold hardy mango...not likely.

Another certain breeder visited him and just by his short visit knew he was full of _ _ _ _

- Rob

ScottR

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Re: Any truth to story of Tim Thomson going out of business?
« Reply #8 on: June 13, 2017, 10:16:41 PM »
I'am not happy that he might be failing but just trying to find out facts of the matter! :o I find it interesting that folks claim there are no cold hardy Mango's when I understand that there are varieties from India that grow in colder mountain regions! Or is that a hoax's too!
Would be interesting to find out for sure!

ricshaw

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Re: Any truth to story of Tim Thomson going out of business?
« Reply #9 on: June 14, 2017, 12:31:19 AM »
I'am not happy that he might be failing but just trying to find out facts of the matter! :o I find it interesting that folks claim there are no cold hardy Mango's when I understand that there are varieties from India that grow in colder mountain regions! Or is that a hoax's too!
Would be interesting to find out for sure!

Part of the problem is "cold hardy" means something different to different people.

I have no doubt that Tim observed different growing habits of the dozens of Mango seedlings he grew to mature trees. Tim believes his observations were the results of genetics differences and some to different tolerance to short periods of frost. But, he failed to prove his claim in my opinion.
« Last Edit: June 14, 2017, 01:38:41 AM by ricshaw »

TheDom

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Re: Any truth to story of Tim Thomson going out of business?
« Reply #10 on: June 14, 2017, 06:54:19 AM »
I dont like how gleeful people are in tearing someone down who's trying to do something new. I think the gloating is much worse for us in general than any shortcuts thompson might have taken. I think we should celebrate the attempt or maybe be a bit disappointed that it was done wrong, but not happy to see him fail.

Your statement assumes not only that he knew what he was doing but that there is any chance of a cold hardy mango...not likely.

Another certain breeder visited him and just by his short visit knew he was full of _ _ _ _

I don't know enough about this fellow to judge for myself one way or another.

If this was a legit attempt at doing something pushing the limits of what mangos can do, I agree that it is awesome and should be encouraged. Being mocked for trying to do the seemingly impossible sort of goes with the territory though, so I'm not going to get too upset over folks dancing on this grave. For better or worse that's just human nature, and personally I'm not interested in pissing into a wind that strong.

If he was a huckster selling hype and snake oil, the failure deserves every last bit of glee. I freaking hate hucksters.
Dom

bsbullie

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Re: Any truth to story of Tim Thomson going out of business?
« Reply #11 on: June 14, 2017, 07:02:14 AM »
I wasnt mocking him for trying but for his claim based off of poor observations.   Just cause the seedlings he planted seemed to exhibit a cold hardy trait (at maturity?), there was no evidence what the propagated offspring would do and at what would happen with different types of propagation and the propagated trees at different stages,  different locations  and under what conditions,  etc.
« Last Edit: June 14, 2017, 10:16:09 AM by bsbullie »
- Rob

edzone9

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Re: Any truth to story of Tim Thomson going out of business?
« Reply #12 on: June 14, 2017, 09:01:22 AM »
I for one was really excited when I first herd of his experiment, at the time I was living in Zone 9 .
But a year went by with no significant updates on the project .
Zone 10

joehewitt

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Re: Any truth to story of Tim Thomson going out of business?
« Reply #13 on: June 14, 2017, 12:25:22 PM »
Tim invested a lot of time and money into this project over the course of many years. I don't think he was a huckster. He made a legitimate effort at selecting cold tolerant mangos. However, he is a bit of a salesman and he had his pitch refined. I heard the exact story when I met him, when he called me to tell me the plants were ready, and in interviews online. His story always started with "Mangos don't grow in California... except mine!" Obviously untrue, as the many SoCal mango growers in this forum will tell you. Ok, so a mature Antonio survived 25F on one occasion. That's a good clue to begin trials with - but it wasn't enough data to justify selling thousands of trees to people in cold climates.

Vernmented

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Re: Any truth to story of Tim Thomson going out of business?
« Reply #14 on: June 14, 2017, 04:22:27 PM »
Didn't he take a bunch of money for pre orders and then completely ignore those customers inquiries for 1 or 2 years +?
-Josh

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Re: Any truth to story of Tim Thomson going out of business?
« Reply #15 on: June 14, 2017, 04:25:23 PM »
I wonder if there are people out there that pay for trees and never receive them?
Tim promise me he was going to bring his mangos to my tasting but always came up with excuses.

ricshaw

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Re: Any truth to story of Tim Thomson going out of business?
« Reply #16 on: June 14, 2017, 04:56:27 PM »
Didn't he take a bunch of money for pre orders and then completely ignore those customers inquiries for 1 or 2 years +?

Not exactly. He did take some pre orders. Lost his stock in a Winter storm that damaged the greenhouse. This moved pre orders back another 6 - 12 months.

In addition, Tim is not a computer savvy guy. Not good with email.

Tim Thompson's Mango tree business was basically a one person backyard hobbyist, side business operation IMO. Not defending his lack of customer service.

I bought a tree at a CRFG meeting. The price was very reasonable (group discount). But not getting a receipt and watching Tim put the money in his pocket was the first clue that this was an amateur operation. Visiting Tim's home with CRFG group and seeing his trees was the second clue that this was a hobbyist operation and not a commercial nursery. Not getting email updates on the status of my order was an indication of his lack of email and customer service skills. I eventually got my tree which I picked up at his home.
« Last Edit: June 14, 2017, 04:59:47 PM by ricshaw »

ricshaw

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Re: Any truth to story of Tim Thomson going out of business?
« Reply #17 on: June 14, 2017, 05:05:21 PM »
I wonder if there are people out there that pay for trees and never receive them?
Tim promise me he was going to bring his mangos to my tasting but always came up with excuses.

Tim interest in harvesting cuttings for propagation affected the fruit production of his trees. :-)

fyliu

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Re: Any truth to story of Tim Thomson going out of business?
« Reply #18 on: June 14, 2017, 06:02:00 PM »
One thing Tim Thompson didn't do (that I know of) was "breed" for cold tolerance. He said he got seeds (1000 a year?) and grew them without protection. Most would just die off really fast. He then selected from the survivors. I didn't hear him say anything about planting seeds from the survivors and then selecting the slightly refined second generation. I wonder if he actually did that and I just missed it.

This is not Tim Thompson's first effort to do mangoes. When did the Timotayo started being sold? That was his and it did have the disease resistance as claimed. I think that's why some people purchased from him. His previous variety being sold at Home Depot helped his sales.

ricshaw

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Re: Any truth to story of Tim Thomson going out of business?
« Reply #19 on: June 14, 2017, 06:17:06 PM »
One thing Tim Thompson didn't do (that I know of) was "breed" for cold tolerance. He said he got seeds (1000 a year?) and grew them without protection. Most would just die off really fast. He then selected from the survivors. I didn't hear him say anything about planting seeds from the survivors and then selecting the slightly refined second generation. I wonder if he actually did that and I just missed it.

That is my understanding, he selected from seedlings. I never heard of second generations mentioned.

Quote
This is not Tim Thompson's first effort to do mangoes. When did the Timotayo started being sold? That was his and it did have the disease resistance as claimed. I think that's why some people purchased from him. His previous variety being sold at Home Depot helped his sales.

Timotayo was Tim's first named variety. Tim lost control of this variety and stopped promoting it and receives no compensation from it's sale.

wussero

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Re: Any truth to story of Tim Thomson going out of business?
« Reply #20 on: June 14, 2017, 06:32:35 PM »
Say it isn't so. This would be too bad.

I bought a Mango from him last year, and got the tree in the backyard.  It is fruiting, and also has grown new leaves on the tree.  I ended up with the Tequila Sunrise Mango as my decision.

bsbullie

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Re: Any truth to story of Tim Thomson going out of business?
« Reply #21 on: June 14, 2017, 08:16:48 PM »
Say it isn't so. This would be too bad.

I bought a Mango from him last year, and got the tree in the backyard.  It is fruiting, and also has grown new leaves on the tree.  I ended up with the Tequila Sunrise Mango as my decision.

A 3 gal and fruiting within a year?   ???  :-\  :-[
- Rob

joehewitt

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Re: Any truth to story of Tim Thomson going out of business?
« Reply #22 on: June 14, 2017, 08:42:38 PM »
I didn't hear him say anything about planting seeds from the survivors and then selecting the slightly refined second generation. I wonder if he actually did that and I just missed it.

Nope. I asked him and he said all of the varieties he was selling were from the first generation of seeds he had started. He said he wanted to start a second generation but had not done so yet.

Orkine

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Re: Any truth to story of Tim Thomson going out of business?
« Reply #23 on: June 14, 2017, 09:19:10 PM »
Say it isn't so. This would be too bad.

I bought a Mango from him last year, and got the tree in the backyard.  It is fruiting, and also has grown new leaves on the tree.  I ended up with the Tequila Sunrise Mango as my decision.

A 3 gal and fruiting within a year?   ???  :-\  :-[

Rob, I have seen air layered mango set fruit first year in the ground.  I had 2 do that.  I took the fruits off to help the tree better use its energy on growth and get better established.  Perhaps this is a similar situation?
Wussero, care to expand?

bsbullie

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Re: Any truth to story of Tim Thomson going out of business?
« Reply #24 on: June 15, 2017, 12:07:02 AM »
Say it isn't so. This would be too bad.

I bought a Mango from him last year, and got the tree in the backyard.  It is fruiting, and also has grown new leaves on the tree.  I ended up with the Tequila Sunrise Mango as my decision.

A 3 gal and fruiting within a year?   ???  :-\  :-[

Rob, I have seen air layered mango set fruit first year in the ground.  I had 2 do that.  I took the fruits off to help the tree better use its energy on growth and get better established.  Perhaps this is a similar situation?
Wussero, care to expand?

An airlayered mango is destined for the graveyard.   It will never really establish a strong enough root system.

I have seen a 1 foot tall, 60 day from grafting mango set and hold a fruit.  That is not the issue.  My comment is focused on wondering why on earth people allow such young trees hold fruit.  Their trees ultimately suffer, decline and/or die and then ask why...and this is after its been posted a bazillion times on not letting young trees to hold any fruit.
- Rob