Thoughts on the Mango season in SoCal

[BestDay]

Mango season is now winding down at my house in Long Beach.  I have about 10 Lemon Zest still hanging on a tree.  They are slowly ripening and I have been eating 2-3 per week.  They are very good but not great.  I like them a little under ripe when they have more of a citrus taste.  They do have fiber though. 

My first mangos to ripen this year where Maha Chanok.  I had two batches of fruit off this tree.  An early batch and a later batch with some in between.  The early batch was not shaped like a normal Maha Chanok.  The fruit were shorter and thicker without the S shape.  These fruit were amazing!  Some of the best mangos I have ever had.  Truly delicious.  The later fruit that where shaped like a traditional Maha weren't nearly as good.  This variety does have a very long season even here in SoCal.

My Edward this year were average.  Nothing special.  The quality of the fruit from this variety really seams to vary from year to year in my yard.  A couple of years ago the fruit was excellent with a nice balance between classic mango taste and acid.  This year again they were bland.

The Fruit Punch this year were just OK.  It is a small tree and I probably shouldn't have even let it hold fruit.  But it is such a strong grower  that I figured it could grow 4-5 fruit.  Hopefully they will get better as the tree matures.

My Sweet Tart were excellent.  When eaten slightly under ripe they have a nice acid to sweet taste.  And I love the flavor by the skin.

My Ice Cream fruit didn't ripen properly this year.  They seem to stay under ripe on the tree and then go bad.  If I pick them under ripe to let them ripen on the counter they stay firm and don't ripen fully.  Hopefully next year will be different because when this variety is good it is excellent.

My Dot is growing after it almost Died.  This variety really struggles at my house.

My Cushman is also growing after it almost died.  It is now growing strong.

Here are some pictures of my last few Lemon Zest.  As you can see the tree is flushing now and has some 1.5"-2" fruit on it.  These will probably die and fall off.

[BestDay]

Here are the pics.

[Oolie]

Your LZ is as lush as a lychee. Mine looks much worse, but the gophers have been keeping the roots confined to the cage.

A decline in mango quality could be due to potassium and calcium, it may be a good idea to add some at the last signs of frost.

[Johnny Eat Fruit]

Your Lemon Zest mango tree looks great. My LZ is much younger and has not yet flowered but looks like it will soon.

Not sure more hang time on your fruit will improve the quality as our temperatures are cool now but if we get some warmth that could help.

Good luck with your fruit trees.

Enclosed is a photo of my young LZ mango Tree I just took in early February.

Johnny


California Lemon Zest Mango Tree, Feb 1,2021

[sapote]

Hi Bill,

It's rare to see tree having ripe fruits and also in full flowering. It seems yours already heavy powdery mildew on flower; did you treat PM with anything?
Your cooler climate causes the fruits to have a longer deployment time -- almost 12 months as compared to normally 5 or 6 months for mango. I ate my last fruit on Dec 28 last year. The only fruit I know that has longer than 12 months development is Valencia Orange: around 16 months for a perfect taste.

I'm hoping my Edward graft -- thank you for the scions I got from you 3 yrs ago --  will have some fruits this year.

[BestDay]

Ollie, I fertilize with a balanced fertilizer that has calcium and potassium. So I don’t think it’s a nutritional issue. Plus I have a thick layer of mulch and I use composted chicken manure. I think for me, because my location is so marginal for mangos, it is an issue of not enough heat, or too short of a growing season some years.

Johnny, you have an ice looking tree. You are off to a good start.

Sapote, yes powdery mildew is a problem on all of my mango trees but especially the Lemon Zest.  In years past I have sprayed Sulfur and Copper, which helps a lot. But last year I didn’t spray and I still got a lot of fruit on the LZ. My trees bloom and bloom and bloom. They probably bloom from December to July. So even though powdery mildew is a problem a couple fruit develop from each bloom.  These early mangoes usually die from disease. The mangoes that develop starting in about May or June survive to full size. Good luck with the Edwards!

Bill

[Ant21]

Here is one of my multi grafted tree. This tree originally is Ewais on Manila rootstock. It now has LZ, Phillippine, Keo Savoy, NDM, and Mahachanok. Right now the NDM still has fruit and should be ready soon. Ewais also now has fruit formed.

[SHV]

Hey Ant21,
I was curious what you think of your Ewais mango?  Is it productive in CA and how is the taste?  I have a seedling that is still a few years from producing, but it’s a strong grower compared to other mango seedling varieties I’m growing.  I understand it’s poly so I’m hoping I have something similar to the parent tree.
Thanks!

[simon_grow]

Great updates on your trees Bestday! I had a large panicle on a single branch of my LZ this year that held about 5 fruit to maturity and the flavor and Brix were just good, not excellent. I attribute the lower quality to me not thinning the fruit. The fruit were smaller than normal and that one branch can only dish out so much Sugars to each mango. My tree is also mostly shaded, especially in Winter. Each fruit only had a Brix around 21. At this Brix, it was good tasting but the true flavors did not show up.

I have multiple Lemon Zest trees and my LZ trees on seedling rootstocks seems to produce much better than my tree on Florida Turpentine rootstock.

My Sweet Tarts have been consistently excellent quality. Sweet Tart is my favorite overall variety due to it’s excellent quality fruit, disease resistance, growth and productivity.

Simon

[hawkfish007]

BestDay, you have a much longer LZ mango season. It appears location makes a huge difference, I am more inland from you. I picked my last LZ on 11/30 (from the date stamp on the pic), it had a brix of 28.1 and was wonderful. My LZ just started to flower. Rest of the mangoes in my yard (ST, CAC, PC, FP, MC etc.) finished their fruiting season by early November.

[BestDay]

Hawkfish007, how does your Cac do for you?  Is it a fast grower?  Is it productive?  How I’d the fruit?  I’m considering adding that variety to my yard.

Thanks
Bill

[hawkfish007]

Bill, CAC has been growing well. I bought it from Steve in 5 gal pot in December 2018, and planted it in the ground the same week. It held 5 fruits last year and they were delicious, I remember they were hitting 26 on the refractometer. I highly recommend the variety. It just started to flower more abundantly than last year. Maha is currently holding pea sized fruits and flowering at the same time. Fruits may drop because we are still at low 40s through end of February or even mid March.



CAC, planted in December 2018 from a 5 gal pot



Maha Chanok, planted in May 2019 from a 15 gal pot

[sapote]

Bill, CAC has been growing well. I bought it from Steve in 5 gal pot in December 2018, and planted it in the ground the same week.
Maha Chanok, planted in May 2019 from a 15 gal pot

Hi, do you know what kind of rootstock they were grafted on? The trees look skinny. I think the best way to grow mango in SoCal is to plant a seedling and only graft to it after the tree had some fruit with the trunk about 2" diameter.

[hawkfish007]

sapote, most of my mangoes are on Florida turpentine rootstock. It was a small 5 gal when I planted it about 2 years ago. I am sure trunk will thicken over time.

[sapote]

sapote, most of my mangoes are on Florida turpentine rootstock. It was a small 5 gal when I planted it about 2 years ago. I am sure trunk will thicken over time.

I see that you pulled up the branches by the strings. I just dug up and trashed a Maha grafted on turpentine rootstock after 7 yrs in ground and only 24" tall. It grew like a tomato vine.  I planted a Kent seedling to be grafted with Maha scion after the tree having first year fruits.

[hawkfish007]

sapote, most mangoes droop or develop weak tissues in SoCal regardless of rootstock. I have seen same result with mangoes grafted on turpentine or manilla or coriente. That's why I mostly plant mangoes on turpentine in my backyard. The only way to prevent droopiness in mangoes is by regular pruning here in SoCal. As you can see in the picture of Pina Colada below, I had to sacrifice fruits for years by cutting new growth unless they are hardened (don't mind the picture of Cambuca at the back, it is shedding all leaves but trunk is still alive).