The Tropical Fruit Forum

My wife and I went to a nursery to buy 2 mango trees and other plants and came out with 5 mango trees.  I was looking to see if they had a Rosigold and Neelam to have an early and late season mango crop. I did find a Rosigold, and when I asked for the price, the worker stated $20. For that price I had to get more trees. I ended up getting a Rosigold, Nam Doc Mai (smallest mango tree I have), Coconut Cream, Pineapple Pleasure, and Lemon Zest (I know it is a fairly vigorous grower but I couldn't pass it up after reading so many positive reviews).

The nursery had mostly Hadens and Lemon Meringues in stock, the other varieties were either only in quantities of 1 or 2 left. When I was there I saw Peach Cobbler, Madame Francis, some odd named one I think it started with Tia or Sia, Ice Cream, Julie, Juliette, Carrie, and Eastern Indian (never heard of this one). The Lemon Zest I have is pretty tall in a 3 gallon pot, I'm planning on letting it grow to a manageable height during the growing season and then prune it down to a max height of 9' so I can protect it each winter season. Will that be doable, or will I not get mangoes from this tree? Also, I've read good reviews about Pineapple Pleasure, but don't recall reading anything about the tree itself. Is it a vigorous grower like a Valencia Pride, or is it more modest?

The other plants I have bought are Jasmine Sambac: Maid of Honor (my mother kept asking me to plant it so when she visits she can smell it, she loves that plant since it's her home country's national flower and reminds her of the Philippines) and two grafted Miami Supreme gardenias for my wife. I know these aren't tropical fruits, but if anyone has any helpful information please be free to let me know since I have never grown any of these before. My soil is alkaline and I know gardenias like acidic soil, so those are going in containers. But how big of a container do I need for them? I've been looking online about the Jasmine Sambac Maid of Honor plant but I'm getting conflicting information, some places state it needs acidic soil, other sites stating it grows in alkaline, neutral, and acidic soil. So any help on those will be gratefully appreciated!

Is anyone growing mangoes in raised beds? I've just bought some lumber today to make a 4'x4'x10" raised bed for my Carrie Mango. My yard is just too squishy during the rainy season, and afraid that the mango will develop root rot. What kind of garden soil do you use, or soil mixture? I'm in Osceola county and can't seem to find a source of compost besides mushroom compost.

Hi everyone,

I'm new to growing mangoes, located in the Orlando area. I just got my first one from PlantOGram last Friday (along with a free Surinam cherry tree). It's a Pickering mango in a 3 gallon pot. I'm not sure if I will keep it in a pot or plant in the ground when it grows bigger. Right now it's 44 inches tall from the top of the soil to the top of the tree. Should I tip it now or let it grow several more inches? I'm not really sure what tipping will do (I watched a video on Youtube from Dr. Campbell). Also when I repot (not sure to keep in the pot for it's life or plant in the ground around March), should I give it some fetilizer and fish emulsion?

I'm also considering buying one or two more mango trees. I'm leaning towards a Mahachanok from the ravings I've been seeing online, but I live in a normal size lot, with an HOA (haven't seen anything against fruit trees in the backyards, seen many banana trees and other fruit trees in other homes). If I keep the Mahachanok trimmed, will it be able to stay around 8 foot tall, or would that be detrimental to its health?

The other mango I'm considering is the Carabao/Manila mango, how does it compare taste wise compared to the Mahachanok? And also, with pruning and keeping it around 8 feet tall, would that be detrimental to its health?

Here's a pic of my Pickering mango.