2025 Mango season

[baccarat0809]

That "sugar cookie" variety is a seedling tree planted somewhere just north of big Lake O and I purchased them from an old woman sitting at a makeshift roadside stand.  I was randomly driving around the area looking for just something like this and I found her.  I'll most likely never be able to find her again and lord knows if she's still alive as she had to be 80 when I met her 10 years ago.  Said her grandfather planted the tree from a mango he had eaten and she grew up with the tree.  They were on the small-ish side but had a very small seed, were bursting with mango, coconut and pineapple flavor.  I didn't test the sugar but brix had to be at least 27-28.

Had a pineapple pleasure this morning.  Huge mango.  Great mango flavor and only the smallest of pineapple flavor.

CAC this morning was wonderful.  Mango and cream in that one and is a tree worthy of going in ground for me as I start planning out what additional trees i'm going to put in ground.

[Woodinitbean_ice]

So just got my second box from Tropical Acres.

First box highlights.

Cat Hoa Lac - had 2 in the box.  First one was good but tasted like a nice sweet mango.  Second one - OMG - Craziest flavor I've ever had in a mango.    Grape Bubble Yum.  Zero mango flavor.  Other than a seedling tree the owner called "sugar cookie" that was over 50 years old certainly the best mango I've ever had.  Complex flavor, zero fiber and almost chewy like bubble yum.  To say I was blown away is an understatement.

Pickering - just amazing.  99% coconut 1% mango flavor.

The rest of the box was very good Mango flavors but nothing could come close to the first two.

Now onto the second box ....

Interesting description! I'll be looking for Cat Hua Lac... and hoping 'Sugar Cookie' gets propagated.

Waiting to hear your reviews of the second box.

An update on Mallika: After eating not one but THREE perfect-looking ones that were all disgusting, I had concluded that Mallika is just a horrible mango--at least for *my* taste. But, I had bought five of these.... So I cut open the 4th one, which looked EXACTLY the same as the others, both inside and out, and guess what? It was outstanding. One of the 10 best mangoes I've ever eaten!! I'm very confused.

So, what can one say? I won't plant a tree, because it's far too risky when compared to other mangoes that are consistently excellent, but every time I see Mallikas for sale, I'll take the chance and buy a few in the hopes that at least one will be delicious.

Off to eat a Nam Doc Mai, now that I've had a much milder and more balanced mango for breakfast. "Honey sweet" is a good description, fliptop. Different mangoes for different occasions! Some are good to fill up on as a meal, some are good as a snack, and some are only suitable as dessert fruits. Choose the wrong mango for the wrong situation at your own peril!

Last year I bought a good number of Malikas all at once not thinking about their finicky ripening. I'd like to say that I'm not picky when it comes to mangos (I love Carrie, Angie, Diamond, Neelam etc), but the slightly over ripe Malika I could not eat. Its flavor wasn't bad per se but just very strong and pungent almost like alcohol I was overwhelmed. That said, from that same batch I ate a properly ripened one and it may have been the best mango I had last year.

[Coconut Cream]

CAC this morning was wonderful.  Mango and cream in that one and is a tree worthy of going in ground

Lots of enthusiasm for Cac this season, it's a great one, probably the surprise of the season for me so far. I expected to like it, but I love it.

[nsequitur]

Surprised to see M4 ripening up. Isn’t it supposed to be “late season?”

I have a tree that’s fairly loaded in central FL. Many of the fruit look fairly mature — they don’t look like they will last another 2 months…

Same!
Central Florida, they’re full sized… when will you pick yours?
If you can’t pick based on color (they stay green) and size (they’re full sized already), then when do you know?

[EddieF]

M4 i say if there's plenty on tree, pick 1 & counter ripen.  Mine was hard & softened up fine.  Max flavor?  Doubt it but good.
The rest of mine still on tree so i'll find out what waiting another month does.  Still hard on tree but couple have brown stem.
Maha's i been picking up one every morning & soft.  It's a great mango, wish skin was edible.

[nsequitur]

I did counter ripen a couple (more to let the tree resume growing than for the fruit). They were underdeveloped inside but, like a Thai mango, it was totally edible even unripe.

But to have an m4 in Orlando in May is just crazy - we’re supposed to be a month later than SE Fl, which would mean September at least.

[EddieF]

Pickering i don't remember tasting coconut but this yr it does.  Alot. 
I'm not a coconut person, i'll try to time a M4 & Pickering & eat both.
Picked 5 Pickerings today, tired of seeing large ones 1/2 eaten on ground.
Tomorrow i bet just the seed at most will be left. I imagine varmints eyes open wide when they bite ripe mangos.  Beats a nut.

[pineflatwoods]

Getting frustrated at trees either not growing or not stopping growing- It's impossible to get budwood. I'm going to bring what I can get to the mango festival (I'm volunteering at the budwood section). Whatever I have left over will be grafted onto seedlings. Hopefully, next year- trees will be big enough, I can harvest whenever.

As for mangoes, I just harvested a Pickering- it's almost ripe- it has that suntan lotion smell at Edward has but not as potent.

[kapps]

The possums are still taking their cut of Angie every night. They even ate through the lid of my outdoor worm bin to get at scraps. The majority of fruits are still on the tree and won’t come off with a gentle rock and tug. The latest fruit I had this afternoon was excellent. It came off 3 or 4 days ago during the sunny and dry weather and was not watered down whatsoever. I’m tempted to start pulling some fruit off and see how much sap they bleed. This is honestly the first year with this tree that mangoes pulled a little early that take a week to ripen are still very good eating.

My young M4 is rocking with 4 fruit. One is small and scabbed, one has a split, and two are big and look good. I’m going to wait for the split one to ripen itself to help determine if the others can come off.

Sunrise has a couple more fruits from the first bloom and probably 8-10 1.5-2” diameter fruit from second bloom.

[EddieF]

Yesterday & today.  Glad i stuck with it after losing so much last yr to powdery mildew & anthracnose.
I'm stuffed lol.  Those little Maha are good.
Had ripe Peach Cobbler today, did smell & taste like baked peach!

Edit- i can't type chanok with 2 oo's to ask- i see it spelled both ways.. anyone know what's correct?

[Rain]

@EddieF Maha Chanok is the correct way.

Update on my first producer,
The Pickering! Ta Da!!


 Short video update : https://youtube.com/shorts/ktVR1X1_lmo?si=0AWvQkVSvHbU150T

[MountDoraOllie]

That "sugar cookie" variety is a seedling tree planted somewhere just north of big Lake O and I purchased them from an old woman sitting at a makeshift roadside stand.  I was randomly driving around the area looking for just something like this and I found her.  I'll most likely never be able to find her again and lord knows if she's still alive as she had to be 80 when I met her 10 years ago.  Said her grandfather planted the tree from a mango he had eaten and she grew up with the tree.  They were on the small-ish side but had a very small seed, were bursting with mango, coconut and pineapple flavor.  I didn't test the sugar but brix had to be at least 27-28.

Had a pineapple pleasure this morning.  Huge mango.  Great mango flavor and only the smallest of pineapple flavor.

CAC this morning was wonderful.  Mango and cream in that one and is a tree worthy of going in ground for me as I start planning out what additional trees i'm going to put in ground.

The stuff of legend! What an awesome story. The sad reality is that someone will buy that property when she dies and cut down that huge old mango tree because it makes too much of a mess. But your story will live on. One wonders how many other "Sugar Cookie" kinds of mangoes are out there, undiscovered except by just a few.

I was disappointed with Pineapple Pleasure for the same reason: was expecting a strong pineapple flavor but instead found very little. It's a good mango on its own, though. The name does it no favors.

[sapote]

M4 cold, before lunch.  Reminded me of pina colada shakes i had as kid at bazars minus bag of zeppolis lol.

Sorry but this mango looks too old -- either it took a long time to ripe due to early picking.

[roblack]

Glenn is done, with 1 fruit hanging that I can see. Was losing about 2 - 8 fruit per day to squirrels, rats, and birds. Didn't really matter, as we have got more than we can deal with. 9 Ceci Loves are hanging on that tree, all in metal mesh bags, lmao!

A bunch of mmm4s and Kesars are coming along. Starting to harvest more OS, but not a lot (lots of fruit drop). My lone Guava was ravaged by some horrid beast.

Another thing I've noticed about CL; the panicles appear to hold very strong. I've knocked into the fruits several times, pretty hard upside the head, with zero drops.

[MountDoraOllie]

So just got my second box from Tropical Acres.

First box highlights.

Cat Hoa Lac - had 2 in the box.  First one was good but tasted like a nice sweet mango.  Second one - OMG - Craziest flavor I've ever had in a mango.    Grape Bubble Yum.  Zero mango flavor.  Other than a seedling tree the owner called "sugar cookie" that was over 50 years old certainly the best mango I've ever had.  Complex flavor, zero fiber and almost chewy like bubble yum.  To say I was blown away is an understatement.

Pickering - just amazing.  99% coconut 1% mango flavor.

The rest of the box was very good Mango flavors but nothing could come close to the first two.

Now onto the second box ....

Interesting description! I'll be looking for Cat Hua Lac... and hoping 'Sugar Cookie' gets propagated.

Waiting to hear your reviews of the second box.

An update on Mallika: After eating not one but THREE perfect-looking ones that were all disgusting, I had concluded that Mallika is just a horrible mango--at least for *my* taste. But, I had bought five of these.... So I cut open the 4th one, which looked EXACTLY the same as the others, both inside and out, and guess what? It was outstanding. One of the 10 best mangoes I've ever eaten!! I'm very confused.

Last year I bought a good number of Malikas all at once not thinking about their finicky ripening. I'd like to say that I'm not picky when it comes to mangos (I love Carrie, Angie, Diamond, Neelam etc), but the slightly over ripe Malika I could not eat. Its flavor wasn't bad per se but just very strong and pungent almost like alcohol I was overwhelmed. That said, from that same batch I ate a properly ripened one and it may have been the best mango I had last year.

I'm not alone! I've never turned away a mango--even halfway rotten ones I can eat--but those "off" Mallikas were nauseating. Couldn't bring myself to eat more than a tiny bite. Then I got lucky enough to eat a good one, and it was amazing... 10/10.

[MountDoraOllie]

Pickering i don't remember tasting coconut but this yr it does.  Alot. 
I'm not a coconut person, i'll try to time a M4 & Pickering & eat both.
Picked 5 Pickerings today, tired of seeing large ones 1/2 eaten on ground.
Tomorrow i bet just the seed at most will be left. I imagine varmints eyes open wide when they bite ripe mangos.  Beats a nut.

Yeah, both Pickering and Pettigrew can have a nice coconut flavor... or none at all. Wish I knew the secret to that.

The animals usually go crazy eating my mangoes, too, but so far they haven't touched even one. I'm quite certain it's because they're all underripe. As soon as they taste (or smell) a ripe one, it's game on, and they're gonna check every mango in the yard from that point forward. So, knowing that, I'm gonna be proactive this year about either harvesting them or bagging them as soon as they get close to ripening.

 

[MountDoraOllie]

The possums are still taking their cut of Angie every night. They even ate through the lid of my outdoor worm bin to get at scraps. The majority of fruits are still on the tree and won’t come off with a gentle rock and tug. The latest fruit I had this afternoon was excellent. It came off 3 or 4 days ago during the sunny and dry weather and was not watered down whatsoever. I’m tempted to start pulling some fruit off and see how much sap they bleed. This is honestly the first year with this tree that mangoes pulled a little early that take a week to ripen are still very good eating.

My young M4 is rocking with 4 fruit. One is small and scabbed, one has a split, and two are big and look good. I’m going to wait for the split one to ripen itself to help determine if the others can come off.

Sunrise has a couple more fruits from the first bloom and probably 8-10 1.5-2” diameter fruit from second bloom.

Since they want (and will eat) the scraps anyway, have you considered putting out a big bowl of mango scraps for the possums to eat instead of your Angies? Could backfire, I know....

I would bag those M4s so the possums don't even see them. Would be a major frustration for those to be all gone one morning.

[MountDoraOllie]

My Glenn is producing some really great tasting fruit right now.

I just had a Glenn for the first time today. I can see why people like it so much. Beautiful, too.

[baccarat0809]

Tried 2 Kesars yesterday.  Big disappointment.  Unevenly ripened so some parts super sour and some parts mush.  Second one ripened better but had a soapy after-taste to it.

Maybe just this year but they would be a hard pass for me in the future.

Edward was sweet and super firm.  Would make a great mango to use in a mango-salsa as the texture would fit that very well.

Duncan was nice but nothing to write home about. 

So far CAC, Cat Hoa Lac and Pickering clear winners.

Still have 2 more boxes coming from Tropical Acres next month.

[pineflatwoods]

Shared a Pickering from my tree with a couple acquaintances yesterday, we were blown away by the rich flavor, keep in mind we've had 12-15 inches of rain this month.

[roblack]

Tried 2 Kesars yesterday.  Big disappointment.  Unevenly ripened so some parts super sour and some parts mush.  Second one ripened better but had a soapy after-taste to it.

Maybe just this year but they would be a hard pass for me in the future.

Edward was sweet and super firm.  Would make a great mango to use in a mango-salsa as the texture would fit that very well.

Duncan was nice but nothing to write home about. 

So far CAC, Cat Hoa Lac and Pickering clear winners.

Still have 2 more boxes coming from Tropical Acres next month.

Sounds as though you did not receive good examples of Kesar. Any mango can get messed up, and your reports do not typify the Kesar experience. Reject future Kesar at your own loss. =)

[baccarat0809]

Tried 2 Kesars yesterday.  Big disappointment.  Unevenly ripened so some parts super sour and some parts mush.  Second one ripened better but had a soapy after-taste to it.

Maybe just this year but they would be a hard pass for me in the future.

Edward was sweet and super firm.  Would make a great mango to use in a mango-salsa as the texture would fit that very well.

Duncan was nice but nothing to write home about. 

So far CAC, Cat Hoa Lac and Pickering clear winners.

Still have 2 more boxes coming from Tropical Acres next month.

Sounds as though you did not receive good examples of Kesar. Any mango can get messed up, and your reports do not typify the Kesar experience. Reject future Kesar at your own loss. =)

Yeah I get each year can bring changes and one year may be a hit and the next year its a dud.  Next year they may be the best.  Variety here is the key and the samplings I'm doing now will give me a better idea what to plant.

[EddieF]

My mangos went like this..
Maha Chanok 1st yr fruited, tastes like canned tropical fruit punch flavors by the dozens.
Cogshall love it for edible skin.
M4 certainly had that coconut or the like taste.
Peach Cobbler really did smell & taste a bit like baked peaches.  Make sure it's ripe.
Pickerig only 1 fruit tasted coconut, the rest bland, some were decent but nothing special.
Kent i peeled to freeze 10 and not 1 tasted the same.

Also learned most go from amazing to garbage can if allowed to overripen! 
Was overwhelmed with too many at once ripening in kitchen, great as Maha & Cogshall are, they smelled (and tasted) so bad after too many days sitting there!  Killed me.  Lesson learned, peel & freeze if not eating when ready.  Still learning firmness too.  Better under then overripe 99% of the time.

Probably froze 10lbs of decent ones so far.  Watched Truly T youtube vid of Ms Chris dehyrating them into fruit rollups.  Planning on trying it

EDIT- Pickerings improved greatly.  Picked them too soon!

[MountDoraOllie]

My mangos went like this..
Maha Chanok 1st yr fruited, tastes like canned tropical fruit punch flavors by the dozens.
Cogshall love it for edible skin.
M4 certainly had that coconut or the like taste.
Peach Cobbler really did smell & taste a bit like baked peaches.  Make sure it's ripe.
Pickerig only 1 fruit tasted coconut, the rest bland, some were decent but nothing special.
Kent i peeled to freeze 10 and not 1 tasted the same.

Also learned most go from amazing to garbage can if allowed to overripen! 
Was overwhelmed with too many at once ripening in kitchen, great as Maha & Cogshall are, they smelled (and tasted) so bad after too many days sitting there!  Killed me.  Lesson learned, peel & freeze if not eating when ready.  Still learning firmness too.  Better under then overripe 99% of the time.

Probably froze 10lbs of decent ones so far.  Watched Truly T youtube vid of Ms Chris dehyrating them into fruit rollups.  Planning on trying it

I have several Mahas hanging on the tree. Can you tell me exactly what you did in terms of picking them and letting them ripen? Did you pick them while still firm and greenish? Did you let them ripen for a long time indoors? "Tropical fruit punch flavors," as you describe it, is what I'm looking for. I hear they can be very delicious, but I always seem to get Mahas when they're just average.

Peach Cobbler for me was AMAZING (my top-ranked mango of all time), but they didn't have a peach flavor at all. Makes me think they would have if I had let them ripen longer.

[Calusa]

I have several Mahas hanging on the tree. Can you tell me exactly what you did in terms of picking them and letting them ripen? Did you pick them while still firm and greenish? Did you let them ripen for a long time indoors? "Tropical fruit punch flavors," as you describe it, is what I'm looking for. I hear they can be very delicious, but I always seem to get Mahas when they're just average.

Here are a couple of my Mahas. The one on the right can be picked now and finished ripening on the counter for a couple more days. I cut them when I can feel them give slightly when I gently squeeze them, and they don't feel as hard as before. The flavor is superb.



These are ready to eat now: