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Tropical Fruit => Tropical Fruit Discussion => Topic started by: RichardN on April 04, 2015, 11:44:53 PM

Title: Growing Mangosteen
Post by: RichardN on April 04, 2015, 11:44:53 PM
Has anyone or know anyone successfully grown Mangosteen in Florida? I would love to add a few trees to my collections.
Title: Re: Growing Mangosteen
Post by: gunnar429 on April 05, 2015, 08:39:43 AM
I believe I heard that Paulette Johnson fruited it (but definitely not sure on that) and I think Noel said the mangosteen in the Whitman Pavilion has fruited.

Bottom line is:

hurricanes
high ph soil
arctic blasts/cold fronts

This will require a lot of work...
Title: Re: Growing Mangosteen
Post by: FloridaGreenMan on April 05, 2015, 09:27:43 AM
Yes, they have fruited here in S.Florida at various places. Here are the ones that I am familiar with. There are very likely more out there. They require a 10B or 11 climate and acid soils.

Fairchild fruit pavillion: Trees fruit heavily & regularly in the greenhouse (Coral Gables FL)
Bill Whitman: several heavily fruiting trees in the ground (Bal Harbour FL)
Paulette Johnson: fruited in a large pot (Miami FL)
Mr. Snyder: fruited a large tree outdoors next to the intracoastal canal. I personally saw the tree in flower and have photos. (Lighthouse Point FL)

(http://s16.postimg.cc/r2bgpfjzl/FTG_Lindsay2013_011.jpg) (http://postimg.cc/image/r2bgpfjzl/)
Whitman Pavillion mangosteens
Title: Re: Growing Mangosteen
Post by: bangkok on April 05, 2015, 10:19:52 AM
Yes, they have fruited here in S.Florida at various places. Here are the ones that I am familiar with. There are very likely more out there. They require a 10B or 11 climate and acid soils.

Fairchild fruit pavillion: Trees fruit heavily & regularly in the greenhouse (Coral Gables FL)
Bill Whitman: several heavily fruiting trees in the ground (Bal Harbour FL)
Paulette Johnson: fruited in a large pot (Miami FL)
Mr. Snyder: fruited a large tree outdoors next to the intracoastal canal. I personally saw the tree in flower and have photos. (Lighthouse Point FL)

(http://s16.postimg.cc/r2bgpfjzl/FTG_Lindsay2013_011.jpg) (http://postimg.cc/image/r2bgpfjzl/)
Whitman Pavillion mangosteens

Wow that's great! So it is possible!

Tonight i saw a tree from 60 cm tall in a small pot with 1 fruit. Grafted tree.
Title: Re: Growing Mangosteen
Post by: bsbullie on April 05, 2015, 10:31:57 AM
Take this for a grain of salt but I had a customer who stated an individual in Boca has a plant that flowered and had fruit.  Never saw any pictures or verified so cannot confirm. ..
Title: Re: Growing Mangosteen
Post by: RichardN on April 05, 2015, 12:30:42 PM
Thanks y'all for the reply. This gives me a glimpse of hope. Mangosteenne and Rambutan or on my next to plant list. If I am successful I will post pictures and share it with y'all.
Title: Re: Growing Mangosteen
Post by: bsbullie on April 05, 2015, 12:33:00 PM
Thanks y'all for the reply. This gives me a glimpse of hope. Mangosteenne and Rambutan or on my next to plant list. If I am successful I will post pictures and share it with y'all.

Just my 2 cents but I wouldn't waste time, space and energy on rambutan. ..just being realistic.  Based on your location,  without a quality greenhouse setup, same goes for the mangosteen but I guess there is no real harm in trying if you are so inclined.
Title: Re: Growing Mangosteen
Post by: Jsvand5 on April 05, 2015, 02:58:10 PM
Thanks y'all for the reply. This gives me a glimpse of hope. Mangosteenne and Rambutan or on my next to plant list. If I am successful I will post pictures and share it with y'all.

Just my 2 cents but I wouldn't waste time, space and energy on rambutan. ..just being realistic.  Based on your location,  without a quality greenhouse setup, same goes for the mangosteen but I guess there is no real harm in trying if you are so inclined.

I agree on the rambutan. For me at least, they don't taste like anything special and the imported ones from Guatemala that com in every year taste just as good as ones straight from the tree.
I am looking for a grafted mangosteen though. Looking for something that taste better than rambutan to kill. Does excalibur still sell them?
Title: Re: Growing Mangosteen
Post by: Jsvand5 on April 05, 2015, 03:00:05 PM
Thanks y'all for the reply. This gives me a glimpse of hope. Mangosteenne and Rambutan or on my next to plant list. If I am successful I will post pictures and share it with y'all.

Just my 2 cents but I wouldn't waste time, space and energy on rambutan. ..just being realistic.  Based on your location,  without a quality greenhouse setup, same goes for the mangosteen but I guess there is no real harm in trying if you are so inclined.

I agree on the rambutan. For me at least, they don't taste like anything special and the imported ones from Guatemala that come in every year are just as good as ones straight from the tree.
I am looking for a grafted mangosteen though. Looking for something that taste better than rambutan to kill. Does excalibur still sell them?
Title: Re: Growing Mangosteen
Post by: fruitlovers on April 06, 2015, 01:44:57 AM
Thanks y'all for the reply. This gives me a glimpse of hope. Mangosteenne and Rambutan or on my next to plant list. If I am successful I will post pictures and share it with y'all.

Seems that rambutan is even harder to fruit than mangosteen in Florida, as a handful have fruited mangosteen, but i think only one person, Adolf Grimal, has fruited rambutan?
What about durian? Aren't you going to try that? Does the First to Fruit Durian in Florida Contest previously mentioned on this forum still exist? What is the prize money up to now? Maybe if some very rich sponsor gave 1 million dollar prize money somebody could figure out how to achieve it?  ;)
Title: Re: Growing Mangosteen
Post by: Doglips on April 06, 2015, 06:48:01 AM
I wouldn't be suprised if you see a mangosteen come out of Colorado.  CoPlantNut has an impressive setup in his basment with a good looking tree.  My biggest is 2-3 feet, it is in a tent.  I'm sure I'll have problems in the future, but hey, thats the future.
It certainly seems your first and biggest hurdle is getting a good hole to put one in.  Then you have to be on top of the weather, no cure for hurricanes.  South Floridians are spoiled when it comes to covering plants, it is unthinkable for them to do that.  The rest of the country deals with it every year.  Then you need 7 years of patience and vigilance (k, sometimes less).
In my flimsy opinion South Florida really is right on the cusp for successfull trees.  I'd surely try it if I was living there.
Title: Re: Growing Mangosteen
Post by: gunnar429 on April 06, 2015, 06:13:10 PM
Thanks y'all for the reply. This gives me a glimpse of hope. Mangosteenne and Rambutan or on my next to plant list. If I am successful I will post pictures and share it with y'all.

Seems that rambutan is even harder to fruit than mangosteen in Florida, as a handful have fruited mangosteen, but i think only one person, Adolf Grimal, has fruited rambutan?
What about durian? Aren't you going to try that? Does the First to Fruit Durian in Florida Contest previously mentioned on this forum still exist? What is the prize money up to now? Maybe if some very rich sponsor gave 1 million dollar prize money somebody could figure out how to achieve it?  ;)

or a tropical seed magnate!  ;)
Title: Re: Growing Mangosteen
Post by: fruitlovers on April 06, 2015, 10:13:57 PM
Thanks y'all for the reply. This gives me a glimpse of hope. Mangosteenne and Rambutan or on my next to plant list. If I am successful I will post pictures and share it with y'all.

Seems that rambutan is even harder to fruit than mangosteen in Florida, as a handful have fruited mangosteen, but i think only one person, Adolf Grimal, has fruited rambutan?
What about durian? Aren't you going to try that? Does the First to Fruit Durian in Florida Contest previously mentioned on this forum still exist? What is the prize money up to now? Maybe if some very rich sponsor gave 1 million dollar prize money somebody could figure out how to achieve it?  ;)

or a tropical seed magnate!  ;)

I was told by an Israeli friend that a Thai agricultural worker managed to fruit durian tree in Israel! So maybe all you have to do is look for a Thai person in Florida that really knows what they're doing?
Title: Re: Growing Mangosteen
Post by: fisherking73 on April 07, 2015, 05:12:10 PM
What is it about the Mangosteen that makes it so difficult to fruit?  The soil more than the climate? or vice versa?
Title: Re: Growing Mangosteen
Post by: gpuccio on April 07, 2015, 06:22:44 PM
What is it about the Mangosteen that makes it so difficult to fruit?  The soil more than the climate? or vice versa?

It can definitely grow in this climate. Main reasons seem to be chance of hurricanes/wind, water type/quality and the soil needs to be altered for Mangosteen in most areas.  Have a way to protect it from a possible hurricane or heavy winds when or if needed, temp snaps of 40 or below when needed, keep it away from salt spray, give it water that it likes and soil that it likes.
Title: Re: Growing Mangosteen
Post by: fisherking73 on April 07, 2015, 09:55:53 PM
HAHA so EVERYTHING!!
Title: Re: Growing Mangosteen
Post by: bsbullie on April 07, 2015, 10:04:02 PM
What is it about the Mangosteen that makes it so difficult to fruit?  The soil more than the climate? or vice versa?

It can definitely grow in this climate. Main reasons seem to be chance of hurricanes/wind, water type/quality and the soil needs to be altered for Mangosteen in most areas.  Have a way to protect it from a possible hurricane or heavy winds when or if needed, temp snaps of 40 or below when needed, keep it away from salt spray, give it water that it likes and soil that it likes.

It is not the threat of hurricanes that makes it difficult to near impossible to grow/fruit.  Trees dont know of threat by location or even impending threat.   No hurricanes since 2005...that should mean that mangosteen should be ready to come out of the woodwork...
Title: Re: Growing Mangosteen
Post by: gpuccio on April 08, 2015, 11:47:08 AM
Mangosteen definitely can grow here. A neighbor has 3 trees on his property and have fruited for several years now. He had 8 of them before Charley hit and only 3 made it out alive. Those 3 trees are producing in Cape Coral so I know it is possible elsewhere. Difficult but doable
Title: Re: Growing Mangosteen
Post by: gunnar429 on April 08, 2015, 12:17:14 PM
Mangosteen definitely can grow here. A neighbor has 3 trees on his property and have fruited for several years now. He had 8 of them before Charley hit and only 3 made it out alive. Those 3 trees are producing in Cape Coral so I know it is possible elsewhere. Difficult but doable

What's his secret? 
Title: Re: Growing Mangosteen
Post by: LivingParadise on April 08, 2015, 12:34:50 PM
I am certainly hoping for fruiting to be possible in the Florida Keys. I see no strong reason why not. We do not have freezes, and certainly many of the other locations in which mangosteen successfully grow are also subject to severe storms. Sure, our soil is terrible, but it's not that difficult to use compost and/or purchased soil. My mangosteen has been alive and well so far, and I have had it for about a year and a half. I have not found the plant itself to be nearly as finicky as many have indicated, but of course I am just growing it right now, not attempting to fruit. It is far too young for fruiting. It had a nice push of leaves last year, and now hasn't done anything for a year - it would be easy to confuse it with a plastic plant for all the little it does. But since it's been nearly a full year since the last growth, I'm hoping for another push of leaves sometime in the nest few months.

gpuccio, could you please post pictures of your neighbors' trees so we could see the conditions, and just to see what they look like? What your neighbor has is very rare (at least according to documentation, although there may be many more FL mangosteen owners who just don't happen to belong to any online or local gardening groups for people to know what they have). It would be nice to see more evidence that what many believe should be possible, really is.
Title: Re: Growing Mangosteen
Post by: murahilin on April 08, 2015, 01:38:46 PM
Mangosteen definitely can grow here. A neighbor has 3 trees on his property and have fruited for several years now. He had 8 of them before Charley hit and only 3 made it out alive. Those 3 trees are producing in Cape Coral so I know it is possible elsewhere. Difficult but doable

Have any pics?
Title: Re: Growing Mangosteen
Post by: RichardN on April 08, 2015, 01:49:31 PM
Thinking of planting a Mangosteenne in a 500 gallon orange tub. Going to Excalibar this year to pick up some more fruit trees and a Mangosteenne if they have one. I will update y'all on my progress.
Title: Re: Growing Mangosteen
Post by: NewGen on April 08, 2015, 02:13:17 PM
Richard,
You mentioned using 500 gallon tubs, how do you do your watering? In other threads you also said you used 250-300 gallon tubs. What do you use to move them around?
Thanks,
Title: Re: Growing Mangosteen
Post by: RichardN on April 08, 2015, 02:42:13 PM
Richard,
You mentioned using 500 gallon tubs, how do you do your watering? In other threads you also said you used 250-300 gallon tubs. What do you use to move them around?
Thanks,

I stated 250-500 gallon tubs. But they do make a 300 gallon orange tubs. For my poted plants I water using sprinkler system and a old fashion garden hose. For the in ground trees sprinkler system and in ground drip lines. It is there if I have to use it on a new planted tree. I move those pots with a John Deere tractor fork lift
Title: Re: Growing Mangosteen
Post by: Jsvand5 on April 08, 2015, 04:11:08 PM
Mangosteen definitely can grow here. A neighbor has 3 trees on his property and have fruited for several years now. He had 8 of them before Charley hit and only 3 made it out alive. Those 3 trees are producing in Cape Coral so I know it is possible elsewhere. Difficult but doable

Have any pics?

Ha. I have a feeling we won't be seeing those pics anytime soon.
Title: Re: Growing Mangosteen
Post by: DurianLover on April 08, 2015, 04:25:12 PM
Mangosteen has very underdeveloped root system. Basically it's just a tap root with few side hairs. I don't think you need 500 gallons. Length is more important than size. I wonder if root system becomes extensive on old mature trees?
Here, I pulled some undesired trees, and tap roots are usually 1.5-2X longer than actual plant without any side roots.

(http://i58.tinypic.com/5v9ob8.jpg)
 
Title: Re: Growing Mangosteen
Post by: Coconut on April 08, 2015, 04:39:09 PM
Mangosteen definitely can grow here. A neighbor has 3 trees on his property and have fruited for several years now. He had 8 of them before Charley hit and only 3 made it out alive. Those 3 trees are producing in Cape Coral so I know it is possible elsewhere. Difficult but doable

Can you encourage your friend to joint us and share his accomplishments! I know Cape Coral well, maybe a google coordinate so I can drool by satelite!😆😅 I have been trying to grow them outside in S. Florida for the last two decades ; my neighbors always compliments on my fantastic frozen mangosteen hedge, an HOA letter follow for dead tree removal!😭😩😪😥
Title: Re: Growing Mangosteen
Post by: NewGen on April 08, 2015, 06:00:05 PM
Richard,
You mentioned using 500 gallon tubs, how do you do your watering? In other threads you also said you used 250-300 gallon tubs. What do you use to move them around?
Thanks,

I stated 250-500 gallon tubs. But they do make a 300 gallon orange tubs. For my poted plants I water using sprinkler system and a old fashion garden hose. For the in ground trees sprinkler system and in ground drip lines. It is there if I have to use it on a new planted tree. I move those pots with a John Deere tractor fork lift

I assume you have to drill a ton of holes in those tubs for drainage. What kind of soil mix do you use in such large quantities?
Thanks,
Title: Re: Growing Mangosteen
Post by: From the sea on April 08, 2015, 06:15:23 PM
Adolf Grimal had one,  I believe it fruited for him, but he dynamited out the caprock and brought in soil, he also fruited rambutan. He tried durian but they died in storms or started to decline after a few years.

Patrick Garvey and I are working to get another one for Grimals property. 
Title: Re: Growing Mangosteen
Post by: fruitlovers on April 08, 2015, 06:39:35 PM
Mangosteen definitely can grow here. A neighbor has 3 trees on his property and have fruited for several years now. He had 8 of them before Charley hit and only 3 made it out alive. Those 3 trees are producing in Cape Coral so I know it is possible elsewhere. Difficult but doable

Have any pics?

Ha. I have a feeling we won't be seeing those pics anytime soon.

There were also many claims of mangosteen being fruited in southern California. Never any photos surfaced in any of those claims. And when they did the photos turned out to be false mangosteen (Garcinia xanthochymus). Even Fullerton Arboretume made this mistake.  :o
Title: Re: Growing Mangosteen
Post by: Coconut on April 08, 2015, 07:11:37 PM
Mangosteen has very underdeveloped root system. Basically it's just a tap root with few side hairs. I don't think you need 500 gallons. Length is more important than size. I wonder if root system becomes extensive on old mature trees?
Here, I pulled some undesired trees, and tap roots are usually 1.5-2X longer than actual plant without any side roots.

(http://i58.tinypic.com/5v9ob8.jpg)
Dam it could pass for a Lucangosteen or is it Langosteen I forget!  Yes if you pull out a Luc's Garcinia you can see the Mexican Garcinia have no hair but a taproot at that stage similar to kepel, a. Senegalensis and Anonidium Mannii with barely any hair growth!  Thank for the photo of the real Mangosteen; so now can you just put that in an envelope & send to Maryoto so he can forward it to me?😇
Title: Re: Growing Mangosteen
Post by: RichardN on April 08, 2015, 08:44:17 PM
Mangosteen has very underdeveloped root system. Basically it's just a tap root with few side hairs. I don't think you need 500 gallons. Length is more important than size. I wonder if root system becomes extensive on old mature trees?
Here, I pulled some undesired trees, and tap roots are usually 1.5-2X longer than actual plant without any side roots.

(http://i58.tinypic.com/5v9ob8.jpg)

To achieve something that is impossible one must take a step back and ask how can it work.
I strongly believe the unthinkable can be accomplished. Some plants are or sensitive in certain stage of development then other varieties. Like some variety of mangos her in Florida. For Mangosteen you just have to work extra hard and caring for the tree to aloud strong health root system. One must check the right soil for potting and use only rain or neutral pH water. Once it outgrown a 30 gallon pot 3-4 ft. You can move up to a 45 gallon pot and mix a little surrounding soil each time you move up in pot size. Once the tree is big enough and health enough you can planted in ground if you lived down in zone 10a or 10b. It might work. You don't know if you don't try and giving up for some people is not a option.
Title: Re: Growing Mangosteen
Post by: fruitlovers on April 08, 2015, 09:00:40 PM
A lot of people have tried. Do you know about the Florida mangosteen man, Ed Kraujalis (sp?)? I wonder how many hundreds of people he had sent mangosteen seeds to in Florida? I know i've sent lots of mangosteen seeds to Florida through the years. Most people fail. Most also don't realize mangosteen is not a "widely adapted" plant. A few days in the upper 30's temperature and the plant is history. It obviously can be fruited in Florida, as a few people have already fruited it. But it's only a handful of people. Fairchild gardens also fruited it, in their multi million dollar glass house.
Probably grafting mangosteen onto a hardier species like xanthochymus or hombrioana would be helpful.
Title: Re: Growing Mangosteen
Post by: Jsvand5 on April 08, 2015, 09:51:19 PM

Probably grafting mangosteen onto a hardier species like xanthochymus or hombrioana would be helpful.

That's my plan for my next attempt.
Title: Re: Growing Mangosteen
Post by: DurianLover on April 08, 2015, 10:06:39 PM

Dam it could pass for a Lucangosteen or is it Langosteen I forget!

Yep, this mangosteen variety can confuse you with other garcinias

(http://i60.tinypic.com/33usfol.jpg)
Title: Re: Growing Mangosteen
Post by: RichardN on April 08, 2015, 10:20:25 PM

Dam it could pass for a Lucangosteen or is it Langosteen I forget!

Yep, this mangosteen variety can confuse you with other garcinias

(http://i60.tinypic.com/33usfol.jpg)

Do you have some seed to send? Would love to try!
Title: Re: Growing Mangosteen
Post by: DurianLover on April 08, 2015, 11:23:46 PM
No seeds available.
Title: Re: Growing Mangosteen
Post by: Coconut on April 08, 2015, 11:44:01 PM

Dam it could pass for a Lucangosteen or is it Langosteen I forget!

Yep, this mangosteen variety can confuse you with other garcinias

(http://i60.tinypic.com/33usfol.jpg)

So this mangosteen fruit look like normal mangosteen but its leaves and plant characteristic look like other Garcinia.  Where did this variety originated from Durianlover?😀
Title: Re: Growing Mangosteen
Post by: DurianLover on April 09, 2015, 12:11:22 AM
This is Masta variety. Purchased fruits myself in Singapore ( not from dorgon ;D ), cleaned, planted myself. Very sure about the source :).

(http://i58.tinypic.com/2ltsg7l.jpg)



Title: Re: Growing Mangosteen
Post by: Mike T on April 09, 2015, 03:19:29 AM
There is more genetic diversity in mangosteens than popular opinion would have you believe.Just Google it.Large leaf borneo,small leaf borneo and masta are some examples.The common mangosteen is perhaps the least tolerant of low temps and is intermediate in terms of wind tolerance and full sun tolerance when young.I still think the large fruited, small leafed borneo type is one to test at the margins of cold tolerance.The paucity of seeds has held this type back and a plantation of them where the common type struggled in one location opened my eyes.I know some may accuse me of being too optimistic but so far as temperatures go I think there are mangosteens and durians that could tolerate the warmest parts of Florida.The soil may be a problem too hard to overcome.