What is your favorite mango variety and why?

[Elijah]

I am planning to have a few mango variety in the future, and pondering which variety would be the best to have.
I heard good things about Valencia, Lemon Meringue, Carrie, but there are hundreds, if not thousands different varieties in the world so I'd like to hear from you about your favorite variety.

[hammer524]

I'm by no means a mango expert but have been trying shipped varieties from Florida for a few summers now. The ones that stand out in my mind are Lemon Meringue (PPK) and Glenn. It could simply be those are two quality consistent varieties. The only mango variety I strongly dislike is Haden

[Elijah]

I'm buy no means a mango expert but have been trying shipped varieties from Florida for a few summers now. The ones that stand out in my mind are Lemon Meringue (PPK) and Glenn. It could simply be those are two quality consistent varieties. The only mango variety I strongly dislike is Haden

Thank you for your input.

[Elijah]

I think I found one variety which is Fruit punch. I just read about mango reviewed by SHV and this variety seemed the winner.

[bovine421]

Super Julie vigorous multi bloomer anthracnose pm resistance. Good representative of what a mango would taste like in India or the West Indies. I prefer Carrie she may have issues in California. Me personally if I could only have three trees it would be Carrie M-4 and the Bombay seedling Mark Anthony which doctor Campbell is propagating and selling now. The mother tree resides is my best friend's backyard Andy Baylis a long time resident of Osceola County. I do have fruit punch it is a large fruit and the wind seems to blow mine off. Probably going to graft it to a tree in a more protected area and top work it to a smaller mango maybe apricot. That's my two cents I'm sure others will disagree I know my wife would.🙂

Can you believe this character he knows I'm there for Carrie and he's trying to give me a LZ

[Timbogrow]

I really love lemon merangue for its awesome flavor. Also Kathy has great flavor. It's hard question though cause I'll enjoy a 5/10 mango and be happy though.

[Calusa]

The best tasting mangoes I've ever eaten came from a 40 year-old Carrie tree in my in-laws' yard. It's hard for me to believe there are better tasting mangoes out there but I am sure there are. My tasting experience with mangoes is limited, but I've also found a lot of love for Florigon.

The trees I planted in my yard were decided upon by quality of the fruit, growth habit and maintainability. I plan to keep the trees no more than 15' high and as wide as they want to grow. One Maha Chanock and one Glenn. I hope they live up to their reputation.

[Epicatt2]

My favorite mango varieties were the unnamed ones I had from May thru September when I was staying in Costa Rica in a B&B/Pensión for six months each year during 2008 thru 2014.  There were mango slices served with our breakfast each morning.  They started out good at the end of May and kept getting better and better every week that passed 'til you might think that they could not possibly get any better –but still they continued to improve!

They may have have been known varieties to the locals but there were oodles of mango trees all over the Central Valley so that in season mangoes were cheap and plentiful.  Often driving between towns one would regularly see tables of mangoes sittng out for sale by the road in front of peoples' houses.

I miss those marvelous mouth-watering mangoes I had in Costa Rica and that is what inspired me to start growing some of the dwarf and semi-dwarf Condo mango cultivars here in Tampa 9b.  And sInce even here in Florida we cannot really rely on store-bought mangoes being decent, then growing them seems to be the only way to get a really tasty mango.

Cheers!

Paul M.
==

[TnTrobbie]

I'll have to say first impressions last. LZ and Sweet Tart from Zands maybe 10 years ago knocked my socks off!!! I could not believe how delicious those mangoes were. LZ being super sweet with that strong citrus note in a mango. Sweet Tart....the perfect balance of very sweet and tart. Wow. Then BSBulie allowing me to sample a perfectly ripened Fruit Punch. Wow!!!

[Cookie Monster]

haha oh boy, the perennial question.

If I could only grow one, I'd say Maha Chanok.

Many years ago, a guy by the name of Harry Haussman -- owner of a multi-acre, multi-decade old mango orchard with somewhere north of 100 cultivars -- proclaimed Maha Chanok as the best all around mango. I was a skeptic but planted out a tree grafted from scions taken from his Maha Chanok for trialing. I've been growing it for about 10 years now, and I think I have to agree with old Harry.

Flavor is consistently very good to excellent, production fairly strong and consistent, and very resistant to anthracnose and probably MBBS as well. The tree also isn't particularly vigorous. But it does take a few years to come into production.

[Calusa]

haha oh boy, the perennial question.

If I could only grow one, I'd say Maha Chanok.

Many years ago, a guy by the name of Harry Haussman -- owner of a multi-acre, multi-decade old mango orchard with somewhere north of 100 cultivars -- proclaimed Maha Chanok as the best all around mango. I was a skeptic but planted out a tree grafted from scions taken from his Maha Chanok for trialing. I've been growing it for about 10 years now, and I think I have to agree with old Harry.

Flavor is consistently very good to excellent, production fairly strong and consistent, and very resistant to anthracnose and probably MBBS as well. The tree also isn't particularly vigorous. But it does take a few years to come into production.

Thanks for this post Cookie Monster. Reading this lifted my confidence and comfort in choosing to plant a Maha a few years ago in my backyard. Can't wait until a year from now when I am hoping I'll have a modest yet quality crop.

[Elijah]

Super Julie vigorous multi bloomer anthracnose pm resistance. Good representative of what a mango would taste like in India or the West Indies. I prefer Carrie she may have issues in California. Me personally if I could only have three trees it would be Carrie M-4 and the Bombay seedling Mark Anthony which doctor Campbell is propagating and selling now. The mother tree resides is my best friend's backyard Andy Baylis a long time resident of Osceola County. I do have fruit punch it is a large fruit and the wind seems to blow mine off. Probably going to graft it to a tree in a more protected area and top work it to a smaller mango maybe apricot. That's my two cents I'm sure others will disagree I know my wife would.🙂

Can you believe this character he knows I'm there for Carrie and he's trying to give me a LZ

Thank you so much for reply. I heard Carrie is good, but I haven't heard Carrie -m4. It must be better.

[Honest Abe]

Well you asked my favorite and that means my favorite mango to eat…? If I could only have one, sugarloaf. Order one online from Alex at tropicalacresfarms.com. It’s a pina colada mix in a mango. Supposedly produces great in your neck of the woods…produces light crops for me so far but it was TOTALLY WORTH IT so far for me. Tree is fairly nice looking, medium vigor / light green leaves, medium density on canopy. Blooms really easy. Doesn’t set a lot of fruit as they have too many male flowers when young but they are supposed to grow out of that. I just planted another one.

I won’t even bother mentioning all the popular ones people love and hype because this was a question of my favorite.

[simon_grow]

Since you’re in California, you should consider disease resistance. If you poor air circulation, Lemon Meringue, Orange Sherbet and Lemon Zest will do poorly for you because the PM here is extremely bad, depending on location, and you may rarely get fruit. If you’re on top of a hill or just have good air circulation or you’re not opposed to a full integrated pest management spray regimen, then you’ll also be ok.

Some of my favorite mangos are Lemon Zest, Sweet Tart, Pina Colada, E4, M4, J12, Pineapple Pleasure, Angie. Sweet Tart is my number one recommendation whenever someone asks me what I would plant in SoCal if I could only have one tree.

Great to see you posting again CookieMonster!

Simon

[Eggo]

You're in California and we're pretty much in dry county for quality mangos ahah.  But out of all the commercial imports I highly recommend you get your hands on Kesar imported from India.  The quality is so consistent every time and it's so good. Indian supermarkets and some time even Indian restaurants will carry some cases to sell.  I have a Kesar tree that was 3.5ft, took a big hit this winter. It's about 1.5 ft now, ahah.

[Oolie]

Just missed Kesar season, there might be some left, but Mirmar Cash and Carry said they only were getting one last shipment, and that was a couple weeks ago.

But good point on the Indian mangoes since SoCal is one of the few places they do well, especially the Northern types.

[SHV]

I’m on team Simon.  As a CA grower, I’m not sure you can get much better than Sweet Tart, if you can find it.  If not, plant a seed and you get something similar or identical in 4-5 years with good care. 
Sweet Tart is relatively disease free for me, grows vigorously (needed with our weather), and produces one of the more versatile mangos I’ve grown.  You can pick it early for a larger acid component or pick it ripe off the tree for an insanely sweet mango. Lots of great tasting mangos, but this one checks all the boxes. 

[Elijah]

You're in California and we're pretty much in dry county for quality mangos ahah.  But out of all the commercial imports I highly recommend you get your hands on Kesar imported from India.  The quality is so consistent every time and it's so good. Indian supermarkets and some time even Indian restaurants will carry some cases to sell.  I have a Kesar tree that was 3.5ft, took a big hit this winter. It's about 1.5 ft now, ahah.

Where do you get Kesar tree?  I went to Home depot today and saw Manila variety. I was not interested.

[RodneyS]

For CA-

Pickering (flavor & reliable production)
Cac
Venus/Sweet Tart (related cultivars)
M4/Sugarloaf (related cultivars)
Angie

I've read Val-Carrie does well, too

[TheVeggieProfessor]

I think I found one variety which is Fruit punch. I just read about mango reviewed by SHV and this variety seemed the winner.

To me, fruit punch is the perfect mango. The flavor is just incredible. Bold and delicious, yet I could still eat a whole pile of them without my pallet being overwhelmed. It also has that resinous-type taste associated with a Carrie, which I love. But if you don't, it may not be the mango for you.

[puglvr1]

I love Maha also!! My tree is 9 years old and like Cookie Monster says is not a vigorous grower which is a plus in my yard and it seems to be a very good producer I have a pretty nice crop on there right now...few of them grow in clusters which I think is pretty cool...mine are not quite ready yet, I also love the smell, when they are ripe you can smell that wonderful mango scent  . Also the tree doesn't seem to mind some shade, it is planted almost underneath an Oak tree and still produces a lot of mangoes.

The Maha is the one of the farthest left, Maha ,a potted Glenn and Cogshall all growing underneath a few Oak trees




My favorites are Maha, Glenn, Cogshall and Keitt (for late variety)...but the reason I love these varieties is because that is what I planted many years ago Lol, lucky for me I love them all. When I planted them there weren't anywhere near the selection in my garden center and nurseries they have now...

[Greater Good]

My wife's favorite mango is Haden. In 35 years we have always had an old Haden producing fruit. I've introduced her to other varieties, only Sugarloaf has tweeked her taste buds.

[Galatians522]

My wife's favorite mango is Haden. In 35 years we have always had an old Haden producing fruit. I've introduced her to other varieties, only Sugarloaf has tweeked her taste buds.

She has very perceptive tastebuds. Sugarloaf has Haden as a grandparent.

[Elijah]

It seems like people favor Maha, Sugarloaf, and Sweet Tart. I cannot find a nursery selling those in San Diego. I am afraid to buy them from nursery in Florida because my avocado tree I bought from nurseries in Florida died, not just one but 4. 
Some of nursery owners were very nice and sent me  replacements but  one of two replacement also died. No more from Florida for now. Avocado trees I bought from local nursery are doing well.
If anyone knows any nursery selling those  listed above mango trees in SoCal, please let me know.

[Oolie]

It seems like people favor Maha, Sugarloaf, and Sweet Tart. I cannot find a nursery selling those in San Diego. I am afraid to buy them from nursery in Florida because my avocado tree I bought from nurseries in Florida died, not just one but 4. 
Some of nursery owners were very nice and sent me  replacements but  one of two replacement also died. No more from Florida for now. Avocado trees I bought from local nursery are doing well.
If anyone knows any nursery selling those  listed above mango trees in SoCal, please let me know.

I've had bad luck with trees from FL as well, but that's what it is. No nurseries in SoCal doing grafted mangoes with consistency, as it earns them a bad rep. Grafted mangoes do poorly in general in SoCal unless lucky or you know what you're doing.

Just do what the rest of us do and get seeds in the ground and be patient enough not to graft until they are established.