Holy Grail Varieties

[Coconut Cream]

The hogs have kept coming back, they ate the lower branches on a young Orange Sherbet mango that wasn't holding fruit. They dug up the roots of a Butterscotch Sapodilla. They rooted inside the pot of a 15 gallon Ice Cream Mango. All while ignoring raised beds of sweet potato next door and taro root tubers growing underground.

Fences are prohibited in my neighborhood and I live to next to wild woods. I could stake out at night and shoot some hogs with a crossbow but then I have the problem of gutting and cleaning a 300lb animal and then butchering and cooking it. Greater Good, I'm sorry for distracting from your topic with the feral hog talk, hopefully that will be the last of the discussion on that.

Back on topic, Pickering won't be holy grail until it's hog-proof!  I keep thinking about what two varieties I would cross to get the perfect mango. I wonder how an Ice Cream and Pickering cross would work? If I could get the complex flavor of Ice Cream mango with all the other features of the Pickering tree that would be amazing.

[MangoManSocal]

The hogs have kept coming back, they ate the lower branches on a young Orange Sherbet mango that wasn't holding fruit. They dug up the roots of a Butterscotch Sapodilla. They rooted inside the pot of a 15 gallon Ice Cream Mango. All while ignoring raised beds of sweet potato next door and taro root tubers growing underground.

Fences are prohibited in my neighborhood and I live to next to wild woods. I could stake out at night and shoot some hogs with a crossbow but then I have the problem of gutting and cleaning a 300lb animal and then butchering and cooking it. Greater Good, I'm sorry for distracting from your topic with the feral hog talk, hopefully that will be the last of the discussion on that.

Back on topic, Pickering won't be holy grail until it's hog-proof!  I keep thinking about what two varieties I would cross to get the perfect mango. I wonder how an Ice Cream and Pickering cross would work? If I could get the complex flavor of Ice Cream mango with all the other features of the Pickering tree that would be amazing.

Really sorry to hear that maybe it might be time for some big dogs?
Also are the Pickering and ice creams really that great I keep hearing good things about them?

[Coconut Cream]

Really sorry to hear that maybe it might be time for some big dogs?
Also are the Pickering and ice creams really that great I keep hearing good things about them?

Pickering is quite tasty, but its main strength is productivity, precocity and disease resistance in a dwarf tree. The Ice Cream Mango is supremely flavorful: complex, sweet, spicy, tropical... close your eyes and you are tasting intense honey, caramel, vanilla and sweet mango. Ice Cream makes a small fruit and the tree doesn't produce well, but if you could transplant the Ice Cream flavor into a Pickering tree it just might be The Holy Grail of mangoes. I would apply the same comment to Pina Colada.

[Greater Good]

Triple Carrie for breakfast. Opossum dined on two hanging low fruit. Started me doing the squeeze test.

[MadFarm]

The hogs have kept coming back, they ate the lower branches on a young Orange Sherbet mango that wasn't holding fruit. They dug up the roots of a Butterscotch Sapodilla. They rooted inside the pot of a 15 gallon Ice Cream Mango. All while ignoring raised beds of sweet potato next door and taro root tubers growing underground.

Fences are prohibited in my neighborhood and I live to next to wild woods. I could stake out at night and shoot some hogs with a crossbow but then I have the problem of gutting and cleaning a 300lb animal and then butchering and cooking it. Greater Good, I'm sorry for distracting from your topic with the feral hog talk, hopefully that will be the last of the discussion on that.

Back on topic, Pickering won't be holy grail until it's hog-proof!  I keep thinking about what two varieties I would cross to get the perfect mango. I wonder how an Ice Cream and Pickering cross would work? If I could get the complex flavor of Ice Cream mango with all the other features of the Pickering tree that would be amazing.

I'll take the hogs off your hands.

[murahilin]

I'll take the hogs off your hands.

I'll take some of the butchered and nicely packaged hog meat off your hands.

[Chicken Vindaloo]

I'm really glad to hear that suggested. One of my most recent successful grafts is Creme Brulee.

A true Holy Grail mango variety has to score 5 stars in every category:

• Disease resistant
• Productive
• Precocious
• Superior Flavor
• Superior Texture
• Medium to large fruit size
• Compact tree
• Fruit ripens evenly
• Extended harvest season, multiple crops, fruit doesn't all ripen simultaneously

Does such a mango variety with truly superior flavor exist yet?

Creme Brûlée?

[Chicken Vindaloo]

I think it's time for an M4. And I don't mean the mango tree!

You are totally right. I woke up this morning to absolute devastation. The few remaining Pickering mangoes higher up in the tree were gone, and the hogs had now eaten the branches carrying the fruit. Then they went after the taro patch near the Pickering tree and rooted up the ground. Then they dug up 12 rare Canna Lily rhizomes I had just planted.

I blame myself. I trained the Pickering tree to grow low and wide. The night after I propped up the low hanging mangoes with stakes and pots the tree was raided. I had also done some digging and edging that turned up fresh soil in that area. My yard is a target because I water heavily and compost so the soil is rich and full of life and moisture. I am going to prune and retrain the Pickering to keep the fruit well above hog level next season, then avoid any digging or unnecessary ground disturbance.

I am surprised at how devastated I feel. My carefully manicured food forest has been ransacked.




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[loquataddict]

Dot Holy Grail of flavor



Melanade difficult to pick it peak flavor
Flavor not what I hope for



Athens which was recommended by forum members. Out of all the melons I've grown this season. This one seems to produce well and just keeps on flowering. Just can't argue with success. Next season I will probably grow nothing else.

I cannot agree more!  Dot has been my Holy Grail for the last 23 plus years.