Manilita Peak Harvest Day

[sunworshiper]

Great tree for zone pushers - my 5' tree consistently produces 30-50 mangos each year. No degradation in flavor despite all the rain. And really easy to know when they are at optimal ripeness. They turn from green to this golden color in a single day. The day they change color is the best eating day. They ripen a couple at a time which is excellent for fresh eating. Today I picked 5, probably the most that will ripen in a single day this season.

[skhan]

Nice harvest.
I haven't had one of these in a while, I like the fruit a lot, it reminds me of Mango Jello.

The growth is very slow, I multi-grafted a Pickering on here and its the worse race to watch.

[sunworshiper]

lol - Manilita vs Pickering is a tortoise tortoise race. For me the Manilita grows faster. My Pickering is about the same age, but only about 3 1/2' tall. I really like the flavor of the Manilitas - they won't come close to beating a top tier south FL mango, but they have a simple clean flavor with a good sweet tart balance.

[pineislander]

Second year for me Manilita is my earliest variety. Yes, it does have a jello-ey consistency when let to get fully ripe and very soft. I've found I like them best a little firm and not fully soft. For me as soon as the fruit ripens it starts to drop from the tree and all fruit comes down within 2 weeks. In future years I need to harvest quicker once the very first fruit gets ready, but we have enjoyed these as you would expect after a long wait for mangoes.

[sunworshiper]

Interesting to hear your experience pineislander. I find that these ripen slowly one or two at a time over a month or so. My experience of ripening habit sounds quite different from yours. These do turn gelatinous if they get soft. I eat them the day they break color on the tree - at that stage they are still firm fleshed and not at all jello like. Last year I was going on vacation and picked a bunch mature green to take with. They actually ripened really nicely off the tree too - still turning color. But when picked early, the best eating time seemed to be when they were about half colored. If I waited until they were fully colored ripening off the tree they were too gelatinous for my liking.