Container mango - Condo varieties

Q: What are the good varieties of mango trees available for container grow? Can you please share the details?

A: There are some great varieties of Mango selected specifically for container culture, they even have a nick-name - "condo mangoes". They have compact growth habit and respond well to pruning to keep them in small size. Here are a few of our favorites that we currently have in stock:
Glenn
Ice Cream
Cotton Candy
Mallika
Manilita
Pram Kai Mai
Mun Kun Si
Maha Chinook
You can see more condo mangoes on this page.

Related articles:

How to grow a Dwarf Mango tree
Choosing the right Mango for your garden
10 secrets of successful Container Mango growing on a balcony.
Condo Mango

Dwarf and Condo mangoes - easy mangoes

Q: We leave in zone 6a, could you tell us what is the list of different types of mango plants that could be planted indoor and that they can bear fruits?

A:There is a large group of mangoes called "Condo Mango" - they literally can be grown in your apartment! Those are dwarf varieties that can remain compact in containers with minimal pruning and successfully bear fruit providing bright light and proper care, including plant food.

The best dwarf and semi-dwarf varieties are: Carrie, Cogshall, Cushman, Fairchild, Graham, Ice Cream, Julie, Mallika, Nam Doc Mai, Pickering, Irwin, Jahangir, Juliette, Lancetilla, Little Gem, Manilita, Sia Tong, Torbert, Pim Seng Mun, Super Julie.

They produce juicy, fiberless sweet fruit. Julie is also a very popular dwarf variety, however, it is very cold sensitive and not the easiest to grow. If you get a 3 gal size mango, step it up to 7 gal when the plant reaches 4 ft; you may use a bigger container as the root system grows, up to 15 gal or even 25 gal, space permitting. Trim the tree under 6-8 ft after production season is over (summer-fall).

See more information on growing condo mangoes

RECOMMENDED FERTILIZERS:

Mango-Food - Smart Release Fruit Tree Booster
Fruit Festival Plant Food - Super Crop Booster
For sweeter fruit, use SUNSHINE-Honey - sugar booster

Cold protection of tropical container plants

Q: I am long time customer of yours, I live in San Diego California and while the summer and Fall temperatures are warm to mild, the winter temperatures dip to a point where some tropicals die off. We are experimenting with different variations of way to heat and insulate the pots we have the tropicals planted in as a way to keep them alive during the colder winter months. I was wondering if you knew of the ideal soil temperature for these tropical in order to look their best year round. All of the heaters we have installed have thermostats and temperature adjustments so we can now keep the soil anywhere between a range of between 65-75 degrees. Any advise you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

A: This is a very interesting concept you are working with. Indeed, keeping pots/roots warm, may help a lot! We've been experimenting with cold protection for a long time - for the above-ground plant parts. For sure keeping roots protected (even with a thick layer of mulch) will benefit tropical plants during winter. In case with container plants, this may help dramatically.
The guideline is, tropical plants slow down or stop their metabolism at 65F. As long as you can keep soil above that temperature - this should work great. Of course, the higher the better.
Optimum temperature for growing tropical plants in general - 70-85F. Above 90F, metabolism stops too, unless it's a heat tolerant, desert plant.

Greenhouse in Virginia
Plumeria cold protection
Ghost Cold Protection
Seven rules of cold protection for tropicals
About Cold Protection
Cold protection - winter action for your plant collection
Tropical Treasures articles on zone pushing.