Garden Blog - Top Tropicals
Date:
Top 5 favorite Mango varieties
and Top 10 Condo Mango trees
How to chose the right variety of a Mango tree?
Q: The most Frequently Asked Question about fruit trees: What is your favorite Mango variety? Which mango varieties are the best? Help me to make a choice!
A: As we mentioned on our Introduction to Mango Varieties page, there are thousands of named mango cultivars available. Similar to the classification of avocados (see our Avocado Variety Guide), mango trees can be selected based on your specific needs. These needs can include tree size and growth habit, disease resistance and hardiness, and most importantly, fruit characteristics such as taste, texture, size, color, storage ability, juice and sugar content.
We are currently working on a comprehensive Mango Variety Guide and will be sharing it
with you soon. In the meantime, below are a few tips on selecting the right mango tree.
NOTE: all of the Mango varieties we offer are FIBERLESS!
Top 5 Favorite Mango we just love!
1. Alphonso - the best Indian cultivar in terms of sweetness and
flavor. One of the rarest varieties and sought after - sweet large juice fruit. Coconut-like flavor.
2. Maha Chinook - Many
consider it the best mango had ever tasted. Very rare mango variety from Singapore. This variety is semi-dwarf and great for pot culture. Nam Doc Mai close relative.
3.
Fralan - Super reliable producer and hardy tree. Green fruit, sweet and
juicy. Fralan means "Thunder" - as the fruit cracks when peeled.
4. Fruit Cocktail -
Flavor is an amazing palette of different fruit, with citrus, pineapple, and guava notes.
5. Nam Doc Mai - It's not just us, everyone loves this Mango!
The most popular variety: semi-dwarf and great for pot culture. Eaten green or ripe, a Thailand favorite. It is hands down the most sought after of the Asian mangoes and for good
reason.
Top 10 Dwarf "Condo" Mango
1.
Mallika - condo mango native to India. Among the best of the new generation of Indian dessert mangos. Intensely sweet, rich and highly aromatic flavor with hints of citrus and melon.
2. Ice Cream - far and away the most popular of the "condo mangoes." Flavored like the name. The tree can easily be maintained at a height of just six feet (!) making it ideal for container growing.
3. Julie - the most popular variety in Jamaica and many other Caribbean islands because of
its rich, sweet, coconut/pineapple-like flavor. It is a dwarf cultivar, great for containers, but keep in mind it's very cold sensitive, don't plant it in the ground if you get freeze in winter.
4. Okrung - Thai compact cultivar,
fruit eaten while green. The fruit is traditionally served in Thailand in combination with sticky rice. One of the most popular varieties in Thailand. The fruit is very sweet, with the highest sugar content.
5. Pickering - great for pot culture. It has a bushy, compact growth habit, and can be maintained in a container at just six feet (!). The fruit has a firm
flesh with a fantastic coconut/mango flavor.
6. Nam Doc Mai - The most popular variety for pot culture, we already mentioned in our favorites above.
7. Cogshall - an ultra compact grower. Suitable for container growing on a balcony, or planting in a suburban backyard. It can easily be maintained at just eight feet tall, and it will still produce a good size crop year after year. The fruit is very colorful and has a mild, sweet flavor. It is also fungus resistant.
8. Carrie - the flavor
is by far the most outstanding. It has absolutely no fiber and extremely rich in flavor, sweet, aromatic and a pure pleasure to eat. You will savor every mouthful! Its compact size makes it an excellent dooryard tree.
9. Diamond - It has a great taste very similar to Nam Doc Mai. Very compact, of a dwarf habit, great as condo mango.
10. Keitt - the best all-around late mango. It is very productive, good-flavored, and disease resistant. It also has a very long and late season. The compact tree is semi dwarf that bears 4-5 pound goliath fruit!
Photo above: Pim Seng Mun mango tree is a reliable and heavy producer.
Top 5 recommended vigorous growers and reliable producers
1. Glenn - Excellent eating quality, consistent production, and effortless to grow.
2. Pim Seng Mun - extremely productive mango.
3. Sweet Tart - New patented variety - exclusive offer.
4. Fruit Punch - Multi fruit flavor, delicious!
5. Orange
Sherbet - One of the best new varieties for backyard growing. Flavor is sweet citrus-orange and less lemony than Lemon Meringue mango. The tree is moderately vigorous.
Top 5 exotic varieties for rare fruit collection
Now that you have decided to collect them all but have limited space, these are the top 5 of the most interesting rare cultivars:
1. Kar Lon Long -
rare and unusual, native to India. Fruits that can weigh up to 5 lbs each! The unique flavor that has been described as being a cross between a mango and a pineapple.
2. Mun Kun Si - similar to Nam Doc Mai but much bigger. Rare variety, very popular
among Thai and Vietnamese people. The fruit are extremely sweet, fiberless and somewhat crunchy ("Mun" means crunchy). Very late producer, fruit may still be on a tree as late as January.
3. Pina Colada - very sweet, has rich flavor with a hint of coconut and pineapple.
4. Ugly Betty - awesome mango, great sweet flavor, while the fruit is real ugly! Slightly mis-shaped at the top - hence the name.
5. Giselle - from Zill's breeding program and was a seedling of a mango called Tower. It was described as a juice mango and is named after Gary's wife.
Photo above: preparing mango seeds for planting - growing seedlings for future grafting.
Date:
Avocado pollinating and crops
Photo above: Avocado Joey - very buttery fruit, cold hardy variety.
Q: I bought an anise leaf-scented avocado from you, and it is finally quite large and doing great. I live in California, the coldest temperatures we seem to get in some winters is around 25 to 28F, and it never lasts long. The tree might get a bit of frost nipping on the new growth, but it has done very well. It has flowered profusely for the last two years but hasn't set any fruit. What variety you might recommend to help with pollinating?
A: We are glad your avocado is doing great. Anise is one of our favorite varieties, with the wonderful smell of leaves and tasty fruit.
Cold hardiness and flower quality
It is true that cold damage may affect avocado production, especially in setting fruit. To improve the tree's cold hardiness, make sure to provide balanced plant food, especially during the season of active growth. For our avocado trees, we use Sunshine C-Cibus year-round.
If you prefer to use dry (granulated, slow-release) fertilizers, make sure they contain micronutrients, or apply Sunshine Superfood microelement complex once a month.
To improve flower quality (including the ability to set fruit), we recommend a special micronutrient supplement called Sunshine Honey. It contains Boron and Molybdenum - elements that are responsible for setting fruit and for developing fruit (meaning not dropping at the early stage of development).
Cross-pollination and crop
In general, every avocado tree is self-fertile, meaning it can produce some fruit with its own pollen and doesn't necessarily require a second tree for pollination. So even if you don't do anything, sooner or later your tree will set fruit. However, it is also true that the amount of fruit and crop reliability depends on pollination factors. One type of avocado classification is by flowering and pollination behavior - type A or B.
When both types of trees are grown in proximity to each other, their overlapping flowering patterns significantly enhance the chances of cross-pollination. This can lead to improved fruit set and higher yield, making it especially important for commercial production and, to a lesser extent, for home growers.
Therefore, it's advisable to plant different varieties of avocado in your garden - the more, the merrier! The greater the diversity of avocado trees with overlapping flowering periods, the better your crop is likely to be. If you're growing an avocado tree without other avocados nearby, it becomes helpful to have more than one tree with different flowering patterns (A and B) to increase yield in your garden.
Anise Avocado is type B. So to increase your crop, you may consider planting type A variety from the list: Bernecker, Black Prince, Catalina, Choquette, Day, Donnie, Fantastic, Florida Hass, Lila, Loretta, Lula, Mexicola, Mexicola Grande, Red Russell, Reed, Russell, Simmonds, Ulala , Waldin .
To learn more about avocado types, fruit characteristics, cold hardiness and much more, refer to our Avocado Variety Guide - a page with very convenient interactive chart allowing you to quickly sort types of avocado by requirements of your choice (just click on column header to sort data). You may also buy a Book or download a PDF.
Photo above: 15 gal Avocado trees for local pick up. Delivery and installation available!
Date:
Avocado Variety Guide: Snack or Guacamole?
Collector's inspiration
Photo above: It's NOT an egg plant! It's a Red Russell :)
A comprehensive guide to Avocado varieties by: flower type A or B, tree habit, fruit shape and quality, cold hardiness, origin, season and more!
Many gardeners who are eager to purchase their first avocado tree often wonder which variety to choose. Most people are familiar with two primary classifications commonly found in grocery stores: Small & Black or Large & Green.
Frequently, we hear customers ask, "Do you have the one I like, the smaller fruit with bumpy skin? Not that big, tasteless, and watery one!" What they may not realize is that this basic (but practical!) classification doesn't encompass all the wonderful qualities avocados have to offer. There are numerous hybrids in cultivation, and once you plant your first tree and taste the REAL fruit (not from the grocery store), you'll be eager to explore other varieties. It's a guarantee! While it's true that avocado fruit can vary in "butter" content and how "watery" or "buttery" it is, most superior varieties are equally delicious. Or perhaps we should say they are so versatile and distinct in taste that you'll start building your collection of these trees, much like fruit enthusiasts do with mango varieties.
Every garden has unique requirements based on climate, temperature, and property size. These factors must be considered before planning your avocado garden. Additionally, many gardeners may wonder about Type A vs. Type B classifications and whether they need more than one tree to yield fruit. You'll find all this valuable information in our Avocado Variety Guide.
Basic classifications of avocados
1) By flowering pattern and pollination behavior: Type A and Type B
2) By origin: Mexican, Guatemalan, and West Indian (along with many hybrids)
3) By fruit appearance, texture and taste: Guacamole Avocado ("Smooth skin") and Snack Avocado ("California" or "Hass" type)
4) By growth habit: full size trees, free branching or upright, semi-dwarf low growing, and dwarf ("condo avocados")
5) By cold hardiness: Cold sensitive (requiring frost-free conditions), cold tolerant (able to withstand light frost), and cold hardy (capable of enduring some hard freezes once established)
6) By ripening season: Early or Spring (March-June), Mid or Summer (July-September), and Late or Fall-Winter (October-February).
Date:
What is the best Avocado variety?
Grow Your Own Food
Q: Most trees in my yard were destroyed by hurricane Ian and now I have to start my landscape from scratch. So I decided to plant something useful. Avocado is my favorite. In the stores I see two kinds, large green or small black, but I was told there are many varieties. When I googled the best variety of avocado I found your website. You have quite a selection! Now I don't know which variety to chose. Can you please help? I have room for several trees.
A: Indeed there are many varieties of Avocado (we grow over 50 kinds). Some avocado lovers try
to get as many varieties as they can fit in their yards because every variety
has its unique flavor and texture.
2 main Avocado kinds that we usually see in grocery stores are -
1) smaller black fruit with rich, buttery texture - Mexican and Guatemalan
hybrids
2) green avocado, some can be as large as a small melon, but they have
light texture - West Indian types
There are many hybrids. How to pick the right variety for your yard?
Check out our Avocado variety page and scroll down to see a chart that shows characteristics of fruit, tree size, cold hardiness, and chose the right variety that fits your needs.
Below are just a few picks from our horticulturist - our favorite varieties that we enjoy and highly recommend to others.
Best tasting large green Avocado hybrids:
Bernecker, Beta, Doni, Catalina, Pollock.
Best tasting black or dark green, buttery Avocado hybrids:
Winter Mexican, Brogdon, Black Prince, Day, Fantastic, Florida Hass, Marcus Pumpkin, Mexicola Grande, Nishikawa, Waldin
Dwarf trees (black fruit):
For local customers: see large 15-gal size Avocado trees, delivery and installation available!
Today all avocados are 13% off instantly with no min. order, take advantage of this quick sale and get all varieties you want!
Date:
The Magic of the Avocado
The Magic of the Avocado... Is it a super-food? A super fruit? The
perfect side dish for any meal? Or does the avocado just taste great? If you need
a proof of the Avocado's status as a super-food, here are some of the benefits.
READ MORE >>
At TopTropicals, healthy and tasty avocados are available in a number of varieties, over 30 choices right now! We also have prices as low as $59 and you can always use our newsletter coupons to save even more. Try all the varieties and start or expand your Avocado Super Garden today!
Cat Philimon (a.k.a. Philly Cheesesteak) eating Avocado
Avocado makes everyone happy! It is Cat Philimon's favorite food. We always have to share with him. Otherwise he just helps himself. He knows it's good for you!
Date:
Veterans Day: November 11
Special Deals
Our special Veterans Day sale on tropical plants is a salute to those who served! Enjoy this discount code - a small token of gratitude for our heroes:
VETERANS23
Your savings with this code:
5% off orders $100+
10% off orders $150+
15% off orders $200+
Excluding S/H. Exp. 11-12-23
Mango & Avocado Super Sale!
Instant 20% off Mango and Avocado trees
Celebrate Veterans Day with the taste of the tropics! Indulge in our exclusive offer on Mango and Avocado trees, available now at unbeatable prices. With the discount code above, your qualified purchase of these trees can be as low as:
$64 for Mango trees
$61 for Avocado trees
Hurry up! Limited time quantities - while supply lasts!
Top 10 Dwarf Condo Mango - great for container culture
Mango Cogshall
Mango Ice Cream
Mango Julie
Mango Okrung
Mango Pickering
Mango Nam Doc Mai
Mango Mallika
Mango Carrie
Mango Diamond
Mango Keitt
- 🟠 1. Cogshall - an ultra compact grower up to just eight feet tall, will still produce a good size crop. Very colorful and has a mild, sweet flavor. Fungus resistant.
- 🟠 2. Ice Cream - far and away the most popular of the "condo mangoes." Flavored like the name. Maintained at a height of just six feet (!) making it ideal for container growing.
- 🟠 3. Julie - the most popular variety in Jamaica and many other Caribbean islands because of its rich, sweet, coconut/pineapple-like flavor. Great for containers, but keep in mind it's very cold sensitive, don't plant it in the ground if you get freeze in winter.
- 🟠 4. Okrung - Thai compact cultivar, served in Thailand in combination with sticky rice. One of the most popular varieties in Thailand. The fruit is very sweet, with the highest sugar content.
- 🟠 5. Pickering - great for pot culture. It has a bushy, compact growth habit, maintained in a container at just six feet (!). The fruit has a firm flesh with a fantastic coconut/mango flavor.
- 🟠 6. Nam Doc Mai - The most popular variety for pot culture. Everyone loves it. Eaten green or ripe, a Thailand favorite.
- 🟠 7. Mallika - condo mango native to India. Among the best of the new generation of Indian dessert mangos. Intensely sweet, rich and highly aromatic flavor with hints of citrus and melon.
- 🟠 8. Carrie - the flavor is by far the most outstanding. It has absolutely no fiber and extremely rich in flavor, sweet, aromatic and a pure pleasure to eat. You will savor every mouthful! Its compact size makes it an excellent dooryard tree.
- 🟠 9. Diamond - It has a great taste very similar to Nam Doc Mai. Very compact, of a dwarf habit, great condo mango.
- 🟠 10. Keitt - the best all-around late mango. Very productive, good-flavored, and disease resistant. Has a very long and late season. The compact tree is semi dwarf that bears 4-5 pound goliath fruit!
📝 See also earlier post: 5 most Favorite Mango Varieties
🛒 Shop Mango Trees
#Food_Forest
🏵 TopTropicals
Date:
10 secrets of growing a perfect Mango tree
Grow Your Own Food
How to grow a healthy and productive mango tree?
1. Right variety. Select a vigorous grower for
in-ground planting, or a condo mango cultivar for growing in container. More info on varieties.
2. Soil must be well-drained. If planted in the ground, plant on a
little elevation (see How to plant a tree)
3. Full sun is a must. The more sun, the more flower and fruit.
4. Water. Keep mango tree on a dry side, water young trees regularly
but let top of the soil dry before next watering. Mango trees don't like wet
feet.
5. Air circulation is important for mango tree to eliminate
diseases. Allow enough space from other trees and buildings.
6. Fungicide. Mango leaves are very susceptible do fungal issues,
especially in humid climates likу Florida. Spray fungicide (Copper or similar)
according to the label, once a month.
7. Fertilize year around with every watering with liquid fertilizer
Sunshine
Boosters Mango Tango. Apply Micro-elements once a month and use other good supplements.
8. Shape. Check out Video:
">Tipping your mango tree - to shape the most vigorous and productive
tree.
9. Protect from hard freeze. Mango tree doesn't take freezing
temperatures well. In subtropical areas Mango can be protected. Alternatively, it can successfully produce in
container, if moved indoors during cold weather.
10. Fruit. Mango tree produces thousands of little flowers, many of
them can set fruit. Do not let a small, young tree to keep more than 1-2
fruit, remove extra, to avoid exhaustion. Allow 2-3 years for the tree to
establish until it produces a full crop. Apply Sunshine Honey supplement to your tree for sweeter fruit.
Date:
Avocado Black Prince
Grow Your Own Food
Avocado variety - what's the taste?
We obtained Black
Prince Avocado variety this year and at first didn't know much about it.
Until we tried the first fruit! The fruit was large, oval, green and
slightly pebbly. We were not sure if it would taste like some green avocados -
watery and less buttery? The fruit turned black couple days after it was picked,
ripened and softened. We were pleasantly surprised, Black Prince deserves its
title! The fruit pulp is thick, and has a rich, nutty flavor. The little
trees grew this year vigorously and didn't show any bug or deficiency problems.
Superior variety for a backyard grower! Giving it 5 stars! *****
We have Black Prince
Avocado in 3 gal pots, as well as in XX-Large size for local pick up - for those who want a large fruiting
size tree, please contact our Garden Center to pre-order from our Growing Farm (B-Farm).
It can be delivered and installed for you!
Why grow your own Avocado tree?
Why grow your own Avocado tree? This is why. Now we import 89% of the U.S. avocado from Mexico. How much of a difference we could make if we were all growing our own avocados? Support our own horticulture, help Avocado to become grown in the USA!
Date:
Grow your own food:
Avocado Q & A
from Ed Jones, the Avocado Guy
Q: Do I need to have more than one avocado tree in order to produce fruit?
A: While a single avocado tree will normally produce enough fruit for most people, it never hurts to have more than one tree and even more than one variety to increase the chances for good pollination. Be sure to look at our catalog for the many different varieties available from our store.
