Date: 14 Jul 2019
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
Date: 22 Mar 2017
Condo Mango
Q: I was curious about indoor fruiting mango trees. I live in upstate New York and was thinking about trying to grow an indoor tree for fruit. I have a small heated greenhouse. Is there a variety that can be grown from seed that would suit my purposes and if not what is the most economical way I could obtain a cutting or small grafted plant? I keep my greenhouse around 60F in the winter and have no supplemental lighting. Are there any varieties that may work in a sunroom or other well lit indoor location?
A:
There are many dwarf varieties of mango suitable for container culture. They
are called "condo mangoes".
The most popular condo varieties are: Carrie, Cogshall, Cushman, Fairchild,
Graham, Ice Cream, Julie
, Mallika, Nam Doc Mai,
Pickering. You may read more about them in our online
catalog. You may also look into variety
Lancetilla which is also a compact tree, and produces one of the biggest size
fruit, up to 5 pounds. If you want some rare variety that hardly anyone else has -
try Baptiste, an exotic Haitian dessert
mango.
Your greenhouse should work for the winter time. Mango trees can take
as low as mid 40s during winter and even lower as long as that cold is
occasional. If you keep the temperature around 60, this should work well for over
wintering. Just make sure to reduce watering to a minimum, because cool
temperatures, low light and wet soil - is a bad combination for tropical plants,
especially for mango trees which prefer to be kept on a dry side.
Many indoor gardeners have fruiting mango trees in their collection. However,
keep in mind that the most important requirement for a mango is full sun.
While you may over winter the plant for a few months in a low light conditions,
in order for it to flower and produce fruit it needs lots of light. If moving
the tree into full sun your yard during the summer is possible, this would
be the best solution.
We always recommend
SUNSHINE boosters for both over wintering tropical plants in colder
climates, and for indoor gardening. SUNSHINE applications will help your tree to
cope with cool temperatures and low light conditions. This will also
dramatically increase flowering and fruiting performance. Another important factor for
keeping your container plant healthy is quality of your potting soil. We
offer a special
professional mix that contains lots of good stuff: coconut fiber, peat moss, pine
bark, and perlite. Fertilizing potted plants
is also very important during the warm season, because this is the only way
for them to get nutrients (which in the ground can be reached by spreading
root system).
As far as seedlings vs. grafting - the only way to
have a nicely fruiting mango tree is to plant a grafted variety. Seedlings start
producing only after 8-15 years, and the quality of such fruit may be
questionable. Only grafted plants can guarantee the desired taste of a variety.
Besides, grafted mangoes start producing immediately - you may see fruit forming
on plants as small as 3 ft, in 3 gal containers. However, during the first
1-2 years you will need to remove extra fruit and leave only 1-2 fruit so the
plant doesn't get exhausted and has enough energy to establish strong root
system.
For fun stories about growing mango, check out our Radio
Show recording YO Tango Mango!
Date: 23 Sep 2020
Fast-fruiting trees?
Photo above: Annona reticulata - Red Custard Apple
Q: More of a question than a review, but a review regarding your catalog, it would be easier for us buyers, if we could search for plants that produce fruit in 2 years or less, I don't have the patience to wait longer than that for fruit. I'm trying to buy for a fairly good sized garden but want some fast growers and fruit produced in 2 yrs. Can you help me out?
A: Fruiting time depends on many factors (established size,
growing conditions, fertilizing, and even specific variety), this is why we can
not just put a simple icon "will fruit within 2 years".
However, most grafted and air-layered fruit trees, including all Mango, Avocado, Loquat, Sapote, Sapodilla, Lychee/Longan, Peaches and Nectarines - will fruit right away. If you see in our store
"grafted" or "air-layered" in plant description - these trees will fruit
soon. Some of them already flowering and fruiting.
Some non-grafted trees or seedlings like Annona, Artocarpus (Jackfruit), Eugenia, Guava, Banana, Dragon fruit, Mulberry, Blackberry/Raspberry - will fruit within 3-4 years from seed or even
sooner (Banana, Mulberry, Dragon fruit, Blackberry-Raspberry - within a year).
Usually it says in description that this plant can produce fruit soon.
Bigger size plants are more established and have more energy to produce, so
try to get larger size plants if your budget permits, and especially if you can
pick up bigger plants rather than shipping them - obviously, shipping has size
limitations.
In addition, all spice trees like Bay Leaf, Bay Rum, Allspice and many more - they will
produce spice for you right away, so you don't need to wait at all!
If you have questions about fruiting time on any specific plant you put
your eye on, don't hesitate to ask!
Photo above: Pimenta dioica - Allspice
Date: 24 Jun 2018
URBAN TROPICAL GARDENING:
10 secrets of successful Container Mango growing on a
balcony.
Q: I live in Miami in apartment on a second floor, and I have a balcony with SE exposure. I wonder if I can grow a mango tree in a pot? Will it fruit for me? I recently moved to South Florida and I don't know much about tropical plants; but I tasted real fiberless mangos from someone's garden - it was so delicious and different from those in the grocery store. I wonder if I can have a fruiting tree on my balcony? And if yes, how do I plant and take care of it?
A:
Yes, you can! Here is what you need to do:
1) Temperature. You are lucky to live in Tropics,
keep it on a balcony year round.
2) Light. Position the pot in a spot with the most
sun exposure. Mango trees can take filtered light too, but
the less sun, the less fruit you will get.
3) Soil and Container. Use only
well drained potting mix. Step up the purchased
plant into next size container (3 gal into 7 gal, 7 gal
into 15 gal). When transplanting, make sure to keep growth
point (where roots meet the trunk) just at the top of the
soil. Covering base of the trunk with soil may kill the
plant.
4) Water. Water daily during hot season, but only
if top of soil gets dry. If it still moist, skip that day.
Mangoes (unlike
Avocados!) prefer to stay on a dry side.
5) Fertilizer. Use
balanced fertilizer once a month, 1 tsp per 1 gal of
soil. Do not fertilize during fruiting - this may cause
fruit cracks.
6) Microelements. Apply
SUNSHINE-Superfood once a month. This will help your
mango healthy, vigorous, and resistant to diseases. Use SUNSHINE-Honey to make your
fruit sweeter.
7) Insect control. Watch for scales and mealybugs,
clean with solution of soapy water + vegetable oil (may
need to repeat 2-3 times with 10 days interval), or with
systemic insecticide like imidacloprid only as needed (if
non-harsh treatment didn't help). Most Flea shampoo for
dogs contain that chemical, you may try that shampoo
solution.
8) Trimming. Once potted, do not remove leaves
that are discolored or have spots until new growth
appears. Dark dots on mango leaves, especially in humid
climate like Florida, may be signs of fungus. Treat with
fungicide according to label, and remove only badly
damaged leaves. Trim crown as needed after flowering and
fruiting (by Fall). Train into a small tree, and you may
remove some lower branches eventually.
9) Flower and fruit. Mangoes are winter bloomers
with bunches of tiny flowers coming in thousands. Many of
them set fruit (if pollinating insects present). Keep in
mind that young trees can only bare a few fruit. Normally
a tree will drop excessive fruit and keep only a few that
it can manage. To save the young tree some energy, remove
fruit if too many and leave only 2-3 for the first year.
It will pay you next year with more abundant crop.
10) Variety. Last but not least: Choose the right
variety for container culture! Pick from "condo" dwarf
varieties such as Icecream, Nam Doc Mai, Carrie, Cogshall, Julie, Fairchild, Pickering, Graham, Mallika, and a few others -
check out Mango Chart pdf
and full list of our Mango varieties
Date: 10 Apr 2016
Growing by the sea
Q: Please recommend me some interesting plants that can grow on my waterfront property and can withstand some salt wind. All my neighbors have Sea Grape trees and bougainvilleas, and I want something different and special. I would love to have some colorful or fragrant flowers, or fruit around my paradise home.
Q: Considering your neighbors successfully grow Sea Grape (Coccoloba), and Bougainvilleas, you have a mild, frost free climate. There is a number of spectacular and useful tropical plants that are salt tolerant. Orchid Trees - Bauhinias, Poincettia - Delonix, and Geiger trees - Cordias, are very showy flowering trees. For large size bushes, try Dwarf Poincianas - Caesalpinias, and Scarlet-Coral Erythrinas. Frangipani - Plumeria, come in different colors and bring you perfume fragrance from Hawaii. And of course, Desert Roses - Adeniums, can be grown and showy specimens anywhere in your yard, both in the ground or as potted bonsai.
Most palms, especially popular Coconut Palm, source of tasty fruit and drink, are highly tolerant to salt breeze. If you are looking for something that nobody has, Lipstick palm, or Sealing wax palm - Cyrtostachys lakka, is definitely the most spectacular palm you can find. It is a stunning feather palm that develops a brilliantly red trunk. Palm is originally from Malaysia, but has been introduced to Costa Rica and other tropical areas of the world. Sealing Wax Palm seeds are very slow to germinate, up to a year, and large specimens are very rare and hard to find even in rare tropical plant nurseries. This palm will require a good overhead light, and constant warmth (above temperature 55F). It is definitely worth an effort to grow this beauty.
You may add more tropical accents to your landscape by the sea with many varieties of showy heliconias.