wiltznucs
| Favorite team: | South Florida  |
| Location: | Apollo Beach, FL |
| Biography: | |
| Interests: | |
| Occupation: | |
| Number of Posts: | 9454 |
| Registered on: | 9/23/2005 |
| Online Status: | Not Online |
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Today’s adventure. First mango from my grove is a Pickering; and honestly, this one slaps. Actually won among these three today. Great texture and chock full of coconut.
All were good. Ugly Betty presented more as a classic IMHO. We’ve got some recent rains and perhaps it was a bit washed out.
Sunrise was tasty. I’m not sure that I hold it in as high regard as Paul at Fruitful Trees. He’s a big advocate for it. In fact; he has openly said that if he was to recommend a three tree mango grove it would include Sunrise, PPK/Lemon Meringue and CAC.
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Musa Florida
Nice! They are so pretty. I will eventually add one to my place.
Today’s entries….
An example of why it’s good to try a mango a few times to get a real feel for it.
My wife tried the one in the middle while I was cutting them and before I put in a label; she said it was amazing. It was extra ripe and admittedly perfect today. I told her it was Lemon Zest and she was shocked. She didn’t care for the one we had just one day ago from the same farm.
Kathy/K3 is consistently very good. Had a few from a couple of farms this year. Some picked a bit earlier than they should; but, a very good mango every time.
Zill was a first for me. I can see why it was popular in its time. Classic flavor with a pretty color and totally fiberless. Doesn’t hold up in the modern lens; but, a fun blast from the past.
Tomorrow will be a few new ones for me.
Today’s combatants…
A couple of known heavyweights. Lemon Zest, Guava and P-22…
We were split on these. All were very good. I feel privileged to have them. Not kicking any out of bed as it were.
I honestly preferred the P-22; but, I admittedly like mangoes with bright subacid components. My wife and daughter definitely preferred the Guava. So much so that they requested that we get a tree. It’s hard to describe; definitely hits different than most mangoes. I think the name is appropriate. Juicy and with a good seed/flesh ratio. LZ is LZ; a timeless flavor profile and this year’s fruit has been abundant and tasty. The freeze was apparently good for them assuming your tree survived.
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I would rank my favorite flavor groups as follows: Coconut Indochinese Citrus Classic Indian / West Indian Thai
I’d flip my order a bit…
I prefer
Citrus
IndoChinese
Coconut
Classic (with a subacid component even better)
West Indian
Indian
Thai
Tried Peach Cobbler for the first time today. Spectacular…
re: Louisiana Tropical Fruit Gardening - Experiences and Updates
Posted by wiltznucs on 7/1/26 at 8:15 pm to TeddyPadillac
First Pickering of the season. Picked a bit earlier than I’d like; but, it was hanging low and in range to become food for pests. So today it is.
Also had my first Wango. In this case the Juno variety. I enjoyed it; not as sweet as some varieties but with a bit of acidity and a pineapple undertone. Kept the seed; with a bit of luck it’s polyembryonic and I can grow one of my own. If it’s monoembryonic it’s a totally unique hybrid.
re: Louisiana Tropical Fruit Gardening - Experiences and Updates
Posted by wiltznucs on 7/1/26 at 1:38 pm to TeddyPadillac
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I have found the more i let them ripen and get that deep red color the better they are.
They are so acidic; even when fully ripe. I eventually pulled my tree out. It grew well; I just couldn’t find enough useful applications for the fruit. Plus the local birds were just relentless on them.
Busy day in the grove. Did a bit of a fire drill today. Some getting the boot; others moved into those spots. Got to earn your keep here.
Had a Dwarf Hawaiian mango tree which I had tucked into a flower bed near my home. Actually my oldest tree now. Survived Hurricane Milton and through a microclimate miracle also the freeze of 26’. It’s produced some fruit; but, has never really thrived. Decided to give it a new home. Dug it up and some 3 years later the rootball was almost entirely superficial. About 15” wide and no more than 8” deep. No big roots; just a tight fine mesh. Super hard calcareous soil in that spot.
Pulled the Golden Dorsett Apple tree that’s been a bitter rot/scab nightmare and relocated the Dwarf Hawaiian there. Soaked it in good and now I’m crossing my fingers. Much better soil and full sun there.
Dropped the High Noon banana into the spot vacated by the mango. Dug it out a lot and I suspect it will do much better.
Mango season has officially begun at my place. Harvested two today. One way earlier than usual and one running way late.
Typically Dwarf Hawaiian mango trees give you fruit first. Often as early as mid to late May. Got one today only hours away from July. Also got a Little Gem. It’s usually super late and gives fruit in mid-July all the way into August.
Had a Dwarf Hawaiian mango tree which I had tucked into a flower bed near my home. Actually my oldest tree now. Survived Hurricane Milton and through a microclimate miracle also the freeze of 26’. It’s produced some fruit; but, has never really thrived. Decided to give it a new home. Dug it up and some 3 years later the rootball was almost entirely superficial. About 15” wide and no more than 8” deep. No big roots; just a tight fine mesh. Super hard calcareous soil in that spot.
Pulled the Golden Dorsett Apple tree that’s been a bitter rot/scab nightmare and relocated the Dwarf Hawaiian there. Soaked it in good and now I’m crossing my fingers. Much better soil and full sun there.
Dropped the High Noon banana into the spot vacated by the mango. Dug it out a lot and I suspect it will do much better.
Mango season has officially begun at my place. Harvested two today. One way earlier than usual and one running way late.
Typically Dwarf Hawaiian mango trees give you fruit first. Often as early as mid to late May. Got one today only hours away from July. Also got a Little Gem. It’s usually super late and gives fruit in mid-July all the way into August.
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And that’s exactly the type of truck I’m looking for.
Drove it for 9 years and it only depreciated by $18,000 with 150,000 miles on it. I basically rented it to myself at $165 a month for nearly a decade. One of the best investments I’ve ever made. Agree with others; giving up that bulletproof V8 was a real mistake for Toyota.
Just sold my 18’ model 1794 Edition last month. Was a damn great truck. Just don’t need a truck anymore and 14mpg is sort of for the birds right now. I paid $43K out the door for it; brand new from my local dealer in 2017.
I put nearly 150,000 trouble free miles on it. Oil, brakes, tires, filters and that’s it.
Listed it on Facebook Marketplace with an asking price of $25,000 and figured I’d get talked down to $22,000 or so. The truck was sold at full asking price only a few hours later. They are definitely in demand apparently.
Best of luck…
I put nearly 150,000 trouble free miles on it. Oil, brakes, tires, filters and that’s it.
Listed it on Facebook Marketplace with an asking price of $25,000 and figured I’d get talked down to $22,000 or so. The truck was sold at full asking price only a few hours later. They are definitely in demand apparently.
Best of luck…
Was fun…
Left with my first Wango…. The Juno…
A hybrid between mango and a mango relative. The Mangifera Rubropetala and a Cambodiana Mango. A singularity of sorts. We’ll see how it tastes in a few days.
Left with my first Wango…. The Juno…
A hybrid between mango and a mango relative. The Mangifera Rubropetala and a Cambodiana Mango. A singularity of sorts. We’ll see how it tastes in a few days.
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Cut the flower off today. Wasn't making more female flowers. Small rack with only 4 hands, but hey that's what happens when they get cold. Now the race is on!
It’s funny; all of my Namwah bananas have rebounded since the freeze and none of them has flowered. Look great; just not producing fruit.
Attended the Florida Mango Festival this morning. Overall, a pretty good time. There were people already in line at 6 AM for the VIP entry which opened at 9 AM. I was a little bit worried that they had oversold the VIP as it was several hundred people. I managed to get a pretty good assortment of some mangoes with a few that are new to me. I will say that, despite having a larger number of producers, it really felt like it was heavily tilted towards your more common Florida mangoes. By that I mean Haden, Glenn, Maha, Carrie. I hate that I didn’t visit Tropical Acres booth; but, it was a shitshow and poorly organized. Stood in line for 30 minutes and barely moved. Said frick it and bailed.
Food Forest Tampa, Peace River, Hidden Acres and Truly Tropical all did a good job. Some Indian/Paki producers on hand as well. Pricing was anywhere from $7-10lb.
The consensus is that many of the nurseries are going to run out of fruit somewhat early. Mid July’ish… A couple actually indicated that they are running late and believe they will have mangoes well into August or even September.
I left with…
Dupuis Saigon
Juno
Lemon Zest
Kesar
Cecilove
Peach Cobbler
Glenn
Lemon Meringue
Juicy Peach
Ugly Betty
Guava
Zill
Coconut Cream
Tangerine Dream
Jacquelin
Kathy/K3
P-22
CAC
Kaeli-K
I will confess that we left soon after general admission was letting in. There were probably a few thousand people waiting outside. I’m sure there will be some dissent about the event and it’s organization.
I actually left with a new banana for my grove. This is the High Noon varietal. A dessert style banana bred in Honduras which isn’t susceptible to the disease which is wiping out the Cavendish. It’s been pretty widely adopted in Australia, New Zealand and Indonesia.
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. I want something brighter and more sweet and tart. Suggestions for our area that fit that description
The traditional “condo mango” choices well suited to pots are Pickering, Ice Cream, Cogshall, NDM4 and Carrie.
None of which I’d describe as sweet and tart.
In recent years Cecilove, Little Gem, Dwarf Hawaiian and others have entered the discussion.
In real terms; what you can grow in pots is really limited only by your level of commitment. How big of a pot you are willing to put it in and how do you feel about potentially root pruning?
I’ve got a friend who specializes in growing outsized mango trees in pots. They are literally all possible if willing to make the jump from 25 to 50 and beyond. They’ll never produce numbers like one in the ground; but, the quality is the same.
When visiting Japan last year I got to see the Miyazaki mango trees in person. Damn things sell for as much as $2,000 each at auction. It’s just an Irwin here in the States. They grow all of them in pots there in small greenhouses. The trees are limited to as little as a single fruit each. Mirrors are used to reflect as much light as possible to blush the skin. It’s more of a process than anything else; because, Irwin in general sucks.
So if wanting sweet and tart; look no further than Sweet Tart. It’s fabulous. You are eventually going to have to throw it in a 50 gallon pot; but, you’ll enjoy world class mangoes every year while nobody else in your area does.
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Seed pod also didn’t develop.
Undersized is a theme this year. Last year my Pickering fruit averaged 12-16oz. Lost my 3yo tree to the February freeze and dropped a new 25g tree in its spot only a month later. It is doing well and had two dozen or more fruits on it. I thinned it down to four. They are transitioning to yellow now; but, probably a week or more from being ready. I’m guessing the largest will be 8-12oz. So a full 1/3 smaller. The freeze just took a lot out of them and the subsequent drought hasn’t helped. That all said; I think 27’ is setting up to be a spectacular year. Let’s just cross our fingers that the weather cooperates. There’s a bunch of strong mature trees that didn’t fruit at all this year after the freeze that I suspect will come back with a vengeance next year.
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well these were picked too early! Lil concerned
It’s an epidemic this year. Seeing lots of mangoes on numerous forums that either aren’t the correct varietal at all or that have been picked straight green. Not even mature green. Like 2-4 weeks too early. And pricing is at a premium.
This year is wacky; the calendars are off. Seeing some late season mangoes that usually show up in July/August right now in June for SoFL. I have a feeling the season is going to be really abbreviated this year. I think we’re only about 2-3 weeks from it quickly drying up.
In general; the fruit this year seems smaller than in years past. I will say though; the drought has perhaps made the flavor better. Heavy rains sometime wash the flavors out. I’ve had a few mangoes this year that I thought less of in years past that have really impressed. I’ve had some fricking banging Florigons this past week. Had a CAC last week that was divine. Tried Step today; honestly, it’s one that should be getting more love.
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This one had internal breakdown too.
That’s disappointing. My Pickering have just started doing color break in the last week. With Pickering I really try to let them fully ripen on the tree. Like yours I’m not seeing as much red blush as I’ve seen in years past.
Looks good.
Opinions vary on whether or not you should cut the banana flower off if it’s no longer producing additional fruits. Anecdotally, I now tend to cut them off once they look like yours. It’s my experience that this will focus the trees energy on making the fruit that is there larger in addition to taking some weight off the branch.
Opinions vary on whether or not you should cut the banana flower off if it’s no longer producing additional fruits. Anecdotally, I now tend to cut them off once they look like yours. It’s my experience that this will focus the trees energy on making the fruit that is there larger in addition to taking some weight off the branch.
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Wish I could go to the Fest
I’ll be there and will give ya’ll a report when I get back.
In the meantime; found some mangoes today. At $8.50lb I do believe I’m going to start cutting back or being more selective.
Got Harvest Moon, Florigon, Glenn, CAC and STEP. STEP is a new one for me. They had also just brought in some Sweetheart Lychees so I had to grab some of those too.
Have done Argentina a few times now.
It’s important to understand the history of the Argentine Peso. In short; it’s not good and the people are both naturally distrusting of their banks and their currency. And for good reason.
Pay in cash; most places will charge a 10-25% surcharge for using cards.
Buenos Aires is the most European city outside of Europe. From the architecture to the people and cuisine. It’s an absolute joy to visit.
Book a day tour of the city on Viator. Visit the San Telmo Market. Eat Provoleta and Choripan. Bring Dulce de Leche home. There’s many amazing restaurants there; but, Fogon Asado remains my fav. I like to stay in the historic center especially if on the weekend. The city’s historic center is virtually empty on weekends as most people live in the suburbs. You’ll have the place to yourself until 10-11AM. Take in a soccer game if given the chance. A night with River Plate or Boca Juniors is something you wont soon forget. You think LSU fans are loud? Go to El Monumental and listen to the River fans…
It’s important to understand the history of the Argentine Peso. In short; it’s not good and the people are both naturally distrusting of their banks and their currency. And for good reason.
Pay in cash; most places will charge a 10-25% surcharge for using cards.
Buenos Aires is the most European city outside of Europe. From the architecture to the people and cuisine. It’s an absolute joy to visit.
Book a day tour of the city on Viator. Visit the San Telmo Market. Eat Provoleta and Choripan. Bring Dulce de Leche home. There’s many amazing restaurants there; but, Fogon Asado remains my fav. I like to stay in the historic center especially if on the weekend. The city’s historic center is virtually empty on weekends as most people live in the suburbs. You’ll have the place to yourself until 10-11AM. Take in a soccer game if given the chance. A night with River Plate or Boca Juniors is something you wont soon forget. You think LSU fans are loud? Go to El Monumental and listen to the River fans…
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So got 2 more coming. Lil Gem , and cecilove
I have Little Gem in my grove. Added it earlier this year. I’ve had the fruit before and it’s a West Indian flavored mango. So it’s characterized as juicy, with a hint of spice/resin with a coconut finish. It’s disease resistance is fantastic. The tree stays small and produces a lot. Late season mango that will ripen in July or August.
Cecilove is an IndoChinese profile. Big fruity sweetness with a bright subacid component. It’s very tasty. It’s become really popular in the last 2-3 years; but, it is a quirky grower. Laff has had better luck with a tree in a pot than my 2 year old tree in the ground in Central Florida. They seem to stay compact; but, grow slowly and a bit ugly here. My Ceci died during the freeze. I intend to graft some into my existing trees next year.
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Nice work on the mulberry rooting. I'm following this one. The internet is peer pressuring me into growing a mulberry.
Will happily provide you one of my trees. Just have to sort out how to get it to you.
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