Juanita Popenoe| UF/IFAS Lake County Extension Center
People often want to grow mangoes in the central Florida area. Mangoes are not really cold hardy enough for this area because we occasionally have cold winters. Still, there are people who have large mango trees in their yards. It is a risk to grow one, but if you can get it through the first few years you may have a mango large enough to survive the cold.
Or you could grow one in a container small enough to bring into the garage on very cold nights. Mango varieties do not appear to differ in cold hardiness. Mature trees can withstand 250F for a few hours with injury only to leaves and small branches. Young trees may be killed at 29-300F while flowers and small fruit are damaged below 400F.
There are no dwarfing rootstocks for mango like you see for some fruit trees, but you can choose low vigor varieties and prune them to keep them under 10 feet tall and possibly grow them in large containers. Some mangoes will come true to seed and others will not.
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The UF/IFAS publication on growing mangoes in the Florida Home Landscape at edis.ifas.ufl.edu/mg216 gives a list of varieties with their characteristics including tree vigor, seed type, and time of harvest as well as details on growing mangoes at home. Mangoes bloom from December to April depending on variety and climate, and the fruit is ripe in 100 to 150 days. Choose varieties that will flower a little later to avoid cold spells in the spring and fruit when you want to harvest fruit.
Mangoes grow best in full sun and well-drained soils. At planting, check the root ball carefully and remove circling, pot-bound roots. Young trees should be fertilized every two to three months and older trees two to three times a year in amounts that increase with plant size. Too much fertilizer will reduce fruit set and quality. The roots of mature trees will extend beyond the dripline and may take up fertilizer applied to lawns.
Water newly planted trees at planting and every other day for about the first week. The trees can then be weaned back to 1-2 times a week for the first couple months until you are watering once a week unless there is heavy rainfall. Trees older than four years will only need watering during prolonged dry spells during spring and summer.
During the fall and winter, not much irrigation is needed and overwatering may cause trees to decline. Lawn irrigation on a timer may apply too much water for mangoes and may cause root rot issues.
Mature trees are pruned soon after harvest, but young trees may also be pruned to increase branching and establish a strong framework. Once trees have reached the desired height, selectively removing a few upper branches back to their origin from the trunk every year will help to keep the trees manageable.
Mango fruit will ripen on the tree or they can be picked when firm and mature and ripened over 3-8 days in your house at 70-750F. Do not refrigerate unripe fruit – it will lead to chilling injury of discolored flesh and off flavors. Fruit are considered mature when the shoulders and tip fill out and the flesh near the seed changes color from white to yellow.
Some varieties will show a blush on the skin, but other varieties do not color up and stay yellow or green. You can harvest the fruit over time, letting some ripen on the tree. Over-ripe fruit will fall from the tree.
If you have to take the risk to grow luscious mangoes in your backyard in central Florida, protect the trees from cold early on and you will be rewarded.
Visit the Discovery Gardens and our plant clinic with your plant problems and questions week days from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Extension Center, 1951 Woodlea Rd., Tavares, FL.
Extension programs are open to all persons without regard to race, color, sex, age, disability, religion, or national origin. An Equal Opportunity Institution.
Juanita Popenoe is the retired multi-county commercial fruit production agent IV at the UF/IFAS Lake County Extension Center. Email her atjpopenoe@ufl.edu.
