For growing mango from seed, or really anything from seed, you cannot beat a small plastic container (like what cottage cheese, sour cream, or green yogurt might come in) filled halfway with coconut coir. It's absolutely the best medium for germinating seed. Fill halfway with coir and water once a week. Coconut coir keeps water evenly distributed and I've never had a seed or seedling mold over using it. I personally…
My experience is very different ! Coconut coir is a real pain and struggle to remove and separate from the roots when you need a transplant. Likewise small plastic containers are way too small for growing trees especially from large and medium seeds like nuts or mangoes. Ideally, you want to pick a really big one (at least 5 to 8 liters) with a preference for depth over width, to grant the tree more space to grow and…
Growing a mango tree from seed – one year time lapse [video]
191–200 of 219 posts
Re: Growing a mango tree from seed – one year time lapse [video]
#192Earlier quoted context omitted.
Bananas went (commercially) extinct decades ago. The things sold in stores today are a different fruit.
Apple bananas in Hawaii are delicious and available at the local Costco. As you say, the “gros michel” cultivar is mostly dead commercially, although there are attempts to get a variant resistant to fungal disease. I’d like to taste a Gros Michel some day.
Re: Growing a mango tree from seed – one year time lapse [video]
#193Earlier quoted context omitted.
The main difference is fruits and vegetables in the US are bred for storage and transport, and not for flavor. This is starting to swing back, with people appreciating flavor, but this will require people to accept that there are seasons to fruits and vegetables, which is hard when you're used to year-round supply. But if you want a tomato in January or an apple in June, those just aren't going to taste as good.
> The main difference is fruits and vegetables in the US are bred for storage and transport, and not for flavor. I've heard this take a lot, but I really think it has a lot more to do with how we treat our soils. American agriculture is obsessed with sterile soils. But the MAJORITY of plants in the wild get the MAJORITY of their nutrients from mycorrhizal fungi. Something which is not present in sterilized soil. They…
Great comment, thanks. I think people forgot how to farm in 20th century. For example, my grandmother grew up on her parents’ farm, and managed it until the early 2000’s. She didn’t do the farming, she just told the guy who actually did the work what to plant. After grandma passed away my uncle took care of the leasing for a few years. Now Bill Gates probably owns what used to be Grandma’s farm.
At one point grandma started doing no-till to preserve the topsoil, but I think this might have been just spraying with roundup before planting corn and soybeans.
I have a National Geographic magazine, circa 1995, about the Frogs Leap winery [0]. This is an organic winery in California. The author talked about visiting a neighboring conventional vineyard, and how that soil was totally different than the soil at Frogs Leap.
Re: Growing a mango tree from seed – one year time lapse [video]
#194I grew up in Egypt, my dad is from a town on the Suez Canal called Ismailia, famous for its mangoes. We would wait the whole year for mango season (August/September). As kids, our clothes would all get mango stains. Our parents would make us take our shirts off before we eat them to avoid that. I moved to the US, and I haven't had a good mango here. When friends visit Egypt, I tell them to get mangoes (in season, aro…
Thank me when you and your family enjoy it. Good luck! (You’ll need it. People will fight for those mangoes in the US)
Re: Growing a mango tree from seed – one year time lapse [video]
#195Earlier quoted context omitted.
I run an agri commodity trading startup (mostly bananas) in India. A few mango exporters I know complain about US import rules for mangoes. Apparently by regulation mangoes have to be immersed in hot water for 20 minutes. This destroys taste.
Irradiation is going to be approved soon as an alternative if I understand correctly
[1] https://www.ers.usda.gov/amber-waves/2013/may/why-do-indian-...
Re: Growing a mango tree from seed – one year time lapse [video]
#196Earlier quoted context omitted.
I asked someone why local village wine in the south of France was better than 75% of the bottles I'd had. They told me "The best grapes never make it out of the village. The next best grapes never make it out of the region. The next best grapes never make it out of the country." Wine was probably a terrible example, being a less perishable good suited for transport, but the quip always stuck with me. No idea the orig…
> We (city folk) assume that the best agricultural output is exported, but... why would it be? For the same reason everything else is exported. Its value somewhere else is higher than its local value.
Sometimes it's better to have good wine and one less euro, than another euro and worse wine.
Re: Growing a mango tree from seed – one year time lapse [video]
#197I grew up in Egypt, my dad is from a town on the Suez Canal called Ismailia, famous for its mangoes. We would wait the whole year for mango season (August/September). As kids, our clothes would all get mango stains. Our parents would make us take our shirts off before we eat them to avoid that. I moved to the US, and I haven't had a good mango here. When friends visit Egypt, I tell them to get mangoes (in season, aro…
I live in the very un-sunny Pacific Northwest. I rarely see mangos, though I eat a lot of dried mango as snacks. I was introduced by my Asian-American partner who grew up eating it via her parents. Right now I am traveling in Mexico and craving fresh fruit, especially mango, everyday. So fresh, so refreshing, and so bright. It feels like vacation in your hand (or glass). Some American perspective for you.
Re: Growing a mango tree from seed – one year time lapse [video]
#198I grew up in Egypt, my dad is from a town on the Suez Canal called Ismailia, famous for its mangoes. We would wait the whole year for mango season (August/September). As kids, our clothes would all get mango stains. Our parents would make us take our shirts off before we eat them to avoid that. I moved to the US, and I haven't had a good mango here. When friends visit Egypt, I tell them to get mangoes (in season, aro…
> I moved to the US, and I haven't had a good mango here. I'm used to the chaunsa variety, but I've found that alphonso mangos are a good substitute and are not too difficult to find in the US. I don't know how those varieties compare to the ones commonly found in Egypt.
Re: Growing a mango tree from seed – one year time lapse [video]
#199I grew up in Egypt, my dad is from a town on the Suez Canal called Ismailia, famous for its mangoes. We would wait the whole year for mango season (August/September). As kids, our clothes would all get mango stains. Our parents would make us take our shirts off before we eat them to avoid that. I moved to the US, and I haven't had a good mango here. When friends visit Egypt, I tell them to get mangoes (in season, aro…
First time I went below the equator and saw a local fruit stand I didn't recognize half the produce on sale. It took me a while to realize that not only does everything taste so much better, the same items that would easily fit in the palm of your hand when bought as exported would comfortably feed a family of four. So I just didn't recognize a lot of the stuff even if I knew them already.
Re: Growing a mango tree from seed – one year time lapse [video]
#200Earlier quoted context omitted.
I tried to "grow" a couple of mango trees in Switzerland on my balcony, but they all died within 1 or 2 years, I think I burnt one with too much fertilizer, another one due to the weather being too dry and one, I am not too sure but I suspected not enough mineral as it took almost 2 years, I hoped it would grow :(
Is just not an easy plant to grow in your climate.