Hi Altadenamara,

Many mangoes can be grown from the pit and come true to type. For the Bowen and Kensington types this is true. If you sprout the mango pit and there are several shoots it will come true to type. Remove the weaker growths while retaining the strongest and plant pit in a pot. Plant out in a warm sheltered position when large enough say a foot or two high. Mangoes seem to fruit when they are fairly young. They can also grow into a large tree in the subtropics but should only be a medium tree in your area as Z9 is cooler. This can be an advantage as a smaller tree is easier to manage and fruit can be picked. I have also observed large mango trees seem to carry very little fruit. In Australia it has been noticed that rain at flowering (late winter) can prevent fruiting because of fungus attacks to the forming fruit.

Regards,

John Driscoll

Thanks for your response, John. The only mangos sold here in the local markets with viable pits are the Tommy Atkins variety. and I have a few of those in pots, perhaps as future rootstock. The other varieties in specialty import markets here are irridated to kill pests, by law, but it also kills the "seeds" inside the pits as well. Guess I'll have to settle for just the grafted trees.

If you can wait till next summer I will send you some Glen seeds. Glen is DELICIOUS.

Vireyafl, thanks so much for your offer. I went to a 99 Ranch Market, and found some mangos there that looked different from the Tommy Atkins mango. One was clearly marked "Ataulfo", and the others were more rounded, chartreuse yellow, but no name was given. According to the website below, Haden, Kent, and Keitt mangos are available from Mexico, Brazil, Ecuador, and Peru. It will be interesting to see if the seeds sprout.

Here is a link that might be useful: Consistent supply of mangos