Those trees look great.What exactly is a T-bud graft? Can you order from Zill?

Did you get these from a retail nursery or directly from Zill's?

Cushman can be hard to find.

Mango K -

Boy,those are two beuties!that T bud looks sloppy same graft as Laverne but they graft a lot higher. Can someone describe the taste of Cushman I would like to fruit one in a large container????

Zill's is wholesale only, but they supply the majority of the retailers in the area (including Pine Island :-). Many of the retailers will fill orders for you. Tropic Plants here in Tamarac is pretty good about doing that.

You got one of the last cushmans that Zill's has. They only had 1/2 a dozen or so last time I was there. They have stopped propagating them after Pine Island stopped selling them.

Jeff

Bryan:

I see you have been paying attention to my ravings. Good luck with your trees. They are both really excellent fruits. You won't be disappointed.

jfernandez:

The exact taste of a Cushman, like many other fruits, is difficult to describe. It is not your typical or what you would call your traditional mango flavor as one might experience in Cuban mangoes. Cuban and most other Caribbean mangoes have that resionous twang as a main element of their flavor. Cushman is more a mix of fruit flavors. I have heard some people say they tasted pineapple in Cushman. Depending on ripeness I have heard some people describe it as citrussy (which I never thought). I have heard some say some wafts of coconutty flavor came to them. I think it is more pineapple than coconut, but the taste is in the tongue of the taster. Cushman was one of my early favorites as it is unique.....it really doesn't taste like any other mango, IMHO. To me, it is like asking what a banana tastes like. The true answer is.....just like a banana. Its sweet and juicy, without fiber and has a pleasant tropical fragrance. Beyond that...you'll just have to try it to see.

Harry

PI buys most of their mangoes as 1 gallon sized grafted trees from Zill's and grows them out to 3g+ sized plants. Even the trees like the 'Tebow' (aka 'Young') which Zill's doesn't sell - PI just drives up with a boat load of budwood to Zill's and has them graft them up. So, the majority of the trees you are seeing at home depot with PI tags initially came from Zill's. No one can propagate mangoes as efficiently as zill's... not even PI :-). I've heard stories of them propagating 100,000+ trees per month in their heyday...

Jeff

Impressive. Quite the contribution that family's business has made to the mango in Florida. Hopefully I'll get the chance to meet Gary Zill someday. Would have been fascinating to meet his father in his lifetime.

Thanks Harry,

I know it's very subjective and difficult to describe the taste of a mango but I trust your judgement because of your large collection. Also, that's a very astute observation we love that earthly flavor LOL

JK

Very healthy and nice looking trees. I have a Zills Carrie mango tree that I bought from Spykes two years ago and its one of my best formed and healthy Mango trees so far. I also appreciate your posting a image of a "DOT" tag. I have one planted but because I got it at a club sale it did not come with a Dot variety tag. Again good luck with the new trees. I'm looking to pickup a couple more new ones myself very soon.

Nice Mr. Kush - that Dot looks especially interesting and the Cushman full of tasty intrigue. Not sure anyone has any of those trees out here in SoCal.....will you plant them in the ground, Bryan?

JF - do you know if Eunice has either one of those?

mangostickleback

MangoStalker -
Absolutely NOT. I wish she did, we could just help ourselves to some scion....I've never seen those two varieties in Socal. Maybe in July when I'm down in South Florida I'll go visit Harry's farm and a he'll be so gracious as to donate a few extra scions for you.

JF

Im pretty sure Zills is wholesale only

mangodog all my mango trees are in ground

swrancher i got them both through SPYKES, the 3 gallon was $30 and the 7 was $55. If they are discontinuing Cushman Im not sure where else you could find one. I have a nice Carrie from them as well, the Dot will go next to it.

jeffhafen have you ever heard of Zills 27-1 mango? Someone at the nursery who knows a thing or two about mangos was raving about it, saying its a new cultivar.

Hi Mango K - The 27-1 (aka Lemon Zest) is one of the mangoes that came out of the Zill's breeding program. Sheehan posted about it in 2009 and even included a picture. I haven't personally tasted it, but Sheehan has indicated that it's pretty darn delicious.

The 27-1 was just released for sale about a month ago. It is a seedling of the Po Pyu Kalay. The bearing habit (according to the staff at Zill's) is near that of the Carrie (ie, good but not great) and it is said to bear towards the later end of the season. However, it's only been evaluated for a couple of years.

Zill's has 2 more cultivars due out late this year or early next once the patent applications are filed.

Jeff

....the only good thing hearing about fabulous new mango varieties when you have no more space is that if one loses a tree or two over time, it allows for a sweet upgrade.....

other than that it's TORTURE..........

mangohowl

Jeff, do you know which local nursery might carry the 24-7? Thanks

pepperseed - Zill's is not currently selling the 24-7, so no nursery will have access to it. I've asked for budwood (to other trees) before and my request got met with a resounding "no". The only one that's been released into the wild is the 27-1.

Jeff

Sorry, was not fully caffeinated when I wrote that. I meant to say 27-1. I don't know where 24-7 came from. :-)

ahh :-) You must be working 24-7 :-). Contact me off list.

Jeff