Nancy:

Unfortunately, this is all too normal. Every year mango trees tease with over abundant fruit set, only to be jolted back to some reality by wind dropped fruit and ones that drop just exactly as you describe. Not sure why it happens, but it pretty much happens across the board. Solution? Buy more mango trees.

Harry

mine do this.. if you open them up youll notice the seed never grew, looks like small black speck

Nancy

My Pickering is doing just what you are experiencing. That bad storm we had down here made a bunch drop then they grew to the size of small tangerines and all dropped but 3 :(

Good thing for my Kent mango source because as of now I am only going to get one mango from my po pyu kalay and one possibly two from the pickering. The lancetilla may set fruit still waiting to see, the carrie has the prospect of a few...only time will tell....but those are not overall wonderful or anything.

Mine are all doing the same thing as well, certain trees alot more then some others. The worse one for this in my yard has been my Graham tree, started out loaded with a few hundred tiny fruit and now is down to maybe twenty or thirty golfball sized ones, what really stinks is that each day, I notice yet another one turning yellow.

That sucks Pug. Very frustrating I know. My nam doc mai does this and there is no wind in my GH! If they don't drop, they split. If they don't split, they turn brown and fall off before reaching any size. If they don't turn brown, the flowers all dry up along with the fruit. If...ah hell...you get the picture. Warming up the chainsaw.

My two little Pickering fruitlets popped off too. It looked like they ripened prematurely (turned yellow then brown.) My Mallika dropped all of its fruit without them even getting bigger than a ball bearing. The Pickering is small, so I'm not worried, but the Mallika is just being annoying. I'm sure it'll get better, Pug.

Is it possible there is a pollination problem?

Thanks guys I feel so much better that I'm in GREAT company! Just wanted to make sure it wasn't something I wasn't doing or doing that might be causing this.

Harry, I can't even imagine how many of these piles must be in your yard. If I didn't have the freeze problem here, I would plant 5 more!

Marin, one of the bigger Pickering fruits fell off today :o(
Thank goodness for your Kent source!

I've eaten some of the small green/yellow ones that fell off...its not sour at all. I added a sprinkle of salt. It taste a little like a cucumber,lol...Here's the one I cut open and ate, it wasn't bad!
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Jay, I hear ya! Don't break out the chainsaw quite yet,lol...

Carbos, I'm not sure its a pollination problem...I had a bunch of Bees and other bugs all over the flowers when the tree was blooming. The most Bees I've seen in years!

NTM, hope your Lychee trees makes up the difference in the lack of mangoes this year.

SWrancher...Good luck with your Graham...but I'm sure you will get several of that delicious fruit...even though not as many as you'd like. My pickering started with about 50 tiny mangoes...now maybe 3 or 4 left...and I still have to wait till June!

Mull, I've not noticed the seed being black on mine...they usually have a very tiny white seed(barely developing). The larger the fruit the larger the seed.

I'll hope for the best that some of them will stay on the tree to maturity.

Thanks again for all your responses and input!

Nancy, can you please post a picture of the tree and the fruit remaining?

Adiel

I had the same thing this year. Lots of blooms, lots of fruit set, then good buy fruit. All on the ground. My heaviest producer dropped 90% of it's fruit. Very frustrating.

this also happens to my lychee tree...

Adiel, I only have four trees fruiting (2) potted and (2)inground and they are all dropping fruits... Here's a few pictures...

Carrie...this one only has 3 left I think? This one I really wanted to taste this year, especially with all the different opinions on its taste. First time its ever fruited since I planted it.

Cogshall...I found 3 more on the ground today :o(
First year this tree fruited too...although I tasted some Cogshall from my other tree last year. That tree got severely damaged by the freeze this winter, recovering now.

A few left on potted Glenn...and around 2-3 left on Pickering. Not looking so good for fruits this year...
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Trini, I'm SO sorry to hear that...90% fruit drop is truly sad to see...I really feel your frustrations!

Good luck Charles...hope you get some lychees!

Nancy, thank you for posting the pictures. It looks like you are having the normal fruit drop. From fruit set to fruit harvest and depending on the variety, 80-90% of fruit drop can happen and 10-20% of fruit would be retained. I just wanted to make sure that it was not a large tree with no fruit left on it; that would not have been normal. What type of fertilizer(s) are you currently using and when do you apply them?

Adiel

80% to 90% fruit drop is the norm?? Yikes! Will I ever get to eat a mango from my lone Cogshall?

Hi Pugs - yeah, my big Manny Manila has HUNDREDS of little babies, but if I get 70-80 I'll be doing good...why they do that? my opinion has always been (assuming there are no diseases or bugs at work)that the tree knows to its core just how many it is able to hold on to.....the one thing I'm experimenting with (and it's a bit dangerous) is that fertilizing a bit heavier that normal might cause the tree to hold on to more and bring them to fruition since it has more resources at its disposal......

but i would never do this with a small tree....I'll let you know if this harvest is in line with what i've gotten before or perhaps ends up significantly heavier......my significant fertilization took place last fall when the growth had really slowed, and somewhere I read they can store that and use it later (like this spring) for growth and fruiting........I don't know, we'll see....I'm just trying some new ideas.....how does one learn (succeed and fail) if not by trying....

rabidmangodog

Thanks Adiel, I don't fertilize my inground mango trees from late October till the fruits are all gone...then I add Slow Release Fertilizer like (Dynamite or Vigoro Citrus/Mango/Avocado).

My Container mango I either use Dyna grow 9-3-6 or Miracle Grow all purpose in very dilute amount with a little fish and kelp once in a while since I know container media doesn't have any nutrients it can draw from like the compost and mulch I use in inground planted trees.

MG, thanks for the response...please keep us posted on your experiment. Looking forward to your results.

Carbos, it really sucks losing that much tiny fruits isn't it? All that hard work and the long wait for a measly 5-10%...grrrrr!

Found a few more of these guys on the ground today...much harder to take when they get this size. Sad but I know I will still have even bigger ones drop off :o(

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Also check out this huge leaf on my very small Lancetilla tree! Biggest leaf I've ever seen on any of my Mango trees.

Ooh - that's so tantalizingly close. I didn't realize that they continued to drop off when they got that big. I guess I figured that a huge number of baby fruit would set, then most drop off at the pea size leaving a few to mature. Preparing myself in advance for when my trees get to fruiting size=)

Isn't it SO sad to see? I was hoping like you that when they get this size it would hold till maturity...guess not all of them!

My Glenn and Haden are holding well, but almost everything else is dropping mangoes big time..

I really wanted to have a bunch of varieties this year, but it seems that will be limited :(

Haden is doing great though ..

Hi Sleep...that's a Super NICE Haden tree you have there and loaded! Sorry to hear the others are dropping though, but at least you have 2 trees holding fruit well. It is really sad to see them dropping and not be able to stop it.

Cute Dog...I bet he/she is a good guard dog against unauthorized "fruit pickers",lol...