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everettsky

Maha Chinook

everettsky
13 years ago

Hi everyone, I'm wondering if anyone here has extensive experience with Maha Chinook mango trees. If so, I would like to know if you have ever tried to grow the variety in a pot for an extended period of time. I moved to Thailand recently and purchased two Maha Chinook trees at the Chatuchak plant market held on Wednesdays. This plant market is absolutely monstrous! Anyways, I live in an apartment and wish to grow them on my balcony. I hope they do as well in a pot as some of the other semi-dwarf/dwarf varieties of mangoes. The nurseryman was so helpful. All he had were 6 ft. Maha Chinook trees but they were too large, so he told me to come a few days later and he would bring some that were half that size. The fruit tree vendors at Chatuchak have an amazing array of mangoes, some of which I have never seen in my life. As a matter-of-fact, they have the largest selection of tropical plants I have ever seen--period! BTW, each tree is just under 3 ft high.

On a side note, I would like to share that the Thai have released a massive variety of mango. At least I'm guessing they did. LOL! Adding to the confusion of Thai/English translation of mango names is the fact that many Thai people handling the mangoes don't necessarily know the exact name of the fruit while the growers and nurserymen do. Example: I saw a fruit vendor selling gargantuan mangoes and decided that I "must" have one! I carefully scanned the pile and picked out the smallest and ripest looking one of the pile. She weighed it and it came up to 1.5 kilos. I paid her 140 baht which comes out to almost US $5. I asked her in Thai what was the name of the mango. She said "mamuang yai" which translates into [mango large-size]. I asked another fruit vendor down the street and she said the same thing-"mamuang yai". Further along I saw a nursery-woman selling grafted trees of this same mango and had two fruit in front that were available for sampling to those curious on what the fruit tasted like. I asked the lady what the name of the mango was and she pointed to the photo and sign on display above the trees and said "mamuang kimhong" or [Kimhong mango]. I tried researching this name but to no avail... It looks like a massive Lancetilla but without the red blush. It has a cleft running along the stem towards the beak. No bloom haze to speak of. It's a massive mango....absolutely massive. I have the Kimhong beside my Kensington Pride, Okrung, Falan and Nam Doc Mai fruits and of course it just dominates them all! LOL

BTW, thanks in advance for sharing your knowledge with a newbie like me. LOL

everettsky

Comments (16)

  • esco_socal
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Wow, that sounds so cool. Please share your photos with us.
    I wonder how hard it must be living there with access to everything good, yet you're limited in space.

    Out of the handful Maha Chinook owners on this forum, I think only Harry has mature fruiting trees and qualification to speak on this particular gem. Good luck

    Tim

  • esco_socal
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I also have a question for Harry on Maha Chinook seedling.
    Is there any conclusive taste test on seedling grown mangos vs. your original Maha Chinook tree?
    I think you previously mentioned your seed grown trees weren't able to hold mature fruits but I could be wrong. thanks

    Tim

  • hmhausman
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    everettsky:

    If you will do a search of the forum using the term "chanook" rather than "chinook" you will find a bunch of posts that I have done mentioning and describing this mango. In short, excellent mango....one of, if not the best that I have ever had. Productive and while not a dwarf grower, would be quite manageable in a pot for many fruiting years. Good luck with yours!

    Harry

  • hmhausman
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Tim:

    Yes, your memory is correct. I have three Maha seedlings planted out. Two of the three have flowered no for 2 years in a row but did not hold any fruit.So no taste comparisons have occurred. I'll be watching this year very closely to see if there is going to be fruit set and will be more pro-active on spraying for anthracnose or powdery mildew if the need arises.

  • stanhopea
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Were the mamuang kimhong completely yellow? There's a very large Taiwanese variety that looks like a less pointed Nam Doc Mai called Kim Hong. It's not a new variety but it is still one of the most popular.

  • everettsky
    Original Author
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Here are some pics of Thailand Mystery mangoes I've come across so far. It is the one I am holding. The other two are Nam Doc Mai mangoes I had on the counter for comparison. The first one has very minimal fiber located near skin in lemon yellow juicy flesh. Mild fragrance, sweet but flat one dimensional flavor. Hints of Philippine super mango but nothing in comparison. Skin has no blush and seed is almost paper thin and very delicate. Seed is mono-embryonic.

    Second mango was called both "mamuang yai" and "mamuang kimhong." Now that I think about it, I'd say they are completely different varieties, as the photo on display at the nursery and the acutal fruit for sample are completely different? I'm no expert, though.

    Here is the sign and pic of "mamuang kimhong." It is obiously shaped differently than the previous green mangoes but yet called the same thing?

    This next mango was absolutely delicious! It has lush full flavor, extremely sweet and dark orange flesh. Stringless and very fragrant. No blush on the skin. Seed is polyembryonic but unusually thick for elongated Asian type. The absolute best I've tasted in Thailand so far.


    Last but not least, my two Maha Chanook mango trees from Chatuchak Market.


    They have a very interesting way of propagating their trees. They take a sapling growing in soil and lop off the top, then insert the headless graft into a slit on a young mother tree branch of comparable width. Then they string the bonded branch/sapling tight so it won't fall. When they finally "take", they chop the merged unit off from the mother tree and the sapling roots support the mother tree "head." Sorry I don't know the technical grafting terms...LOL! I'm no expert by any means... LOL!

    Harry,

    Thank you very much for the tip. I will search for your past posts and apply what you've put out to others. I'm a happy man now. :)

    stanhopea,

    As for the mango coming from Taiwan that goes by the same name... I think you are absolutely right!! But I'm confused now because the fruit I bought and the pic of a kimhong mango are very different? Maybe I'm the one who has it all wrong? LOL! But I was told two different things by two different people, hence the confusion. Oh well, I'll enjoy the fruits and concentrate on not killing my purchase. Anyways, thank you for your insight on this particular mango!

    everettsky

  • yaslan
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    everettsky, wow, you are so lucky!! And I am admittedly envious!! These pics of your mangoes sure makes a tropical fruit-enthusiast wanna drop everything and make a trip to Thailand! Then you have the hard-to-find grafted Maha Chanok as well!!

    Enjoy your tropical paradise

    -Bo

  • tropicalia
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    wow! These are beautiful!

  • Andrew Scott
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Wow, a mango lover's paradise! I love the Maha Chinook. My tree is small but hoping to have fruits the following summer. I wish we had access to those varieties!
    Andrew

  • Andrew Scott
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Were you able to get a variety name for that last mango that you have a pic of?
    Andrew

  • everettsky
    Original Author
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Thanks for the support everyone! I was in WA state for the past 9 years, so this is definitely a change of pace. LOL It feels nice to see that my tropicals are thriving instead of dying from the cold. The only thing is that I just started to learn Thai so I have limitations on what I can ask and understand, when speaking to the Thai nurserymen. This will change in time.

    andrew78:

    No, I didn't think of asking the fruit vendor the name at the time. The mangoes were light green at the time of purchase and I thought they were one of the "standard" Thai green eating types such as Mun Kun Si or Keow Sawoy, so I didn't bother. I didn't get around to eating them in time before I noticed them changing color. Boy, was I in for a surprise when I sliced them up. The fragrance was amplified and the flesh was dark orange and stringless. The taste was sweet and rich. If I would have known what a luscious surprise I was in for, I would have asked the vendor for the name of this mango. I walk by her fruit stand almost every day but she never has any of those types anymore. Maybe they're out of season now?

    everettsky

  • stanhopea
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    You're welcome everettsky.
    The first mango certainly looks like a Taiwanese Kim Hong. The one dimensional Philippine mango flavor and paper thin seed fit too. I'm not so sure about the others. They definitely look different so I'm thinking there may have been a mix up somewhere or that the Thai Kim Hong refers to a different variety.

  • everettsky
    Original Author
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I know there are bigger out there and they usually have washed out flavors because of their size...BUT you have to admit--they sure are jaw dropping!

    Just another pic of the curiosities I'm running into. This was at yet another nursery down the street. He had this massive behemoth of a sample--"mamuang yai" on display. It was in front of his grafted trees for sale, along with R2E2, Irwin, Mamuang Yai, Nam Doc Mai, and several other varieties.

  • mangodog
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I've heard Vietnam is THE mango lovers paradise! But this part of thailand you are in sounds fantastic too.....thanks everttsky and good luck.

    Now we've got an "insider" in the ancestral mango homeland to help guide us...how cool is that....

    mangodog

  • JGPGFL143
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    That last pic is certainly impressive but I am a bit skeptical in that some form of enhancer or fertilizer or even plant hormone is being given to the tree to produce that mutant-looking fruit.

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