Plant Doctor Archive

Growing mango from seed

Question HAVING germinated a mango, is it self-fertile? And will a seedling eventually fruit? I was also interested in the citrus story (WG 102) as I have a ‘Tiniura’ that is 30 years old, with a good annual crop which ripens from September but holds on the tree until April without affecting the next crop. It doesn’t peel easily, is virtually seedless, tangy and juicy.

The ‘Tiniura’ was listed in the Home Orchard, New Zealand Department of Agriculture publication in 1970 but I’ve not seen it listed elsewhere. It’s actually a hybrid tangelo and I would thoroughly recommend it.

P.S. I would have identified the WG 102 plant as an Amorphophallus, as I believe Sauromatum has only a single leaf per stem. My Amorphophallus is about 8 years old. It bloomed once, with a dark reddish-brown flower about 70cm tall, and not too smelly. The thick stem is marbled dark green and white, with a rosette of huge leaves up to 1 metre long. It is container-grown in shade on my deck and receives no special care. It’s now producing small tubers which I pot up and give to friends.

Answer  MANGOS can be grown from seed, but they may eventually have to be grafted like other fruit trees. If your small plant has more than one shoot on it, you can take these off to get more plants.

The central, most vigorous shoot is likely to be sexually produced and could be different from the parent in its fruiting characteristics.

Most of the imported varieties of mangos sold in supermarkets grow from a single, sexually produced plant. This is why you may get some variation.

Grafted mangos will fruit in 4–5 years. The plants are self fertile, but with each cluster of thousands of flowers, only one in 2000 may actually set fruit. This strike rate can be reduced dramatically if the plant is growing rapidly at the time or if the weather is too wet and too cold.

It’s great to hear about your rewarding citrus tree, too. It’s good to hold onto the older varieties as a lot are no longer around and it’s often hard to get new stock.

Weekend Gardener, Issue 107, 2002, Page 22