Those prices are out of control. It seems there is too little competition in California. In Florida, you can get a grafted Mango tree for as low as $15 is some nurseries in Homestead.

Adiel

Exactly! too little competition. Maybe mangodog should start selling some of his trees.

:-) $30 to $35 is the norm for a 3gal tree here in South FL. You can get 1gal trees for cheaper, but then you spend a year growing them to 3gal size.

Shipping to CA isn't cheap and is a pain in the beehive when done legally, which is why I don't ship there :-).

How much does Pine Island charge for shipping to CA? The phyto alone must be like $50.

Jeff

PI has a 50% surcharge per plant on top of $50 phyto also, price per tree is almost the same vs Plantogram. I wonder what Plantogram's prices for FL folks, they must not be doing too well in-state if it's standard.

Tim

OK, then plant-o-gram's price isn't all that bad. You have to keep in mind that the guy at plant-o-gram bought his trees from Excalibur, who I've found to have a very high aversion to selling at wholesale prices. So, Mickey would have likely paid full retail price for those. Having drove all the way down south to pick those trees up at Excalibur adds to the cost. Then there's the "where else you gonna get it" factor. It's reasonable to expect a 100%+ markup on retail. For example, if the retailer buys the product at $40 they will retail for $80 to $90. I might beg for a 10% price reduction, but the poor guy isn't running a charity :-).

Jeff

Of course not, it's his business and livelihood. I was just wondering if that's his price in FL, most would go elsewhere instead. But you're right "where else you gonna get it"

Tim

Ahh yes. Quite possibly he charges less for local pickup. Shipping can be a pain in the neck - just boxing can take 45 min to an hour - so a lot of folks charge extra for that. Also, shipping would be way less for here in FL. You don't need to jump through all the FL dept of ag hoops and the USPS shipping charges are way less due to the shorter distance. Within the state you can ship a 30 pound package for like $30.

That said, the only place where local floridians can buy a tree is Excalibur. So with the price of gas what it is, it may come out cheaper for some folks to have it shipped than drive across the state to Lake worth.

I'd fully expect the price to drop in a year or two when more trees hit the market. Right now Excalibur has pretty much cornered the market :-). And, trying to get them to sell at wholesale cost is a giant exercise in futility :-).

Jeff

I'll chime in here and give a plug for Mickey.

Given the very limited selection of Mango trees we have in CA and the high prices they command, I think Mickey, or anyone who is willing to ship us trees, is doing us all a great service. I have now had 6 trees shipped from Florida (from three different sources) and they all have cost about $100 all inclusive. This is what I would have to pay at one of the few local nurseries that sell tropical fruit trees and I can say that the selection and the quality of what I have received is far better than what my local sources carry.

The downside is that my local sources may know what particular varieties do best in our area, and they may not be the ones that I have purchased. But I'll take that chance and be the guinea pig for future fruit growers.

Michael, to partially answer your particular question, I am in San Diego, and all my Plant-o-gram shipping charges have been $50-$55 per tree so $100 seems a bit high unless you are having it shipped 2-day. All mine have been shipped ground, took 4 days and arrived in great shape, including one he sent just 2 weeks ago.

Richard

Same as me guys I tried to get a mango tree form him and it cost 50$ for the tree + 80$ for shipping + 80$ for a phyto, so a total of 210$! It cost the same as you ,but I live in Canada.

Samuel Forest

Wow $200, that's over the top! price gouging like that wane my enthusiasm for this hobby. I know he has to make a living but why is he doubling his shipping cost???? I've bought mango trees from Mickey and it's always been 50 some dollars shipping. ManngoDod will tell you how much he paid for his Maha from pant-o-grant but I'm certain it wasn't $200!!!!

JF

Thank you guys for chiming in. I totally understand the high price involved in stocking, packing and shipping the trees from FL to CA. I also understand the high demand and low availability for Maha Chanook mango trees makes it twice as expensive as other mango trees that are more readily available. The price for most mango tree on plantogram website is $49.95 and Maha Chanook is $99. However, what I can't understand is why the shipping charge for Maha Chanook is also twice as much as it is for other trees. I tried several times to calculate the shipping cost on plantogram and flung that to ship any single tree to CA costs $54, but it costs &108 to ship one Maha Chanook. Just can't understand that. Maybe I should ask Mickey for the reason. But I just wanna hear from Mangodog first how much it actually cost him for the same tree a couple months ago. If you see the post Mangodog, please chime in. Thank you very much!
Thanks again everybody. Have a great holiday!

Michael, there is no reason that a tree should cost $108 for shipping. Today it is the "Maha Chanook" variety, tomorrow its the "Silver Cloud" variety. (Made that one up). The point is that it is Price Gouging. Don't support it. You are making them rich at the expense of your hobby! If you have a little patience, that variety will become main stream and then you can purchase it at a fair price. I hope the best for you.

Adiel

gtw,
What is the speed of shipping?

gtw - If it were me, I'd ask for a cut on the shipping price. My guess is that the automated shipping calculator must calculate based on the price of the tree.

adiel - :-) I think the economic term is 'supply and demand' :-). Just as silver is worth more than gold and lawyers make more than software engineers, it has to do with scarcity of the resources.

However, that also works to our benefit in some instances. For example there was a time (very recently) when bearing sized (6 year old) jaboticabas could be purchased retail for well under 100$. There was an oversupply and very little demand. Of course that eventually shifted to an under-supply and high demand, and now prices are on the upswing.

But, you do have a good point. If we rare fruit extremists enthusiasts could temper our impulses and wait a few years for the oversupply situation (which almost inevitably happens), we could get some nice trees at good prices.

But then again, there are much pricier hobbies out there. A fruit tree at $100 a pop is a rounding error compared to a brand new sports car :-).

Jeff

Jeff thanks for the carambolas. There was one that was really sweet. Sorry to go off topic. :) Yeah, isnt there a Guns N' Roses song that says "All we need is just a little patience"?

Can someone send Michael some Maha budwood for free please? I am sure someone here can do that. All you gotta do is graft it or have a buddy help you graft it onto a seedling.

Adiel

ahhh only if it's really that easy. No doubt we have great generosity on this forum, but we're not all that gifted or skilled with grafting, yet. To date, only successful things i've grafted are roses :(

sorry for hijacking the thread, again

Tim

:-) The other thing is time. Unless you have growing and grafting mangoes down to a science like Zill's HPP, it will take you 18 months to have a decent sized 3gal tree. If the MC is a world class mango, then it will eventually be one that Zill's grafts, and they are so ridiculously fast at growing those things that within 2 years from now they will have a 1/4 acre of them for sale in 3gal pots :-)

Jeff

...time for me to chime in!!!!!!!!!!

I think I paid like $152 (including everything) not the $100 like I might have said before. I looked it up the other day....

So sorry to start this rucus - I was desperate for that variety and so paid that price, but these $200+ costs are getting out of hand....

again, sorry I missed this jagged thread!!!

mangopugsy

The other thing, Californians, is this:

As time goes on, 3-4 years from now perhaps, when we've a nice variety of young adult mango trees, wouldn't it be nice if some of us are willing and have learned how to graft well enough that we can share with each other our scion wood so we don't have to pay these ridiculous prices to get a 24-30 inch tree?

We should really (when the time is right) start some kind of budwood or scion club to barter/exchange the desirable varieties we have and/or charge some kind of minimal fee to sell/ship them to each other, or even newcombers outside the group. I mean, not to make it into a business, but more or a sharing org that will get us these things that we're talking about here without the costs we're seeing thrown about.

Maybe something to think about, anyway, for the future.
When some of us are retired perhaps??? (wink - jf!)

LOL

garydog

Thanks again for the different opinions from everybody. Thank you very much, Mangodog! I am glad to hear from you finally. What you have created in your yard is my goal for the future when I move to a warmer place than where I live now,Corona. I believe the cold nights during winter time here in Corona is not optimal for growing mangos in ground, correct me if that's wrong. For now, I have a carrie, glenn, gold nugget,and Manila all grown in pots. I plan to get a Maha Chanook, malika, nam doc Mai, Pickering, lancetilla, Valencia pride and some more if you guys would highly recommend. I just I don't have to protect them during the winter!

well thank you gtw....but.....what do you mean with:

"I believe the cold nights during winter time here in Corona is not optimal for growing mangos in ground"

What is your USDA Zone - I believe your winter lows are warmer than mine as you are closer to the coast. Well I just looked yours up - 9B - the exact same as mine. I think they will do fine in the ground but I also think you better protect them during the winter, especially the first couple years or so IF you put them in the ground. I mean, I am going to cover mine on any nights where they predict temps in the 30s.

And I will cover them until they get too big to cover. It is worth it and they did cost a lot of money, too!!! Now at some height and width, they will probably be hit with some "pugging" frost each year or so when they stay uncovered.

No, I would put them in the ground IF you would be willing to cover them the first 2-3 seasons at least. Otherwise keep them in pots, but then your production will be limited. Now, I definitely get warmer spring, summers and falls than you, but the most dangerous time for mangos, in my opinion, is that Dec. thru Feb. period.

mangoduggie

"The other thing, Californians, is this:
As time goes on, 3-4 years from now perhaps, when we've a nice variety of young adult mango trees, wouldn't it be nice if some of us are willing and have learned how to graft well enough that we can share with each other our scion wood so we don't have to pay these ridiculous prices to get a 24-30 inch tree?

We should really (when the time is right) start some kind of budwood or scion club to barter/exchange the desirable varieties we have and/or charge some kind of minimal fee to sell/ship them to each other, or even newcombers outside the group. I mean, not to make it into a business, but more or a sharing org that will get us these things that we're talking about here without the costs we're seeing thrown about.

Maybe something to think about, anyway, for the future.
When some of us are retired perhaps??? (wink - jf!)"

I agree Gary, I want to get into grafting. Would love to swap scion and trade plants with other Californians some time.

Gary,

Btw, do you just focus mainly on mangoes, or do you do other edible crops (like perennial vegetables, grains, etc.?

Hey MangoDog

Finally you let the cat out of the bag maybe it will give GTW some bargaining leverage. Three more years before I hang up the gloves but it's something to consider.

JF

Mangodog, When I first got to know you were in Palm Springs, I thought I have warmer winter than yours. However, I been following the weather forecast and find that recently the night lows for Corona (92883) is between 29 to 34, while the coldest it gets in your area now is around 40. Maybe the forecast is wrong and that happens a lot. But Corona does get very cold nights between December to March. Another reason I grow most my trees in pots is because the soil in my yard is heavy clay that looks like concrete with grey color and it does not drain and becomes rock hard when dry and soup soft when wet. I've been having trouble growing fruit trees in this soil and I don't want to kill these expensive mango trees.

Hey Michael, I also purchased a MahaChinook from Mickey at Plantogram and I paid 100 for the tree and the estimated shipping was also ~108. In my case, Mickey purposely overestimated the shipping and refunded me the difference. He gave me a free plant and my total shipping ended up being about $70-80 for both trees.
Simon

Hey Simon, thank you for letting me know your experience. So how is your Maha doing so far? Do you have a pic of it? Oh, I am so jealous ;) I want it so badly!

My Maha Chinook is doing great. I love short bushy trees but all the Maha Chinooks he had were very tall. My tree is about 5-6 feet tall and since I just got it about a month ago and it is now winter, I decided to take it into my garage and put it under some T5 lights. Now, two weeks after I put it under the lights, it started pushing out new growth and I think its inflorescence.

I was hoping it would be vegetative growth because I wanted the top of my tree to branch out so I can use the new branches for scions. In the Spring, I intend to chop the tree at about 3-4 feet and using all the top parts for grafting onto seedling manilla mangos.
Simon

Nullzy - glad we concur on the scion sharing/grafting future for SoCal. Yes, just mangos...

GTW - still hard to believe your lows are lower than my average lows...I mean the desert loses heat like crazy at night with all our clear cloudless nights....now your clay soil is a whole other issue. I saw your other New post about it. It reminds me of my upstate NY soil that I used to garden in my youth....yeah, sticky when wet, like rock when hard....I used perlite.

Simon - my Maha C promises to be a stiff fast grower. I pugged it right after I got it last summer, and it sent out 2 longish growth shoots before it got cold....Yeah, I think it's going to gain height rapidly...

JF - 3 more years - we'll keep you busy!

G-Dog