AFAIK, only dwarf mangoes can be grown in containers for any length of time, but I don't think keeping it in a 15-gallon pot for a few months would hurt it. Just don't fertilize it a lot, or its roots are going to break out of that nursery pot.

Barbie, in my experience mangoes do not do well in a pot, even the condo varieties that I have. But temporary in a pot they will do fine.

$175 for a mango I think is high. One of my neighbors bought 5 big different fruit trees for a $100 from a grower on Craigslist and they even planted for him.

I got the 3 that I have at the mango festival at the Fairchild gardens.

If you want another source that do mail order is Pine Island, look locally first at the garden festivals, farmers market , etc.

One of my Vietnamese friends orders here from a lady at the market and she can get him anything he wants at a very good price.

For some reason this is an excellent year for mangoes in my area, we are all loaded with fruit. We have been eating the early variety Rosigold.

If you can go to the mango festival this year, you can sample different varieties and pick your trees to take home, coming up in July.

Mango is one of the major things I miss about south FLA, I had a great nam doc mai on the side of my garage that was stupendous. I recently was questioned by the Mrs as to why we do not have a mango tree on our property and I explained that it would likely die due to the cold weather. I was then challenged to see if I can make one survive. So off I went hunting for mango tree in a large pot that I can try to keep alive and hopefully get some fresh mangos from it next summer. Of course only a nam doc ma would do. I tracked one down n Myakka FL, southeast of Bradenton and made it a day trip to include some outlet mall shopping time for the Mrs whilst I hunt for mango tree. Found what I was looking for and after some haggling/negotiating and a trip to the atm (no credit cards taken) we loaded the 15 gallon tree n the car. It was 8 ft tall and nicely branched with a solid 2 inch trunk at the graft point. It was bigger than some 25 gallon pot trees I had seen in the redlands.

Soon as II got home I bumped it up the 25 gallon pot that I requested and got from nursery included in the price. Now I am giving serious thoughts to winter protection and have a couple of options in mnd.

More on that on another post and back to your question.

There are mango grafted varieties (do not buy a seedling) considered "condo mangos" that can be kept to a size that will survive and give some fruit while in a large pot.

So, first item is to find a variety that does not grow large to begin with. I have read that Julie is a dwarf sized tree and carrie and nam doc ma are mid sized tree. There are many varieties to choose from. Pine Island nursery in south miami has a nice website with substantial mango variety info.

here s ther lnk

https://www.tropicalfruitnursery.com/variety-viewer-variety-mango-reference-4

There are vendors on craigslist in tampa area that sell mango trees in large pots and likely to fruit on next year, but be ready for price sticker shock.

Have you driven around your area to see if there are any mango trees in older neighborhoods? How far from water are you? what is the coldest your area has seen?

If planted in a sheltered spot with some kind of wind break protection it should be fine.

If you drive around now, they should be easy to spot with the fruit hanging.

Have you spoken to any local nursery? You may have some homework to do....

When you're ready to buy visit some nurseries and take pictures of

trees and variety and I can help further regarding value and whether its fairly priced.

15 gallon tree for $175 I feel it is overpriced. Just because it's in a 15 gallon pot does no mean it is large enough to belong in a 15 gal pot. I look at a clean graft union, a thick trunk base, nice branching pattern, no disease spots on foliage and a central leader trunk. 15 gallon fruit trees in general go from 80 to 125 depending on where and who you're buying from.

I have seen decent 15 gallon mango trees at Home Depot in south FL for $80 ish.

I agree that $175 is way too expensive. I've seen nice sized ones at Lowe's for $75, and BTW, Lowe's and Home Depot will order any plant you want that their vendors carry. You just have to get a garden center manager to order it for you. They will call around and get prices and work to find you one. I've worked at both stores, and the only reason they carry smaller fruit trees is because of size and price. The same vendors usually have larger trees.

If space is an issue, I would recommend you look for a condo mango. I've grown Malika for years and consider it a very good tasting mango and I've had few problems with it. It too, though will get fairly large, but can be trimmed - and if done at the right time, won't affect fruit production. Also, unless you don't mind losing all your fruit, plant it away from sidewalks, streets, perimeter of your yard.

Pickering and Julie are the two I am leaning towards. I am thinking large pot so that I can shelter it the first 1-2 winters before planting it out. I'm afraid in the new territory I don't know my micro climate very well yet. My backyard is largely sloped and well shaded. I'm wondering if I eventually plant it at the fringe of a very large oak and my fence if it will give enough protection and still provide enough light.

I definitely need something I can keep small enough to protect. In the past I've used Christmas lights and at one point had a citrus snuff.. but those days are no more. You can't even find the warm(C7?) lights. Go figure.

Thanks for the links! I'll check them out. Meanwhile from Tampa to Orlando down through Sarasota if anyone has a nursery recommendation let me know!

I have one in a pot, I planted it in 2007 so it's been in a pot ( since been repotted 3x I think)? for over 12 years. It's in a 40 or 45 gallon now if memory serves. I get about 6-12 mangoes a year not a whole lot, but I also have 5 inground mangoes so I will never plant this one in the ground, afew years ago it suffered some wind damage during a bad storm. The pot fell and broke a major limb so the tree is lopsided Lol...

Here's a few picks from a few years back. This year I think it only has 3 or 4 on the tree, I'm being honest here and have not taken care of the tree for a couple of years...it's been on its' own and pretty much gets whatever rain and sprinkler it gets...

I would definitely recommend Pickering mango for a pot. I know there are a few others out there that are semi/dwarf but I like the taste of Pickering and it's a very good producer.

Good luck with your mango venture.

Pug - Have you had any issues with the tap root growing out of the pot at all? How do you keep that from happening?

Question about branching: I start mine from seeds, transplant into ground when height 2 - 3 ft. above pot soil. In both places, development only is stem growth. Can branching be provoked, safely?

Ben,

Tree trunk bottom and pot enclosed in wrapper to catch loose soil. Slide on plank. Nearly horizontal on truck bed, tree top backwards, prop it, wrap /cover with secured blanket /tarp.

Hi Four, Here's a pretty good video from You Tube on pruning young mango trees...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlhF-YphevA&t=18s

Hi ibarbidahl, no I've had no issues with tap roots at least not on the one potted tree I have

Thank you Four for the mock up, I was thinking more of custom sled on wheels that my mower tractor can pull into the garage, with minimum lifting/pushing/pulling required.

Thank you Puglvr for the video link, it makes complete sense to keep tree down to size and I will definitely heed that advice and will keep on "tipping"

Four, are you growing seedling mangos? do you know how long you have to wait for them to fruit? (7-8 years) or will you be grafting them with a known variety that you know will come true and bear fruit much quicker? (2-3 years)

If you plan on grafting, here is a great youtube video that shows how to do 2 different and very simple grafts on mango seedlings

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEKNrnsuuW0

f

wow.... so nice to see some of the oldtimer gardenwebbers still around here.

Really glad to see the OG mango queen pug gal still here. Hi puglvr!!

A mango newbie here.....lots of Questions.

Just bought myself some Glenn, Kent, Alphonso and Pairi mango trees. Planted them in pots last week. Do I start pugging them already or do I give them a month or so to establish root system and get settled in new environment before I pug them?

Also, what fertilizer are you mango experts using?? And how often? Is there a corelation between pugging and fertilizing?

Do you guys do any preventive insecticide spraying or wait till you see a problem? Do you mulch the ones in the pots?

Thanks for any and all responses.

Can anyone ident this mango variety?

There are a number of varieties that might fit. I know Kiet mangos have that shape, and they get very large, but I cannot tell the size in the OP.

Are those fruits ripening now? That would be another clue. My friend's Kiet mangos ripen around July/August

Perhaps you could take another pic with a ruler or some common object to give an idea?

yes they are ripening and falling from the tree now. here is a picture next to a water bottle

Ive tasted the fruit and am sure its not keitt plus keitt is a late season mango this mango stays very firm and isnt very sweet

I'd try looking looking up which varieties ripen this time of year. That should narrow it down.

Hi Shan Philli ...I agree with Carol, there are so many different varieties of mangoes out there its getting harder and harder to identify them. Can you post a picture of your Mango tree trunk? If it has multiple trunks or more than one trunk it might be that the "graft" had died from freeze...it could also have been planted as a seed and most mangoes do not grow true from seed with some variety exceptions....planting from seed isn't a guarantee you'll get the same type mango you ate. But there are some mangoes that have seeds that are Polyembryonic which does grow true from seed.

The fact that you said the mango wasn't very sweet makes me think it might not be a named variety but that's just a guess. One of the most common quality of a good named variety is the mango should be sweet and fiberless or at least very little fiber. Good Luck!

Since someone dug this up, I will update. I kept the mango in a pot the first 2 years, then planted it out. I am pruning each year as soon as the fruit comes off in late July. The little tree is managing to carry roughly 50 mangos and I've kept it little at 8'. I love my Julie baby and really love that my avocados are ripening right as the mango is done gifting me her golden jewels of summer. Hi everybody! Miss you guys and gals!

Hey! I had a mango tree in a pot at my old place. Make sure the pot’s big enough—mango trees have pretty extensive roots. They need loads of sunlight, so pick a spot where it'll get plenty of sun. The $175 for a 15-gal tree seems like a decent deal to me. Just make sure the tree looks healthy and check if the seller can give you any care tips or guarantees.