Here is a very interesting publication concerning mangosteen. Planting from seed is covered quite well. You need to plant them almost as soon as you are done eating the fruit. I would also get a heat mat to put them on. Make sure you cover to keep humidity up. How much per pound did they go for? We had some in Cincinnati for $16/lb!!!

http://www.icuc-iwmi.org/files/Publications/Mangosteen_Manual.pdf.pdf

Thanks so much for that link, very informative. I have the seeds soaking now and will plant them tomorrow. I'll put them on a seed mat in the greenhouse which I keep warm and very humid. I was really surprised to find fresh mangosteens, especially ripe ones. They weren't terribly expensive, $8.99 lb. 6 fruits are a pound though. lol I buy almost all my produce from the Oriental market. They do carry a lot of tropical fruits and veggies and unlike when a chain grocer sells exotic produce this fruit has a good flavor and consistency. I'm going to have to go back and buy some more while it's available. That's one of my favorite fruits and I didn't think I'd be able to have it fresh until I went on vacation again : )
Karyn

I've never found fresh mangosteen here. I have however found frozen mangosteen and frozen whole durian. What is common here is mamey sapote, tropical guavas (some locally grown during the season), cherimoya, papaya, sugar cane and star fruit.

All I usually see is frozen or freeze dried mangosteen. All those others are carried at the Asian market in season and they always have frozen durian. That is one nasty smelling fresh fruit! I've tasted it fresh and even though it doesn't taste like the smell I don't care for it. The only other places I find fresh tropicals are Belize, Mexico, The Caribbean islands and some places in FL & CA. At least those are the only places I travel where I can find them. Too bad I can't travel more, damn kids! lol
Karyn

$8.99lb. That is really a bargain considering what they are going for everywhere else throughout the states... where offered. Hopefully there were actually the fresh ones! Just keep in mind that a lot of Asian markets have carried frozen mangosteens and some of the less honest ones have thawed them out and passed them off as fresh. One of the memebers of the tropical fruit forum recently got burned in this manner. I've had both and there is no comparison with fresh vs frozen in taste, texture/consistency, and the way the flesh looks.

If when you opened your fruit, the flesh was nice and full and snow white, then you have some fresh fruit. If the flesh was shrunken, off color, some flesh may be stained purple, then chances are really great that it was frozen.

So if they are fresh...I may be hollaring for you to mail me a box of them!!!! LOL! Really...not kidding!

These were quite fresh and delicious. They don't try and pull anything over at that market. They carry an amazing selection of produce. When something has been frozen they label it. I'd never had to crack open a mangosteen shell before. What a pain! I ended up using the sharp edge of a heavy knife and a hammer. DH was wondering what the heII I was doing. lol I didn't make it back there today and hope they still have some tomorrow. I thought that $8.99 was very reasonable. Their Dragon Fruit, guavas, longans, lychees, etc are all reasonably priced. It sure beats Safeway or Giant who would charge twice that for nasty fruit on the rare occasions that they carry exotic produce.
Karyn

Karyn,
Glad to hear they were the fresh ones. I was told by a mangosteen grower that the ones being shipped here were good but that the rind did dry out some and made it difficult to open. But you can't complain because they are the freshest the US is going to get!

The fresh ones you would get in a host country are still a bit difficult to open...although the shell is not brittle. My mother-in-law just grabs them, digs her nails in, and twists. I tried that and had a mangled fruit all over the place! It's easier just to take a knife and score around the middle and THEN give a twist. Much prettier that way and no mess.

Be patient with the seeds. I brought back some from Thailand last year and while some germinated quickly, others took an exceptional length of time. I just kept watering them along with everything else and forgot about them. I was surprised that they came up. Just waiting for that perfect condition I guess. Good luck and keep us informed of your progress. The real fun begins after they are up!

There was definitely no "just score and twist" to crack these babies open but the segments were plump, white and juicy. Whenever I'd eaten fresh ones in the past they had already been split and the fruit was kind of served on the half shell. I was surprised that there were so few seeds. I was lucky if I got 1 mature seed per fruit, most had none. I'll post when they germinate.
Karyn

Always works out that way doesn't it? When I was eating them last time in Thailand...and I mean REALLY eating them, the seedless or nearly seedless was a blessing. You could really go to town on a number of fruit! Score, twist, gobble, repeat. The ends of my fingers were stained purple. I could live with that.

That must have been a fantastic trip. I'd love to visit Thailand. Most of my DH's orchid suppliers are located there but I don't think they'll be flying us out for a tour of their farms like his suppliers in other countries and the US do. It's too bad because that would probably be the only way I'd get to go. lol Thanks again for the info & link. BTW are you the one that has the Dragon Fruit (and other tropicals) growing inground in your greenhouse/sunroom?
Karyn

Yeah, that's me. Stressbaby does too. Try and talk your DH into taking you to Thailand. It is awesome. The fruit is unbelievable. It's the reason I started all of this in the first place!

That's a great room. What do you use to heat the soil? Do you have hot water pipes or something running underground? BTW I went back to the store this morning. They only had a handful of ripe fruit left and probably won't be getting anymore anytime soon. It was a nice treat while it lasted.
Karyn

Thanks. The foundation is insulated and that's it. Two gas heaters do the rest. Never had any issues with the ones in the ground.

That's amazing. I'm surprised that the soil remains that warm without an underground heat source. I wish I'd have done something similar to what you did with your DF. Mine's just a cactus mess sprawling all over the place. lol
Karyn

Mangosteen seeds are only viable for a few days when fresh out of the fruit. They will not grow if frozen and more then 3 days out of the fruit. Place the seeds with the flattest side down in soil and barely cover, keep out of direct light and keep moist. If they will sprout it will take a few weeks, only about 70% of viable seeds will sprout, once they sprout they needs lots of water and well drained soil. Mansosteen is illegal to import into the USA including the fruit, there are a few sellers that are grandfathered in to the USDA rules and that is how you are getting these fruits now. Don't even bother to try to grow the frozen ones.

Here is a link that might be useful: Nipa Hut Gardens and Gifts

This year mangosteen started coming into the country legally from Thailand. They've been coming in from Puerto Rico since last year I believe. You'll be seeing more and more of them each year.

The link says cover with 5-10 cm on soil, someone else "cover barely with soil". So that's best ? I have very often tried to sow them (similar to those instructions) but I have never succeeded them to sprout. In London you can normally buy them at Harrods. They have very few seeds though. I got some good seeds in fruit in Thailand (were they are very cheap) but none of them germinated.

I don't think that anything is going to happen. Mentha I got very few seeds out of the fruit I had, maybe 2 per fruit and some of those were immature. I still have them on the seed mat. I did check one seed to see if it had rotted but it was still firm. I won't toss it. I did have some rhambutan seeds that took several months to germinate. NDP these were fresh fruit, never frozen and I sowed the seeds very soon after collecting them from the fruit.
Karyn

Have a plastic tent over your container to trap and build as much humidity as you can. A heating mat will help too.

Meet the mangosteen
http://snipurl.com/260bd