Wind and Cool Tolerant Mangoes

13 years ago

As I've stated elsewhere, importing live plants to my country is no mean feat. One of the few places not on the banned list is Europe. I haven't had any luck dealing with Spain but am pursuing a nursery in the Canary Islands which may be able to pass the stringent and numerous regulations we have.

One of the mango varieties they list on their site is a local one that sounds promising. Mangoes in Bermuda tend to be shy bearers and I suspect winter winds, even rain throughout the year may affect pollination. The Canarian variety is listed as being wind and cold tolerant and the description also lends me to suspect it is disease tolerant as well.

From the website:

"Gomera 1 is a traditional Canarian strain of vigorous mango trees, producing yellow fruits of small-medium size, with fibres presence and very strong aroma.

This mango is hardier than most mango cultivars to drought, wind and cold. The leaves are dark green, stiff, leathery and arching. New young leaves are glossy dark red.

The ripe fruit is yellow, with a remarkable resinous scent and very sweet perfume. Taste is intense. It surely is one of the best flavours in Mangifera mango.

The average weight is 260 g. The crop season in the Canary Islands is August to December.

Seedlings of mango Gomera are commony used as a rootstock for grafting throughout the islands, because of their ease of growth and hardiness. "Gomera 1" is a polyembrionic mango."

http://www.canarius.com/shop/mango/mangifera-cv-gomera-1-hardy-canarian-mango

I am curious as to suggestions of other mangoes that also fit this description. Some suspect our summer temperatures in Bermuda do not get hot enough for long enough to stimulate mangoes (all time max 93F). This doesn't add up to me but perhaps has to do with the varieties (mostly from seed) grown.

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Comments (10)

mangodog
13 years ago
Fascinating article, abayomi - sounds like a cool mango. If you ever are able to mail seeds from the fruit you grow, I'd love to get one....

I'm surprised you'd need a mango that was "cold tolerant".
DO you ever get below freezing there? Sorry I can't help you much. Perhaps one of the Floridians might have some insight.....

shy bearers.....winter winds....hmmmmm.....I wonder if there are any experts that live on your island?

GOOD LUCK - it may just be knowledge gained by experience.....

MangoDingo
zands
13 years ago
http://www.fruits-journal.org/index.php?option=com_article&access=standard&Itemid=129&url=/articles/fruits/pdf/2006/03/i6014.pdf
Gomera 3 is even better according to this site
Now going by what you posted from that Canary Island nursery...... Gomera looks
good. Being polyembryonic it should have a Thai/IndoChinese origin and thus be
more anthracnose resistant which is a disease of too much dew and rain. It is also described as being fibrous which to me
says a hardier more primitive tree. WhichÃÂ is good! The fruit is on the
small side which is another plus because you are up north in Bermuda getting
fewer solar hours per season and per year. So a smaller fruit has a better
chance of reaching maturity than a large fruit. One would think so
Are you near the ocean? Do the ocean breezes come at you? In that case the salt
ocean air works as an anti-fungal to kill off anthracnose.

Bermuda is at the same latitude as Charleston South Carolina and mangoes are not
grown there. That does not mean they cannot be grown there by using skilful means. Are there any mango trees in Bermuda? You seem to be saying there are. You have to talk to the owners and copy what they do. You could eventually graft some of their scion wood onto the Gomera tree
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zands
13 years ago
http://www.canarius.com/blog/mango-varieties-sold-by-canarius-for-mediterranean-and-subtropical-climates/260
Here is a very informative page from your Canary Islands nursery
From looking at their website they look credible to me
I would get two trees from them...One of them Gomera and ask if they have Gomera
3 which is the improved one. It is a better rootstock
For tree number two I would go with their Atalufo
which they graft onto Gomera rootstock. Atalufo which is small and better chance
of reaching ripeness
But they will have good and better recommendations than me
Your Canary Island friends say mango trees will grow in Southern France on
the Mediterranean which is the same latitude as Boston Massachusetts
gomango
13 years ago
The shy bearing of mangos on Bermuda sounds like a pollination issue as the extremes of temperature there in itself don't sound too harsh. I understand that temperatures below 15 degrees celcius result in poor fruit set. I have read that in southern Spain where Osteen is grown, when they come into flowering the first flush of flowers are removed which initiates a second flowering 6 weeks later, when the temperatures have increased enough to allow for better fruit set.
If this is relevant to the flowering period in Bermuda it may be worth looking at mid season varieties rather than early. You may find that late season varieties might not go too well if they don't get enough time to complete fruiting and have a foliage flush before the weather cools in winter. You probably dont want a variety that takes a long time from polination to harvest . I understand that Irwin is fast in this respect.

Regarding the wettness of the climate during polination, I was speaking to a grower a while back who was of the opinion that some of the indochinese varieties like Nam doc mai, Choc anon and maybe Florigon have what he referred to as water resistant pollen, ie the ablility to set fruit in wet weather.
abayomi
Original Author
13 years ago
@ mangodog: I certainly will keep you in mind. Perhaps cold tolerant is too strong a set of words. Cool tolerant, perhaps with no extreme warmth either. No freezing here (all time low 44F, normal for winter is a 58F). Giving it more thought, I suspect a wind issue is more likely or as gomango suggests pollination.

Something unknown happened in 2009 and we had an explosion of mangoes produce. What? The winter was perhaps windier and cooler than the norm so that doesn't seem to be it. Rain seemed pretty consistent so that too doesn't seem to be the trigger.

I do suspect our even rains are part of the problem - at least with ones grown so far (again mostly from seed). Either due to pollen intolerant of water or else even rains resulting in a lack of flowering.

In this regard, a friend is experimenting with all manner of techniques to induce precocious flowering on trees grown from seed. I will do the same.

@ zands: even though our latitude it the same as NC, the GUlf Stream keeps our temperatures evens. And yes, no where in the country can one be more than a mile from the ocean, so plenty of salt spray, though less in inland valleys. Time to reipen doesn't seem to be an issue here. I've seen varieties ripen in August, and fairly large ones at that.

I know of some large trees here and would guess all were grown from seed. A friend recently got some Nam Doc, haden, glenn and a few others on the island. Thanks for the suggestions from canaries. Will read up on it some more.

Perhaps a better way I should have phrased the topic was for suggestions on mangoes doing well in areas with even rainfall all year...

@ gomango: thanks for the tip on indochinese varieties. I am in the hunt for a nam doc mai this summer. And the flower pruning is brand new to me. Interesting. Mind you we rarely drop below 14C for any length of time. The coolest month of the year averages a low of 16C.
jalilu
11 years ago
Hi,

Can anyone tell me if Ataulfo, Glenn, Irwin, Keitt and Nam Doc Mai are suitable for Tangier (Morocco), where winters are cool and wet, and summers warm and dry? The following link leads to a detailed average weather page. Thanks.

http://weatherspark.com/averages/29212/Tangier-Tanger-Tanger-Tetouan-Morocco
jalilu
11 years ago
Hi,

Can anyone tell me if Ataulfo, Glenn, Irwin, Keitt and Nam Doc Mai are suitable for Tangier (Morocco), where winters are cool and wet, and summers warm and dry? The following link leads to a detailed average weather page. Thanks.

http://weatherspark.com/averages/29212/Tangier-Tanger-Tanger-Tetouan-Morocco
mangodog
11 years ago
Are you kidding jalilu? The temps and climate seem fine for mangos. Not sure we've ever had Moroccan growers here in this forum, but I can't see any problem growing mangos in your climate. I mean your summer heat could be a bit warmer for the the fruit development, but if it's dry, I think it would work.

Let us know....

mangodog
jalilu
11 years ago
Actually I am also concerned about the limited hours of direct sunlight, because the garden is now surrounded by tall buildings and receives only 3-4 hours of direct sunlight in winter. In 2009 I planted an unknown cultivar young tree (4 feet) which bloomed in 2011 but dropped the few fruits a few weeks later. Since then this tree has grown up by a foot only. I must confess that I had no knowledge about maintaining a mango tree (tipping, fertilization, etc.). The Keitt purchased 3 months ago is doing well in a container. I already tipped it but it still looks a bit leggy, maybe because I did not choose a good plant. I will soon receive the Irwin, Glenn, Ataulfo and N.D.M and look forward to see how they will all do in winter.
jalilu
11 years ago
Mangodog

Maybe it's late to inquire about varieties since I will get my order this weekend, but could you suggest suitable cultivars for wet winters and dry summers? The rain sometimes starts as early as October and can be pouring for days (sometimes 6" in December or January)!

Thanks

Wind and Cool Tolerant Mangoes

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