Mango recovering from frost

phoenixtropicals · Posted: Sat Apr 09, 2011 4:59 pm Post subject: Mango recovering from frost

My Keller Mango is recovering from the frost nicely now. Its interesting how its new leaves start out almost black purple. Some of the branches that weren't totally frozen are actually flowering, which is very surprising.

I'm skeptical of any claims that any one mango variety is more frost resistant than any other. They all seem to take damage at the same temperatures. However, some varieties do seem to recover more quickly. This one seems to recover more rapidly than my Manila mango from branches of equal diameter. I can imagine that a mango that is slower to recover would also be less likely to live if it took too long to recover and therefore ran out of stored energy.

By the way. This mango was protected with frost cloth and light bulb when outside temperatures got down to 28°F. I think the fact that it was windy that night made the covering and source of heat much less effective.

MKIVRYAN · Joined: 07 Dec 2010 Posts: 154 Location: Phoenix/Scottsdale

Where can I find a mango like that?

phoenixtropicals · Posted: Mon Apr 11, 2011 8:03 am Post subject:

It's a seedling that a guy named Richard Gross from AZRFG gave me. He said he found a mango seed in the trash. I don't know if he was joking or not. Since its a seedling I just gave it my last name. It has really large fruit on it. I posted a photo of it here

http://phoenixtropicals.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=245

I tried to grow two seeds but they didn't take. I think its because I tried to germinate them in the shade. I'll try it in full sun next time in a black pot.

It probably will be at least a year until I have a seedling to sell, because I won't get fruit again until this fall.

Dauntless · Joined: 20 Nov 2010 Posts: 174 Location: Mesa, AZ

After seeing the damage that your guava and Mango got, I am shocked that some of my plants weren't killed because it was in the low 20's here and my plants are smaller and younger. Most of mine weren't even touched. I did lose a small Papaya that was covered but had no lights and my dragon fruit and Passionfruit vines were froze back where they weren't covered but they are starting to comeback.

That is a really nice tree. I rather like the purple leaves. Can't wait until mine get that big.