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Mangifera indica is an evergreen tree widely grown in the drier tropics and in continental United States locally in zone 10b for its superb and often very colorful fruit (the "peach of the tropics").
Blooming Time: Late Winter - Early Spring
Culture: Mangifera indica does best in rich, well drained soils in hot, rather dry climates. Although trees thrive and make handsome ornamental specimens under continually rainy tropical conditions, no fruiting occurs. Mangos are fairly easy plants to grow in pots, but get large very quickly. In nature Mangos get up to 90 ft. with a 125 ft. spread. Our specimen at the Botany greenhouse grew to 14 ft. in 3 years. A good compost for mangos consist of 2 parts peat moss to 2 parts loam to 1 part sharp sand. Since Mangos like dry conditions, water only enough to keep the plant from wilting. Fertilize monthly with a balanced fertilizer diluted to ½ of the strength recommended on the label. Mangos usually start to produce fruit in 3 to 5 years. In the greenhouse, our specimen took 7 years to produce fruit.
Propagation: Mangifera indica are easily propagated from seed. Seed should be placed 3 to 4 inches deep in a large pot, seed usually germinate in 7 to 21 days.
Mangifera indica was featured as Plant of the Week June 25- July 1, 1999.
Guide to Past Plants-of-the-Week:
Cal's Plant of the Week is provided as a service by the University of Oklahoma Department of Botany & Microbiology and specifically Cal Lemke, who is OU's botany greenhouse grower and an avid gardener at home as well. If the above links don't work, then try the overview site. You may also like to look at the thumbnail index. To receive Plant-of-the-Week by e-mail, go to the Plant-of-the-Week listserv subscription page. To contact us, please use this online form. ©1998-2008 All rights reserved.