Mangos - By Mark Govan, Host “Florida Gardening” | ABC Pest Control Inc.

Well, December is finally here and as our cool weather settles in, one of our favorite fruit trees begin to show off their wonderful blooms. Mangoes begin to bloom this time of year and depending on the variety you have your tree could either just be starting to go into bloom or your tree could be in full bloom now. Several of my mango trees are in full bloom but I do have some later blooming varieties that are just showing the first signs of blooming. Today, I would like to discuss a few things that you need to do now to protect your fruit as they develop and to help you maintain a healthy tree for years to come.  I also want to cover some diseases that mangoes can have on both the fruit and the leaves so you can properly identify them and control these problems as they occur.  

           First you should know the mangoes can be grown from seed or purchased in the nursery as a grafted tree. Seedling mangoes are generally inferior to the grafted variety of mangoes purchased at local garden centers. Now that I have made that statement I know some people will say the best mango they have ever eaten was from a tree their grandmother planted from seed. This can and does happen occasionally, and this is how many of the named varieties of mangoes have come into being. Unfortunately, most seedling mango fruit are small in size, stringy, and many have a bad turpentine taste. Grafted mangoes are named varieties of trees which are grafted onto seedling rootstock and will produce fruit earlier than seedling trees. Another benefit is that when you purchase a grafted tree you can pick the type of mango you want. If you have grown your tree from seed and wish to graft it with a named variety of tree, or maybe a tree that you like the flavor of that a neighbor has, you can graft that variety on the seedling you have grown. This is best done in the spring when the plant is actively growing.

            If your mangoes are currently in bloom like mine are, you need to protect the blooms from a disease called anthracnose. Anthracnose or Colletotrichum gloeosporoides infects the blossoms as they develop on the tree. Mango blossoms form a pyramid shape on the tip of the leaf stems. These blossoms are very fragrant and if you are standing next to a tree in bloom you will appreciate the sweet scent. Unfortunately, these blossoms can succumb very quickly to anthracnose and if left unchecked, all the blossoms and the fruit they would have produced for you will be aborted. In order to spot this fungus you need to look closely at the individual flower buds, the pedicel, and the main and auxiliary flower stalks. Look for small, pin sized black spots on the individual blossoms as this will be the first signs of infection. As the disease progresses, the spots will enlarge and coalesce eventually covering the entire flower cluster which will turn black and dry out.