For the past twenty years or so I’ve been observing other people’s mango trees in Southern California, and for the past ten years I’ve been trying to grow my own. I haven’t had quick success, frankly. But I take consolation in the fact that most others I know who grow mangos here describe them as a “long term project.”

The original Sunset Western Garden Book published in 1954 had this entry for mango: “A tropical that will exist in the frost-free areas, but that is about all.”

The last Sunset Western Garden Book published in 2012 only slightly modified the entry for mango: “In mildest parts of Southern California . . . plants often remain shrubby . . . and are likely to fruit only in the most favorable frost-free locations.”

The climate that mangos like

Nowhere in Southern California has an ideal mango climate; everywhere here is at times too hot or too cold. Near the beach it’s too cold year round. In the valleys, it’s too cold in winter. In the desert, it’s too hot in the summer.

Mangos grow like weeds in the tropics where it is 87 degrees during the day, every day, and 75 degrees during the night, every night, all year long. And the humidity is high, all year long. And there is a season of abundant rain.

Southern Mexico is one such location, where mango trees attain great size.

So mangos as a commercial crop here in California is not easy. It’s been tried since Captain L.L. Bucklew in Encinitas, San Diego County, in the 1930’s, some of whose trees are still alive (and pictured at the top).

(See my posts, “California-grown mangos” and “Captain Bucklew’s California Mango Trees”)

Later, Paul Thomson planted out many mango trees in Vista in the 1960’s.

Today I know of only a few mango farm plantings, the biggest being near the Salton Sea. Backyard mango trees are innumerable here nonetheless, and some produce superb fruit.

Choosing a mango variety

My main advice is to only grow a mango variety that you find absolutely delicious; do not settle for a fruit that is only acceptable.

I used to think that mangos were not worth growing in Southern California because only inferior varieties performed here (small, stringy types). I thought this because all of the large old mango trees I first saw and ate from made inferior fruit.

Later I encountered mature mango trees that made excellent fruit.

So then my question became: Why were people growing mango trees that make small, stringy mangos that are mostly seed when they could grow a tree that makes awesome mangos?

For some, the answer is that they inherited the tree. For others, it is that they planted a seed long ago and ended up with such a tree and they think they’re stuck with it.

Regardless, here is my point: The challenge of growing mangos in Southern California is that the trees don’t love our climate. The challenge is not that only inferior varieties fruit or fruit well in this climate.

This is not to say that every mango variety performs well here, or that a given variety performs well in every part of Southern California. While I can’t say exactly how a variety will do in a certain location (because I’ve seen the same variety perform a bit differently in similar locations), there are a couple of generalizations to keep in mind when choosing a variety to grow.

One is that locations near the ocean will probably have better results with early varieties. These are varieties that mature their fruit more quickly.

This was first observed by Captain Bucklew in his mango grove in Encinitas, 1.5 miles from the ocean. He got little heat during the summer so “some varieties mature very slowly, or not at all,” he wrote. Some were barely ready to pick in December or they never completely matured before winter arrived.

Bucklew realized that he needed varieties that matured in April and May in tropical locations. These early varieties would mature at his place before the weather cooled too much in late fall. He found one such variety from Florida called “Earlygold” which matured its fruit in November, and it became his most reliable producer of the dozens of varieties he trialed. Through the years, Bucklew grafted over many of his other varieties to Earlygold.

In contrast, the more inland and hotter the location, the more that variety options broaden to even include late varieties. An extreme example of this would be the many Keitt mango trees that are productive on farms in the low desert near Mecca.

Take one more example of mango varieties and their growth and suitability to the different Southern California climates with Valencia Pride is a mid-to-late season variety. Look at these Valencia Pride mangos picked from trees growing in our different Southern California mango climates. Note the harvest dates and skin colors.

Here’s what I notice: The cooler (more coastal) the location, the later the mangos mature. And mangos grown with more heat tend to be more colorful. I have to mention that skin color does also depend on an individual fruit’s exposure to the sunlight.

Which Valencia Pride tasted the best? All three were very good.

Finally, on varieties, I will add a few for you to consider because I have eaten them from trees in Southern California and they were top notch. I can’t say how productive they’ll be for you, but the eating quality justifies an attempt to grow them:

How to start growing a mango tree

There are four ways that I’ve seen successful mango trees started in Southern California, and each comes with advantages and disadvantages. In other words, each can be the best method in different circumstances.

1. Grow from seed

Advantages: cheap; often (but not always) results in a tree that is vigorous and tough; can plant a polyembryonic seed to get a tree that makes known fruit

Disadvantages: the tree will take longer to fruit compared to a grafted tree; the tree will make fruit that is unique and possibly inferior (unless the seed was polyembryonic)

Polyembryonic mango seeds sprout multiple plants, some of which are clones of the mother tree.

Conclusion: If you don’t want to spend much money and are willing to be patient, grow from seed. Ideally, you plant a seed from a fruit that was just to your liking because that makes it more likely that the tree it grows will make similar fruit. You can also plan to later graft, as necessary (more on this below).

2. Plant a seedling tree

Advantages: cheaper than a grafted tree; grows faster than a grafted tree

Disadvantages: will make unknown fruit (unless polyembryonic); will take longer to fruit than grafted tree (this can be seen as an advantage with mango trees though); will have other unknown tree characteristics, such as growth habit and fungus susceptibility

Conclusion: If you are patient and willing to risk the outcome, you could get a tree that grows well and makes quality fruit or fruit that is at least similar to its parent.

3. Plant a grafted tree

Advantages: known tree and fruit characteristics

Disadvantages: expensive; grows slowly and flowers too much

Conclusion: If you don’t know how to graft, then buying a grafted tree is the best way to know the kind of tree and fruit you are planting. But grafted mango trees do require patience and discipline because they try to fruit too much at a young age and therefore grow slowly. It’s usually necessary to remove most if not all of their fruit in the first few years in order to prevent stunting.

4. Graft onto an established tree

Advantages: best of both worlds, as you can get started with a vigorous seedling (or grafted tree) and later graft on a known, preferred variety; allows you to also grow a seed or seedling until fruiting in order to try the fruit, and then graft the tree to another variety if the fruit proves unsatisfactory

Disadvantages: must know how to graft and be able to find scionwood

Conclusion: If you want to save money and you know how to graft, then first growing a seed or seedling to use as rootstock for grafting on a preferred variety can be the only option, as sometimes grafted trees of certain varieties are not available.

Heat and cold tolerance of mango trees

Mangos take heat better than avocados. I have seen mango leaves go through temps over 110 degrees with only slight bleaching. However, mango fruit is more sensitive than mango leaves, which is why growers in desert locations or during extreme heat waves shade individual mangos by covering them with white paper bags.

Mangos are a little more sensitive to cold than avocados, about as sensitive as bananas. Bigger mangos take cold better than young mangos.

I have not seen clear evidence that certain varieties of mangos are significantly more tolerant to heat or cold.

Watering and fertilizing

Mangos are similar in their water needs to citrus trees, as far as I have observed. In other words, they need it during the warm months but don’t mind to be dryish during the winter. I have seen that mango trees do respond obviously when you lavish them with water during the warmest months though, so if you’re looking for maximum growth, do not skimp on water during late spring, summer, and early fall.

As for fertilizer, I don’t know of anyone who treats mango trees special and gets special results. Most growers I know give the trees some compost and mulch and get fine growth and fruit production.

Fungus on flowers and leaves

Mango flowers and leaves are sometimes covered with a whitish fungus, and people call this condition “powdery mildew.” It happens mostly during spring.

Powdery mildew is also worse in locations nearer the ocean.

Importantly, the above mango trees are not of the same variety. And I have seen that powdery mildew occurrence varies somewhat by variety; however, in my observations it is proximity to the ocean that is by far the most determining factor.

Powdery mildew looks ugly, but this is not the real problem. The fungus kills flowers, preventing them from becoming fruit.

Therefore, some growers spray fungicides, both purchased and homemade.

I have no experience spraying mangos to mitigate mildew problems. I’ve never sprayed my own little trees nor have I watched the results of others who spray. But what I do know is that many growers do not spray and still get good yields from most trees.

Mangos are a little unusual in that they don’t have a concentrated, single period of flowering. An orange tree, for example, will begin to flower in spring and finish in spring. Mangos, on the other hand, will make more flowers if their first attempt doesn’t become fruit. So it often happens that early flowers mostly get killed by fungus, but the tree continues to bloom into early summer and it is these later flowers that make much of the crop.

Today, I still have a lot to learn about growing mangos. I write this post to help the beginner, as if I’m guiding myself from when I started trying.

If you have a lot of experience growing mangos here in California, please add it in the comments in order to teach the rest of us further.

We all want:

Special thanks to my friends who have shared their delicious homegrown mangos with me over the years and who have helped me understand better how to grow my own.

Thank you for supporting my Yard Posts so I can keep them coming and keep them without ads.

All Yard Posts are categorized and linked here.