The first leaves on the stem that grew from the mango pip look like a bird with tall wings and a long curved beak.
The stem and leaves grew quickly over less than a week. So did a second stem.
I read that it was better to nip out the second stem. So I did.
Now the mango seedling looks like any other seedling tree. That is, off centre in the pot due to the size of the pip (now covered).
I have since read that it may be better to grow a grafted tree. There is a mango tree in a garden that I pass on the way to the local shops. I’ll ask the owner whether I can have a cutting from their tree to have a go at grafting when my little seedling tree is established enough.
Wednesday 30 January 2008 at 2:05 pm
Oh my, but I would love to live in a place where I passed a mango tree on the way to the shops. This is exciting – I am going to keep watch of what happens!
Thursday 31 January 2008 at 9:27 am
There may be others, but I only know of the one mango tree and this is because it is in the middle of a front garden lawn
Mango trees are not prolific in Perth, Western Australia and most of the mango fruit that are in the grocer are from what I call ‘up North’. That is, North West of Western Australia, Northern Territory, and Queensland.
Perth is dry, but considered cooler than our northern climes and I have read that some mango varieties are better suited to cooler climates, such as the R2E2 that I am growing.
I’ll definitely attempt to grow any mango seeds from fruit that we eat. They are as much fun as broad beans, perhaps even faster.
The mango seedling is currently in what I call my Front Verandah garden, and I will try to regularly post to the plant journal on folia. I’m excited too. My first mango tree!
Monday 10 March 2008 at 8:07 pm
Polyembryonic – not with clomiphene as in humans, but naturally – some seeds put out multiple shoots which are genetic clones of the mother. The two most common commercial varieties of mango in Australia do this, namely Kensington pride and R2E2. The seedlings are reputed to be stronger and tougher and larger than grafted plants and will bear genetically the same fruit as the mother tree!
Will you protect it from any hint of frost?
Monday 10 March 2008 at 9:31 pm
@Lachlann
Thanks for the explanation about polyembryonic. The pip/seed was from an R2E2 mango. It is good to know that the seedlings are tough. Today I noticed that a couple more stems have sprouted, so it will be out with the scissors to cut them back.
Wrt frost. I only have a very distant memory about frost in Perth, Western Australia. I would have to look up on the Bureau of Meteorology web site to see when that last happened.
Tuesday 18 November 2008 at 5:58 pm
Having just recently germinated a mango pip need to know how much watering is needed .She is in a pot and at the moment a couple of her leaves had a reddish bleeding infection on the leaves.Can you tell me what that is.
Thanks Diane Radford
Tuesday 18 November 2008 at 9:45 pm
Thanks for asking Diane. I have only grown two mango pips; this and one other one. Both are going fine, except some gremlin has pinched the growing tip out of one of them. Grr.
Perhaps if you were to post a picture of your germinated mango pip, others may be able to assist you. I know that I observed similarly looking leaves in one of my plants but put it down to getting a wee bit cold. Now that it is warming up, the next few leaves have been fine. However, posting to a forum that offers to diagnose ailments may be the go.
Wednesday 17 February 2010 at 8:54 pm
Hello there fellow mango planter. How’s your tree doing now? It’s probably a couple of feet tall already, huh? I’d love to hear more stories about this.