how to grow a mango plant from seed

Discussion in 'Plant Propagation' started by dogseadepression, Feb 15, 2006.

  1. dogseadepression

    dogseadepression Active Member

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    Does anyone know how to grow a mango plant from a seed. Please reply back to me
     
  2. Eric La Fountaine

    Eric La Fountaine Contributor Forums Moderator 10 Years

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    This page is directed at kids, but I think it covers the basics.
    http://www.plantcultures.org.uk/activities/handson_mango.html

    Mango trees get really large in the tropics, but I guess they would make an interesting tropical house plant. It should be interesting to watch the germination, as mango seeds are so large. Post pictures if you can D.A.D.
     
  3. ZekeStone

    ZekeStone Member

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    Hello.

    Here's a method I've been pretty successful with:

    After cleaning off the pulp, I allow the seed to dry for a couple of days. Then the husk is split and the 'bean shaped' seed removed. Using two toothpicks pushed through each side (just enough to penetrate the covering), it's suspended in a glass with water covering the bottom 1/2 of the seed. Keep topping up when required.

    Hope this helps. Good luck!
     

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  4. argohartono

    argohartono Member

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    hi there

    i live in tropical, where mango seed grew by themself when the air is cool & humid enough. We can't doin' Zekestone's way here, so much fungus sporas & bacteria around the air. The tiny shoot would become infected and wilted so it would never grew anyway. If zeke had successful grew the seed, you may goin' his way. It would be cool to watch the shoot comes out the carp, i think.

    cheers
     
  5. jamkh

    jamkh Active Member

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    Germinating a mango seed is straightforward enough, either in Zeke's way or in a pot of soil or soiless medium, as long as the seed is kept moist and at 20 degrees C(or 71 F).
    However getting them to grow to a certain size in the temperate enviroment so that they can bear fruits is the tricky part. Mango is an evergreen and should never be subjected to a temperature below 8 degs C where the plant cells in the foliage would would break down and die. It would be safer to maintain the temperature above 15 degs C if you want to see any measure of tissue growth. For optimum growth the temperature should be kept in the range of 70 to 80 degs C, the humidity kept high around 80-85% R.D. and under very strong lights above 8000 foot candles (HID lightings would be most beneficial). Also you must remember that it grows to be a huge tree, far too large for most homes; however potting them into 30 gallon pots may keep its size under control somewhat. Also in pots fertilisation takes on a different aspect in relation of NPK.
    Considering all these factors, it would be most difficult for an untrained person to hope that he could grow a mango tree indoor and get it to set fruit. However it is worth a try just for the novelty of having a fruiting mango tree survive indoor in a temperate climate.
     
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  6. Ramblin43

    Ramblin43 Member

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    I think Zekestone's idea is good, as I know you can do an avacado seed that way. I had to give my plant away when we moved from Seattle, but I had it for 5 years and it was about to fruit when I gave it up. I have some pics somewhere if anyone is interested.
     
    Last edited: Apr 9, 2008
  7. ChelseaGil

    ChelseaGil Member

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    Ramblin43 - I live in Seattle. Did you say you were able to grow a mango tree or an avocado tree? I'm using a different method of germination for a mango seed by putting it in a ziplock bag with warm water and placing it under our sky light. We'll see how things go. I'll be sure to post any happenings.
     
  8. lorax

    lorax Rising Contributor 10 Years

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    See what happens. You'll most likely be attempting to grow a Tommy Atkins mango, and beleive me those trees get GIGANTIC. Like Agohartono, we don't germinate in air down here in Ecuador, we just split the pit and plant out the kernel.

    You might get a tree out of it; fruiting would be the challenge. Tommy mangoes here start to fruit when they're about 8 feet tall. The other condition to be aware of is that a mango tree is a very fragrant tree, especially in its ideal heat and humidity. If you have any problem with the smell of mangoes, or in extreme cases with turpentine, you need to make sure there's adequate ventilation.
     
  9. ChelseaGil

    ChelseaGil Member

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    Mangoes are my absolutely favorite food. It's too bad I don't live in a place where they can grow. I'll just have to keep buying them at the store. :o) The seed I'm attempting to germinate came from an organic Mexican variety. I don't recall the name at the moment.
     
  10. Gordo

    Gordo Active Member 10 Years

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    Here is another link about mango cultivation.

    One of
    the interesting "fruit facts" contained in the article is that there
    are two basic types of mangos - monoembryonic (most Indian varieties)
    that produce one sprout (seedling) & polyembryonic (SE Asian
    varieties) that produce multiple sprouts, of which several are
    vegetatively identical to the parent tree.


    http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/Morton/Mango_arS.html
     
  11. TipseyTara

    TipseyTara Member

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    I was wondering if you got your mango to grow. I'd love to know. I'm in Pa and i'm going to try for the first time. On a sidenote, I've been attempting to grow all kinds of fruit trees just to see if i can do it. I now have a lemon tree growing on my patio and hopefully soon a lime tree.

    Thanks in advance,
    Tara
     
  12. TipseyTara

    TipseyTara Member

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    LoL posted in the wrong spot the first time... here is my message for you
    ...I was wondering if you got your mango to grow. I'd love to know. I'm in Pa and i'm going to try for the first time. On a sidenote, I've been attempting to grow all kinds of fruit trees just to see if i can do it. I now have a lemon tree growing on my patio and hopefully soon a lime tree.

    Thanks in advance,
    Tara
     
  13. bluewater

    bluewater Member

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    I see all the replys about how to do it. I started mine with a much simpler approach. I pushed a seed from a freshly eaten mango into a 10" pot filled with Miracle Gro potting soil. After 2 weeks, I didn't see anything, so I went to pull it out and reuse the pot. I found the seed had split and some roots had started growing. I immediately pushed it back into the soil, hoping I hadn't killed it. Within a few days it popped out of the soil, literally. a loop formed and then overnight it came out of the soil with leaves already attached. It is now about 16" tall with 7 leaves on it.

    I plan on transferring it to progressively larger pots. Around here in South Florida, I've not seen a mango tree much larger than about 20' tall. I saw them in the rainforest on St. Kitts between 80 and 100ft high.

    Very easy to grow so far... it, along with Pineapples, make my kids really think I have a green thumb.
     
  14. marymary4868

    marymary4868 Member

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    I have grown several mango plants, I have one growing in the hot house right now, make sure your mango is over ripe then put it in a container w/ execlent soil, lay the seed in side ways, lol because I can never remember wich end the start comes from. One time I just thru a seed out in the garden, when it came up I couldn't figure out what it was, the color is a dirty red color when it first come up usualy, there was allot of iron in that soil. I live in oregon so they won't winter over outside, how ever I have a low quat that I started from a seed and it's about 12 ft. tall now it live fine in oregon. Thats about it Mary
     
  15. Gold3nKu5h

    Gold3nKu5h Member

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    They are very easy to grow from seed, and have a large amount of reserved food, (judging by size) so your likely not to kill it, unless you repetedly remove the roots. If you remove the seed from the husk, where the stem was, is where the roots, and later the sprout will emerge.* If you want a compact rootball, then remove the emerging root once or twice. This will send out more 'tap' roots instead of just regrowing a single root.* Same with trunks, you can have multiple trunks, by cutting the sprout.* This wont kill it but it could if you do it to many times, i've cut up a Manila Mango seed and have had 4 individual plants sprout from a single seed, however, those seeds are already broken into weird sections. It looks like someone filled the husk with some paste and let it harden.* I have just found 2 Manila seeds that were i left to fully develop? Manila its a fully yellow slightly smaller mango than what is usually seen at the supermarket.* I place my seeds in fresh lukewarm tapwater, fully submerged.* I refresh the water whenever im near the sink.* I have also left if for a day or two, and the water has browned without any ill effects. Probably a very hardy seed, and have not had many die on me.
     
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  16. Gold3nKu5h

    Gold3nKu5h Member

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  17. Gold3nKu5h

    Gold3nKu5h Member

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    I'd like to see the pic's as im sure everyone else would also :) im planning on buying a nice digital camera for my own needs too. but that will be a while.
     
  18. visarlene

    visarlene Member

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    My mango seed sprouted about ten days ago and has grown to about 8 inches but the leaves seem way too big for such a small stem as you can see in the photo. I am looking for advice. Should I do something or just let nature take its course? This is my first attempt, so I planted several seeds and a 2nd one opened up about 3 days ago. I am hoping at least one survives so that I can plant it in my yard here in South Florida at some point.
     

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  19. lorax

    lorax Rising Contributor 10 Years

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    Visar - congratulations! That is exactly what a mango seedling should look like - don't be concerned that the leaves seem very big; the stem is more than thick enough to support them.
     
  20. et2007

    et2007 Active Member

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    I just plant like lorax, for I can't tell which end is the top or bottom... I'm still waiting to see if I'm lucky...
     
  21. white stone

    white stone Member

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    Visarleen's looks just like mine

    Hello Group,

    Recently I picked up a dried out Mango seed from my chicken pen and started to toss it when I noticed it was splitting open and had a root forming. I put it in a pot and put a light covering of soil over it for protection from the sun. Now it looks like the one in Visarleen's images. Dark reddish with large droopy leaves.

    I covered it with more soil because I was worried it was drying out, since the leaves are so limp. In the last few days they seem stronger and I feel it might thrive.

    I scowered the chicken pen for more seeds and put the ones I found in pots, too.

    Is there hope that these plants may some day produce Mango fruit? We live 30 miles due West from Gainesville, FL?

    Regards,
    white stone

    P.S. this is my first post to this thread. I joined the other day and thought I had replied here but I had created a new thread. Oops!
     
  22. visarlene

    visarlene Member

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    My first mango is still growing and the second little shoot has grown considerably too. Based on these two, it looks like it starts off with large limp purplish leaves that eventually turn green with new small purplish growth at the bottom. A friend, who has successfully grown a mango tree from seed, says that I should be able to move this from the pot to the yard in a couple of weeks when its about 2 feet high. This is definitely a fast grower. Her mangos are the best I've ever tasted so I'm hoping my tree will bear the same delicious fruit.

    You'll notice from the photo I posted the other day that I did not split the mango pit open to use the inner seed. I just put the whole pit into potting soil with the pointed end in the dirt and the somewhat more rounded end sticking out the top - beginner's luck I think.

    I wish white stone good luck in Gainesville. It's Florida, so it's definitely worth a shot.
     
  23. Gold3nKu5h

    Gold3nKu5h Member

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    You dont have to remove the seed from the husk, you dont even really need to do anything to any seed but throw it out to let it sprout, most seeds will receive what they need outside to sprout, given enough water. I was just suggesting that it may sprout faster, but it seems yours came up pretty quickly, i may not bother trying to spend time on even breaking it out of the seed anymore, becuase i use my teeth and grip the fibers and rip along one side where it seems to split it open pretty easily. That stem sure is thick, i wish mine were like that, and i wish they kept that lovely redish color, I would really like to put one like that in a terrarium and keep it stunted like that. Do you know what cultivar of mangoes you have? I currently have Keitt and Manila mangoes. I love the manila but those are a lot more expensive than the normal ones, so i start every seed i get no matter what, but keep them divided. Havn't figured out if there are any differences in the plant yet though.

    And what when I said what I refer to as manila is really millika was wrong, I found a page that has 80 something cultivars and both were on there, so all I have available locally is Manila, and is quite tasty, compact grower, and able to fruit in containers..
     
  24. visarlene

    visarlene Member

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    The mango I planted is a Diplomático. I haven't been able to find any information about it online but am waiting to get my hands on a book that mentions it, and when I do I can post the description if anyone is interested.
     
  25. othelma12

    othelma12 Member

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    Please send me pics. I am just starting my plant and would love to know what to expect!
     

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