Germination temperature
Warm, hot-season conditions; mango is a tropical tree and the seed should be sown in the warm months straight after the fruit season.
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Mango seed must be sown fresh: it dies quickly once it dries. Take the kernel out of its woody husk, sow it on edge in a free-draining mix and use the seedling as a tree or as a rootstock for grafting.
Warm, hot-season conditions; mango is a tropical tree and the seed should be sown in the warm months straight after the fruit season.
Kernel set on its edge, concave side down, with the top just showing above the mix.
About 10-14 days for a husked kernel; whole seeds sown in the husk can take about 3-6 weeks.
Not needed for germination; give bright light or part shade to seedlings.
Sow fresh. Clean off the pulp and remove the woody husk; do not let the kernel dry out.
Sow in a bed or tray, move to individual pots, plant out or graft later.
Mango seed is recalcitrant: it holds a lot of water and loses viability as it dries, so sow it within days of eating the fruit. Scrub off the pulp, dry the stone in the shade for a day or two, then cut a small slit in the husk at the stalk end and prise it open to free the kernel. Discard kernels that are shrivelled, brown or black.
Look at the kernel. A single solid kernel is monoembryonic and gives one hybrid seedling that will not match the parent fruit. A kernel divided into several segments is polyembryonic and sends up several shoots; most are clones of the mother tree.
Not needed beyond removing the husk. Husking speeds and evens up germination and lets you check the kernel.
Not needed. Cold harms tropical recalcitrant seed.
Not needed. A short rinse is enough; the main rule is never to let the kernel dry out. In one Indian trial a gibberellic acid soak raised germination, but fresh seed germinates well without it.
Warm. Sow in the hot, humid season; in India that means right after the March-June fruit season, not in the cool months.
Set the kernel on its edge with the concave side facing down and leave part of the top uncovered. Whole stones in the husk can be pushed in deeper; a hill-zone trial found deeper sowing (10 cm) emerged earlier than seeds left on the surface.
Coarse and free-draining. Western Australia's nursery mix is 50% coarse river sand, 25% vermiculite and 25% peat with slow-release fertiliser; a sand and compost mix works in home pots.
Keep evenly moist but never waterlogged; rotting kernels turn brown or black.
Germinates in the dark under its cover; keep trays in bright shade.
Husked kernels sprout in about 10-14 days. Whole seeds sown in the husk took about 25-41 days in the Indian trial.
If one kernel sends up several shoots, the weak, stunted one usually comes from fertilisation; remove it and keep one or more vigorous clonal shoots.
Move seedlings into deep individual pots once the first leaves have hardened. For grafting, a rootstock should reach a stem 8-10 mm thick and 10-15 cm tall, usually within eight months.
Plant into a well-drained, sunny site. TNAU digs 1 x 1 x 1 m pits and plants from July to December at 7-10 m spacing. Water at planting, every other day the first week, then once or twice a week until established.
Cause: the kernel dried out or was stored too long. Fix: sow within days of eating the fruit and keep the husked kernel moist.
Cause: a heavy, waterlogged mix. Fix: use coarse sand-based media and let excess water drain freely.
Cause: monoembryonic seed gives a hybrid. Fix: graft a named variety onto the seedling (veneer, cleft or epicotyl grafting) in mild weather.
Cause: anthracnose, worst in rain and heavy dew. Fix: avoid wetting flowers, keep the canopy open and follow local extension spray advice from bud break.
Cause: powdery mildew. Fix: sulphur sprays at early panicle stage prevent spread.
Mature trees survive about -3.9 °C (25 °F) for a few hours with damage; young trees die at -1.7 °C (29 °F). In cold climates keep mango in a large pot under glass.
Red loamy, well-drained soil suits mango; TNAU gives pH 6.5-8.0. On very alkaline soils iron and zinc deficiencies are common.
Mature trees need water only in long dry spells; overwatering lowers fruit quality.
Pick when the shoulders fill out and the flesh near the seed is yellow; fruit ripens 3-8 days after picking at 21-24 °C (70-75 °F). Refrigerate only once ripe.
Sow mango seed fresh and grow your own tree or grafting rootstock.
Only if the seed is polyembryonic; most of its shoots are clones of the mother tree. Monoembryonic seed gives a hybrid with unpredictable fruit, so graft a named variety onto it.
Longer than a grafted tree. Grafted trees start bearing 3-5 years after planting; seedlings are slower and their fruit is not guaranteed.
Not reliably. The seed is recalcitrant and loses viability as it dries; Indian trials kept it alive for about ten weeks at most in moist ash or wet gunny bags.