Big Lumps growing on this tree

[Moose]

Jeff - show Andrea these photos. They are the Keitt cultivar we talked a about last Saturday .

Photo #1 Basketball for scale, yum - yum, ready in August

Photo #2 Basketball for scale, still growing until August

Best regards,

Ron.

[Moose]

Jeff - some more shots for Andrea.

Sorry - they did not come out so well, the lens was fogging. Had to adjust the contrast as it is.

Photo #3 Hello my little pretties.

Photo #4 Say hello to my "little" friends.

Ron.

[epicure3]

Those mangos are awseome. My favorite fruit tree by far. My Alphonso is just setting fruit now. The Nam Doc Mai won't this year which is fine since I need some more growth on the tree anyway.

[gavilan1]

Ron, how many years old is your Keitt? How long from when it began setting fruit until the current crop of fruit got to this size? Thanks.

[Moose]

This is a cultivar that was developed in Homestead, FL. It reportedly gets a 2-4 lbs. size fruit and has a bit of fibre in the flesh. I find it not as tasty as my Haden but good. I planted this cultivar (Keitt) because the fruit was robust and ready at a later time then the Haden. I do get fruit bigger than 4 lbs. size but this may be from palm special fertilizer plus Orchids are growing on the trunk and they get hit with liquid love (20-20-20).

The tree is 9 years old. It began fruiting the first year but were removed so the tree could invest it's energy in growth. By the third year, we were harvesting fruit (about 18) and they were 2-3 lbs. size. By the fourth year the fruit was reaching the 4 lbs. size and was really producing a respectible quantity of fruit. I have been pruning the tree the last few years as I don't want fruit up high were it is hard to pick. I keep the tree at about 15 ft. Doing so I found that the vandaeous orchids growing on the trunk started spiking with great blooms . I think keeping the tree pruned to this size has increased the size and yield of fruit .

[Moose]

Those mangos are awseome. My favorite fruit tree by far. My Alphonso is just setting fruit now. The Nam Doc Mai won't this year which is fine since I need some more growth on the tree anyway.

Excellent - both of those cultivars are outstanding! You must have done some research, good job!

Ron.

[Moose]

7th Annual International Mango Festival

Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden

July 11-12, 2009 9:30 am - 4:30 pm

10901 Old Cutler Road, Coral Gables, FL PH: 305-667-1651

www.Fairchildgarden.org