Tropical mango is a delicious and fragrant exotic fruit that has recently become familiar to the inhabitants of our country, who have never been to Asia. Despite this, he quickly gained popularity and many housewives liked his taste. Depending on the variety, the fruits taste like a combination of juicy carrots and tender peaches, aromatic strawberries and sugar pineapple. And the refined and sophisticated smell of needles only emphasizes the pleasant taste.
Perhaps you, while peeling an orange fruit, thought: “Is it possible to grow mangoes from a stone at home?” Experienced flower growers with confidence will answer in the affirmative to this question. True, the realization of this dream will require a lot of time and patience. But if you follow all the rules of agricultural technology, your efforts will be rewarded - a mango tree grown from seed will be a magnificent decoration of your home.
Mango in the wild
Before talking about how to grow mangoes at home, you need to know a little about this plant. It belongs to the genus Mango of the Anacardian family. Originally an exotic fruit from India, from where the mango tree has spread to countries in East and South Asia, East Africa and the state of California.
A very thermophilic plant categorically does not accept a drop in temperature and dies already at +5 ° C. This is a beautiful plant with spreading branches and large green leaves. Under natural conditions, the mango tree grows up to 20 meters in height. Crohn is wide rounded in shape. The root system is powerful, well developed - the roots go five meters or more into the soil, which provides the plant with constant access to nutrients and moisture.
During flowering, tree branches are covered with numerous delicate flowers. Then their place is taken by filiform panicles, from which several fruits grow. Mango is a real long-liver in the plant world. The plant has been growing and bearing fruit for 300 years!
Mango in Russia
In our country, it is impossible to grow mangoes in open ground - the climate and weather conditions are too harsh for a tropical plant. However, amateur gardeners manage to grow this crop at home and even get a crop.
In indoor conditions, the tree grows small - no more than two meters in height. Therefore, the answer to the question: “Is it possible to grow mangoes at home?” - obvious, but you need to know how to do it right. But we will talk about this a little later.
Mango leaves are narrow and long, lanceolate. Their front side is saturated green and has a glossy surface. The back side is lighter and matte. Young leaves are cast yellowish, pinkish or reddish. Leaf juice is poisonous. Often it causes an allergy, which is accompanied by redness of the skin and a rash. Therefore, all work with the plant is carried out with gloves.
Mango blooms in early spring. Inflorescences are numerous small pinkish, yellowish or pale red flowers that form panicles or brushes up to 40 cm long. It takes up to 6 months for the fruit to ripen. Their appearance depends on the variety. There are small mangoes that are slightly larger than plums, and giant fruits weighing more than 2 kg.
The peel can be dyed in various colors - from lime and greenish to reddish-brown and dark scarlet. The skin is matte, dense, smooth to the touch with a thin layer of wax coating. When pressed, it is served in ripe fruits, but does not deeply miss. The saffron pulp is bright, very juicy and sweet, having a spicy aroma with notes of lemon, needles and roses.
Mango seed is a large seed. It is ribbed and hard to the touch.
Composition
Mango has a rich composition of nutrients:
- vitamins of group B, A, C, D, E;
- amino acids necessary for the body;
- carotenoids;
- minerals (phosphorus, calcium, iron);
- glucose, sucrose, maltose and other sugars.
In some countries, mangoes are used as a diuretic and laxative; they are eaten to improve blood coagulation in acute dermatitis.
It is no coincidence that we dwell in such detail on the description of the plant and its fruits. You need to know this if you are interested in how to grow mangoes at home from purchased fruit. Only with this knowledge you can choose a high-quality and ripe fruit suitable for growing a tree at home.
Features of growing mangoes
We have already figured out that you can grow mangoes at home. It remains to learn how to do it right. There are two known methods of growing this exotic tree at home. The first, and it is the simplest one, is the purchase of a finished seedling in the nursery. In this case, the acquired plant is transplanted into the soil and create the necessary conditions.
But as you know, true lovers of indoor plants do not look for easy ways. That is why it is important for them to know how to grow mangoes from seeds at home. In this case, you need to buy a quality fruit in the store. Its color alone does not determine its ripeness. The smooth green color of the peel often hides a well-ripened fruit. Press lightly on the fruit - elasticity, but without excessive hardness or deformation - the most important indicator of ripeness.
Carefully inspect the fetus - the skin should be intact, shiny, without spots. Ripe fruit has a pleasant aroma. If you feel a faint odor of alcohol - in front of you is an overripe fruit, in which fermentation has already begun.
The pulp of ripe mango during cleaning is easily separated from a large bone covered with fruit fibers.
Seed preparation
To grow mangoes from the bones of the house (we posted the photo below), it is necessary to extract the bones from the fruit, but this is not always possible. Cut the fruit in half and with a knife clean the bone from the pulp. Then rinse thoroughly under running water. Often, gardeners are interested in how to quickly grow mangoes at home from purchased fruit. To do this, it is necessary to free the seeds from a hard peel. Using a knife, very carefully open the bone and remove its contents, resembling in appearance and shape large beans.
If the shell is too hard to resist, do not try to break it or break it - you can injure the sprouts. Put such a bone in a transparent container for several weeks and fill it with water. Put the deformed bone in the bowl on the southern windowsill and do not forget to change the water every few days.
As soon as the bone swells, without it you open it on the side and get the seed. Immediately treat it with a fungicide to destroy spores of fungi. Do not forget that a young seed, devoid of a protective shell, can be easy prey for mold and other parasites.
Wrap the seed in a cotton damp cloth. It should not be too wet to prevent decay. Create a mini-greenhouse for it: place the wet material in a dense plastic bag and pack it all in a food-grade plastic container with a lid, which must be placed in a dark place for germination. Check humidity daily and ventilate planting material.
An alternative to this method of seed germination is a food container with moistened sawdust. Three weeks later, when the first embryos appear, you can transplant the seed into a pot.
Landing
How to grow mangoes from "beans" at home and which plant needs soil? Some flower growers immediately plant a seed or seed in the soil, having previously treated it with growth stimulants. Others consider this method not the most effective. The fact is that the seed preserves and protects the seeds that give life to the new plant. New conditions may not suit her. Therefore, there is no guarantee that a new plant will begin to grow, immediately planted in the soil.
Put a drainage (expanded clay) on the bottom of the pot with a layer of 5 cm, which will provide respiration to the roots and protect the future tree from rotting and stagnant water. Pot 2/3 fill the substrate. Make a small depression in it and plant the seed in the ground with the germ.
If the embryo does not appear after germination or you prefer to plant the seed without preliminary preparation, place it with its flat side down. Immediately after planting, the seed should be sprayed from the spray bottle and covered with a domed lid, a high transparent container, part of a plastic bottle.
Regularly inspect the seedling, water and ventilate the air in the tank to avoid decay and death of the plant. Place the container in a well-lit, warm place, but protect it from direct sunlight. Excess sun for developing mangoes is no less dangerous than excess moisture. If you did everything right, there is a hope that you can grow mango at home - in three weeks you will see its first sprout. After that, the greenhouse protection can be removed.
Plant care
Many gardeners refuse the idea to grow this exotic tree because of its exactingness for the content. Is it possible to grow mangoes at home, neglecting the rules for caring for him? Of course not. In addition, they are not as complicated as it might seem at first glance. Timely watering, access to light, top dressing and timely transplants are all that the plant urgently needs.
Lighting
Mango is quite comfortable at the window, which faces southeast or south. If you purchased a tree in a nursery or in a store, do not rush to transplant it immediately. Give him 2-3 weeks to adapt to the new conditions. Do not be afraid to leave the plant on a lighted windowsill. Shaded areas of the apartment should be avoided - the tree will begin to drop leaves and may even die.
To extend the daylight hours in winter to the required 12 hours, use the additional backlight.
Temperature mode
How to grow mangoes at home healthy and beautiful, given the fact that this crop is extremely negative about any climate change? The optimum temperature for this plant ranges from +21 ... + 26 ° C. Therefore, it is not recommended to take it to the garden or to the balcony, even in the summer. A sharp change in air temperature, wind, and sudden rain began are dangerous for this plant.
What should be the soil?
Interested in how to grow mangoes in a pot at home, novice lovers of indoor plants often do not pay due attention to the quality of the soil. Indeed, in this regard, the plant is not too demanding, but it is desirable that the soil mixture is loose and light.
The only condition that must be observed when choosing a soil is its acidity. The soil must be acidic. Suitable for plants and a special composition designed for gardenias, azaleas, hydrangeas. If it is not possible to purchase it, add peat to universal soil, a little citric acid or apple cider vinegar (a few drops) in the water for irrigation.
Experienced flower growers prepare the soil on their own. It will include peat chips, garden soil and river sand in a ratio of 1: 2: 1. Sand can be replaced with baking powder - vermiculite, perlite, coconut fiber, dried sphagnum moss.
Capacity selection
We have already said that under the natural conditions of growing mangoes has a developed root system, which deepens into the soil for five meters or more. In this regard, the question arises: "How to grow mangoes at home, taking into account these characteristics?"
An adult plant will need a fairly large pot, possibly a tub. It is advisable to choose a ceramic container or a wooden one - these natural materials better allow air to pass through. Give preference to pots with a thick bottom, otherwise the powerful roots of the plant will simply pierce it.
Humidity and watering
The plant does not accept dry soil, so the tree should be watered at least twice every seven days. Do not overdo it with moisture - an excess of moisture for the plant is as destructive as drought. Use irrigation or purified water at room temperature for irrigation.
It does not tolerate sapling and dry air. Therefore, it is necessary to periodically moisten the leaves of the plant using a spray bottle. The optimum humidity level is about 80%.
Top dressing
Experienced growers who know how to grow mangoes at home recommend regularly feeding it. In this case, you also need to know the measure. Excess fertilizer in the soil can cause salinization, which inhibits the development of the plant. Both mineral and organic top dressings are used.
Before flowering in spring, mangoes are watered with a solution of complex fertilizer for palm trees, citrus fruits or biohumus, which contain nitrogen, which stimulates the formation of green mass. After flowering, organics are used. An infusion of bird droppings, manure, dandelion leaves or nettles is suitable. Stop all dressing in mid-autumn.
Cropping and shaping the crown
Under natural conditions, mango rises upward, and indoor plants tend to keep up with it. If your plans do not include arranging a greenhouse in the house, you should pay special attention to the care of the crown.
After the eighth leaf appears on the seedling, pinch the top. When the tree reaches a height of one and a half meters, proceed to the formation of the crown. This occurs, as a rule, a year after planting a bone. Pruning is carried out in the spring, leaving five powerful branches. Slices should be treated with garden var.
Plant transplant
It is natural that initially mangoes are planted in a small container - a tiny plant feels quite comfortable in a flowerpot. Do not rush to transplant it into a more spacious pot immediately after the appearance of sprouts. Such a procedure will be required only a year after planting. Mango is too sensitive to any changes, so you should not stress it without special needs.
A tree that has reached the age of five is replanted much less often - once every three years.
Fruiting
Even with proper tree care, proper watering, lighting and fertilizing with useful substances, it is extremely difficult to grow fruits at home.
Experienced growers achieve fruiting of indoor mangoes quite simply by planting a kidney of a fruit-bearing specimen taken in a nursery. Two years after vaccination, the tree begins to bloom, and then the first sweet and aromatic fruits appear.