Planting date of Mango Seeds: August 6, 2017

Attempting to grow mango trees from mango seeds that have been scavenged from grocery store mangoes. Picked up some mangoes at Sam’s club and I will also note that Sam’s Club has some pretty delicious mangoes and you don’t even have to sell an organ to afford them, so that’s definitely a plus.

Mango Seed Update: August 14, 2017

Well, recently (during this past summer), I’ve been having a losing battle with some avocado seeds (pits) and decided to branch out (haha) to trying some other plants. So…due my love of mangos, and my research that claims that growing mango trees is supposedly easy. So, pictured above is the first mango seed I planted (only did one that day because I pulled it straight out of the mango I ate). It’s been about a week and… here are my results thus far.

He’s cute, right? 🙂

Alright, to explain my own process, this little guy is currently in a self-watering pot so, I haven’t really had to maintain any sort of watering schedule. I figured that keeping the soil constantly moist would work because of the germination techniques I researched that use the wet (paper)towel method, which is when you dampen a paper towel, wrap the seed up, and put it in a plastic baggie for a few days/weeks (depending on the type of seed). With that in mind, I thought a self-watering pot would be fine, which, thus far, it has been. If I update this post saying that I’ve killed the plant, then we’ll all know that I was very, very wrong. Until next time!

I came home to a very exciting surprise last night!!

August 28, 2017-I transplanted the mango tree today. I’m pretty sure I broke off a few of the roots. I’m concerned I might have killed my poor baby. I guess the next couple of weeks will tell. ?

Mango Seedling Update: September 5, 2017

• The sprout has continued growing. Yesterday, I moved it to the side of the house to make sure it got a lot more sunlight. Then, of course it had to rain like crazy today so hopefully my plant isn’t drowning. It has sprouted more leaves. I think it is also important to note that during transplant, I also accidentally removed the seed from the base of the seedling. After several days of observation, I feel like the sprout might be less stable without the support of the seed. It isn’t leaning and seems to be holding up well against the strong winds that accompanied the rain.

Growing a Mango Tree from A Mango Seed Update: September 18, 2017

A couple of weeks ago, I transplanted my little mango seedling into a larger pot, which I think will be big enough to hold a tree large enough to bear fruit, but which I will also keep trimmed to a small size (After doing some research about how much easier it is to keep mango trees at small sizes for productivity, since I’d like to actually grow fruit in the future.) I haven’t seen a lot of growth since transplanting, but there have been quite a few new leaves.

Mango Seedling Update: October 16, 2017

• Welllll, still haven’t brought the mango seedling inside. The weather dropped to about 50 degrees overnight. So that’s not good, but the seedling have sprouted a new layer of smooth and luscious purply leaves. The little reddish chunks you see are pieces of apple. I’m experimenting with some very “let nature do as it will” composting and fertilizing methods. This container is also self-watering, though about a week ago, I removed the little bowl for better draining and have opted to just water multiple times a day. I’m usually at home anyway because I’m a homebody and go outside to stare at all of the plants 5 times a day.
  

  

  

  

  

  

Mango Seedling Update November 2, 2017:

• Due to the fact that my niece is a murderous, seedling-killer, my mango plant is either dying, dead, or slowly on the recovery. All of the purple has drained from leaves that used to be the color of plums. All of the leaves are shriveling and looking very sad. What happened? You might be wondering as your heart breaks with mine. The toddler took the seedling and ripped it from its planter about 5 days ago. At this point, it had only been indoors for a week and seemed to be doing well. Since then, I have been doing my own research on how to prevent it from dying. What I’ve found is that putting it back in the planter and keeping the soil moist (basically…what I’ve been doing this entire time) may or may not save it from the graveyard. So…for now, we play the waiting game. *cries in sadness*

Other Germination Methods for Growing Mango Trees From Seed

Attempt Date: September 12, 2018

After my first mango seedling had a sudden and unfortunate end, I had no mango plants to track progress on for the blog. I have finally replaced the mango seeds after a trip to Sam’s Club where I bought a box of mangoes. After nearly cutting my thumb off with a knife trying to remove the husks, I realized that I probably could have just soaked them overnight and water to soften them. This would have made them a lot easier to remove and would have saved me from bleeding all over the sink and a swollen thumb.

Moving on, I also bought a seed-starting tray the other day. Now, learning from my last experience with germinating mango seeds, I remembered that they are very fast growing plants and that it would not make sense to start them in the soil of the germination tray because they would need to be transplanted very soon. So in order to still make use of the tray and to avoid transplanting within the next few months, I took several small plastic planters, filled them with a lightweight, sandy, soil, shoved a mango seed in each of them and covered them up, set them inside the tray, and put the clear plastic top on the tray. I also filled the tray with soil which I have been keeping moist in order to maintain a higher humidity inside of the germination tray.

It has been about 4 days and as you can see in the photo, some of the mangoes have already started popping up.

I have been keeping all of this moist using a spray bottle that also works for fertilizer, insect repellents, spraying cars, and all sorts of other uses, so it is worth the investment. It is also pretty cheap. I love this solo, pressurized spray bottle because it is small, easy to walk around with, and easy to use. I am considering buying a couple more of them to keep around the garden so that I can spray succulents and other plants as need be.

An alternate method that I want to try in the future for germinating mango trees and other plants will be to use multiple watering spikes with the wine bottles upturned for keeping the soil consistently moist. This will consistently drip a little bit of water into the soil making sure that it stays moist throughout the germination process. S the watering spikes are only supposed to release water when they feel the surrounding soil getting dry, they will not over water or drown your seeds. The other watering spikes that I already have set into my planters used wine bottles that are a liter and a half. The benefit of this is that you do not have to refill them as frequently, which is nice for keeping your garden well watered.