Last summer, my neighbor Maria handed me three perfect mangoes from her sister’s tree in Miami. “Save the seeds,” she said. “These are the sweetest mangoes you’ll ever taste.” I ate one that afternoon. It … Read more
Last July, my friend Priya’s backyard Kent mango tree in Homestead, Florida, went absolutely wild. Over 200 mangoes in about three weeks. She was handing them out to neighbors, bringing bags to work, eating them … Read more
Last summer, my neighbor Carlos knocked on my door holding a potted mango tree that looked rough. Yellow leaves. Barely any new growth. He’d been feeding it, watering it, giving it full sun — doing … Read more
A grower named Dennis in a South Florida gardening group learned the hard way what happens when you treat a mango tree the same all year long. He fertilized every month. He watered on the … Read more
Every winter, a wave of panicked messages floods the gardening groups I follow. They all sound about the same: “My mango tree hasn’t grown in weeks. The leaves look dull. Some are turning yellow and … Read more
A grower named Angela sent a message to a gardening group I follow with a photo that told a familiar story. Her six-year-old mango tree was covered in flower panicles — hundreds of them. Beautiful. … Read more
A grower named Beth in a Tampa-area gardening group did everything right for her mango tree during the growing season. She watered it on a solid schedule, fed it balanced fertilizer, gave it full sun, … Read more
A grower named Theresa in a South Florida gardening group once posted a photo that broke my heart a little. Her mango tree — a five-year-old Glenn she’d babied since it was a nursery seedling … Read more
After Hurricane Ian blew through Southwest Florida in 2022, a grower named Mike walked into his backyard to find his three-year-old Glenn mango flat on the ground. Roots ripped halfway out of the sandy soil. … Read more
A woman named Sandra posted in a gardening group I follow last spring with a problem. Her landlord was about to pour a new driveway. Right where her seven-year-old Glenn mango tree was growing. She … Read more
A guy named Ravi in a gardening group I follow once grew a mango from a seed he pulled out of a grocery store Alphonso. He babied that tree for eight years. Watered it perfectly. … Read more
A grower I follow online named Patricia shared something a few years ago that stuck with me. She had two mango trees in her yard near Fort Myers, Florida — same variety, same age, planted … Read more