Need some expertise on frowing mangoes from seeds

chillilover starts with ...
Ok so just for fun i have successfully grown about 8 mango seedlings from 6 seeds. I removed the husk and just planted in soil. These are all the kensington varieties.

My first question would be will these eventually fruit in the future. According to the abc gardening website:

"Trees are generally sold as grafted saplings, although some cultivars, such as Nam Doc Mai and Kensington Pride, can be grown from seed sown after removing the flesh. Seeds are polyembryonic, meaning one seed can produce two to four seedlings. Pinch out the strongest seedlings and retain the smallest. This will produce the best fruit."

So i assume my seedlings would. But what about the second bit about keeping the smallest seedling. I thought the strongest would have a higher chance of producing.

Now some of my seeds have multiple plants coming out of them. How do i separate the seedlings.

Would someone also care to comment on this piece of imformation on Burkes backyard site:

"It is worth growing mangoes from seed as they produce up to eight shoots from each seed, only one of which is different from the parent tree. Remove this one – usually the centrally-located, most vigorous shoot – and all of the other shoots sent up are identical in fruit type to the parent mango tree. "

And lastly why is there so much emphasis on grafted trees.

Pictures - Click to enlarge
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Danny says...
Grafted trees are more popular because they will bear fruit in one year and will always fruit true to type.

David says...
Mangos come as monoembryonic seed varieties or polyembryonic seed varieties. Monoembryonic types produce one seedling per seed and they are not true to type, so they have to be grafted if you want that variety. Polyembryonic mangos may produce mostly clonal seedlings and also non clonal (generally 1). Typically the strongest seedling is retained as it is likely a clone and true to type. Most of the non-clones are either self polinated or an outcross and not usually more vigorous than the parent. Once the seedlings have produced a few leaves you can divide them up it you want and watch their progress if you want and maybe identify one which is different, which will probably be no good as mangos are very varied in their genetics and you'd have to be very lucky to find something worthwhile. The variation in the vigour of the seedlings which are clones also depends on the amount of the stored energy of the seed that an individual seedling is able to monopolise, so all the difference in vigour you see is not necessarily a genetic difference.
Seedling grown mangos are more vigorous in their early years than a grafted one, so in a cooler climate a seedling is good because the tree can establish itself to a descent size faster than a grafted tree. The benefit of a grafted tree is also that you know you wont be unlucky and get an off type. R2E2 has a reputation for producing a large percentage of off types, but KP are pretty consistent.

db says...
I have self-grown mango seedling tree which is almost 1.5 yrs old. I don't what variety but as I remember that mango was big, bit elongated (so I'm guessing it wasn't R2E2), very sweet n tasty, without any fibers. Anyway, tree is now 3 feet high, growing strong.. It was in same pot for more than a year since it started, then just few months back I put it in ground, but main tap root broke in half when I was removing it from pot (that root actually went in ground from pot holes, so i couldn't remove it properly) but survived and started growing fast. To make room for other plants n considering it will be a huge tree, I decided remove it from ground and put in bigger pot, roots again got damaged, but tree has survived very well n again growing fast.. I don't know if it is polyembryonic or not.. There are 2 main stems, one is bigger and 2nd is smaller but its not attached to main stem, looks like 2 stems came from that seed. Could it be from polyembryonic seed?

Considering it will grow in a pot and its seedling and roots got so much damaged, is it worth keeping it? Can mango seedling tree fruit in a pot?

denise. says...
The govt research in Auckland used to have grafted mangos fruiting on small trees in pots the size of buckets.I have a seedling starting to fruit and it is only about 60cms high. It is in the ground. The rootzone is tight so similar to being in a container.It is by a north facing wall.

Db says...
Ok then, I'll keep it n see when it starts flowering. I just checked it and it's actually 4.5ft high inc rootstock

db says...
Thanks BJ, I don't remember colour of the fruit, it was actually 2 yrs back, but it was not red and green, most probably it was yellow-orange.. If there are two stems coming out of single seed, then both should produce same type of fruit right? I'm not sure why u mentioned 'two different fruits'.. I'll take some photos tomorrow and post it here so that u can see what I mean..

denise. says...
It looks as if the seed was planted the wrong way up and the root curled over. When sowing the root should point downwards, which means that if sown with husk still on then the hairy edge should face downwards. I always take the husk off to be sure of a proper development and to biff any seeds that arent healthy. You have some really healthy looking mango trees.

db says...
Anyone? Should I remove smaller stem or is it OK to keep both? (see pics above)

db says...
Thanks BJ, I'll keep both then.. I'm not sure if I can do graft though, never tried it, it will be nice experiment :)

db says...
Uncle Kimo, thanks for replying.. I realized that when I put that mango plant in ground and again in pot later on, I saw it has only one main tap root, not two for 2 plants. Can they still be two different plants? If yes, does it mean smaller stem plant will be true to type and I should only graft on bigger one?

denise says...
Occasionly I get a mango seedling that divides into two at about the soil level.( not polyembryonic) Sometimes it is associated with a flattening of the stem just below the divide. I would be inclined to trim one off if it is exposed to gusts of wind that could cause problems later on as they graft together and are blown apart..

David says...
db, I think you can just treat it as one plant. Chances are that it is polyembryonic as the most common varieties here are polyembryonic. Both shoots are probably true to type, but its possible one is nuclear and is an off type. So you could keep both until it fruits just to be sure, or you could chop one off. You can leave it in the pot and keep potting it up if you want. I have one tree in a 300 litre potting bag. I think letting the tree branch low down is good as you can more easily prune it to have an open shape without it being overly tall. Mangoes do send a tap root down immediately when they grow, but even if kept in a pot which restricts its growth it will grow a new tap root when put in the ground.

Mike says...
Bowens are odd in that that are of subtropical Indian origin yet are polyembryonic like most of the the SE Asian more tropical types.Monoembryonics dominate in the US,handle cold better,are more turpsy and usually are more coloured.Some polys have only one dominant stem with the others hardly growing.
David I agree and you can prune any mango tree tobe under 2.5m if you have it from the start.

Denise says...
The parts of a polyembryonic mango seed that come true to type of the tree they were picked from are nucellar according to my sources. Correct me if I am wrong.

john says...
I'm pretty sure R2E2 is mono.

Mike says...
I thought R2E2 is poly bowen seedling from row R two down and row E two along of a bowen mango (KP) farm.This is in spite of having the colour,shape and poorer flavour of a mono.I don't know if polys can have mono offspring.

David says...
I understand that R2E2 is a Kent progeny. Definitely polyembryonic, I have germinated lots of them. They have a reputation for throwing a lot of off type seedlings though, as well as the odd mono.
Yes I think polys are popular, maybe because we are seeing more south east asian varieties which is the traditional home of polys. The are 3 new Australian bred varieties which are about to be released to the commercial growers and do not have marketing names yet. These are 2 monos and one poly. These are hybrids of Florida Monos and KP.