Does the yellow and juicy pulp of the mango give you an irresistible desire for summer? Find out how to plant a mango at home from seed and how to grow it.

An exotic plant native to India, the mango adapts well to all warm latitudes and can also be grown in pots, starting from its seed. Planting the mango seed in a pot is a very simple operation that allows you to enjoy the beauty of this peculiar tropical plant, making it the queen of the home balcony.

The mango is easy to plant and grow, but if we want it to bear fruit we need to have patience and space. In fact, in nature the mango grows rapidly until it becomes a tree up to 25 meters high which is able to produce thirst-quenching and vitamin-rich fruits in quantity, something which in captivity is only possible under certain conditions: space and grafting.

When to plant mango seed

The most suitable seasons for planting mangoes are late spring or, better yet, early summer. This period of the year is in fact characterized by mild temperatures and longer days which will allow the seedling to enjoy a greater number of hours of solar radiation.

The mango, on the other hand, is a plant that does not tolerate temperature changes and for this reason the mild temperatures are ideal for sowing, for growth but also for keeping it alive. In order to preserve the plant from thermal excursions in the colder months, the advice is to use the same precautions used to protect lemon plants (i.e. plastic or fabric covers) or transfer the plant inside the house (provided it is in an area where it can be illuminated for several hours by direct light).

Planting the mango: germination

The germination of the mango seed before putting it on the ground allows the young roots to be sufficiently strengthened which will be more likely to take root and make our seedling grow.

The best way  to germinate mangoes is to use a plastic bag or food container as an ‘incubator’. In order to make the mango germinate, three basic steps must be respected

1. First the mango seed must be extracted from the shell . This is a delicate operation during which care must be taken to clean the seed extracted from the cuticles, but above all not to damage it.
2. As a second step it is necessary to create the artificial accommodation for the seed. To do this it is necessary to wet a sheet of kitchen paper and place the mango seed inside without suffocating it or squeezing it too much. At this point, everything should be placed in the food container, or in the transparent plastic bag: anything goes, as long as it can be closed to keep the humidity high.
3. Taking care of the sprouted mango seed is very important. The sheets of paper in which it was wrapped must be replaced at least once a week and must always remain moist (for this purpose we can use a plant sprayer). It takes a few days for the mango seed to take root and about two weeks for it to start sprouting. When the sprout is about 4 centimeters tall it is ready to be planted in the ground.

How to plant mango seed

 When the root is strong and the shoot is vigorous, the time has come to plant the mango seed and the ideal  place is a not too large pot of about 10 cm in diameter which is sufficient to accommodate the seedling and make it grow in the first phase of its growth. life, and then pour it into a larger vessel.

As land it is advisable to use universal soil , easily available in supermarkets and garden shops, to be enriched with homemade compost. The seed must be planted cutting , i.e. with the root downwards and the shoot upwards. If the root is seeds wrapped up near the shoot, there’s no need to worry: when the mango seed is in the vase, the root will descend naturally. It is important to remember that the sprout must stay out of the ground.

How to grow mango plant

The mango plant needs a lot of water , especially during the growth phase. It is therefore necessary to make sure to water it regularly to prevent the soil from drying out completely but without creating stagnations that could lead it to suffering.

When the mango plant has strengthened it will be necessary  to cut the stem  at the height of the first node. This operation will serve to strengthen it and give impetus to its growth. Furthermore, the plant should be placed in a place that has a lot of light but not excessive direct sunlight, especially during the hottest hours of the torrid summer days.

It is possible to check the health status of the leaves, the color of which must be bright and the appearance long and stretched. The mango plant grows quickly, but a healthy and robust plant is not enough to obtain fruit.

To make  the mango plant fruitful, a graft is needed and it is therefore advisable to contact a specialized nursery, alternatively it is possible to choose the seed of a local mango variety such as those grown organically in Southern Italy and in particular in Sicily.

When does the mango bear fruit

The mango is a very particular plant and it takes years to bear fruit, considering that a mango plant born from seed can take up to eight years to bear fruit (but it could also fail if not grafted); while grafts instead produce fruit after 3-5 years and guarantee a good harvest.

Generally, at the age of three or four years, the mango generates 10-20 fruits per tree, rising to 50-75 fruits in subsequent years, and around 500 fruits in its tenth year of life. Obviously, from year to year the plant grows and this will have to be transferred into increasingly larger pots or into soil that is capable of expanding its roots.

Having a mango tree that bears fruit is truly a privilege as this fruit is a real elixir of well-being that  can be enjoyed in different ways .  In particular, mango is a good source of vitamin C, vitamins, minerals and dietary fiber  that help sluggish intestines .

Furthermore, among its properties it is worth including the anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial ones due to the presence of flavonoids, such as quercetin.