How to Grow a Mango Tree in a cool climate or when you don’t have space? Well, Growing a Mango Tree in a Pot or container is the answer!
Also called the king of fruits, the mango tree grows in the warm and tropical climate, not winter hardy, and dies in the temperature below 25 F (-3 C). Usually, it requires a lot of room to grow. But if you’re short of space or living in a colder climate, where growing a mango tree on the ground is impossible–Growing a mango tree in a container can be an option.
USDA Zones: 9b–11, can be grown till zone 8 with care
Difficulty: Moderate
Botanical Name: Mangifera Indica
Growing Habit
A Mango tree grown in its native place can be huge. Some cultivars can grow up to 32+ meters (105+ feet) tall. And there are more than 500+ varieties of mangoes grown across the world. A typical mango tree, if cared for well, can live up to 100s of years.
Mango Tree Propagation
Propagating a mango tree from a pit or seed is a bad idea because it may take up to 8 years to produce fruit, and even after that, there’s no guarantee that it’ll bear fruits or not, and of which variety.
The smart idea is to buy a grafted plant. Many mango cultivars are available these days, so it’s best to ask at the local nursery or search online for the dwarf variety that does well in the container.
A grafted mango plant takes a minimum of 2 years to fruit. In its first 3 years, it grows larger and produces fewer flowers and fruits. More productive fruiting starts after the fifth year of planting.
Choosing the Right Variety
A dwarf mango tree grows up to 2 to 4.5 meters (6 to 15 feet) tall and can be tried in containers successfully. There are some specific dwarf varieties of mango trees that you can grow in a container:
- Irwin
- Nam Doc Mai
- King Thai
- Carrie
- Cogshall
- Glenn
- Neelam
- Amrapali
- Palmer
- Pickering
- Mallika
- Honeykiss
- Dwarf Hawaiian
- Julie
- Fairchild
- Icecream
- Alampur Baneshan
Planting a Mango Tree
Select a planter according to the current size of the rootball of the plant and update the planter as the plant gets bigger in a year or two or whenever it’s required. You’ll need a large pot to accommodate a mango tree.
In the beginning, a two-size bigger planter than the rootball would be sufficient. If you grow a dwarf variety, your compact mango tree will fit well in a 30-40 gallon pot once it becomes mature.
The Best Time for Planting
The best time for planting a mango tree is in spring. However, in their native habitat, like India, mangoes are planted before the beginning of the Monsoon (July, August) or after the rainy season.
Requirements for Growing Mango Trees in Containers
Soil
- It needs light, well-drained soil that is very rich in organic matter.
- The pH level around 5.5 to 7.5 (slightly acidic to neutral) is ideal.
- Instead of using regular soil from the garden, use a high-quality potting mix.
- Also, add 1/3 part of compost or aged manure to the soil mix at the time of planting.
Position
A mango tree needs a lot of sun and heat to thrive. Almost 8-10 hours of exposure to the full, intense sun is required for optimum growth and productivity of the plant. Place the mango tree in a container in the South or West facing position of your garden.
Watering
Mango trees grown on the ground don’t require much watering, but container-grown plants are different. You’ll need to water your mango plant regularly in its first 2-3 years. Once the tree is established and mature enough to bear fruits, start to water moderately during the pre-flowering period.
Keep doing this until 40-50 percent of the tree is full of flowers and then water regularly from flowering stage to fruit formation, until a few weeks (or a month) left before harvesting the mangoes. During this time, reduce irrigation and start to water moderately again.
Mango Tree Care
Fertilizer
Feed it with a balanced fertilizer when actively growing. At the beginning of the blooming season, decrease the amount of nitrogen and select a fertilizer with high potassium and phosphorus content. For plentiful fruits, go for citrus fertilizers like 8-3-9-2 mix available in the market. You can also try tomato fertilizers!
Pinching and Pruning
Continuous pinching when your plant is young encourages bushier growth. The mango tree doesn’t require a lot of pruning every year. However, it’s necessary to remove dead, diseased, and entangled branches that are causing the lack of air circulation and penetration of sunlight to control its shape and health. The best time to prune is after the harvest!
Note: Heavy pruning can decrease the number of fruits in the following year.
Pests
Common pests that attack a mango tree are Hoppers, Mealybugs, Scales, and Spider Mites. They reduce the vigor of the tree, which causes fewer fruits. These must be controlled as early as possible using organic or chemical pesticides.
Growing a Mango Tree in Cold Climates
If you live in a colder region, use a dark-colored pot because the mango tree loves the warmth, and black color has a tendency to absorb heat. Make sure your pot has sufficient drainage holes because a mango tree doesn’t appreciate a moist, waterlogged growing medium.
Also, you’ll need to cover the pot with bubble wrap when the temperature starts to dip. In winter, moving your mango tree’s pot in a greenhouse or indoors is also a good idea if you’re not growing it in a frost-free area.
Place it in a room near a south-facing window, which receives at least some amount of direct sunlight during the day. Try to warm up the room using grow lights and special temperature-raising halogen lights. You can also cover up your plant to insulate it from cold.
Discover the Best Low Maintenance and Drought Tolerant Fruit Trees
Harvesting a Mango Tree
After flowering, mango fruits start to ripe within the next 3-4 months. It all depends on the climate and the variety you’re growing. In hot and humid climates, fruits ripen fast. Pluck fruits when their scent becomes sweet and tempting.
You can harvest unripe fruits too. These are used in making sherbet, pickles, chutneys, and curries.
Growing Mango Tree Indoors
Well, if you thinking about growing mango tree indoors, then it is not possible. You can, of course, keep it as a foliage plant but it will not flourish and bear any fruits.
I have a mango tree that the children in my class planted several years ago. I have since retired and taken it home with me. It is about 3′ high, seem healthy, but has never flowered. Do all mango trees flower? I can’t remember exactly when we planted it, but it was close to 7 or 8 years ago. Should I put it in a larger pot?
Your tree is old enough to bloom and produce fruit. There are several reasons why a mango tree in pot may not be flowering.
1. It can be due to insufficient sunlight – calculate how much sun your potted mango plant is getting.
2. Due to nutrient deficiency – Check the leaves to identify the sign of lack of nutrition and deficiency. This might be helpful.
3. Root bound – Check if the plant is root bound. To check, dig top inch layer of soil and see if their are roots growing upwards or clutered. *If you’ve never pruned it before, try to prune it this will encourage blooms.
4. A mango may not bloom due to bad quality seed – It was sowed from seed or you bought it from nursery? If it was grown from seed you can do grafting to it to increase its productivity.
Besides this, there could be many other reasons– pests and diseases, weather, fertilizer and overcast.
Hello Linda cameron in my experience yes you should transfer the tree to a 5gal bucket or so
The plant will definitely respond if you put it in a bigger pot. A seedling such as yours, even in the best conditions, usually will require at least 5 years to flower. The shortest I have ever gotten fruit from a mango seedling is 4 years. Most mangos will not yield fruit similar in quality to the seed that was planted. You can read about monoembryonic vs polyembryonic seeds. Ideally you will repot the tree for now and at some point in the future a fellow mango lover can graft a very desired scion onto your tree.
I Loved the mango tree
kindly advise i just threw a mango seed ,last year and a tree pop up next to my jazmin tree .how do i remove and replant, will it be a problem kindly advise . thank you
Hello Fatima, most of the times the mango tree germinates from seed won’t grow healthy or true, besides this it takes lot of years to set fruits. If you really want to grow mango it is better to buy a grafted tree from nursery.
Where can I get a tree at a reasonable price?
Home Depot and Lowes carry them. If you have a local nursery and can find the cultivar Lemon Zest, it is the best mango I have ever had. I paid $30 a piece at the nursery for these two years ago and this is the first year to bloom. It will not make mangoes until the second year of bloom usually. But progress!
I don’t understand why you would say that growing from seed would result in an unhealthy tree. Root stock for grafting is created by planting seeds. Most trees grown from seed will not produce fruit of the same type that the seed came from, and it won’t fruit as quickly as it would if a cutting from a producing, known-variety tree, was grafted onto the seed-grown root stock, but root stock developed using seeds from ‘inferior’ mango strains can result in very healthy trees, producing fruit of the grafted variety.
Mango is a pretty good fruit, certainly kingly. I would avoid too much pinching for best results. Russ
Very well described, will try mango in a container and look forward to receive your tips in future also.
Thanks
Hi Ashim, it’s wonderful you like this. Please follow us for more gardening info.
I just planted 2mangoe tree in containers so far they are doing ok I look forward for some healthy trees that will bear plenty of fruits am following all the advice carefully so they will do well in florida
What does pinching mean/entail? What part of the plant are you pinching presumably to deter growth
Hi Michelle, Pinching is a kind of pruning that is done to encourage branching.
To pinch a plant, just pinch at the end of branch (tip) with your fingers or sharp scissor. This will stop the growth of that branch and make it produce new branches.
To learn more, read this.
Hi I have a mango tree this is the 2 nd time it has flowers and fruit and within 3 weeks the fruit drys up and falls off can you tell me what I am doing wrong
Hi Debbie,
There can be a number of reasons of fruit drop in mango tree. Most commonly it is due to lack of nutrients, make sure you are applying right amount of fertilizer at correct time. Other causes might be temperature, diseases and under or over watering.
If you are “Growing Mango Tree in Pot”, also checkout that it isn’t root bound, which can be a reason too.
I have the same problem. Our mango tree is in the grown I live in San Diego which the weather changes ofren. Out mango tree always gives flowers and fruit but it drys and falls out. I do see alot of spider webs I do water it not often since it’s never given fruit but lately I have been since I replanted an angles trumpet. I shop at home Depot what should I look for to nurture it? Oh one other thing our mango tree is 30yrs old and we have never been able to enjoy its fruit. Please help!! Thank you!!!! :)
If you have lots of spider webs they may be spider mites. They are truely mites and are not affected by pesticides. The only thing that kills them is oil: I use Neem oil. Oil smothers them. I have had a hard time with them on my gardenias. I tried oil and dish soap mixed with water as others have recommended but it didn’t work. I use a foliar fertilizer that I use on my citrus tree and a specific fertilizer for mangoes that they have at home depot. Other than that, it sounds like it needs more moisture, especially after blooming and preferably months before. If none of these work, try planting another mango tree to use as pollination. I have two but they have just flowered this year and are in pots so could not produce the mangoes which is natural the first year of bloom. I am going to try either a bigger pot, although the ones they are in are huge or plant them in ground where I am afraid the coons wil eat them. Good luck. 30 years old is impressive.
I got a Mango tree in a pot which as self rooted into the garden, Can you cut back the roots without damaging the tree groth or fruit bearing. Mywife seems to think it is not a dwaft type
Hi i bought a mango tree an it seemed like it died last year during winter but it started growing again below the garth will it ever bear fruit
How long can I leave my mango tree in a pot before putting new soil in as mine has sunk in the pot
Anytime, unless it is fruiting.
Really good and informative
Hi
Very useful topic and I’m planning to do the above method.
Can you please explain how to remove white fungus from hibiscus and tomato plant ?
S K Nair
Mr. Nair, for the fungus in hibiscus and tomato or on any other plant you can mix two teaspoon of baking soda (not baking powder) in three cups of water mix well and spray on your plants, it will keep those bugs out. You can also make a fine paste of few garlic cloves and mix it with the same water with baking soda and spray, this will keep most of the insects away.
Kindly help me, my mango plant growing good before but starting monsoon is badly affect the plant. It’s new leaves are started shrinking….. water is filled around the plant is that is a problem? Tell me the suitable remedy pls
Hi Farhan, If water is filled around the plant continuously, roots will rot. Common symptons includes wilting leaves with both new and old foliage drooping and dying. If the plant is in a pot, bring it to a place protected from rain and let the soil to dry out to one inch from top before you water it again. Another thing you can do is to repot the plant into sterile potting mix to prevent further fungal attacks on the root system.
In wich month can i transfer my mango tree to another and biger pot ?
I grew planted a mango seed and it’s going very well but I’m worried it will never Produce fruit.
Hi I planted pomegranate seeds about 8yrs ago. The plant is healthy, i trim & feed it on a regular basis. I bring it inside for winter months, it stays healthy & happy in my all glass sunroom but no fruit yet. Is there any thing I could do to encourage to produce, please advice. Best reguards.tanjila
Tanjila Ahmed, my grandfather always told me to have two different pomegranate plants for cross pollination. Perhaps this is your problem.
Hey,I really love your mango tree pictures and passage although I have never planted mango tree before because I live in Beijing where it is not suitable for mango growing.Can you recommend me some kinds of plants to grow in Beijing?谢谢（Thank you very much!）?
I’am in St cloud central fl. the oldest mango tree have survive 2 frost and came and survive now with the weather so warn it grown out of proportion and small amount of fruit the second one did the contrary a lot of fruits and very large just like the guavas tree it have so large crop that the branches are touching the ground i use compost most of time on all the plants,about 20 of them i share most of it with the neighbors.
I would like to try a dwarf variety that produces a fleshy mango. I don’t enjoy the hairy, stringy varieties. Can you suggest a suitable option for me?
Hi,
Where dan i buy dwaft mangoplant?
I,m in Suriname ,we don,t have this type of mangoes,
Please inform me,
with regards
Cg.
I had mango tree plant in indoor,the problem is Sunlight was not direct to tree, can grow but grow slow. How do improve plant grow or maintained it?
I once had an indian mango tree in my front yard. It was a lot of work maintaining it but it gave me and the neighborhood kids delicious afternoons when it was blooming. I had to remove it when I needed to renovate my home. Good times. Thanks for this!
Hi, sorry my question is not from this topic but it’s about mango tree… in my land i have a mango tree and its almost 60years old and is it safety if we build a house near to it or should we cut the tree. Thank you
In ground……in spring…spread compost around tree and out underneath canopy…….muclch with lucerne or lupin……keep a circle of around 6 inches around the trunk free from both compost and mulch…….Dont water every day….sandy low fertile soil is the best for drainage………folar spray every two weeks when growing with a combination of fish emulsion/seaweed………dramatic results……..Try to shape the tree from a young age……when its 60 to 80 cm high….cut the top off……just above a brown collar……this will encourage it to grow shoots from around that collar……select 3 or 4 shoots…..forming a triangle ……..my one has three branches at the moment….when 30 to 40 cm long……cut down to just above collar….remove weaker branches or any growth facing inwards….try to create an open space in the centre of the tree to allow air/light into it……do the same all around the tree……you will create a large canopy with many branches and keep the height down…so its easy to reach the fruit…..compost and mulch …spring/autumn……..Dont water every day……..when they flower…..they will only grow what the plant can sustain……it will decide……….if you provide organics via the compost/mulch that will help…….when it flowers…..feed with a food similar to strawbs.tomatoes……..not high in nitrogen but more towards Phosphourous and potassium….this will encourage blooms and fruit…….Yates flower and fruit is good….Remove flowers on first attempt of tree to grow fruit…let it grow bigger ….Nitrogen is good at this time………The next year it will have a big strong canopy to support more fruit……Its best to remove all fruits the first time as it takes a lot of energy to grow fruit….get the roots and canopy strong before you let it fruit.
Love your tips.. Planted 5 mango seeds a few mounts ago.. And all of them is doing fine, they have grown much!! Dont know the type of mango tree… How can I tell witch kind it is….any link to that!? Thanks
Very good tip!! Planted 1 last yr on a slope San Gabriel mntn & grown a foot high. Idk what variety. Ok to fertilize with fish emulsion now or regular fert? Where can I buy pot variety here in So Cal? Thanks.
Has anyone grown a Kennsington pride / bowen in a pot? I am north facing but due to surrounding trees get full sun all summer but sheltered to no sun in winter so cant put in the ground. I live in Sydney.
Im in perth and my tree (Kensington) is flowering in a very small pot should i feed it re-pot the tree or leave the tree alone.Its from bunnings and about a year old .
Leave it alone….repotting in the hot summer is not a good idea.
How can we order a plant from you?
If you love growing what you eat, try growing chilies in the easiest possible way. Chilly is the most common spice, found in almost every cuisine. And is as easy to grow as on your kitchen window sill. Give it a try.
I am sure there is nothing better then freshly harvested chilies.
Hey everyone ,
Just wanted to let you know I found a great place for mango trees and other exotic fruit trees in El Monte ,Ca. It’s called Champa nursery . I live in Orange County Ca. and found this place about 1 1/2 years ago . By the way…….this is a great website !
I repotted mango tree as it was not growing. Fees days after repotting I added NPK 20/20/20 in a little amount. But after 3 -4 weeks all the leaves became brown. I was told that NPK is not used in mango tree. Therefore I changed the soil. Since there were no leaves at the time of repotting ( 2nd time) will y plant survive or not,? And how will I know whether it will survive or not?
Hi,
My small pot mango is fruiting and growing several new branches at the same time. Should I trim the new branches to allow the tree to concentrate on the fruits?
Thanks
I recently planted a Mango tree on a hill side, I live in Southern California. I want to be a good neighbor and limit the growth of tree? Is that possible. How?
I LIVE IN NY, I AM PLANTING A MANGO SEED, WHAT OUTSIDE TEMPERATURE SHOULD I TAKE MY PLANT INSIDE AND HOW MUCH WATER SHOULD I USE AS WELL AS HOW OFTEN. CAN THE PLANT STAY OUTSIDE ALL WINTER IF I COVER IT WITH BUBBLE WRAP?
I have a mango tree in Brooklyn NY. It will not survive the winter. What do you need to do is, to get a greenhouse or something to cover it up in the winter. Also put some heat to it as our New York winters get very cold and keep it above 55 degrees
I bring my mangoes closer to the house for warmth when it gets down in the 40s. Young trees in pots can’t take too much of a chill. Your mango tree would not survive very long outside in the winter in NY. Find a warm, sunny place inside and consider investing in a grow lamp as well. As far as watering goes, pay attention to your tree. If the soil is dry or the tree seems wilty, water. If it’s damp do not water. Mangoes hate waterlogged roots. In the Florida sun, I water at least once a day in the summer (unless it’s rained for a good spell that day), once a week in the winter. If I see a big rain storm or multiple rainy days predicted in the cooler months, I move my mangoes under cover to avoid the deluge. Older trees don’t need too much care, but be sure to baby the young ones — they die quick in the wrong conditions.
Hi everyone
I was wondering if anyone has experience growing a mango tree in containers in ontario. Just bought a beautiful tree but the weather is starting to get cold. I purchased some grow lights just curious as to how I should proceed with placing the tree indoors for the winter. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks
Hello! I live in north Florida. I bought several grafted mango trees from a nursery last year, and put them in a greenhouse at the beginning of winter. I was not aware that they also needed some source of heat. I did put a heater inside of the green house when I noticed that all the leaves had died. All the trees had apparently died but I noticed that the roots are still alive and some leaves are coming up in the surface. Since this trees were grafted, my best guess is that the plants growing up is from the original plant and the grafted plants have died . Should I throw these away and start over?
How can we order the fast growing fruit trees??
I have built a greenhouse in Georgia USA specifically to grow a mango tree. My Carrie just arrived. The greenhouse is 16 feet tall, wide and deep (a 16 foot cube). The greenhouse will be heated in the winter to whatever low temperatures I can get away with for the mango, even up to 60 degrees F if I have to. My question is about root temperatures. The average ground temp in Georgia is around 45-50 degrees F. I plan on planting the mango in the ground and digging out an area about 5’x5′ and 5′ deep to fill with proper soil for the tree. I have the ability to heat the ground with a water radiant loop. Is anyone aware of a ground temperature for places where the mangos like to grow naturally?
Hi someone advise me please? I have planted mango in a place very close to the house and would like to remove it to a pot, could this be possible? I live in Florida.
Do you thinking mangoes
Tree will survive in san
Francisco California
I am really hoping I can rescue my potted mango tree. It is about 10 inches tall and the leaves are light green with lots of browning and some black spots. I have not seen any past but wondering if it has some kind of mold/fungus? I have it indoors with a grow lamp and pulled back to watering it only once every 2 weeks now that it is winter. I gave it indoor plant fertilizer with no results, obviously not really sure what I’m doing. Any tips for rescuing them during winter? It is not dropping leaves but it’s not looking good.
My Mango plant is almost 1 1/2 year old. It is in full sun( kept on terrace)In first year it gave some new leaves but now tips of the plant are getting black and side of the leaves are getting brown. Gradually all leaves are giving appearance of burn out leaves.
Kindly advise how to save this plant.
I am new at all of this planting stuff. I thought now that I am retired, I would try it. I bought a mango and would like to plant the seed to see what I get. My question is: Can someone suggest the name of the best brand potting soil that already contains the compost mixed in with the soil?
Growing a mango tree in a pot can be a fun and rewarding experience for any gardener. Balcony Garden Web provides useful information on how to grow a mango tree in a pot, including the best soil mix, fertilizers, and watering requirements. The site also offers tips on pruning and pest control, ensuring that your mango tree stays healthy and productive. With the help of Balcony Garden Web, you can enjoy fresh, juicy mangoes right from your own balcony.