How to Grow a Mango From Seed

Sometimes I just like to do things to see if I can. Did I need to grow a mango tree? Absolutely not. Did I want to see if I could actually grow one? You bet I did! I mean how many people get to show off their homegrown mango tree (or any mango tree for that matter) when company come over? Well, this girl does that’s who! And so can you, it’s actually super easy and there is just one trick you need to know.

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Did you think I was going to tell it to you right off the bat? I mean it’s not even a big secret but it will increase your chances of mango domination. We should start by talking about what a mango is. So what is it? Well, it happens to be a stone fruit produced by trees of the genus Mangifera. There are many types and they vary in size, shape, skin colour and sweetness. So let’s get down to business…

So to start you are going to need a mango, like this one, down there. You could use a yellow mango too, but me I went with the one you see pictured below. I bought it to make some delicious mango salsa using a recipe given to me by my neighbour. I also recently came across this amazingly delicious looking strawberry mango salsa from Damn Delicious.

Once you have yourself a lovely ripe mango all you need to do is eat it and save the seed. Cut off as much of the fruit as you can to get to the seed pod.

Next step is to clean off as much of the mango flesh, scientific type would refer to is as the mesocarp. So that you can expose the seed pod, or as the aforementioned scientific types would say, the endocarp.

So at this point you may be thinking booyah! I have my mango seed now I can plant it. Now you could plant it at this point, but we want to make sure we have the best plant of growing an awe inspiring mango tree. Oh yeah and this isn’t the seed…it’s the seed pod. So let’s keep going so we can grow a mango tree to inspire generations to come. Ok maybe not, but its still pretty cool, right?

So now you are going to need a sharp knife. You are going to CAREFULLY insert it between the two edges of the seed pod. I found it easier to fit it in on the curved side of the seed pod. Now don’t go jamming that knife in too far as we don’t want to damage the actual seed which lies within. That sounded epic, am I right?

THE SEED THAT LIES WITHIN

Sounds like a horror movie title or at least a creepy line from one. Anyway…moving on…

Once you have the knife between the two sides of the seed pod you can twist the knife to separate the two halves. Slide the knife up and keep twisting so the you are able to pry both sides of the seed pod apart.

Once you have done this you will be able to expose and finally get a look at the mango seed that we are after.

So there it is. Looks kinda weird right? But that’s it, the mango seed, well from my mango at least. The next thing you are going to need is a pot and some soil. I opted for tropical soil as it seemed like something a mango would appreciate.

All you have to do is plant it in the soil with the little nub facing up. Put it in a sunny place and give it lots of water and TLC. I found that mine grew VERY quickly. The leaves went from little ovals to these huge leaves almost overnight.

So here it is in all its current glory. I plan to keep it outside as long as possible and then bring it in as soon as the weather starts to turn cold.

Have you grown any fruit from seed? Do you have your own mango that you use to impress your friends and family?