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How To Grow A Mango Tree From Seed – Step-By-Step

No fruit screams tropical summer paradise like a mango.

Whether it’s the bright yellowy-orange color or the stunning green leaves with a touch of red, these trees are wonderful additions to any garden.

You don’t need to spend a fortune to grow your own mango tree either. By using a mango from your local grocery store, you can grow a fully-fledged tree that may even produce fruit after several years.

Rather than throwing the mango husk in the trash after eating, put your scraps to good use by extracting the seed and growing a gorgeous mango tree that can grace indoor or outdoor tropical gardens.

Can You Grow A Mango From A Store-Bought Seed?

Much like growing avocados from seed or pineapple plants from a pineapple top, part of the appeal of growing mangos from seed is the ability to use store-bought produce, and the part of the fruit that would otherwise go to waste.

Some store-bought produce is not suitable for seed saving. Some are unlikely to germinate due to the processes the fruits go under before transportation, while others will produce fruits far from the original plant, or worse, no fruits at all.

Luckily, that is not the case with mangoes. Store-bought seeds germinate frequently and are known to grow successfully.

However, this comes with a few caveats.

Firstly, mangoes take several years to mature and produce fruits. To get to this stage, you need to plant them in the right climate – tropical or subtropical – with warm temperatures and high humidity.

If you don’t have the right climate, you can keep them indoors. However, they are unlikely to ever produce fruits when planted indoors due to the unfavorable lighting conditions.

Those who can plant their tree outdoors and manage to grow it successfully for several years may come to find the fruits the plant produces don’t exactly match the original fruit. As mangos are grafted, the tree may also be more difficult to care for and prone to pest and disease damage.

Despite these potential problems, growing from seed is still a fun and low-effort gardening experiment. If your tree doesn’t produce fruit, it will still make a great leafy tree that produces stunning foliage indoors and outdoors.

You’d likely throw the seed away anyway – so what’s the harm in germinating?

How To Grow A Mango From Seed

Remove The Flesh

To get to the large seed inside, you’ll need to remove the flesh around the fruit first. For mango lovers, this will be the best part. You can either eat the fleshy fruit fresh as you go or save it for use in desserts or fruit salad later on.

Don’t worry about damaging the seed inside when removing the flesh. It is protected by a hard husk inside the fruit.

Once you’ve exposed the husk, you’ll need to rinse it thoroughly. The flesh will cling to the textured outside, so you may need to use an abrasive sponge to remove it. This makes the seed easier to handle and stops you from hurting yourself when trying to open it.

Alternatively, you can leave the husk to dry out for a day or two until the slimy outside has disappeared.

Remove The Husk

Next, you’ll have to cut the textured husk open. This is harder than it looks and requires sharp scissors or a craft knife.

The area of the husk where the seed sits should be clear by the bulging. Look for the part of the husk that is flat and cut a small hole in the edge, preferably near the natural opening to make removal simpler.

Once opened, remove the rest of the husk with your hands by pulling it apart. Make sure you don’t cut into or damage the seed inside during this removal process.

Wrap Seed In A Moist Paper Towel

This additional germination step is optional, but does speed up the process and can increase your chances of success. It also doesn’t take much extra effort and lets you keep a closer eye on germination progress.

Wet a few layers of paper towel and wring them out so they are not dripping. Then, wrap the paper towel around the seed until it is covered. Place the seed in a plastic bag that’s open on one side to contain moisture and increase heat.

Place the seed in a warm area, or preferably on a heating mat for the best chances of germination. Keep the towel moist but not excessively wet while you wait.

Check the seed frequently for sprouts.

Once the first root and stem are visible, transplant immediately into a pot, ensuring you do not damage this delicate root.

Plant

Start by filling a medium-sized pot with a high-quality potting mix amended with additional compost. You can also use a soilless mix, such as a combination of perlite and coconut coir, but you will need to transplant soon after to give the tree enough nutrients to grow successfully.

Premoisten the soil before you plant by watering and letting the excess drain from the bottom of the pot. Plant the seed horizontally in the soil, just below the surface. Cover with more potting mix and firm down to ensure all parts of the seed are in contact with the soil.

Care

Within a few weeks, you should see the first stem emerge from the soil with the first few leaves. Once it is a few inches tall, you can move the pot to a sunnier spot to speed up growth.

Keep the soil moist for the first few weeks, slowing watering once the seedling is established. Don’t leave the soil waterlogged as this can rot the new and vulnerable roots.

When the seedling outgrows its first pot, transplant it into a larger pot if you plan to keep it indoors.

After a year or two, you can move the tree outdoors if you live in USDA Zones 11-12.

How Long Will It Take My Mango Tree To Produce Fruit?

With the right conditions and care, your mango tree will produce fruit in 5-8 years. However, it’s important to remember that fruits are not guaranteed, even after all that time.

Instead, enjoy your mango tree as a tropical foliage plant, adding a touch of summer indoors or outdoors in the right zones.


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Madison Moulton

Madison Moulton is a freelance writer, editor, and urban gardening enthusiast. Her first indoor plant purchase (a Bird’s Nest Fern) quickly morphed into a decade-long obsession with all things gardening. Having transformed that obsession into a career, she is now the gardening editor of a national magazine and writes for various online and print publications in the gardening sphere.

While dreaming of owning vast swathes of land and planting every edible and ornamental plant under the sun, the realities of urban living have confined her gardening space to a modest second-story balcony. This has not stopped her from growing baskets of vegetables and herbs indoors and out, turning her apartment into a ‘concrete homestead’.

These urban gardening experiences informed her first book, The Next-Generation Gardener, which tackles the various gardening methods available to those without a backyard. It also features a chapter on sustainability and responsible gardening – a true passion and mission more important than ever.

When not sitting at her desk or tending to her plants, Madison co-manages a local cut flower farm and houseplant nursery. Through her writing, she hopes to encourage new gardeners to garden with the plants and the planet in mind.
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