Soil Characteristics: Best performance will be on well-drained, fertile, clay loams.

Climate Requirements: Requires a warm environment with rain all year. The tree will survive harsh conditions with reduced yield and will even tolerate frost once established.

Culture: Mango trees reach 35-40 m in height, with a crown radius of 10 m. The leaves are evergreen, alternate, simple, 15-35 cm long and 6-16 cm broad; when the leaves are young they are orange-pink, rapidly changing to a dark glossy red, then dark green as they mature. The flowers are produced in terminal panicles 10-40 cm long; each flower is small and white with five petals 5-10 mm long, with a mild sweet odor suggestive of lily of the valley. After the flowers finish, the fruit takes from three to six months to ripen.

Harvesting: Typically weigh between 250g to 1kg.

Length of time until first crop: Three years.

Food Preparation: Mangoes are best eaten fresh. The most direct way to eat a mango is to peel it and eat it like a peach, nibbling off every last bit of flesh connected to the pit. Beware, this method is messy because they are so juicy. Another popular way to eat the fruit is by cubing it. To do this, first, slice each side of the mango along the seed to give two halves. Then hold one portion of the mango with the peel side down. Score the fruit down to the peel in a tic-tac-toe fashion. With both hands, bend the peel backwards. Cut the cubes along the peel to remove from the skin or simply eat. Mangoes can also be added to fruit salads, pureed to make sorbets, dried, and ice-cream, served with cured meats, such as prosciutto and used in spicy dishes and curries. Green varieties can be used to make chutney and can be baked or stewed with chicken or meat dishes. Also great in salads and Asian recipes.

Nutrition: Mangos have only 70 calories per serving, which is about 1/2 a mango, and are high in vitamin C as well as being a good source of vitamin A, fiber and potassium.  Mangos aid in digestion.