Mango 'Sweet Tart'
Mangifera indica
Anacardiaceae family
Grafted
The fruit of the 'Sweet Tart' Mango has a strong tart component in the early stages of ripeness, and it becomes much sweeter when fully ripe. It is known to be a heavy bearing variety, however ours has not set fruit yet (as of 2025) - hopefully next season it will. Harvest from approximately January to March.
It is a vigorous grower, so it is important to stay on top of the yearly pruning after harvest - don't skip a year. It generally grows with an upright form, but we have pruned our tree to develop a spreading shape.
Tree Provenance
The 'Sweet Tart' variety is from the breeding program of Zill High Performance Plants in Florida, U.S. Like many of our fruit trees at Lennox Community Gardens, it was grafted by our tropical fruit enthusiast, Grant Jenkins. Grant obtained the scion wood (small branch from a mature tree) from Mike Rule, who had grown a 'Sweet Tart' Mango tree from seed sent over from Zill High Performance Plants.
Fruit trees grown from seed are often not true to type - meaning the seedling will have different characteristics than the tree the seed came from. However, the seed from the 'Sweet Tart' Mango is polyembryonic, which means that one seed will grow several seedlings. One of these seedlings will be a cross between the mother and the father, and therefore will not be true to type. The remaining seedlings will be a clone of the mother plant. Our tree at LCG hasn't set fruit yet (as of 2025), so we are yet to determine whether it has the true characteristics of the 'Sweet Tart' variety.
Tree maintenance
Mangifera indica
Anacardiaceae family
Grafted
The fruit of the 'Sweet Tart' Mango has a strong tart component in the early stages of ripeness, and it becomes much sweeter when fully ripe. It is known to be a heavy bearing variety, however ours has not set fruit yet (as of 2025) - hopefully next season it will. Harvest from approximately January to March.
It is a vigorous grower, so it is important to stay on top of the yearly pruning after harvest - don't skip a year. It generally grows with an upright form, but we have pruned our tree to develop a spreading shape.
Tree Provenance
The 'Sweet Tart' variety is from the breeding program of Zill High Performance Plants in Florida, U.S. Like many of our fruit trees at Lennox Community Gardens, it was grafted by our tropical fruit enthusiast, Grant Jenkins. Grant obtained the scion wood (small branch from a mature tree) from Mike Rule, who had grown a 'Sweet Tart' Mango tree from seed sent over from Zill High Performance Plants.
Fruit trees grown from seed are often not true to type - meaning the seedling will have different characteristics than the tree the seed came from. However, the seed from the 'Sweet Tart' Mango is polyembryonic, which means that one seed will grow several seedlings. One of these seedlings will be a cross between the mother and the father, and therefore will not be true to type. The remaining seedlings will be a clone of the mother plant. Our tree at LCG hasn't set fruit yet (as of 2025), so we are yet to determine whether it has the true characteristics of the 'Sweet Tart' variety.
Tree maintenance
- When mature prune immediately after harvest to contain the tree size and maintain production. This is particularly important for the 'Sweet Tart' variety, which is a vigorous grower. Also remove dead, damaged or diseased branches and open the centre of the tree for air flow
- Apply Sulphate of Potash to encourage healthy stem and leaf growth, as well as promote flowering and fruiting. Do not apply any nitrogen rich fertilisers to mature mango trees. Apply late summer and late autumn.
- Mangoes will do well with a feed of seaweed solution especially during the warmer months.
- Keep soil well composted and mulched, leaving a gap around the trunk to avoid collar rot.
- When young, keep watered from spring to autumn; as a rule once mature the tree will not require much watering unless it is a particularly dry period, with the following notes: Adequate water is crucial during the early stage of fruit set. Once fruit reach 6-10cm in length this is less critical and minimal water is ideal as fruit approach maturity so they can sweeten up.
- To increase fruit set, spray with wettable sulphur when blooms develop to help keep powdery mildew in check. This should be done as per manufacturer's instructions up until fruit is set.
- Spray with Copper late autumn and after fruit set. Spray both sides of leaves but try to minimise copper dripping onto soil as too much will impact soil microbes. Copper helps reduce Mango Bacterial Black Spot (MBBS) and Anthracnose which mangoes are particularly susceptible to.