There’s no denying that freshly picked, homegrown fruit usually tastes better than anything you could buy from a supermarket. In many cases, growing your own fruit will save you money too. However, with mangoes being so readily available during the summer months in Australia, is it really worth putting time, energy, and money into cultivating your own mango tree, or would you be better off sticking with commercially-produced fruit? Let’s find out…
Do Homegrown Mangoes Really Taste Better?
There’s no doubt about it – homegrown mangoes really do taste better, and there are a couple of reasons for this.
To start with, commercially grown mangoes are usually picked while they’re still green. Mangoes are a fruit that’ll continue to ripen after being picked, and this allows growers to transport them over long distances.
However, mangoes that have ripened off the tree will never be as sweet as those that have been allowed to ripen on the tree. It’s all down to chemistry and how those starches turn to sugars. You’ll only really appreciate this after tasting a perfectly ripe and freshly picked mango.
Even better, growing your own mango trees puts you in charge of the varieties you eat. If you have the space for a few trees, you’ll be able to grow varieties that you wouldn’t even be able to buy in the shops.
Are Mango Trees Difficult to Grow?
Don’t shy away from mango trees because you think they’d be difficult to grow – you’d be surprised at how low-maintenance they really are. So long as you live somewhere warm and receive a good amount of rainfall, you won’t really need to do anything at all – your mango trees should thrive just fine on their own!
In fact, they’re so easy to grow that many choose mango trees as a feature tree for their garden. With their glossy, symmetrical, evergreen leaves, they look absolutely exquisite year-round, and really come into their own once they start to flower and fruit for the year.
Are Mango Trees Expensive?
Now for the big question – are you really going to save money by growing your own mangoes, as opposed to simply buying them?
The answer is yes, at least in the long run. The price of a mango tree varies, depending on its size and variety. When grown from seed, it’ll take a mango tree 5-8 years before it starts producing fruit. Younger trees will be significantly cheaper than mature mango trees, but you’ll also have a much longer wait before your first mango harvest, meaning that it’ll take longer for the tree to pay itself off.
So, Are Mango Trees Worth Growing at Home?
If you’ve got the space in your garden or even room for a large GRC pot on your patio (mango trees do well in containers), then yes, it’s definitely worth growing a mango tree (assuming you like mangoes!). It may take a few years before your mango tree becomes highly productive, but, in the meantime, you’ll be able to enjoy a tree that looks and smells absolutely beautiful – all of this without much effort required on your part!