I found what I believe to be the largest, most consistently fruiting, mature, unprotected mango tree in the world, meaning the farthest from the equator and closest to the Arctic Circle based purely on degrees of latitude. This tree lies at 38 degrees north latitude. This mango tree has been happily growing in a Pittsburgh front yard on the north face of a two-story stucco faced home for the past eight years and started as a simple Philippine mango seedling. It’s proud owner is originally from India and didn’t think twice about planting a mango in front of his house like the trees he grew up with as a child in his home country. The tree is helped out by being in a beneficial climate zone with gentle sloping land that cold air drains away from and lies along a banana belt created by this upland topography and it’s proximity to the cold winter low temperature moderating effect of the large body of water that is the junction of the San Joaquin rivers and Sacramento rivers. Furthermore, the entire front yard is a massive heat sink in that it is completely paved in concrete that meets up to the concrete sidewalk which then meets up to the large asphalt road. All of this paving releases heat at night. This tree could not ask for a better micro climate. It is all of these things that are coming together to create the most perfect spot for this tree to thrive far far far away from its more tropical range. The owner mentioned to me that the tree only has about 30% of the fruit it originally had for this season as he has picked lots of the fruit as of the filming date of August 10, 2018. He furthermore explained that the tree never once suffered from cold damage and fruits reliably every year. This tree proves that it is very possible to not only grow mango trees in the San Francisco Bay area and Northern California in general, but to successfully fruit them every year, and with global warming knocking on our door and ratcheting up temperatures year by year, it seems feasible to consider commercial growing of this fruit in the most protected microclimates of the bay which have enjoy low-temperature protection but that also retain significant amounts of heat during the summer. Most frost free locations in the Bay Area are so becuase of proximity to the modertating effects of the Pacific Ocean and as such are also cool, San Francisco being the best example. Mangos rather, like Marylin Monroe, LIKE IT HOT. This then would favor the thermal cold air draining belts of the Bay Area further inland away from the direct ocean maritime air influence. Currently, it is impossible to procure fresh, local, organically grown mangoes in the San Francisco Bay Area.I believe this will change over the next 20 years. Mark my word. UPDATE 8/14/18- And as I further research Mango culture away from the equator, I see that in in the hills of Southern most Spain near Malaga at about 36-37 degrees north latitude (about the same as Santa Cruz and San Jose), mangos are grown on a commercial scale. This tells me that it is quite likely that a larger unprotected Mango lies further north than this Pittsburg tree either in Spain, Portugal, or possibly another Mediterranean country. I am of course most interested in what is happening in the US and particularly California. I would love to have anyone growing mangos further north in California send me pics or a video and if their tree is larger than this tree, is fruiting, is grown without winter protection, I will crown it "Northern Most Mango" (at least in the Western Hemisphere).
12 авг 2018
