Preparing Mango Seeds for Germination

Kent Mango

Kent Mango Pieces

Several people have expressed an interest in my attempts to grow mango seedlings and Lady Ella had asked some questions about how I go about it.  So, I thought I should take some photos (and there are plenty of online videos, as well, by the way).  Pictured above is the mango I selected to cut, today, partly because it was already developing some brown spots indicating spoilage.  The grocery store calls these "red mangos", but, the produce sticker on them identified them as Kent mangos.  Apparently, it is a cultivar that was first grown in Florida in the early 1930s.  The mangos I bought from the grocery store are from Mexico.  Generally, the fruit I get from the grocery store are not quite ripe; I leave them out at room temperature to ripen and they ripen quite quickly in our current hot temperatures.  Once ripe, I store them in the fridge.  

Once I cut the mango and remove the flesh for eating, what I am left with is the stone, which I often refer to as the seed, although that is inaccurate!  In Sri Lanka, we used to just plant the whole stone and it would germinate.  However, I have discovered that it is not quite as easy in our dry climate, here, in southern California.

Mango Stone or "Seed"

The Opening

The mango stone look a bit like an oversized bean seed.  Convex on one side, with a slight indentation on the other side.  If the fruit is ripe, there will be a small opening where the two halves of the stone covering meet just above that indentation.  You need to pry it open.  I usually use my fingers to pry it open, but, you can use a fairly blunt knife, too (to prevent cutting into the seed or pit inside):  

Widening the Opening

Fully Opened, Showing the Seed/Pit Inside

The seed or pit that is inside is covered with a papery thin seed covering.  In this particular case, the covering fell away from the seed when I took it out:

The Mango Seed

Seed with the Embryo Showing

The next step is to get the seed in some water.  Either wrap the entire seed in a damp paper towel and put into a plastic bag to prevent it from drying out, or, put it in a small glass or jar of water with only the lower half of the seed, where the embryo is, in the water (but, don't let the whole seed be immersed in the water).  With this particular seed, I decided to suspend it in a jar of water, using toothpicks to hold it in place, so it won't fall into the jar:

Seed Suspended in a Jar of Water

Looks a bit like a fish, doesn't it?

Here are some seeds I wrapped in a damp paper towel to germinate:

Mango Seeds Germinating in a Damp Paper Towel

(I took them out of the plastic bag for the picture!)

Below is a seed I kept to germinate in a shot glass (I knew there was a reason for keeping that old shot glass!)

Germinating in a Shot Glass

It has been in there for about a week and this is how it looks like now:

Germinating Mango Seed

The seed has germinated with what would become the tap root already starting to grow some new white roots and the part that would become the stem and leaves starting to grow upwards.  Once a few more white roots grow, this seed will be ready to be planted in a pot.  Maybe by next Friday!

I might not end up with a garden full of mango plants (my childhood home had some six or seven mango trees), but, it's fun to see the seeds germinating!  

Anyone else thinking of trying to grow mangos?