Potted Mango

A few years back, my sister kindly gifted me a Bowen mango tree for Christmas. I remember being quite perplexed by it - not knowing exactly where I'd put it. If you don't know, the Bowen is a variety of mango you'd regularly see in the tropics growing to a size that would put Jack's Beanstalk to shame. Big trees mean deep roots, so the most compelling showstopper was that my yard is a light dusting of topsoil over a rock outcrop, and I couldn't dig a hole half as deep as the initial root-ball anywhere on my block without some serious pneumatics and a lot of diesel. These roots weren't going to be going anywhere.

But I'm never one to miss an opportunity, and certainly not one so nicely given as this. So I thought I'd try an experiment that I'm certain no-one else has been crazy enough to do (or admit): growing a mango tree in a pot. I've kept it fed and watered as much as laziness will allow: a healthy diet of moo poo, slow release fertiliser, worm castings (usually about once every two months) and worm juice (whenever else I have time). Its generally grown about a foot each summer, and I've yet to hear a complaint from it.

And I'm pleased to say the enterprise paid dividends last night when we tucked into our first Mango. Thanks Big Sis!