Published 2017-05-15
Abstract
There are some 69 species of edible Mangifera species in Tropical and Subtropical Asia. Over the past 25 years, Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden has been active in the collection, cultivation, and breeding of these species, with the objectives of creating novel new crops and improving the mango industry. These species occur across a wide range from the foothills of the Himalayas to eastern China, south to Borneo and the southern Indonesian islands. Across this range there is a wide diversity of climatic and edaphic conditions and thus, adaptations of these species. There is limited work available to draw upon for the adaptation of these species to the Western Hemisphere. The present study evaluated M. lalijiwa as an interstock for the grafting of three new species, M. foetida, M. quadrifida and M. griffithii. The M. lalijiwa used was collected in Bali, Indonesia and was grafted on M. indica ‘Turpentine’ rootstocks from seed from Costa Rica. Acceptable success was achieved with the M. foetida, but there was no success with the M. quadrifida or the M. griffithii. The success with the Mangifera foetida allows for the use of this species in breeding and possibly in-field production in South Florida. As for M. quadrifida and M. griffithii, more investigation is needed to determine a suitable interstock.