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Despite being a newer variety, the Coconut Cream Mango has quickly made a name for itself as a top-tier mango.
In fact, the mango is so delicious that it is the only mango cultivar that Zill High Performance Plants has ever patented (if you are interested in reading the patent, I’ve linked to it below in the ‘History Section’)
Also yep – apparently you can patent fruit 🙂
With that being said, this grow guide will cover everything that you need to know about Coconut Cream Mango:
Table of Contents
- Coconut Cream Mango Tree Growth Habit & Fruit Production
- Coconut Cream Flavor Profile
- Coconut Cream Mango Season (And When To Pick)
- Coconut Cream Mango Disease Resistance
- Coconut Cream Mango History
- Coconut Cream Mango Tree For Sale (Where To Find)
- Conclusion
Coconut Cream Mango Tree Growth Habit & Fruit Production
The Coconut Cream Mango is considered a medium-sized mango tree.
Coconut Cream Mangos have a moderately vigorous & spreading growth habit that produces an open canopy. As a result, Coconut Cream can realistically be kept between 10 – 15 feet tall with annual pruning. With that being said, Coconut Cream would not do well long-term in containers and would not be considered a “condo” mango.
The Coconut Cream Mango can best be described as a considered a semi-dwarf. While they don’t grow particularly tall, they are known for having long, lanky & twisted branches similar to a Lancetilla (I personally think it’s a “funny-looking” tree.). his is a stark contrast to shorter and more compact varieties like Pickering or Carrie.
While one can actively prune the tree’s long & lanky branches, there is a correlation with aggressive shaping/pruning and decreased fruit production. In a nutshell, if the tree is unable to naturally grow the way it wants (long and lanky branches) then fruit production will likely be impacted. This is because the tree will be focusing more of its energy on vegetative flushes vs. flowering & fruiting.
Finally, even if the tree is not aggressively pruned, it can still take several years before its production becomes consistent and reliable. When established, Coconut Cream Mango’s fruit production consistently ranges from fair to average. The mangos themselves are small to medium-sized fruits that typically weigh between 0.6 – 1.3 lbs.
Coconut Cream Flavor Profile
As the name implies, Coconut Cream Mangos are considered a Coconut Flavored Mango. As a result, Coconut Cream’s flavor is most similar to other ‘Coconut Mangos’ including but not limited to:
- Gary
- Sugarloaf
- Pina Colada
- M-4
- Pina Colada
- Dwarf Hawaiian
- Pettigrew
As the fruit begins to ripen, it’s aroma is similar to what one might expect from a Pina Colada smoothie. The fruit’s flesh is a yellowish-orange, containing little to no fiber creating an enjoyable creamy texture. It is a very juicy mango that will instantly melt in your mouth.
Coconut Cream Mangos have an exceptionally sweet flavor profile. Despite its name (and to manage expectations), it is still a mango and will taste like a mango. Everyone’s taste buds are different: some will say that the coconut flavor is more pronounced while others might suggest that the coconut flavor is more of an aftertaste.
Personally, I definitely taste a mild coconut flavor. With that being said, I think that Pina Colada Mango has a much more intense “Coconut Mango Taste.” However, that doesn’t take away from the fact the Coconut Cream is an amazing dessert mango with a great seed-to-flesh ratio.
To be honest, the hype around Coconut Cream Mango matched my expectations and easily made it’s way onto my personal Top 5 “Best Tasting Mangos” List.
Finally, it’s worth noting that Coconut Cream Mangos produce polyembryonic seeds, which means that planting a seed from a Coconut Cream Mango can yield another Coconut Cream Mango Tree.
Coconut Cream Mango Season (And When To Pick)
Coconut Cream Mangos are considered a mid-season mango (June – July).
With that being said, the best time to pick Coconut Cream Mangos are when they are mature and beginning to ripen on the tree. From a color perspective, this is when the bottom of the fruit is beginning to show signs of yellow color break. Coconut Cream is perfectly ripe when the majority of the fruit transitions to a yellow color.
Once the yellow hue on the bottom of the fruit appears, it’s important to keep an eye on the fruit due to their tendency of dropping soon after this yellow hue begins to appear. However, color is only one factor when determining whether a Coconut Cream is mature and ready to pick.
With that being said, here are some additional tips to knowing when a Coconut Cream Mango is ready to pick:
- Is the skin starting to become more smooth?
- Don’t just go off sight; is the fruit beginning to soften?
- Note: Sometimes the fruit can still be hard and change colors
- How does the stem look? It’s it drying up near where it connects to the fruit?
- Are there beads of sap present on the fruit?
- Look at the fruit from all sides, is it yellow on one side but not the other?
Don’t stress out if you end up picking the fruit a little too early. Coconut Cream is quite forgiving and will still ripen nicely, ending up tasting great. However, do keep in mind that Coconut Creams tend to ripen fairly fast and can go from perfectly ripe to overripe in a relatively short span of time.
If the fruit ends up dropping, don’t worry. Coconut Creams are more resilient and less prone to damage compared to other mango varieties with softer skin, such as Carrie.
Coconut Cream Mango Disease Resistance
Coconut Cream Mangos are fairly resistant Anthracnose.
As a result, they can thrive in both coastal regions as well humid areas (such as the Florida Interior).
Coconut Cream Mango History
The Coconut Cream Mango was first propagated in Boynton Beach, Florida by Gary Zill.
Its original name was C-20, a designation derived from the grid location – think of it like a battleship grid, but for mangos – where the original Coconut Cream Mango tree was propagated in Gary’s mango breeding program
The Coconut Cream was one of the 20 trees selected from his original planting of over 10,000 seeds, placing it in the top 0.2% of all mangos planted. If you’re a mango enthusiast and wish to delve deeper into the history of Gary’s breeding program, you can watch the below video where he explains it:
As I mentioned earlier, this was the only mango that Gary Zill ever patented. The patent was originally filed on February 17, 2011 and granted on August 28, 2012. You can read the original application here.
For me, the most interesting part of the application was Gary highlighting the differences between Coconut Cream and it’s parents:
‘C-20’ differs from the female parent ‘Edward’ (unpatented) in that ‘C-20’ fruits in July, is shorter in height and has oblong shaped fruits, while ‘Edward’ fruits in May to June, is taller in height and has oblate shaped fruit.
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‘C-20’ differs from the male parent ‘Gary’ (unpatented) in that ‘C-20’ has oblong shaped fruit with coconut cream flavored flesh and has large leaves, while ‘Gary’ has oval shaped, small fruit and a small leaf size.
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‘C-20’ differs from the commercial variety ‘Ataulfo’ (unpatented) in that ‘C-20’ has oblong shaped fruit, is shorter in height and has a fruit skin with a pink blush, while ‘Ataulfo’ has long and slender shaped fruit, is taller in height and has fruit skin with no blush.
Gary Zill, Google Patents
Coconut Cream is a sibling to Sugarloaf, Pineapple Pleasure, Pina Colada, M-4, Honey Kiss, Cotton Candy, Angie, Harvest Moon, Duncan, Seacrest, & Young. Additionally, Coconut Cream is also a grandchild to Haden Mango.
Coconut Cream Mango Tree For Sale (Where To Find)
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Conclusion
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Thank you for reading! 🙂
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