Growers’ Notes and Photos (USDA Zones 3-4 Experience)
Mango Django
Indet, heavy yielder, you can keep it pruned to 2-3 leaders. The fruits are absolutely delicious orange plums with a little point, weighing up to 5 oz (150 g).
Sveta, what’s the plant’s growth habit like? Does it have wispy/weeping foliage or is it a stout vine? And how fast does it grow? Because some varieties are already hitting the greenhouse roof by early June.
On 2/21/2023 at 3:28 PM, AAA said:
Sveta, what’s the plant’s growth habit like? Does it have wispy/weeping foliage or is it a stout vine? And how fast does it grow? Because some varieties are already hitting the greenhouse roof by early June.
Definitely more on the wispy side. It has a pretty standard growth rate for an indeterminate plum pruned to 2 leaders. It did hit the greenhouse roof, but closer to mid-August. Grew it in the middle bed.
Not enough written about my absolute favorite variety for some reason 😁 I’ve been growing it since 2018 in a poly greenhouse. Originally used Biotekhnika seeds, but now I only save my own. Year after year it just gets better and yields heavier. The vine grows over 6.5 ft (2+ m) tall, by fall the top is just laying across the trellis wire or crossbar.
It’s a pretty vigorous plant but slender at the same time. The leaves point straight down and get up to 1.5 ft (0.5 m) long, so I have to trim them back. I keep it to 2 leaders at first, then just let it run wild, which does make the fruits a bit smaller. On the first trusses they look exactly like Southern Tan (Yuzhny Zagar), but the flavor is a bit milder. The yield, however, is exponentially higher.
Tried growing two plants per hole. It did great, but pruning got really confusing. Grew it outdoors in the dirt once, the vine didn’t get as tall and the fruits were smaller, but it set a ton of fruit. The photo is from mid-August 2019 (deleted my other pics), but lately it’s been ripening earlier for me.
Mango Django. Grew this wonderful variety again! It’s basically an equivalent to my favorite orange icicle Chukhloma, just with a more pronounced point on the fruit. They are so delicious and sweet, especially after sitting on the counter for a bit 😋 Average weight is about 2-3 oz (60-80 g).
Heavy yielders, produce over a long season, store well, great for all-around use, bright sunny color, and just an absolute treat. What more do you need in life? 😁
Full Summary: Plant Habit, Pruning, and Yields
- 🌿 Plant & Foliage: Indeterminate, reaching 6.5+ feet (2+ m) in a greenhouse by mid-August. The vine is slender with long, downward-pointing (wispy) leaves that may require a bit of trimming if they get too long.
- ✂️ Pruning: Growers suggest keeping it strictly to 2 or 3 leaders for the best fruit size. If you let it “run wild” late in the season, it will still set tons of fruit, but they will be noticeably smaller. It adapts well to high-density planting (like two plants per hole).
- 🍅 Fruit: Elongated orange plums or “icicles” with a distinct beak. Weighs 2-5 oz (60-150 g). The color is a vibrant, sunny orange.
- 👅 Taste & Use: Highly versatile. Praised for an incredibly sweet flavor that mellows and sweetens even more after a few days of counter storage. Perfect for fresh eating, canning, or drying.
One of the users mentions planting “two per hole” (по 2 в лунку). This is a popular intensive planting technique in short-season Russian and Siberian climates. By placing two seedlings close together in the same planting hole and pruning each plant to a single main leader, growers maximize their root systems and early yields in limited greenhouse space without overcrowding the canopy.
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