Yes. Yes, it deserves an update.
The update is that I learned something new to help me be better prepared next year. I assume it was a squirrel that realized my last mango was a fruit. Whatever it was, the critter chomped a bite, must not have enjoyed the unripe fruit, and tossed it to the ground! I was not expecting that. It was interesting that what was left had the smell of mango, even though it wasn’t ripe.
I would wager that this was the same critter that stole my unripe Ichi persimmons and left only the caps and a few bits of orange on the ground. (The orange surprised me because the fruits were still green.) My few carambolas also outright vanished. These are all planted near each other. All these fruits are downright nasty tasting when unripe! I hope that squirrel, or whatever it was, came down with a bellyache and had its mouth so puckered up that it never considers bothering anything in the area again. I have heavy UV resistant insect netting that I intend to put over these trees next year.
One fruit they didn’t bother was my papayas, which are growing very well and continue to set more fruit. Nor have they bothered my figs in the area. Not even the big, fat, dark ones.
All was not for naught. The mangoes both flowered well this year, and the one set and held fruit. Next year they will be larger, stronger, and be more likely to carry a small crop to maturity. I’ll have to settle for that, and will take solace knowing that the energy My Ice Cream conserved by not ripening that fruit will either increase its reserves or be directed toward more growth.
The really good news is that all of the tropicals that I’ve planted out for the summer - 2 varieties of mangoes, 2 of papayas, 7 bananas, and a carambola, as well as the ones in containers - coffee, cacao, miracle fruit, guanabana, tropical guava, and lychee have been thriving since they got here or we planted the seeds. I’ll probably have fruit from all of them faster than I harvested my first apple.
Thanks for asking! Maybe Patty has better news with hers. Her trees appeared to be larger and were carrying more fruit.