Carrie
IMPORTANT READ BEFORE Make your Grafting Request Order
We are only able to graft twice a year, Late Spring & Late Summer.
- If we receive the order between after September 24th and before May 1st, The trees will be grafted in Spring & should be ready by the end of the year.
- For orders made after May 01st and before of September 24th will be grafted in late Summer and should be ready in the Spring following year, May most likely.
Only Once the small tree has completed two flushes of growth since it was grafted do we consider it ready to leave our nursery.
(Estimated time is 6 to 8 months. Some varieties take longer time to growth)
Carrie was a seedling of Sophie Frey, and a grandchild of the Julie mango. It was selected by the Zill family in the 1940s from a field planting intended for rootstock in the Boynton/Delray Beach area of Florida and named after Carrie Zill, Laurence Zill's mother.
The Carrie had a very unique strong flavor that made it very popular among those who appreciated it. Today it has a major following by people from India who liken it to the Alphonso, as well as people from the West Indies who enjoy its pronounced spice component in the flavor.
Americans tend to be divided on it, with some regarding it as their favorite and others finding the flavor too medicinal and overpowering. The fruit itself is small-to-medium sized, oval shaped and only yellow at maturity; when grown inland it often stays green when ripe. Its an early season mango generally ripening from May to July.
The fruit often do not ripen well when harvested early and should be allowed to soften while on the tree for optimal flavor when possible. They must then immediately be harvested and consumed within approximately 48 hours, after which they become overripe and objective. The fruit is also extremely soft, bruising very easily and making them difficult to handle or ship. The flesh is orange, fiberless, and contains a monoembryonic seed.
Once considered very fungus resistant, we have found that Carrie is susceptible to newer strains of anthracnose particularly in marginal growing areas in the interior of Florida when flowering and setting fruit. The trees can also have a tendency to produce bad ratios of male flowers, limiting fruit set and yield some years particularly on younger trees. On the positive side, Carrie appears very resistant to bacterial spot and rot diseases.
Despite its drawbacks, We still have 11 Carrie trees in production. Good alternatives for those seeking Carrie when its unavailable are the Angie, Super Julie, Ugly Betty, or Juliett
Carrie trees have a low-to-moderate vigor growth habit with spreading, very dense canopy. Sometimes you will see people refer to them as "dwarf" trees but in our experience they are not dwarf when grafted to most rootstocks.
Flavor: Indian-Alphonso
Country: Florida-USA