Yes, you can grow mangoes grocery store seeds with good success if you plant them fresh. The key is getting that seed into soil within 24-48 hours of eating the mango. Seeds dry out fast and lose the ability to sprout once moisture drops too low.
I have sprouted dozens of grocery store mango seeds over the years. About seven out of ten seeds germinate when I plant them right away. Seeds from mangoes that sat in my kitchen for a week before I got around to planting had much lower success rates. Fresh is everything with these seeds.
Choose the right mango to get a viable store-bought mango seed for planting. Look for fruit that gives slightly when you press the flesh. The skin should smell sweet near the stem end. Avoid mangoes that feel mushy or show brown soft spots. Most important is the pit inside. It should feel firm when you squeeze the cleaned seed husk. Soft or shriveled pits often contain dead seeds.
Seed freshness matters because mango seeds need high moisture content to germinate. Research shows they require around 85% moisture in the seed to sprout well. Commercial handling exposes seeds to cold storage and long shipping times. This dries them out before they even reach your kitchen. Ripe mangoes from the store still work great if you plant them fast.
Mango seeds show no dormancy period like many tree seeds require. They germinate fast when planted fresh from ripe fruit. You can expect to see a sprout break the soil surface in one to three weeks under warm conditions. Keep the soil moist but not soggy during this time. A warm spot around 75-85°F (24-29°C) speeds things up.
Your supermarket mango plant will grow into a healthy tree, but keep your expectations realistic. The fruit from a seedling tree may differ from the parent mango you ate. Seedling trees also take 5-8 years to produce their first fruit. Many growers enjoy the process and treat their seed-grown mango as a decorative houseplant. The glossy leaves look great even if fruit never comes.
Tommy Atkins and Kent mangoes dominate most grocery stores in the US. Both sprout well and make sturdy seedling trees. Ataulfo mangoes, the small yellow ones, also germinate with high success. Pick whichever variety tastes best to you since all of them will grow into attractive plants. Plant multiple seeds to boost your odds and select the strongest seedling after they sprout.
Read the full article: Growing a Mango Tree From Seed in 5 Steps
