Where have all the mangos gone? Here’s how South Florida went from bounty to bust

MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Get ready to pay more for mangos this season as South Dade growers take a hit. 2023 may have had a mango bounty, but 2024 has shaped up to be a bust.

Robert is Here Fruit Stand in southwest Miami-Dade may be one of the few places in the area with mangos this year.

“We are definitely blessed this year,” Brandon Moehling, son of the eponymous Robert, told Local 10 News on Thursday. “We are going around every tree and we are spot-picking all the biggest fastest ones.”

Moehling added, “Luck is probably the biggest thing. there have been plenty of seasons where I am the only one with no mangos in my grove so law of averages I suppose, plus, we have a process, we have gotten really lucky with the Kents and Kits and Valencia Prides, these are all different varieties of mangos.”

He said many South Florida farmers are “genuinely hurting” right now because of low crop yields.

“Nobody has mangos,” Moehling said. “It is brutal, it truly is, it seems county-wide.”

It came after a great year in 2023.

“Last year was almost too good,” Moehling said. “I had mangos here that at any price, I couldn’t move them.”

Homeowners who love their mango trees and the fruits they provide are also dealing with disappointment coming after such an up year.

“Last year it was full,” Miami-Dade homeowner Christopher Heinbaugh said. “I gave mangos to everybody in the neighborhood, but this year, I might have ten and it really sucks because mango juice, mango margaritas, we were doing everything with these things.”

This year, Heinbaugh said, things are much different.

“I had no flowers, no stems, no nothing this year because it was so windy,” he said. “All the mango trees up here on 307 (307th Street), they are all empty, so this year, nothing.”

University of Florida researcher Jonathan Crane, a tropical fruit crop specialist, said that wind — and cool temperatures — are to blame for the meager mango harvest.

“The wind mechanically beats the small fruit and flowers off of the tree, so yes, it is also a factor and we did have strong gusts above 30 and 40 (mph),” Crane said. “Another reason is that the pollinators for mangos, which includes honey bees and flies and different types of flies, not just a house fly, they need a certain temperature to fly.”

Crane added, “We got below 50 degrees, but above freezing, during the flowering and that kills the embryo in the flower.”

He said with low relative humidity, at 60% or less, the flower dries out and can’t be easily pollinated.

“Also if it is cool, even if it is pollinated, the pollen can’t live long enough to reach the ovary and fertilize the ovary and have a fruit,” Crane said. “If it below about 55 degrees, honey bees can’t fly.”

Crane notes that “undulation over time” is a common phenomenon for mango yields. He expects better results next year.

“I do expect a rebound next year if we have good weather conditions,” he said. “It is any wonder we get fruit at all with all these variables that go wrong. Most years they go right, we are fortunate in that.”

Crane recommends homeowners prune their trees this season. He added that it appears Broward and Palm Beach mango trees have faired better than those further south.

Residents weigh in

Local 10 News heard from mango tree owners across South Florida through Facebook.

Here’s a sampling of what people had to say.

• Frances Stacy: “Mine usually has at least a 100 mangoes every year. This year it had 2 and fell too early. Broward, not Miami.”
• Shea Polakow: “I got one mango - just one!!! this year and my neighbors aren’t fairing any better!!!”
• Kelly Mulligan: “My tree is normally overflowing I can’t give them away fast enough. This year has been incredibly scarce. Maybe 20? It’s BIZARRE”
• David Hangbawi: “I am in Miami Gardens. Last year we had hundreds. This year only one.”
• Betsy Merrill Donahue: “We have plenty in Palm Beach!”

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