Most people all around the world, including you and me, are mango lovers. No matter what they forget, they never forget the taste and aroma of mango. Because the delicious tropical taste of mango has the ability to remind the summer, but there are many interesting things that we do not know about mango. So, what are they?
What Animals Eat Mangos?
Mango is the king of fruits because of its delicious taste. But human is not the only fan of mangoes. Lots of animals, from rats and birds to insects and primates, enjoy the mangos in their own backyards and sometimes our own.
Even little children know that birds love to eat a lot of fruits. Among those fruits, mango is one of the most popular among birds. Because of that, it is common that the birds like parrots and lorikeets can be seen blending with the leaves of mango trees during the period when the mango trees bear fruits.
Many mammals, birds, squirrels that are native to the Amazon rain forest are herbivores. So, fruits contribute to fulfilling a large part of their diet. In addition to other fruits and vegetations in the forest, the well-camouflaged leaf katydid insect is well known for eating mango fruit.
Other popular mango eaters are monkeys and primates. It is a well-known factor that figs represent nearly 50 percent of chimpanzees’ diet. But it shifts to mango fruit in the mango season.
Another interesting thing is, monkeys love to eat the flesh of the mango fruits. But they eat whole fruit, including the seed. However, Ayurvedic healers believe that the monkeys get energy and strength from mango seeds to jump from tree to tree in the forests.
If you live in a warm climate, you can see that the squirrels, deer, and raccoons are eating mangos.
Actually, the main reasons why humans are not the only ones loving this amazing fruit are its delicious sweet flesh.
How Does the Mango Plant Disperse Its Seeds?
Seeds are the main thing that mango plants use to reproduce their generation. So, if the mango tree had only mango seeds, would you even look at the mango tree? Sure, you don’t. If so, how does the mango tree propagate? That’s why they produce this delicious mango flesh. Basically, this tasty flesh and aroma are a kind of hook to attract the animals because mainly mango tree uses animals to disperse its seeds.
This is how it happens; the aroma and delicious flesh of the mango fruit attract the animals, including birds, monkeys, and squirrels. The attractive color of this fruit is also directly supported to it. So, animals enjoy the juicy part of the mango fruits. Consequently, it will help seeds to spread to other places. On the other hand, sometimes animal feces contains mango seeds, and then it grows into a plant.
When it turns to human, actually why do we love mango? Not only other animals but humans also love mango fruit because of its flesh. So, due to this taste, peoples grow mango trees.
Why Is Mango Called Bathroom Fruit?
It has an interesting story. Mango has been a popular fruit among Indians since the past. But in the British era, they tried to distort the name of the fruits king, mango. Once, the late Dr. M.S. Randhawa said an old story about mango vs. British in India. When the British ruled India, they experienced that the Indians squat on the floor and suck the mangoes. Mango has juicy flesh, so the juice falls down their elbow when eating mango. Due to these reasons, Indians who worked in the British houses had to eat mango in the bathroom.
Also, the British did not savor the mango. Because of that, the British were named the mango fruit as bathroom fruit.
Why Are Mango Flowers Turning Black?
The mango tree has a beautiful white color small flower. So, mango flower turning black is not naturally happening. This beautiful flower probably turns black due to the fungal disease called anthracnose.
The main symptoms of this fungal disease are black spots on the flower, stalks, and small fruits. However, you can protect your mango flowers by using preventive sprays. In addition to that, you can follow these preventive methods.
- Always make sure when you buy the plant, it is in good healthy
- Plant the mango tree in a location where has better sun exposure
- You must plant your mango plant in well-drained soil
- Use a drip sprinkler to water the plant and do not touch the plant when it is wet
- Give enough attention to your mango plants and remove diseased parts of the tree immediately
In addition, bacterial flower diseases and fruit spotting bugs can also black the mango flowers.
Why Are Mango Tree Leaves Turning Yellow?
As usual, the leaves of all trees, including mango trees, gradually turn yellow when they are older. It is nature. But sometimes it can be happened due to other reasons.
Water Is Not Enough
Mango is native to the tropical region. Because of that, naturally, mango trees have the ability to tolerate dry conditions. But when water is not enough to survive, gradually old leaves turn yellow and fall down because long drought can stress your tree.
Too Much Water
On the other hand, when too much water also causes to yellow the leaves of young mango trees. Because young mango trees do not have the ability to accommodate lots of water, because of that, you should be very careful when watering the young mango trees. However, keep in mind young mango trees need regular watering to establish well.
Nitrogen Deficiency
Another reason to turn yellow the mango trees is nitrogen deficiency. Nitrogen is the most important factor for trees. So, when lack of nitrogen in the soil, mango leaves can turn yellow. Thus, nitrogen helps leaves to keep their Greeny.
Verticillium Wilt
Verticillium Wilt also can be caused to yellow mango leaves. Actually, it is a fungal attack. As a result of this disease, the roots of the mango tree are damaged. Because of these, roots are unable to absorb the required nutrients and water into the tree. So, the mango tree gradually becomes weak, and then it causes to turns leaves into yellow color.
Lack of Sunlight
Sunlight is very important to any tree. Generally, mango trees need sunlight for at least about 6 hours. So, when your mango tree does not have enough sunlight, it can be caused to yellowing the leaves.
Transplant Shocks
When you transplant young mango trees in the ground, sometimes it can be a reason to turn the leaves yellow. Most probably, it happens when the roots experience new surroundings. However, you can prevent this transplant shock by carefully transferring the roots to the ground.
Why Do Mangoes Have Huge Seeds?
When compared with other fruits’ seeds, mango seed is huge than others. Mango is formed to evolve to be spread by large animals like mammals and big birds that lived on the earth long ago. But these animals are extinct now. In that era, these large animals ate whole mango fruit and then excreted the seeds afterward.
