Harvest Moon

Harvest Moon - beauty and the beast in one package, is one of the many fine creations to emerge from the celebrated breeding programme of Gary Zill in Boynton Beach, Florida, USA. Harvest Moon was raised as a seedling of the classic Florida variety 'Edward' and carried under the planting number 4-20; its pollen parent is not known for certain, though it may have been 'Carrie', 'Val-Carrie' or 'Gary'. Harvest Moon has earned a devoted following for offering a genuinely superior flavour in a very large package.

The Harvest Moon mangoes are, above all, huge — round and very often weighing around three pounds (roughly 1.2–1.4 kg), sometimes more, so that a single fruit is easily enough to share among several people. They ripen from light orange through a greenish-yellow to a rich golden-yellow, frequently carrying a handsome orange-to-pink blush across the upper half of the fruit — that blush is driven by sun exposure rather than ripeness, so the more sun, the more blush.

Inside, the pulp is firm and completely fibreless and buttery, remarkable for a mango of this size, it ripens surprisingly evenly throughout. Besides tasting very sweet, the flavour of Harvest Moon is its great reward: with appealing notes of pineapple, plum and other fruits, reminiscent of the popular Fruit Punch but a touch milder. For a large-fruited variety — where flavour can so often be a compromise — Harvest Moon stands out, with excellent eating quality, and it is at its best enjoyed fresh, in generous slices shared around.

Harvest Moon is a mid-to-late-season mango, ripening at Amrakunja Nursery & Farms in West Bengal, India, from the 2nd week of June to the last week of June, and in Florida from July through August. 

Although the Harvest Moon is labelled in Florida as not-so-heavy cropper — its story at Amrakunja Nursery & Farms in West Bengal, India has been completely opposite. It has been very productive in West Bengal, India. One fault worth knowing: the fruit can sometimes split open on the tree before it is fully mature, so ripening fruit is worth keeping an eye on.

The seed is large and monoembryonic, which means Harvest Moon is propagated by grafting.

The tree is a very vigorous, upright grower with a dense-to-medium canopy and, like most mangoes, will reach 30 feet or more if left unchecked, though it is readily kept to a manageable 07-10 feet with regular pruning. For the mango lovers, this showpiece yet delicious mango variety offers one of the most impressive and generous fruits of the Florida mango world. This is not a commercial mango variety. Harvest Moon is strictly for mango lovers and enthusiasts.

ColourLight orange through a greenish-yellow to a rich golden-yellowAverage Weight1.2 KgSweetnessTSS 21 BrixShelf LifeModerate — approximately 1 weekSeed TypeMonoembryonicBearingRegular in India