Keitt

The Keitt mango was almost certainly a seedling of Brooks even though it was reported to be from Mulgoba. It was selected by J.N. Keitt of Homestead, FL in 1945 and quickly received recognition for its heavy and late-season production. Commercial growers in Florida rapidly planted it and it became one of the more frequently propagated varieties thereafter. It is now one of the most widely grown mangos in the Western Hemisphere, having been adopted for production by exporters in much of the mango growing regions of Latin America.

 

The fruit are large-to-very large, weighing over 3 pounds in larger instances, ovoid-round in shape. When grown in the interior they remain green even at maturity but when grown along the coast they develop pretty light red blush with some golden yellow color. The flesh is firm, with scanty fiber, having a sweet classic mango flavor with a little tang.  The seed is monoembryonic.

 

The trees have a spindly, spreading growth habit that can make them appear "scraggly", and they are moderately vigorous growers too. Keitt ripen from July to September, with some fruit lasting into October in certain years.

 

Their long season often stems from a protracted bloom period, with some fruit being smaller than some of the later fruit.

 

Unfortunately, like other Brooks descendants, we have found that Keitt is very prone to the new bacterial black spot and associated rot fungi diseases and no longer recommend its planting in south Florida for this reason. Among customers who have reported their trees being afflicted with one of these diseases, Keitt may be the most frequent.

 

With the availability of late season mangos with superior bacterial spot resistance, We topworked our Keitt trees to other varieties over a period of years and it is no longer part of our fruit production program. We've maintained a minor amount of canopy on one of the trees to furnish graft requests however.