Ask a Miami mango expert: Does strong flower bloom signify a fruitful harvest?

What they're saying: "Yes and no," he wrote in an email. A strong bloom "offers the potential to have a big crop" but it doesn't guarantee successful pollination or fertilization.

Our recent cold front could make things more difficult, he said.

• Having weather in the 50s and 60s is ideal to induce dormancy in the mango trees and turn the tree's shoots and leaves into flower buds, Crane said.
• But when the temperatures repeatedly drop below 45 degrees, that could damage the female flowers' eggs or reduce insect pollination — "since it is too cold for them to fly and pollinate the flowers."
• Windy weather can also knock flowers off, he added.

Bottom line: It's complicated – and Crane says we won't know how fruitful this year's mango season will be until the fruit sets around April or May.

• "We need temperatures in the 70s to really enhance the pollination, fertilization and insect activity, and no strong, gusty winds."