Garden Blog - Top Tropicals

Date: 24 Jul 2024 Top Tropicals Telegram channel & chat

How to grow your own Pepper plants

Piper sarmentosum - Vietnamese Pepper, Lalot leaves wraps

Piper nigrum - Black Pepper

Piper auritum - Root Beer Plant, False Kava-Kava

Piper betle - Betel leaf

Piper longum - Indian Long Pepper, Pippali, Bengal Peppe

🔥 How to grow your own Pepper plants. Five most valuable 'Pipers'.

ℹ️ Leafy Pepper plants - Pipers - are a source of black pepper and many other "peppery" flavors. These plants come from the Piperaceae family and are used as a spice for their pungent, peppery flavor. Don't confuse them with with Capsicum peppers, such as bell and chili peppers.

🔻Piper sarmentosum - Vietnamese Pepper, Lalot: it is eaten raw in salads or cooked with other greens or dishes, or wrap meats and cook in oven or on stove or grill. It is used medicinally in India and SE Asia. The root is also chewed with Betel Nut as a tonic and medicine. The leaves are used as food (food wraps) in Vietnam.
🔻 Piper nigrum - Black Pepper: While black and white pepper were already known in antiquity, but green pepper (and even more, red pepper) is a recent invention. Pungent and aromatic. The pungency is strongest in white pepper and weakest in green pepper, while black and green pepper are more aromatic than the white one. Moderate growing vine that can be grown on a trellis. Prefers shade to semi-shade.
🔻 Piper auritum - Root Beer Plant, False Kava-Kava: close relative of Piper methysticum (Kava-Kava) and probably has some similar tonic effects. It is used for its spicy aromatic scent and flavor, liken to root beer, or to anise-clove. Huge leaves can grow over a foot long. The leaves are used for flavoring, as wrappings for meats and tamales.
🔻 Piper betle - Betel leaf: very popular Indian spice with medicinal properties. Chewed with Betel Nut as a tonic and medicine. Great for wrapping food (similar to grape leaves).
🔻 Piper longum - Indian Long Pepper, Pippali, Bengal Pepper: edible and medicinal plant used as spice and in traditional Chinese medicine. Fruit used as a spice and seasoning. It has sweeter and less pungent taste than Black pepper. Highly valued medicinal plant used to treat respiratory infections, stomachache, bronchitis, cough, and much more.

Learn more:
📚 Vietnamese Pepper - Lalot food wraps BBQ recipe
🎥 Growing Lalot Pepper

🛒 Shop pepper plants: Pipers

#Food_Forest #Recipes #Container_Garden #How_to

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Date: 23 Jul 2024 Top Tropicals Telegram channel & chat

Where does Vanilla come from? How to grow your own Vanilla Beans

Vanilla planifolia - Bourbon Vanilla Bean Orchid beans, seeds

Vanilla planifolia - Bourbon Vanilla Bean Orchid flower

Vanilla planifolia - Bourbon Vanilla Bean Orchid

Vanilla dilloniana - Leafless Vanilla Orchid, flower

Where does Vanilla come from? How to grow your own Vanilla Beans.

❣️ Vanilla spice comes from Vanilla Orchid!
❣️ Vanilla planifolia is a leafy climbing orchid from hot, wet tropical America. It is grown for its pods which, when dried, become the commercial vanilla.
❣️ The flowers are hand pollinated.
❣️ The Aztec Indians in Mexico used Vanilla Pods to flavor their chocolate drink 'Xoco-latl'. Vanilla was believed to be a tonic for the brain.
❣️ Vanilla Pods are picked green when they have no scent. The lengthy curing process, which develops fragrant aroma, is one reason for its high cost.
❣️ Vanilla orchid needs a flat, solid, porous support for climbing and in order to flower and produce seed pods. It can be grown over a log or a board (make sure the support wood is not chemically treated), or climb over a tree.
❣️ If really happy, Vanilla orchid can exceed 100 feet in length in just a few years. The plants flower only when mature, which takes a few years. It only flowers when it gets strongly attached to a support with its aerial roots.
❣️Vanilla orchid can be grown indoors as a house plant. Culture is similar to traditional orchids, however, it will need a support or trellis. Just keep in mind that for Vanilla Bean production, Vanilla Orchid must attach to a porous surface (like a wood log).

Learn more:

📚 Vanilla - The Most Versatile Orchid

🎥 How to produce my own vanilla: secrets of Vanilla pollination
Vanilla dillioniana - The Biggest Vanilla Orchid in 100 Gal Pot

🛒 Shop vanilla orchids

#Food_Forest #Remedies #Container_Garden

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Date: 22 Jul 2024 Top Tropicals Telegram channel & chat

What are 5 most useful edibles for tropical garden?

Hibiscus sabdariffa - Flor de Jamaica, Karkade Sorrel

Gynura procubens - Longevity Spinach, Cholesterol spinach

Sauropus androgynus - Katuk, Tropical Asparagus

Cymbopogon citratus - Lemon grass

Lippia dulcis - Aztec Sweet Herb, Sweetleaf

What are 5 most useful edibles for tropical garden?

📍 1. Hibiscus sabdariffa - Flor de Jamaica, Karkade Sorrel - Flowers are used to make a tea "Agua de Flor de Jamaica". Medical studies show that it lowers blood pressure and has diuretic effects. The pleasant flavor is on the tart side similar to a cranberry juice. We make this cold tea every day - perfect for hot summer. Full sun ☀️
📍 2. Gynura procubens - Longevity Spinach, Cholesterol spinach - one of the Superfoods, and there are many claims that it lowers cholesterol. We use it in our cooking all the time and so far we are all alive! Full sun☀️
📍 3. Sauropus androgynus - Katuk, Tropical Asparagus. Delicious young shoots, one of the most popular leaf vegetables in Southeast Asia. In Vietnam, people cook it in stews and soups. It is among only a few flora containing vitamin K. Full sun or semi-shade☀️🌓
📍 4. Cymbopogon citratus - Lemon grass: Versatile performer in the kitchen where it can be used in teas, beverages, herbal medicines, Eastern inspired soups and other dishes. Full sun or semi-shade☀️🌓
📍 5. Lippia dulcis - Aztec Sweet Herb, Sweetleaf: Mexican herb with incredibly sweet leaves that can be eaten from the plant like candy or tossed into fruit salads for an unusual addition. It has been used since the time of the Aztecs for coughs and colds. Tastes great, can be used by diabetic patients. We add this herb to Karkade or Mint tea as a sweetener. Shade or semi-shade ☁️ 🌓

Lean more:

📚 Katuk
Longevity spinach post
Longevity Spinach Recipes
Aztec Sweet Herb

🎥 Karkade Tea
Longevity Spinach

🛒 Shop edibles, herbs and spices

#Food_Forest #Remedies

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Date: 21 Jul 2024 Top Tropicals Telegram channel & chat

What tree is the most prolific while its fruit tastes as good as Lychee?

Longan fruit, Euphoria longana

🍇 What tree is the most prolific while its fruit tastes as good as Lychee? Longan!

🔴 Longan (Euphoria longana) is a medium sized tree from China, it can be pruned to maintain a small tree size for container culture.
🔴 This Lychee relative has stiffer leaves, more wind resistance and fruits more prolifically and regularly than its famous cousin.
🔴 The flesh is sweet, aromatic and juicy, very similar to Lychee. It is usually eaten fresh but can be canned or dried.
🔴 The crisp skin is easy to remove and the white flesh has a texture and sweetness reminiscent of litchi.
🔴 Longan tree is fast growing, vigorous, and very easy to grow.

🛒 Plant your own Longan Tree

#Food_Forest

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Date: 21 Jul 2024 Top Tropicals Telegram channel & chat

What is the most beautiful ginger? 5 most spectacular Ginger species

🎋 What is the most beautiful ginger? 5 most spectacular Ginger species.

Ginger is famous for its culinary and medicinal uses, and many species are also strikingly beautiful, making them perfect centerpieces for tropical gardens or potted plant collections, especially in shaded spots. Here are a few of our favorite cultivars.

🍭 Hedychium flavum x coronarium - Yellow Butterfly Ginger, Nardo Ginger Lily - rare hybrid of White Butterfly ginger we mentioned earlier, it is more vigorous and tall than its parent. With attractive long green leaves with a slight fuzziness, this ginger has open long spikes of pastel yellow flowers with a beautiful heady aroma. Exquisitely fragrant!
🍭 Costus arabicus (amazonicus) variegata - Variegated Spiral Ginger - is a show stopper! Very popular in Hawaii and Florida. Spiraling stems rise with a strong white variegation and topped with green and white cone like flowers. Vigorous grower, it prefers shade, moist soil and lots of water.
🍭 Zingiber Zerumbet - Pine Cone Ginger, Shampoo Ginger - is probably the most popular one. All parts of this ginger are spicy fragrant. The cone shaped flowers are long lasting and useful for cut flower arrangements. It is in fact used as a shampoo in Asia and Hawaii, and as an ingredient in several commercial shampoos! Pinecone ginger is considered a "canoe plant", that is, a plant introduced throughout the Pacific by the ancient Polynesian settlers.
🍭 Costus vargasii - Spiral Ginger Raspberry Yogurt - The name refers to the colorful raspberry colored stem, but that's not the only colorful thing about it: the leaves are dark green, long and glossy with velvety deep purple undersides. The inflorescence is a vivid red with tight bracts and bold yellow flowers. The butterflies love to drink the nectar from the flowers. Large vigorous ginger, growing up to 5-6 ft tall.
🍭 Costus fissiligulatus - African Princess, Cameroon Costus - from Gabon in West Africa. It has a dazzling pink trumpet flower with a yellow throat. It is very floriferous with an inflorescence of numerous flower buds on a shortish plant of 3-4 ft that stands very erect. It is an easy grower

📚 More gingers in previous posts:
Alpinia formosana x zerumbet Variegata - Variegated Ginger
Costus spicatus x woodsonii - Red Button Ginger, French Kiss
Hedychium coronarium - Butterfly Ginger
Kaempferia angustifolia - Laos Silver Stripe

❔ What is your favorite Ginger? Share in comments👇

🛒 Shop Gingers

#Shade_Garden #Container_Garden #Food_Forest

🏵 TopTropicals

Date: 21 Jul 2024 Top Tropicals Telegram channel & chat

What is the most beautiful ginger? 5 most spectacular Ginger species

Hedychium flavum x coronarium - Yellow Butterfly Ginger

Costus arabicus (amazonicus) variegata - Variegated Spiral Ginger

Zingiber Zerumbet - Pine Cone Ginger, Shampoo Ginger

Costus vargasii - Spiral Ginger Raspberry Yogurt

Costus fissiligulatus - African Princess, Cameroon Costus

🍭 Hedychium flavum x coronarium - Yellow Butterfly Ginger, Nardo Ginger Lily - rare hybrid of White Butterfly ginger we mentioned earlier, it is more vigorous and tall than its parent. With attractive long green leaves with a slight fuzziness, this ginger has open long spikes of pastel yellow flowers with a beautiful heady aroma. Exquisitely fragrant!
🍭 Costus arabicus (amazonicus) variegata - Variegated Spiral Ginger - is a show stopper! Very popular in Hawaii and Florida. Spiraling stems rise with a strong white variegation and topped with green and white cone like flowers. Vigorous grower, it prefers shade, moist soil and lots of water.
🍭 Zingiber Zerumbet - Pine Cone Ginger, Shampoo Ginger - is probably the most popular one. All parts of this ginger are spicy fragrant. The cone shaped flowers are long lasting and useful for cut flower arrangements. It is in fact used as a shampoo in Asia and Hawaii, and as an ingredient in several commercial shampoos! Pinecone ginger is considered a "canoe plant", that is, a plant introduced throughout the Pacific by the ancient Polynesian settlers.
🍭 Costus vargasii - Spiral Ginger Raspberry Yogurt - The name refers to the colorful raspberry colored stem, but that's not the only colorful thing about it: the leaves are dark green, long and glossy with velvety deep purple undersides. The inflorescence is a vivid red with tight bracts and bold yellow flowers. The butterflies love to drink the nectar from the flowers. Large vigorous ginger, growing up to 5-6 ft tall.
🍭 Costus fissiligulatus - African Princess, Cameroon Costus - from Gabon in West Africa. It has a dazzling pink trumpet flower with a yellow throat. It is very floriferous with an inflorescence of numerous flower buds on a shortish plant of 3-4 ft that stands very erect. It is an easy grower

Date: 20 Jul 2024 Top Tropicals Telegram channel & chat

Why Bananas? They are good for you and are fun to grow!

Red Banana

Praying Hands Banana

Banana fruit

Rojo Banana

Variegated Banana

🍌 Why Bananas? They are good for you and are fun to grow!

💛 Bananas are berries, not fruits!
💛 They float in water like apples and watermelons.
💛 Bananas are high in potassium, which helps muscles work properly.
💛 They can improve your mood because they contain tryptophan, which your body turns into serotonin.
💛 Bananas are great for your heart because they have lots of fiber and potassium.
💛 Eating bananas can help with digestion since they are rich in fiber.
💛 They are a natural energy booster, perfect for a quick snack.
💛 Bananas can help keep your blood pressure in check due to their low sodium and high potassium content.
💛 They contain vitamins like B6 and C, which are good for your immune system.
💛 Rubbing the inside of a banana peel on mosquito bites can reduce itching and swelling.

❔ What is your favorite Banana or Plantain variety?
Share in comments👇

🛒 Shop Banana varieties

#Food_Forest #Bananas

🏵 TopTropicals

Date: 19 Jul 2024 Top Tropicals Telegram channel & chat

What is a special effect of Lemon grass?

Lemon Grass

⚡️What is a special effect of Lemon grass?

Besides its culinary uses, Lemon Grass is also known for its insect-repelling properties due to its citronella content. No more mosquitos! 😆

🛒 Order Lemon Grass

#Food_Forest #Fun_Facts

🏵 TopTropicals

Date: 18 Jul 2024 Top Tropicals Telegram channel & chat

How to grow your own tea? Where does the tea come from?

Camellia sinensis - Tea Leaf Tree

Camellia sinensis - Tea Leaf Tree and Tea in a cup

☕️ How to grow your own tea? Where does the tea come from? From Camellia!

🍃 Did you know that tea comes from a Camellia plant?

Camellia sinensis

🍃Tea is the second most consumed beverage in the world, after water.
🍃Green tea is rich in antioxidants, which help protect your cells from damage.
🍃Drinking tea can boost your immune system, help fight off infections, improve oral health by reducing the growth of bacteria.
🍃Regular tea consumption is linked to improved bone health and reduced risk of osteoporosis. It can aid in weight loss by boosting metabolism and help reduce the risk of heart disease.
🍃Tea contains caffeine, which can improve mental alertness and focus. On the other hand, tea contains L-theanine, an amino acid that promotes relaxation and reduces stress.
🍃The plant is very slow growing, can be grown in container or in the ground in frost-free areas. Takes sun to semi-shade.

📚 Instructions how to make tea from tea leaves (PDF)

🛒 Plant your own Tea Tree

#Food_Forest #Remedies #Recipes

🏵 TopTropicals

Date: 17 Jul 2024 Top Tropicals Telegram channel & chat

Mango Rainbow tasting table: whats the taste of that Mango variety?

Mango Rainbow tasting table

🌈 Mango Rainbow tasting table: what's the taste of that Mango variety?

We just had a mango tasting table of a few early and mid-season varieties and here is our impression:

🟠 Tommy Atkins (purple) - the earliest variety, sweet a juicy, but a bit fibrous. The fruit is super colorful! The tree is an excellent producer, vigorous and problem-free.
🟠 Haden (red) - a full sweet flavor, less fibrous than Tommy. Very colorful, large fruit.
🟠 Florigon (yellow-green, round) - completely fibreless, sweet and flavor is somewhat mild pineapple-like.
🟠 Baptiste (bright yellow) - very sweet, firm flesh, good flavor.
🟠 Val Carrie (green elongated) - reminds large Asian mangoes, with firm flesh, very sweet, fibreless and juicy. It is a cross between Valencia Pride (large fruit) and Carrie (excellent flavor). It took the best from its parents. Very aromatic flesh has no fiber at all.
🟠 Kent (large green-and-red) - excellent flavor, large size, and very little fiber. Eat before fruit gets too ripe.

❔ What Mango varieties have you tried this year?
Share in comments 👇

📝 See also earlier posts:

🛒 Shop Mango Trees

#Food_Forest #Mango #Mango_Rainbow

🏵 TopTropicals

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