Garden Blog - Top Tropicals

Date: 16 May 2024 Top Tropicals Newsletter

When Bigger means Better

Everybody loves shopping online nowadays, and plants are no exception. Buying plants by mail order is not uncommon anymore; it only takes one click, and luckily, there are many sources - from big shopping malls like Amazon to small backyard nurseries that sell their seedlings on eBay or Facebook - all delivered to your door. But plants are alive... So when doing your online plant shopping, you must ensure that you fully enjoy your experience and are happy with a healthy plant that a) doesn't die; b) recovers quickly; and c) starts growing fast, so you can see flowers and fruit as soon as possible.

The rule of thumb for shipping plants: bigger plants undergo shipping better, experience less stress, less leaf drop, and recover quicker than plants with smaller root systems. So when it comes to buying plants online, the bigger, the better. Unfortunately, many mail-order plant sources may sell you a tiny twig that has very few chances of surviving. Shipping is very expensive today, so shipping a bigger size plant may cost more than the plant itself.

Below is a piece of advice on how to make the best plant selection for your garden...

Photo above: Loquat trees in 3 gal containers.

5 important rules on how to buy trees online

1. Find a source with bigger plants. Check reviews, ask friends for recommendations, inquire from the company about the size of their plants and how they pack their plants for shipping.
TopTropicals offers well-established, strong plants with developed root system, in container sizes 1, 3, 7, 15 gallon, directly from a tropical Florida growing farm. Our unique plant-packing techniques are state of the art!

2. Price not always reflects the size and quality of the plant
TopTropicals offers many deals, discounts and sales, while still providing the biggest and strongest plants grown in real tropical conditions.

3. Most fruit trees must be grafted to produce good fruit. Make sure you are not purchasing a seedling when it comes to Mango, Avocado, Peaches and some other trees with named varieties that don't come true to seed.
TopTropicals offers only grafted - Mango, Avocado and a large number of other tropical cultivars.

4. Pick up when possible from the nursery your ordered from, or get a delivery, instead of shipping the plants. A drive to the nursery will save you more time and money in the future, plus you can hand-pick the biggest and healthiest specimens.
TopTropicals is open 7 days a week for your convenience. Visit our Ft Myers Garden Center or Sebring Farm to select the biggest plants.

5. Take advantage of X-Large size plant material if you live outside the tropical zone and are trying to zone-push your tropical garden. Bigger plants will establish faster and have more chances to survive cold winters. Again, it will save you money in a long run (although bigger plants may be more expensive, but their survival rate is much higher when it comes to cold nights).
TopTropicals offers X-Large flowering and fruiting trees (7-15-25 gallons), and most of the varieties you see in our online store can be custom-ordered in big sizes. Delivery and installation available.

Shop 7 gal trees

Photo above: Avocado trees in 7 gal containers.

Shop 15 gal trees

Photo above: Magnolia champaca - Joy Perfume Tree in 25 gal container.

Date: 5 Sep 2024 Top Tropicals Newsletter

10 common mistakes to avoid
with mail order plants

Q: How to get happy and healthy plants from mail order? Will they survive the trip and grow well after transportation? What mistakes should I avoid?

A: At Top Tropicals, we have over 20 years of experience shipping plants. We know how to pack them properly and ensure the safest journey possible. We ship the biggest and healthiest plants, and our customers are often amazed at how great they look after a few days in a dark box. But receiving a healthy plant is only half the adventure. Now that the plant is in your hands, it's up to you to keep it thriving. The first couple of weeks after shipping are critical. With the right care, your new plant can reward you with beautiful flowers and fruit for years to come. Here are 10 common mistakes to avoid when buying plants by mail order.

1. Not unpacking plants immediately
Leaving plants in the box too long can cause stress or damage. Unpack them as soon as they arrive to let them breathe and adjust.

2. Ignoring acclimation
Plants need time to adjust to their new environment. Don't place them in full sun or extreme conditions (heat, wind) right away.

3. Overwatering right after arrival
Many people water their new plants too much. Plants often need time to recover from transit, and too much water can cause root rot.

4. Stepping up too soon
Repotting immediately in a large pot can cause root rot. Plant in a pot just the size of a root ball, step up only after the plant is showing new growth.

5. Ignoring the plant's needs
Research the specific needs of your plant before it arrives. Light, water, and soil requirements vary greatly, and misunderstanding them can lead to issues.

6. Placing the plant in the wrong environment
It's important to give your plant the right temperature, light, and humidity based on its natural habitat. We grow tropical plants. They won't survive in areas with freezing temperatures.

7. Not trimming damaged branches.
Transit can cause minor damage to leaves or branches. Trimming these parts can help the plant recover faster.

8. Expecting immediate growth
Plants need time to adjust after the trip. Give them a chance to settle for a few weeks before expecting new growth or blooms.

9. Fertilizing too soon
Do not fertilize your plant right after arrival. Let it get established first - usually a few weeks - before adding fertilizer to avoid stressing the plant.

10. Not checking for pests
Always inspect new plants for pests. Shipping stress can lead to infestations, so a close check is vital.

By avoiding these mistakes and following the planting instructions included with your order, you'll be on the right path to creating your tropical paradise. Take care of your new plant, and it will thrive, rewarding you with vibrant growth for years to come.

Learn more

Download planting instructions (PDF)

Date: 8 Oct 2024 Top Tropicals Telegram channel & chat

Why Should I Use Sunshine Boosters?

Southern Landscape

Sunshine Boosters

😎 Why Should I Use Sunshine Boosters?

⚠️ Plants need nutrients to grow strong and healthy. Nutrients help plants develop roots, leaves, flowers, and fruits. Sunshine Boosters fertilizers provide all key nutrients.

Sunshine Boosters are specially made to give plants everything they need to thrive. They work for both indoor and outdoor plants.

😼 Why Sunshine Boosters are better than other fertilizers?

🟡Easy to use: Just mix with water and feed your plants.
🟡Balanced nutrients: They contain the right mix of essential nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, as well as trace minerals.
🟡No harmful chemicals: Sunshine Boosters are safe for your plants, pets, and the environment.

😎 Benefits of using Sunshine Boosters:

🟡Plants grow faster and produce more flowers and fruits.
🟡Stronger plants can resist diseases, pests, and tough weather.
🟡Sunshine Boosters help plants recover from stress, like after being moved or pruned.
🟡For all types of plants: whether you have tropical plants, vegetables, fruit trees, or flowers, Sunshine Boosters help them grow better.

Sunshine Boosters make your plants stronger, healthier, and more beautiful. By using Sunshine Boosters, you’re giving your plants everything they need to grow fast, resist stress, and produce lots of flowers or fruits. It’s the best way to keep your plants happy and thriving!

📚 Learn in more details from the article:
Why should you use Sunshine Boosters

🛒 Shop Sunshine Boosters

#Fertilizers

🔴 Join 👉 TopTropicals

Date: 29 Oct 2024 Top Tropicals Newsletter

How to overwinter tropical plants indoors

10 key tips for successful overwintering

Q: I have two Mandevillas that thrived on my balcony all summer. Now that cold weather is approaching, I've moved them indoors to bright spots, but they're dropping and wilting leaves. How can I keep them healthy until spring? Should I fertilize them? Can Mandevillas grow indoors year-round?

A: First, keep in mind that the plants we call "indoor plants" or "house plants" are all tropical. However, not all tropical plants are suitable for indoor living. Some, especially shade-loving ones, thrive in indoor conditions, which is why we refer to them as "house plants" (philodendrons, monsteras, calatheas, peperomias, and many others, including some succulents). Others are less adaptable to the lower light and humidity typical of indoor spaces, but with a little extra care, you can overwinter them inside and move them back outdoors in spring. Mandevillas are no exception! Even tropical trees, including fruit trees, can tolerate a few months indoors if given the right conditions for semi-dormancy. Below are the 10 key tips for successfully overwintering tropical plants indoors.

1. Maximize Light: The more light, the better. There's no such thing as too much indoor light. If windows aren't enough, use LED grow lights, which stay cool and won't dry the air. Rotate plants every few days to prevent uneven leaf loss.

2. Reduce Watering: Less light and cooler temperatures mean plants need less water. Allow the soil to dry between waterings, and avoid overwatering - combination of cold + wet is especially harmful.

3. Maintain Moderate Temperatures: Most tropicals are happy with daytime temperatures around 75F and nights at 50-60F. In sunrooms or greenhouses, some can handle 45F if watering is kept to a minimum.

4. Boost Humidity: Avoid placing plants near heaters or vents that dry the air. Misting daily helps, or place pots on trays filled with water and pebbles to raise humidity around them.

5. Monitor for Pests: Check leaves weekly to catch insect problems early, as pests can cause serious damage or even kill the plant indoors.

6. Fertilize Smart: Use ONLY liquid, amino-acid-based fertilizers like Sunshine Boosters throughout winter; they won't burn roots since their dosage adjusts with reduced watering. Avoid dry, granulated, and EDTA-based fertilizers during winter and dormancy.

7. Use Micro-Nutrients: Along with macro-elements (fertilizers), supplement with micro-elements like Sunshine Superfood and bio-stimulants such as Sunshine Epi to build strong plants with robust immune systems, better able to withstand unfavorable conditions and resist diseases.

8. Hold Off on Pruning: Leaf drop and leggy growth are normal responses to winter. Wait until spring to prune, when new growth starts, to encourage branching and healthy foliage.

9. Don't Repot Yet: During dormancy, roots slow their growth. Repotting too soon risks root rot. Wait until spring when new growth appears to transplant into a larger container. Typically, roots grow in proportion to the above-ground parts.

10. Let Them Rest: Winter is a natural resting period. Avoid forcing growth - your plants will reward your patience with vibrant leaves and flowers when spring returns.

Shop Indoor Plants

Date: 7 Aug 2024 Top Tropicals Newsletter

Florida native plants for Florida and beyond

If you live in Florida community with HOA, you may need these plants!

Did you know that we carry Native Florida plants?

At Top Tropicals, we have the biggest selection of tropical plants from around the World, with a special selection of Florida Natives. If you are looking for a particular Florida Native plant, just let us know - we can get them for you, because... we are here in Florida and we know them all!

If your Florida yard is regulated by a Homeowners Association, you may be required to plant native plants or those species on approved list. Why? These policies aim to promote sustainable landscaping practices and protect Florida's unique ecosystems. Although this may seem to limit your choices, there are plenty of Florida-friendly plants to choose from!

In general, native plants are adapted to the local climate and soil conditions, making them more resilient and requiring less water, fertilizer, and pesticides. This makes them easy to grow and great for beginners.

Native plants provide essential habitat and food sources for local wildlife, including birds, butterflies, and other pollinators. And Florida flora has a lot to offer for the wildlife!

If you live outside of Florida, our native plants may appear to you as much exotic and rare as those from Asia, S. America or Africa! Let's take a peak at some Natives...

Shop Florida Native Plants

In the photo above: Erythrina herbacea - Coral Bean. Coral trees - Erythrinas are very showy, red-flowering small trees that are perfect for locations with poor soil and limited irrigation, very easy to grow, great butterfly and hummingbird attractors..

In the photo above: Acacia farnesiana - Sweet Mimosa. One of the most useful tropical plants that is very cold tolerant, blooms all winter through spring with honey-fragrant flowers - canary yellow powder puffs, attracting bees and butterflies. Fast growing bushy tree, tolerates poor soils and drought.

Date: 15 Sep 2024 Top Tropicals Telegram channel & chat

10 common mistakes to avoid with mail order plants

⚠️ 10 common mistakes to avoid with mail order plants

⁉️ Q: How to get happy and healthy plants from mail order? Will they survive the trip and grow well after transportation? What mistakes should I avoid?

✅ A: At Top Tropicals, we have over 20 years of experience shipping plants. We know how to pack them properly and ensure the safest journey possible. We ship the biggest and healthiest plants, and our customers are often amazed at how great they look after a few days in a dark box. But receiving a healthy plant is only half the adventure. Now that the plant is in your hands, it's up to you to keep it thriving. The first couple of weeks after shipping are critical. With the right care, your new plant can reward you with beautiful flowers and fruit for years to come. Here are 10 common mistakes to avoid when buying plants by mail order.

⏺1. Not unpacking plants immediately

⏺2. Ignoring acclimation

⏺3. Overwatering right after arrival

⏺4. Stepping up too soon

⏺5. Ignoring the plant's needs

Research the specific needs of your plant before it arrives. Light, water, and soil requirements vary greatly, and misunderstanding them can lead to issues.

⬇️ Continued in next post 👇

#How_to

🔴 Join 👉 TopTropicals

Date: 17 Oct 2024 Top Tropicals Telegram channel & chat

Why my plant turned yellow? And why plants need Micronutrients? The answer is:

🍴 Why my plant turned yellow? And why plants need Micronutrients? The answer is: they need Superfood!

Nothing is more disappointing than when your plant’s bright green leaves begin to turn yellow. Too often gardeners blame pests for these issues, but at the root of the problem is almost always a nutrient deficiency.

Plants need both macronutrients and micronutrients.
Macronutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium) help plants grow big and strong.
Micronutrients (like iron, zinc, copper, and manganese) are just like vitamins, needed in small amounts but are just as important for plant health.

Why are micronutrients important?

📌 They help plants with vital processes like making food (photosynthesis) and building strong roots.
📌 Without enough micronutrients, plants can look weak, turn yellow, or grow poorly.

Why use Sunshine Superfood for micronutrients?

📌 Effective and fast: plants get the right amount of micronutrients quickly and efficiently.
📌 Balanced formula: your plants get everything they need in the right proportions.
📌 Sunshine Superfood is the ultimate micro-element supplement that can fix all deficiencies.
📌 Easy to apply - just mix with water and feed your plants.
📌 The quick absorption helps prevent nutrient deficiencies.

👍 Even if your soil is lacking in certain micronutrients, Sunshine Superfood ensures your plants get exactly what they need.

📚 Learn in details:
Micronutrients Delivery Systems
Element Deficiencies in Your Garden

🛒 Shop Sunshine Boosters

#Fertilizers #How_to

🔴 Join 👉 TopTropicals

Date: 23 May 2024 Top Tropicals Telegram channel & chat

Index of TopTropicals Telegram Channel

🗂 Index of TopTropicals Telegram Channel

Follow these tags to find your interests:

#Butterfly_Plants - Butterfly attracting plants.

#Container_Garden - Plants suitable for container garden and indoor culture.

#Fertilizers - All the truth about fertilizers, plant food supplements, and our recommendations for different types of plants.

#Food_Forest - Fruit trees, Spice plants, and Edibles.
Including: #Avocado, #Mango, #Papaya, #Guava, #Jackfruit, #Loquat

📖 #Fun_Facts - interesting plant facts and legends.

🌳 #Hedges_with_benefits - Practical approach to your landscape and how to properly select showy and useful plants for your yard.

♍️ #Horoscope - Plant Horoscopes and Cat Horoscopes. Did you know that cats also have their Zodiac signs?

🛠 #How_to - Q&A about growing plants, tropical garden lifehacks.

👀 #Nature_Wonders - Unusual, amusing, outrageous, bizarre plants...

🐈 #PeopleCats - our Favorite PeopleCats (and some PeopleDogs, too).

🌸 #Perfume_Plants - Fragrant plants and perfume trees.

✍️ #Quotes - Interesting quotes.

#Recipes - Exotic recipes for tropical fruit and edibles.

💊 #Remedies - Medicinal plants.

☁️ #Shade_Garden - Plants suitable for low light conditions.

🌼 #Trees - Spectacular flowering tropical trees.

🏆 #Win - Contests, Sweepstakes, and other specials.

Join and share with friends👇
🏵 TopTropicals

Date: 22 Oct 2024 Top Tropicals Telegram channel & chat

How to make your Hibiscus plants thrive and bloom

Sunshine Boosters Megaflor

🌷 How to make your Hibiscus plants thrive and bloom

"If your plant isn't flowering, feed it." - Winn Soldani (Fancy Hibiscus)

💬 Among gardeners, Hibiscus plants have a reputation to have couple maintenance issues:
1. they can get bugsy (because they must be so tasty!)
2. they can get leggy, especially fancy grafted cultivars, and after a while they don't look as perfect as when they came from a nursery.

‼️ Tips for healthy and pretty hibiscus plants (can be applied to other flowering shrubs)

🟡Full sun. Essential for profuse flowering and keeps away diseases.
🟡Pruning. Keep it pruned and it will get bushy and produce more blooms.
🟡Well-drained soil. Hibiscus likes regular watering but hates wet feet.
🟡Nutrition program. Hibiscus plants are heavy feeders. But keep in mind that if you just keep pushing granulated plant food, you can over-fertilize the plant. Excessive salts will accumulate in soil and you will end up with a sickly looking plant.

⚠️ Keys to balanced plant food and bloom booster

💋Use liquid fertilizer, preferably amino acid based, it won't create nutrients lock up
💋Fertilize on regular basis, it's better dilute concentration and add food with every watering
💋Always add micro-elements - they are essential for plant health

🌞 If you do this right, the result will be:

⏺healthy, green plants, like they just came from a nursery
⏺reliable blooming circle
⏺better cold tolerance and disease resistance. Remember that a strong plant will be less ⏺stressed and less "bugged" by bugs!

😎 We suggest Sunshine Boosters Megaflor - scientifically balanced liquid fertilizer that is amino acid based = natural and organic, can be used for both flowers and edibles, and what's most important - year around. It is safe to use virtually with every watering, all year around!

🔥 This is all you need for healthy plants and lots of flowers!

🛒 Get Sunshine Boosters Megaflor

#How_to #Fertilizers

🔴 Join 👉 TopTropicals

Date: 3 Jul 2024 Top Tropicals Newsletter

Celebrate Freedom on Happy 4th!
- Independence Day Sale ending soon -

Feel Free to Fill Your Yard!

Feel FREE to fill your yard with plants you ever wanted for your garden - at the lowest prices. Hurry up, only one day left! Choose from over 100 varieties of rare tropical plants specially priced for this Independence Day:

BLUE TAG SALE $9.95 >> SHOP

RED TAG SALE $14.95 >> SHOP

Check out our BOGO DEALS and Shipping discounts and make it a steal!

While supply lasts
Deals expire July 4, 2024
No minimum order
Max order: 2 plants per variety per order (for shipped orders)
Local pick up - no limit!

$9.95 BLUE TAG SALE