Garden Blog - Top Tropicals

🌎 What Avocado is better - Mexican or Guatemalan?

Avocados come from three main regions, and each group has its own special look, taste, and growing habits. The three types are Mexican, Guatemalan, and West Indian. Many of today’s popular varieties are hybrids, mixing traits from these types.

• 
  Mexican type:

These avocados are small, with thin skin and rich flavor. The skin often turns dark green or black when ripe. The flesh is very buttery, with high oil content (up to 30%), and the leaves smell like anise. Mexican types are also the most cold-hardy, so they do well in cooler areas.
Popular Mexican avocado varieties: Anise, Bacon, Brazos Belle (Wilma), Brogdon (Brogden), Fantastic, Florida Hass (Haas), Lila (Opal), Mexicola, Mexicola Grande, Ulala (Oh La La, Super Hass).
Hybrids Mexican x Guatemalan: Winter Mexican, Buck, Wurtz (True Dwarf), Maria Black, Fuerte, Hall, Ettinger, Thomson Red.
• 
  Guatemalan type:

These are medium to large avocados with thicker, sometimes bumpy skin. They have a creamy texture and rich flavor with plenty of healthy fats. The fruit is usually pear-shaped and ripens in winter or spring. Guatemalan types are commonly grown in both Florida and California.
Popular Guatemalan avocado varieties: Black Prince, Booth 8, Joey, Nishikawa, Reed, Tonnage, Yamagata
Hybrids Mexican x Guatemalan: Winter Mexican, Buck, Wurtz (True Dwarf), Maria Black, Fuerte, Hall, Ettinger, Thomson Red
Hybrids of West Iundian and Guatemalan: Beta, Catalina, Choquette, Day, Hardee Red, Kampong (Sushi), Loretta, Lula, Marcus Pumpkin, Miguel, Monroe, Oro Negro.
• 
  West Indian type:

These avocados are the biggest, with smooth, shiny green skin and a lighter, more watery taste. They have less oil but lots of pulp, perfect for salads and guacamole. The fruit can weigh up to 2 pounds! They grow best in tropical climates like Florida, the Caribbean, and the Bahamas, but not in California.
West Indian avocado varieties: Bernecker, Donnie (Doni), Hialeah Red, Pollock, Poncho (Pancho), Red Russell, Russell, Simmonds, Waldin.
Florida originated varieties: Catalina, Hardee Red.
Hybrids of West Iundian and Guatemalan: Beta, Catalina, Choquette, Day, Hardee Red, Kampong (Sushi), Loretta, Lula, Marcus Pumpkin, Miguel, Monroe, Oro Negro.

✍️ In short:

• ✦ Mexican - small, rich, cold-hardy
• ✦ Guatemalan - medium, creamy, thick skin
• ✦ West Indian - large, smooth, tropical

✔️ Check outAvocado Variety Guide interactive chart. Sort them by flower type A or B, tree habit, fruit shape and quality, cold hardiness, origin, season and more!

🛒 Explore Avocado varieties

📖 Our Book: Avocado Variety Guide, Snack or Guacamole?

• · Hard copy · PDF File Download

📚Learn more:

• · Avocado Variety Guide
• · Posts about #Avocado
• · Avocado tree in plant encyclopedia

#Food_Forest #Avocado #How_to

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🐈 Meet PeopleCats of TopTropicals

🐈📸 Cat Charlie - she climbs fence poles, supervises the garden center, and wins hearts from above at TopTropicals PeopleCats.Garden

#PeopleCats

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🆘 SOS! Why is my Champaka Tree dropping leaves?

• ✔️ Magnolia champaca, the Joy Perfume Tree, can look a little rough in Winter through early Spring. The leaves may yellow, drop, and make the whole tree look tired. Many gardeners think something went wrong, but this is completely normal. Champaka is semi-deciduous, which means it sheds leaves for a short period during cooler months, even in warm climates.
• ✔️ This is also the time when the tree sets its seeds for spring. As long as you keep your regular watering routine and don’t overreact with extra fertilizer or pruning, the tree rebounds in Spring. Within a few weeks it pushes fresh new foliage and starts blooming again, filling the air with that unmistakable sweet fragrance.
• ✔️ Champaka isn’t declining - it’s just taking a winter nap!

🛒 We always have them for you: Joy Perfume Champaka trees

📚 Learn more:

• 🟡Which Champaka tree is better - White or Golden?
• 🟡Golden and White Champaka side-by-side
• 🟡What does Joy Perfume flower smell like?
• 🟡What does a mature Champaka Tree look like? Practical Growing Guide
• 🟡How to grow Magnolia champaca and get some Joy
• 🟡When does Champaka tree start blooming?
• 🟡Why Champaka is such a popular perfume tree
• 🟡Flower of the most expensive perfume
• 🟡White Champaka
• 🟡Article about Champaka

📱

#Perfume_Plants #Container_Garden #Trees

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🍴 Soursop freezer whip: quick-n-fun exotic recipes

• 🔵Blend frozen soursop (Annona muricata) pulp with a splash of coconut milk.
• 🔵Freeze 15 minutes, then stir for a soft, slushy whip.
• 🔵Perfect for a hot day, this whip is instantly refreshing and cooling, like a little tropical breeze in a bowl.
• 🔵And on a cold winter day? It still tastes amazing - like a quick escape to the tropics!

🛒 Grow your own delicious Guanabana Soursop

📚 Learn more:

• ▫️Annona muricata in Plant Encyclopedia
• ▫️Guanabana - Soursop fruiting in apartment
• ▫️The most delicious Annona fruit: Guanabana

#Food_Forest #Recipes

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🔥 Cluck like a chicken before you roar like a lion - sound on! 🎤

"Sometimes you gotta cluck like a chicken before you roar like a lion."
- Albert Einstein, "Play is the highest form of research'

🐈📸 Cash and Bob cat circus at TopTropicals / PeopleCats.Garden

#PeopleCats #Quotes

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Can Poinsettia grow for years? 5 most common mistakes with new container plants.

You buy a beautiful plant from a big garden center, or maybe you received one as a holiday gift. It looks perfect - lush, bushy, colorful, spotless. But a few weeks later… what happened? It is dropping leaves, getting leggy, or simply dying. Think about poinsettias after Christmas - most end up in the trash like annuals. But poinsettias are actually perennial shrubs that live for many years in their native environment!

So what went wrong? Here are simple ways to avoid these disappointments and keep your new plants as happy as they were in the greenhouse - and even help them grow bigger and nicer for a long time.

• ❌ Do not put a plant directly into hot, bright sun.

Most nursery plants are grown in filtered light under shade cloth, and sudden full sun can burn the leaves.

✅ Move sun-loving plants gradually into full sun.

• ❌ Do not rely on the original container.

Holiday and gift plants often come in decorative pots that have issues:
- no drainage holes
- glazed or heavy plastic that traps moisture and causes root rot
- dry, porous terra cotta that loses moisture too fast
- cone-shaped pots that hold water and create waterlogging
- pots that are simply too big or too small for the root system

✅ Use simple black nursery pots with straight sides.
They:
- hold moisture at the right level
- are made of safe professional-grade plastic
- make it easy to remove the root ball when stepping up
For a fancy display, place the black pot inside a decorative planter. It will also act as a saucer to collect excess water - no stress, no mess.

• ❌ Do not skip checking the soil. Even plants from professional growers can hide surprises:

- the plant may be buried too deep. Large nurseries sometimes add extra soil on top to make the pot look full, but burying the stem can kill the plant in days.
- soil type on top may be wrong. They may pack peat moss or sphagnum on top to keep stems tight for display.
- the entire soil media might be temporary. Many orchids in stores, for example, sit in glazed pots stuffed with soggy sphagnum - not how orchids should grow.

✅ Take the plant out of the pot and inspect the roots and soil.
Remove excess peat or sphagnum. Use a quality, well-drained mix like Abundance and repot into a container that matches the root size or is just slightly larger.

• ❌ Do not forget fertilizer.

Your plant came from a professional nursery where it likely received constant feeding through a liquid injection system - almost like being on life support. Once removed, it can decline within weeks.

✅ Put your plant on a regular fertilizer schedule.
When repotting, mix in Green Magic controlled-release fertilizer and refresh it every 6 months. Simple and easy! You can also apply liquid Sunshine Boosters - safe to use with each watering.

❌ Do not ignore individual plant needs.
✅ Take a moment to ask what the plant prefers and what to avoid, when buying from a nursery where you can talk to a grower, like Top Tropicals. The grower knows exactly how it was grown and what it likes. Getting a plant is like adopting a baby - knowing its habits makes all the difference!

🛒 Select plants for containers

#How_to #Container_Garden

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🕺 Meet Onika's cats

🐈📸 Meet Onika's cats from TopTropicals PeopleCats.Garden:
Tigerlilly. She is the matriarch of her little clan and expert in grass tasting tests.

#PeopleCats

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🍋 Lemon Candy Tree

🟡 Garcinia edulis - Lemon Drop Mangosteen, Madrono. Tiny yellow-orange globes, golf-ball size, with clear, juicy pulp, and when you taste it, you understand the name instantly. Sweet and tart at the same time, like someone turned a lemon drop candy into a tropical fruit. Today Chiane and Ashley are going to taste the fruit and share with your their experience!

📱

#Food_Forest #Container_Garden

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🍋 Little tree that makes lemon candy

• 🟡 Garcinia edulis - Lemon Drop Mangosteen, Madrono - is one of those plants that doesn’t shout for attention, but when you stop and really look at it, you realize how special it is. And today Chiane and Ashley are going to taste the fruit and share their experience!
• 🟡This tree stays compact and neat, with glossy evergreen leaves that always look freshly polished. Perfect size for a patio pot or a small garden corner. Ours here is slow and steady, but it always looks like it got groomed this morning.
• 🟡And the fruit… that’s where the fun begins. Tiny yellow-orange globes, golf-ball size, glowing against the green leaves. Inside is that clear, juicy pulp, and when you taste it, you understand the name instantly. Sweet and tart at the same time, like someone turned a lemon drop candy into a tropical fruit.
• 🟡People snack on them right off the tree, but they’re also great in juices and little dessert experiments. It’s one of those fruits that makes you feel like you grew something exotic without needing a jungle-sized space or complicated care. Give it sun, give it water, keep it in a nice pot, and it’s perfectly happy.
• 🟡A cute, flavorful, collector-worthy tree that fits right into small spaces.

🛒 Plant Lemon Candy Tree - Lemon Drop Mangosteen

📚 Learn more:
Does it really taste like Lemon drops?

#Food_Forest #Container_Garden #Fun_facts

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