Malpighia punicifolia - Dwarf Barbados-Cherry, Dwarf
Acerola. This dwarf form of Acerola makes a wonderful low-growing shrub or
beautiful bonsai tree with edible fruit. Profuse bloomer, it is also a nice
ornamental! Due to its shallow and smaller root system, Acerolas can be interplanted
with other crops more closely than many trees. Acerolas grows in marl,
limestone, clay and other heavy soils as long as it drains well. Has the highest
vitamin C content of any fruit. 1 Cherry is equal to 12 oranges. Used in
jellies, jams, freezes without losing its vitamin C content. The plant is drought
tolerant and easy to grow.
Stay updated with TopTropicals Videos by subscribing to our
channel at
YouTube.com/TopTropicals and get our latest video news of what is fruiting and
blooming!
Q: I was
always wondering how you guys manage to grow true tropical trees in Florida? I
live in Puerto Rico and we have Breadfruit trees growing here in a wild... but my sister lives not far
away from you, in Orlando, which is much colder, and I wonder if I can get
her a
Breadfruit tree for Christmas?
A: Your
sister can grow a Breadfruit tree in Orlando either in a pot (and bring it indoors during
cold periods) or in the ground inside a structure (an elclosed conservatory
with heating system). See our customer's Greenhouse in Virginia. Cold protection of tropical plants is a lengthy
subject and we have many interesting publications about it in our managine
Tropical
Treasures and on the website. In a nutshell, when growing tropicals outside of
tropical climate, you need to follow these 7 rules:
Cut watering to a minimum. Cold+wet kills tropical roots.
Water thirsty plants before a cold night. Jucy leaves have fewer
chances to be cold-zapped.
Wind protection is more important than a temperature drop. Plant
tropicals close to a house or surrounded by other trees.
Duration of a cold period is more critical than the cold itself. If
expecting long cold hours, bring up all available protection resources.
Christmas lights or propane heaters - as long as there is a heat source,
everything helps!
Remove plastic covers during the daytime so plants don't get
"cooked" in the sun. Fabric covers are better than plastic.
Grow ultra-tropicals in containers and bring them inside the garage
or even indoors during the cold.
Mangosteen
availability. Yesterday we received 6 Mangosteen trees from Hawaii - on the photo Anna Banana is holding one
of these very much wanted trees. We had 378 customers on a waiting list for
this amazing fruit tree. After we sent wishlist notifications, the plants were
all sold within a couple hours for $349.95 each on "first come, first serve"
basis. We even over-sold one... our shopping cart could not catch up with so
many requests! We also had 12 smaller size (1 gal pot) plants, and most were
also sold right away. As of now, only 3 plants left.
We know many people want this tree, and we apologize that we had only a
few. We are searching all our sources around the world for these plants and
seeds to supply the Mangosteen for you!
ATTENTION to all
Mangosteen seekers! Please re-submit your request for Mangosteen using our Wishlist form. We will find more plants for you, as well as will grow
them from seeds. Be on top of our Mail-list news and make sure to re-submit a wish-list request for this plant, since your original request was
removed as soon as notification was sent.
You may follow the BUY button below, and if all plants sold out, simply
click on a link "Notify me when available". We will notify you as soon as we
have the Mangosteen back in stock!
Q: When I
visited Thailand I bought this huge fruit at the market and the taste was
amazing and unique! Now I see you have this Jackfruit tree for sale. I am
excited to grow it but not sure if it will survive our winters. I live in Huston,
TX. Also are there any special conditions required for successful fruiting?
A:Jackfruit indeed is one of the most fascinating tropical fruit. In
spite of reputation being ultra tropical, the tree is not as cold sensitive as
everyone believes. Mature trees can withstand light frost for a few hours
without significant damage. The only thing, after cold snaps it may be not as
profuse producer as in frost-free climates. Keeping Jackfruit in a pot is also an
option in colder areas. The tree is quite unique not only about fruit but
also about growth habit. The fruit is so large and heavy that the tree has a
smart feature to produce only at the base of the trunk. This makes it possible
to keep Jackfruit tree at very short height - 6-7 ft tall. We have many
varieties of Jackfruit, and all of them can be grown in containers considering
regular topping/pruning.
From Irene &
Marjorie, PA: We wanted to share our pics with you (after Summer). I
attached also the photo of the way the tree looked before your advice (back in
April). The big is the one we almost lost and you gave us these instructions and
it came back. These were your instructions:
"The soursop is one of my favorite fruits and I was so sad to hear
yours may be dead. Good news - the tree looks great! Yes, it does have some cold
damage but I'm surprised it still has leaves on it at all! In cooler weather,
they typically drop all of their leaves and stay that way until spring. You
can remove the damaged leaves and it will resprout new growth with the warmer
temperatures."
Taking care of
Soursop after shipping Soursop - Annona muricatatrees are very sensitive to temperature drops. This
always causes leaf loss. After shipping, do not water until the soil gets
slightly dry; keep it in bright shade. No fertilizer until the plant shows active
new growth. Be patient with your plant, and it should recover soon.
Soursop is an ultra-tropical tree and doesn't take any freeze. If you
live in a cooler climate, keep the plant in a pot (the good news is, Annonas,
in general, have a compact nature and are perfect for container culture).
Bring the tree indoors during the cold period, providing bright light.
We have a very interesting article about growing and fruiting Soursop
in an apartment. Check out 4534 Tropical Treasures Magazine # 7.
Mark your calendar: Christmas Countdown at Top Tropicals - 12/1/18.
Celebrate the
Holiday Season with us: "25 Days to Christmas" event
Event: Holiday plant shopping and Tropical Winter Plants
When: Saturday, Dec 1, from 10 am - 5 pm
Where: Top Tropicals Garden Center, 13890 Orange River Blvd, Ft
Myers, FL
More info: See our Facebook event or call Anna Banana @ 239-771-8081
Agenda: - 25% OFF everything and freebies for locals!
- Cold protection for tender tropicals
- Winter blooming and Winter fruiting trees and shrubs
- Snacks and drinks
Mango harvest season is over, and now it's the time to plant young Mango
trees for the next year season of flowering and fruiting. When choosing a
mango tree, researching your location for proper growing conditions is
relatively easy. But refining your decision-making process based on the taste of
mango is both easy and fun (and filling)! However, since it is often difficult to
find a convenient source for sampling a wide variety of mango fruits; we at
Top Tropicals sat down and tasted a handful of varieties for you... Just
another opinion on taste!
Pickering - Sweet, juicy, fiberless, with a hint of an apricot
fragrance. (A universal favorite amongst the group.)
Nam Doc Mai - A slightly fibrous marmalade-like texture, with a sweet
and floral flavor.
Cogshall - Very little fiber with a slightly tart and piney flavor.
Florigon - A mild, even flavor. Not too sweet, not too tart, and
fiberless.
Mallika - A fiberless cantaloupe-like consistency. Slightly tart, with
some semblance to non-acidic orange juice.
Valencia Pride - Slightly fibrous, with a tangy near citrus flavor.
Glenn - Very mild flavor, less sweet compared to other varieties, but
very refreshing.
Lighting for overwintering tropical plants indoors
Q: Days
are getting shorter and darker... I brought my tropical plants indoors for
overwintering (I live in Atlanta, GA). Could you give me some advice on what
lamps should I use for additional lighting of my plants?
A: Indoor
plants are very unlucky: they have to grow in "caves," and everybody knows
that plants don't grow in the caves. The luckiest plants win sunny windowsills,
but even there they dwell rather like in underbrush under tall trees, where
the sun illuminate them only early in the morning or in the evening, and its
light is diffused by foliage.
Usually domestic plants are in desperate lack of illumination not only
in winter, but also in summer. No light - no growth, no flowering. So, plants
need extra light to compensate the lack of illumination in the "room-cave"
conditions.
Before you will start any practical actions to help your plants, you
need first to decide whether you are going to set an additional illumination,
or provide full lamplight. In the case of just additional illumination, rather
inexpensive luminescent lamps will do, and you don't have to think about
their spectrum. Continue reading...
Improving cold hardiness before
winter: fertilizer and micro-elements
Q:
I live in New Jersey and it is getting cool here, with
temperatures in the upper 40s, but my tropical plant
collection is in a heated sunroom (still around 70s).
Should I continue fertilizing my plants? And if yes, my
second question about deciduous Sugar Apple tree. Should I
continue fertilizing it until it drops leaves?
A:
First of all, even though you live outside tropical
climate, your plants enjoy warm temperatures year round,
and can be treated like if they were in a Southern
garden.
Plant nutrients, both macro-elements (regular
fertilizer) and micro-elements (such as iron, manganese,
magnesium, copper, and other elements) play an important
role not only in overall plant health but also in plant
hardiness.
The rule of thumb is, even in warm climates we cut off
any fertilizer by the end of October. You still have
time for the last treatment this year (next will be in
March, or when your plants start showing new growth).
You may apply just a bit of slow-release granulated
fertilizer, or water-soluble by foliar spray, diluted
1/2 of label strength, to all evergreen species in your
collection.
The most important application before winter is
micro-elements and other plant boosters that will help
you plant collection survive winter months with a
shorter daylight and cooler temperatures. Now it is a
perfect time to make these simple steps:
1) Miscro-element applications, any one of: Superfood, Iron Supplement, Greenleaf.
2) Sunshine-T application: for
improving cold hardiness, plus immune system resistance
to insects and deceases.
3)
Sunshine-Honey application for all fruit trees to
encourage bigger and sweeter fruit next year.
Regarding your second question. Deciduous tropical
plants like Annonas, Adeniums, Plumerias, etc - do not
need regular fertilizer at this time, however, go ahead
and apply microelements Superfood complex, as well
as Sunshine-Honey, while
leaves are still green. These two will give a kick-start
to provide better flowering in spring, and production of
sweeter fruit later.
1. There are approximately 20,000 different species of
butterflies, the largest of which is the Queen Alexandra
Birdwing with a wingspan of 11 inches.
2. Female butterflies can lay over 1000 eggs during their
short lifetime.
3. Butterflies lay their eggs on host plants which usually
hatch within a few days, then turning into caterpillars.
The caterpillar will then eat until it sheds it's skin
several times, called instars, finally emerging from the
chrysalis as a beautiful butterfly.
4. Butterflies are born to breed, their goal being to mate
and begin the cycle again. Most live only a few days
except the Monarch which can live up to six months.
5. Monarch butterflies migrate to Mexico every fall and
remain there until spring when they make the return
migration.
6. Due to the continuing destruction of the rain forests,
where the largest population of butterflies are found,
their numbers are dwindling. We encourage you to plant a
butterfly garden!!
Remember:
- A sunny, less windy location is best, however, Zebras
love to float in the shade of bushes and trees.
- The more host and nectar plants you have, the more
butterflies will be attracted to your garden.
- Butterflies "puddle". They like a wet sandy area where
they congregate and sip minerals and nutrients from the
wet sand and water.
- Rocks to rest and enjoy their beautiful garden, and
don't forget a bench or hammock for yourself.
FREE
butterfly garden guide from Anna Banana
For our local Florida customers, it is a perfect time now
to start a garden with plants for butterflies that will
appear first thing in Spring. Establish these plants now
for the Spring blooms that will attract the Beauty into
your garden!
Stop by our Garden Center to check out our Butterfly Plants display, or
simply call Anna Banana for a free consultation on
Butterfly Garden at 239-771-8081.
Hurry up while butterfly plants are on 4-day sale!
