Q: Please help! We just moved into a new house in Florida and
don't have any mature trees yet, but the sun is already brutal! Can you suggest
any super-fast growing shade tree that can make shade over my driveway as
soon as possible?
A: Check out Giant Potato Tree - it is very fast growing, has very large leaves plus
very pretty purple flowers as a bonus year round! The pictured tree was
planted from 3 gal only 6 months ago, and already covers with shade the whole
car. It is small to a medium size tree, but one of the fastest growing.
If you are looking for a larger tree and willing to be more patient, here
is the full list of tropical and subtropical fast growing shade trees. Most of
them may take a few years until they reach a mature size, however, in order
to enjoy your shade tomorrow, you must plant the tree today!
Q: When I visited Hawaii I saw their everblooming bougainvilles,
flowering non-stop! How come our bougainvilles in Florida are not flowering
as much? Is there any special secret to make them bloom?
A: Bougainvilleas prefer drier climate and especially drier
summers. Florida summers are rainy and humid. The steaming greenhouse conditions
are favorable for most tropical plants (except desert plants like most cacti).
Bougainvilleas also grow vigorously in Florida heat and frequent rains, but
most cultivars prefer dryer conditions for profuse flowering. These are a few
tips that can help you grow happy Bougainvilleas and enjoy their showy
flowers even in humid climates:
- In Florida, Bougainvilleas bloom mostly in Winter. If you are a
snowbird, this plant is definitely for you!
- Choose sunny, dry, and elevated location for Bougainvilleas, never a
low spot and never a shade spot. Give it as many hours of sun as possible.
- Use only well-draining soil. Usually, sandy soils work well when
mixed with some compost. If your soil is too heavy, add soil conditioners like
perlite, bark, sand.
- Take advantage of cultivars that are well adapted to humid climates:
Dwarf
Everblooming Pixie, Thornless B. arborea.
- Remember Bougainvilleas are the easiest and the most rewarding potted
plants.
- Use bloom boosters along with well-balanced slow release plant food.
We recommend these: Pink-N-Good flower booster and smart-release granulated Tropical Allure.
- Do not overwater and keep the plant on a dry side.
Q: I've just recently moved to Florida from North Carolina. I
don't know much about tropical plants. Can you perhaps suggest an easy and
pretty flowering plant for a beginner which I can plant around my garden pond for
a tropical feeling?
A: For adding that tropical look to your garden, few plants beat
beautiful ginger! Alpinia purpurata, the Dwarf Red Cone Ginger with its bright red floral
spikes and lush, lance-shaped foliage is no exception. This striking
perennial will add a tropical effect to your garden that will definitely take your
breath away.
The Dwarf Red Cone grows between 3 and 4 feet tall and blooms 8-9
months of the year! The blooms will hold on the plant for up to 3 weeks! It makes
a very attractive and distinctive backdrop for other plants.
Red Cone Ginger likes partial shade and moist, humid conditions, but
will tolerate full sun. It is fast growing, easy to grow and resistant to
disease, heat, and insects. The plant is a wonderful accent in a garden and works
well as a focal point specimen, show-stopping when planted around garden
ponds or near entryways. This ginger also works very well in containers and
planters. Either in mass plantings or smaller groups, all gingers add tropical flair which never disappoints.
In addition, the beautiful flower spikes make for great, long-lasting
cut flowers and is an interesting addition to bouquets.
An added bonus? Dwarf Red Ginger is super easy to propagate. If stems
are cut at the base and placed in water, they will generally root within a few
weeks. Eventually, you can make a whole flowering hedge just from one
plant!
Who does not like a plant that is non-fussy and not only beautiful but
easy to grow?
Dwarf
Red Ginger is more than just a pretty face!
A word from the owner... ...When I first started growing tropical fruit trees, I noticed that
Lychee just can't be grown from seed, period. The seed germinates readily, a
little happy seedling grows like crazy... but only for the first couple weeks.
Then it stops. Then it shrinks. Then it dies.
My teacher, tropical fruit tree expert Murray Corman (Garden of Delights), made fun of me for growing Lychee
from seed, and explained his sarcasm with two words - "Need Mycorrhiza!" It
appears that in Nature, Lychee seedlings can only grow around its mother plant
which has this magic plant-friendly fungus around its roots! The only way to
succeed with some seedlings is using this amazing Nature symbiosis... Check
out Mycorrhiza - and try it, works 100% in all stubborn cases!
Myco Mix is an amazing underground secret to a better garden! This
professional growing medium with Mycorrhiza is a must for establishing plants,
recovering weak plants, and for transplanting applications, including seedlings and
cuttings...Learn more...
Q: I live in Southern Ohio and love growing lots of tropical plants.
In the warm months, they all go outside under the protection of tall trees,
but in the cold months, they all come inside in a snug but very brightly lit
sun-room. For many years I have successfully kept a dwarf Meyer's lemon which
amazes my friends, and I am wondering if you could suggest some other dwarf
tropical fruit tree which I might be able to grow that would amaze them even
more?
A: Without hesitation, I would strongly suggest a particular
variety of carambola (star-fruit) called Dwarf Hawaiian, as it is truly special as tropical fruit trees go.
First and foremost, they begin fruiting at a very young age, often while only in
a one-gallon pot, and even less than a couple of feet tall with a very little
trimming. Better even is that they are perfectly happy living perpetually in
a pot. I have one myself which is content in a 12 inch pot and which fruits
freely throughout the year. Also, even though it should be too much to be
expected, the fruits are of the highest quality and are as sweet as candy. I
also like the fact that the fruits hang decoratively on the tiny tree for quite
some time before finally ripening, rather like ornaments. One of these little
trees in-fruit is an amazing sight and ought to make anyone take notice,
especially in a sun-room in Ohio! They really are very easy to grow, and if you
have a Meyer's lemon which does well, you'll certainly have no particular
issues with a Dwarf Hawaiian carambola.
However, I have found that in order for them to remain extra dwarf and
fruit especially precociously, this variety needs to be grafted and not
cutting grown. Fortunately, Top Tropicals has recently obtained a number of these
extra wonderful grafted trees which are of the highest quality I have seen in
some time, all of which will likely begin fruiting very shortly. They simply
are wonderful little trees! Check them out...
Lobster Claw, Parrot's beak... Tropical flowers never fail to astound
and amaze with their forms and colors. Lobster Claw plant (Heliconia rostrata)
is no exception, with large, brightly hued bracts that cluster up a stem. It
is also called Parrot Beak and has inconsequential tiny flowers covered by
the showy bracts. It is native to Central to South America and is one of the
most recognized and widely grown species of showy heliconias, and one of the
most beautiful! The inflorescence it produces is one of the most colorful you
will ever encounter. Pendulous blooms of striking red and yellow bracts often
reach 3’ in length! The flowers last a long time and make an excellent cut
flower. It is an easy grower in tropical areas but some room is required
because the stalks can reach 7 feet in height. It can withstand temperatures in
the high 20s. Can be grown in large pots, it starts blooming once the plant
reaches 4-5’ tall and the amazing inflorescences will appear one after
another creating a spectacular show to enjoy. Grow in full to partial sun and rich
soil with lots of water and fertilizer.
Rare Amorphophallus ralative, Typhonium venosum (Sauromatum venosum), is
a common shade-loving house or garden plant from temperate and tropical
Africa and Asia. This plant is also known as the Voodoo Bulb because of its
ability to flower from a corm without soil and water. Tuberous perennial with
solitary, segmented round leaf and strange, arum-like flower. Rare collectable,
it is a showy exotic container plant.
Typhonium grows to around 20 inches tall from an underground corm. A
large corm can spawn multiple new corms. Inflorescences emerge before the
leaves. An inflorescence has a purplish-brown-spotted, yellowish spathe and a
purplish-brown spadix which emit a strong odor perceived as similar to cow
manure, rotting flesh, or a dirty wet dog, depending on who smells the
inflorescence ;) The odor lasts only a day and attracts carrion-feeding insects which can
pollinate this plant.
Plants we have in stock, have tubers 1-2" in diameter. The plant goes
dormant in winter and starts sprouting in March-April. Keep soil slightly
moist but not wet, and wait for the magic leaf to pop up... The plant should
flower within a year or two.
- SUNSHINE Superfood microelements as foliar spray for healthy growth,
profuse flowering, and disease/bug resistance
-
SUNSHINE-E to help plants come out of dormancy faster and increase metabolism. 100 ml bottles and 50 ml
bottles available for large plant collections.
-
SUNSHINE-Honey to fruit trees so you can enjoy sweeter and bigger fruit later this year
4. If nights are still chilly, take potted plants outside to enjoy the
afternoon sun and bring them back indoors for the night.
Q: What fertilizer should we be using for ylang ylang?
A: Ylang Ylang is a free-flowering tropical plant that requires regular
feeding during active growth period (March through November in Florida). We use balanced granulated fertilizer that contains micro-elements. Apply once a month 1 tsp per 1 gal of
soil. For in-ground plants, 1/2 cup once a month.
We also apply additional micro-element treat SuperFood as foliar spray which dramatically increases
growth rate and promotes flowering.
Check out our fertilizers, plant boosters, and garden
supplies:
Q: We had a few nights with light frost and some of my tropical
plants look sad, lost all leaves. I scratched the bark and it is green inside.
Should I prune back all branches that look dead?
A: Never prune during winter time, even if some branches look
dead. There is a chance you will be surprised by Spring when they sprout new
leaves. Be patient and postpone all pruning until active growth starts, then cut
off only damaged part, approximately 2" above new growth.
A word from the owner...
Q: I live in Southern Ohio and love growing lots of 
