PeopleCats of TopTropicals. Cat of the day: King the Biker
King just keeps winning "Cat of the Day" honorable title! Last time
he excelled in his
traveling talents, and today is no exception. Since he was scolded for his unapproved trip to Miami, got his drivers license suspended and now is strictly prohibited from big-time traveling... he
learned how to ride a bike!
TopTropicals PeopleCat Club
Thank you for supporting us in helping PeopleCat Community! Make your kind donation today and
receive a surprise gift from us! Every little bit helps. Thank you and God bless you and your pets!
Q: About a year ago we bought a mango tree from you folks and planted it in our backyard in Estero. It has done well. It now has several mangoes and I am wondering if the
tree is strong enough to support the fruit or if I should just cut off the fruit and wait until next year
when the tree is a bit stronger. I am attaching some pictures. I am most concerned about the branch on the right which seems to be
sagging. If you do not suggest that I cut off the fruit, can I wait until they ripen on the tree and eat them. They seem to be a bit on the small side for eating.
A: Your mango tree looks very healthy and happy, congratulation with a great job! For young mango trees, it is always recommended to minimize a number of fruit to 2-3 so
the tree has enough energy for vegetative growth rather than fruiting.
In your case, as we can see from the pictures, your tree is very well
established, has a strong root system, nice symmetrical shape, and vigorous new growth. In our opinion, you can save all
these fruit and let them ripen on the tree.
To support the plant's energy, make sure to fertilize it during summer with slow-release Mango Food, and year around - with Mango Tango booster. Use Sunshine Honey
supplement for sweeter fruit.
Secure the heavy fruit branch with a v-shape stake (a big branch may work), it can definitely use the support otherwise may break
under strong Florida winds.
You are all set to enjoy your first crop and be rewarded with fruit of your excellent work!
Thank you everybody for supporting us in helping PeopleCat Community! Make
your kind donation today and receive a surprise gift from us. Every little
bit helps! Thank you and God bless you and your pets!
Everyone knows that Top Tropicals is good at unique, special novelties.
And it is not a secret that most plant people also are pet people - cat
people (with PeopleCats), dog people (with PeopleDogs) or at least fish people,
right?
Today we are excited to introduce our new revolutionary Fish Food developed
by our business partners at Floritin Aquarium Labs
Floritin stikiStik™ - Ultimate Aquarium fish food
StikiStik is a dry powder that you just mixed with water to create a
sticky paste. The paste can be attached to any surface inside your aquarium.
StikiStik is a patent pending fish food that does things which
conventional fish food does not. It introduces picky eaters to a more natural feeding
environment, does not pollute the fish tank, is easy to mix from its powder
format and provides gradual feeding. It is easy to apply to any surface in the
aquarium, such as interior glass wall, rocks or coral skeleton.
stikiStik advantages
- Easy to use. Just mix with a few drops of water and stik it in!
Self adhesive paste can be applied to any surface. Stays intact for hours in
aquarium. Does not pollute water - Scientifically designed and proven for all types of aquarium fish,
invertebrates, and corals - Optimal and balanced nutrition. Contains vitamins and amino
acids - Natural. No hormones, no artificial colors - Stimulates fish appetite and enhances fish color - Promotes natural feeding habits. Helps training hard to feed fish.
The perfect food to acclimate newly introduced fish, including Moorish Idol,
finicky butterfly fish, such as Copperband Butterfly, Pearscale
Butterfly, Mandarinfish, and many oithers - Easy to store. Can be used immediately or frozen for future use - Add any frozen fish food or medications to mix
PeopleCats of TopTropicals. Cat of the day: Ricki - a cat or a bird?
After 4 years knowing Ricki (raised from a tiny kitten), we came to a conclusion he was a
Bird in his previous life.
Ricki likes sitting next to you (preferably on a dining table) and have a
conversation, with his head slightly tilted. And although nobody ever heard a
sound of Ricki's voice (he is a silent cat), he is very good company - because he knows how to listen! How many people have a talent like this? If any - only PeopleCats.
Ricki will sit next to your plate and never take a piece. He just wants a
conversation. And you will enjoy his Sounds of Silence as the best
gift.
Stay safe and healthy with your PeoplePets!
TopTropicals PeopleCat Club
Thank you everybody for supporting us in helping PeopleCat Community! Make
your kind donation today and receive a surprise gift from us. Every little
bit helps! Thank you and God bless you and your pets!
Q: I need some advice on which fertilizer(s) would be perfect for
my Cannonball tree and its cousin Heaven's Lotus (Gustavia augusta). I also have fruit trees... soursops, mango, etc. and a collection of flowers including pua keni keni, plumeria, bougainvillea, etc. I am wondering if you can recommend a custom
fertilizing regimen for my garden (especially the cannonball and the gustavia since
they are young).
A: It is a perfect time now to fertilize your plants as they
start active growth. We have suggestions on fertilizing programs for your trees.
You will find here our recommendations for:
1. Young trees
2. Flowering trees
3. Fragrant plants
4. In-ground grown fruit trees... CONTINUE READING >>
PeopleCats of TopTropicals. Cats of the day: Biggy's Cat Hospital
Biggy checking on patient Abu when he couldn't walk
During these challenging times for the whole planet, we receive kind
letters from our customers checking on how our PeopleCats are doing, especially those that previously were ill. And
since we promised to follow up on everyone, including heart-breaking story of
Raja and Abu, today's report is about everybody's progress!
As we mentioned in our previous newsletter, several cats in TopTropicals
Cat Sanctuary had a coronavirus (we call it COVID-Cat-20), or simply a cat respiratory infection. Chiefy, Snitch, Marco and Biggy had it really bad, but some other PeopleCats surprisingly didn't
get it! Just like with humans. Lucky King didn't have a single sneeze!
Finally, everybody has recovered by now, but it has been a very stressful
couple of weeks for us, considering limited vet availability at this stay-home
time. On top of that, Lil S had an abscess and was also contained in a home hospital, away
from flu-quarantined PeopleCats. Our homes become real cat hospitals!
We are thankful to our customers support, especially Silvia who made
several donations for our PeopleCats, and also recommended antiseptic pads - those worked great for Lil S! Abu and Raja's adventures were not over... After 2 weeks of seeing a
vet treating their infections and injuries, they got worse... Then after a
couple of weeks in another hospital (and a couple thousand more in bills) we were
suggested to put them down as hopeless since they would never walk again...
But Kristi did not want to believe it, she did not give up! The kittens heard
her. They won. Today, they are all better, walking, jumping and playing!
Thank you Kristi!
Never give up hope!
Stay safe and healthy with your PeoplePets!
TopTropicals PeopleCat Club
Thank you everybody for supporting us in helping PeopleCat Community! Make
your kind donation today and receive a surprise gift from us. Every little
bit helps! Thank you and God bless you and your pets!
How to feed a Mango tree...
and to grow a Dwarf Mango
How to fertilize a Mango tree
Q: My mango trees that I bought and planted last august now have
fruit. I bought 2 types of fertilizer from you and never used it. Should I
use your fertilizer now?
A: It is a perfect time now to fertilize your plants as they
start active growth.
For mango trees, we recommend liquid fertilizer Sunshine Booster - Mango Tango. It is formulated for Mango trees,
especially for container grown. It improves quantity and quality of flowers and
ability to set fruit, reduces bud-flower-fruit drop. Can be used as often as
with every watering. For best results, use in combination with Sunshine Honey and Sunshine Superfood plant supplements. Its scientifically-balanced
stable formula is organic Amino-acid based and has NO EDTA chelators to eliminate
nutrients lockup; it does not affect crop taste.
Additionally, you may use slow-release granulated fertilizer Mango-Food once a month during hot season only. Dosage: 1 teaspoon per
each gal of soil.
Water-soluble fertilizers can be also used, however, those are usually
EDTA-chelated which is not as efficient as Amono-acid based Sunshine Boosters and
may create nutrients build up, especially if overdosed in containers.
For in-ground mango trees, you may use all the above, and slow-release
granulated fertilizer can be applied in larger quantities: spread a handful
around the drip line.
Remember that only liquid Sunshine Boosters can be applied year around.
With other fertilizers, you need to be careful not to overdose, and apply
only during hot weather (when night temperatures are steadily above 65F).
How to grow a Dwarf Mango tree
Q: I received the Ice cream mango tree in great condition (thank you for the ingenious
packing job) on Wednesday and have planted it in a pot slightly bigger than the
root ball. I plan to grow the tree on my front porch, so how big a container
should I ultimately use when the tree outgrows this pot? How big a container
does it need to fruit? I hope to keep it around 6-7 feet high, if possible.
I live in Hawaii.
A: Ice Cream mango is a perfect variety for container culture,
and it should be happy in Hawaii. You did everything right. Keep it in this
small pot for now and wait until it starts vigorous growth in Summer. Once it
starts growing (and you will notice roots growing too, sometimes they try to
grow through the holes in the bottom of the pot), then it's time to step up
into a bigger container (7-10 gal). Eventually you may use container size as
large as 15 gal. Ice cream mango is slow growing and compact, and you will be
able to maintain it under 7 ft with very minimal pruning if any.
In our previous newsletter, we were talking about cats fighting the coronavirus and how to help them to recover.
The research made by Sabina Olex-Condor, a Polish doctor who works in a
clinic in Madrid, showed that due to cross-immunity (cats are a known reservoir
of coronaviruses) cat owners have milder sympthoms of COVID-19! Perhaps this
is due to the fact that in a cross-reaction antibodies are produced to the
virus, and owners of cats are more protected from COVID19... Read more)
Now that quarantine has been introduced almost universally because of
coronavirus, dog owners are also in a better position - they can officially go
outside for a short while. But the benefit of dogs (and other pets) is not only
that. Scientists from the Italian city of Catanzaro found in the course of
the study, that those who have a four-legged pet, have very mild symptoms of
the COVID-19. A similar effect was observed in those in contact with cattle...
To find an explanation for this phenomenon, the researchers compared viruses.
It turned out that the disease of bulls, cows and other cattle is similar to
Chinese coronavirus by 38.4%, and the virus of dogs by 36.9%. This means
that owners of animals already have some kind of immunity. So the owners of cats
and dogs, as a rule, tolerate coronavirus easier or completely asymptomatic.
Read more...
Stay safe and healthy with your PetPeople!
TopTropicals PeopleCat Club
Thank you everybody for supporting us in helping PeopleCat Community! Make
your kind donation today and receive a surprise gift from us. Every little
bit helps! Thank you and God bless you and your pets!
There is something very rewarding in growing your own peppers. Brazilian
Starfish pepper - Capsicum baccatum is a little bomb of flavor! This is not a plant you
will find just anywhere in the United States.
This is a very uniquely shaped pepper which makes it an excellent
ornamental plant. But unlike many other peppers with pretty faces and lacking in
flavor, the Brazilian Starfish pepper is delicious too. It is hailed for the
complex floral and fruity undertones and a medium level of heat for most folks.
These fruity and juicy, crunchy peppers are perfect for pickling or just eating
raw in salads or salsas. They are irresistible in a glass pickling jar
because of their unique shape. Bold and crisp, this pepper is much sought after by
foodies and gardeners alike.
