Garden Blog - Top Tropicals

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Sunshine Boosters: Healthy Plant Food

Q&A from Mr Booster

This year we introduced many new items to Sunshine Boosters selection - for all your plant needs in the garden. We receive lots of feedback and questions, so it is time now to share this information with all our customers and open this new section in our Newsletter -

From Mr Booster: Q&A

We promise that we will keep up with your favorite Cat of The Month blog as well!

Dry, liquid, or both?

Q: I have bought different plant boosters, and I am so exited to use them on my plants! I understand that Sunshine Boosters are better than traditional fertilizers, should I give up dry fertilizers all together, or can I continue using them? They are so easy, don't require any mixing...

A: We are all busy and it seems at first like a little bit of work with all the mixing, but it saves your time in a long run! And money too.
When we used dry fertilizers, every now and then a plant got killed, some looked undernourished (or over-fertilized) and unhappy. It was always a challenge to figure out which plant needs more and which needs less, and how often. It made us use more and more chemicals trying to adjust the feeding balance, and we had to worry about why a plant doesn't look happy. Sometimes we lost rare, valuable, collectible plants since we couldn't find a cure for their illnesses.

With Sunshine Boosters, those problems are gone now! See examples.

Compare using Sunshine Boosters with eating healthy, well-balanced food. You can still survive on junk food and won't die from starvation, but eventually eating junk food will take its toll and create health problems. So you will end up trying to fix them with more and more medicine... which in turn will create more side effects.
By using Sunshine Boosters, you provide all necessary elements and vitamins to plants without a risk of side effects or building up unnecessary junk/toxins in their system. No more leftovers!

According to tests, Sunshine Boosters are used up completely through plant metabolism, making them healthy, strong, and disease resistant. Sunshine Boosters are based on organic amino-acids which is the foundation of life on Earth. This helps to eliminate nutrients lock up in soil. See why Sunshine liquid fertilizers are better than dry fertilizers.

To answer your question, we recommend to switch to liquid Sunshine Boosters. It is possible to additionally use dry granulated "smart-release" fertilizers for in-ground plants, no more than once a month and only during hot season (Sunshine Boosters can be used year-round). However, some customers ran independent tests and admit that using Sunshine Boosters alone is more effective than in combination with dry fertilizers. See review from Karma Nursery.

Garden Series, or Combo Total Feed Collection - all nutrients in just one bottle, for different plant types. See booster in this collection, for different types of pants.

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When plants are ready for a meal?

Q: We have an early Spring here in Florida. All plants in my garden flushing out new leaves and buds opening. Can I start fertilizing? I have Mango, Avocado, Peach trees, many medicinal herbs and flowering shrubs: Angel trumpets, plumerias, bromeliads. I prefer mild organic fertilizers; can you suggest something that is safe for edibles and butterflies?

Q: As a rule of thumb, tropical gardeners start regular fertilizing when the minimum temperatures (at night) go above 65F. Keep in mind that Sunshine Boosters fertilizers can be applied year around because they have mild formulas and used with every watering; during cooler period, you water less frequently, so feeding is reduced accordingly. Another advantage of Sunshine Boosters - they are natural (derived from organic amino acids which is the basics of Life). They are safe for edibles as well as pollinating insects.

Here is the feeding plan for your plants:
1. The most universal solution for all plants (both potted and in-ground): get a complete set of Sunshine Boosters Pro system: Advantage-Pro for vegetative growth, BloomBoom Pro for flowering stage, and Ca-Support-Pro + Constanta-Pro as necessary daily supplements. You will need all these 4 components for your garden.
2. Start adding these liquid boosters with every watering according to dozing directions and you will notice amazing growth boost within a week.
3. Apply Sunshine Epi plant hormone every 2 weeks as a foliar spray to boost immune system and metabolism of plants and protect them from diseases. Epi makes plants (especially young plants and those "waking up" from dormancy) grow twice faster! It also enhances effect of fertilizers by increasing plant metabolism.
4. After cool winter temperatures, some plants may develop element deficiencies like chlorosis (yellowing leaves). Additional microelement boost can be provided with Sunshine Greenleaf (iron supplement) and Sunshine Superfood (micro-elements).
5. For additional boosting of flowering and setting fruit, use the following individual boosters:
Sunshine Robusta - for foliage plants and when you need rapid vegetative growth
Sunshine TotalFeed - for Plumerias and other fragrant plants
Sunshine Megaflor - for Brugmansias and other flowering heavy feeders
Sunshine C-Cibus - for improving fruit production and quality
Sunshine Honey - for sweeter fruit (must be applied 4-5 times a year)
6. For young/small plants (seedlings, rooted cuttings) as well as tender tropicals like bromeliads, and orchids - Sunshine Bombino is a perfect choice due to its mild formula.
7. To save money, order complete sets rather than individual boosters; you will be able to safe up to 40%! Sunshine Complete Nutrition System Kits: Combo Kit, and Pro Kit.

If you are a fan of organic gardening, do not use dry fertilizers. While water-soluble and granulated (smart-realease) fertilizers are popular choice in plant nurseries due to their convenience, they are not as safe as liquid boosters because they create salt build-up in soil and have a high risk of overdosing/burning plant roots, especially potted plants, plants at breaking dormancy, at establishing, and at early stages of plant development. Besides, dry fertilizers may affect the taste of your fruit and herbs. See advantages of liquid boosters over dry fertilizers.

Learn more about Sunshine Nutrition System - a Natural solution for your garden.

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Synergy of SUNSHINE, biostimulants, and macro-micro

TopTropicals.com

Q: I've heard that plants grow better and bigger with SUNSHINE boosters and when using Myco-Mix instead of regular soil mix. Do they work like fertilizers? If I use a Myco-mix, do I still need a fertilizer?

A: SUNSHINE boosters are not fertilizers, they are natural plant hormones, or biostimulants, as well as Myco-Mix which is a naturally occurring compound or microbes. Biostimulants are becoming increasingly attractive to folks interested in sustainable agriculture, and very popular for plant growth or pest resistance. A plant biostimulant is not a fertilizer because it provides no nutritional value to the plants. But, it can promote greater nutrient and water use efficiency, increase resistance to pests and diseases, reduce abiotic stresses, and in turn, lead to plant growth and health.

To answer your question, you can not replace regular fertilizers (NPK) and micro-elements with plant boosters and stimulants. However, fertilizers and microelements will work more efficiently when used in combination with biostimulants. Together they create a synergy, so plants use the most of fertilizer's potential, and will grow a lot better, faster, and healthier.

4 components for the best growing results

1. SUNSHINE boosters. They are a must during the juvenile stage of plant development - seedlings and cuttings. They are especially important for recovery of weak or stressed plants (boosting their immune system).
2. SuperFood microelements
3. NPK fertilizers. Select from water-soluble and smart-release types and make sure do not exceed the recommended concentration. Lower dose and more frequent use is always better for a plant.
4. Specialized soilless mixes: Myco-Mix (with biostimulant Mycorrhiza) for exclusive growing projects and special/unique plants, Professional potting mix for potted plants, and Propagation mix for seeds and cuttings.

TopTropicals.com

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Healthy Plants: Q&A from Mr Booster

How to get Canistel tree to produce
without dropping flowers and fruit

Q: My Canistel tree is 3 1/2 years old and is growing very well, see the picture below. It gets hundreds of pea sized "berries" but then they fall off. No canistel fruit. What's wrong?

A: You have such a nice looking tree, it is a shame you can't get any fruit to ripen.
In our experience, Pouteria trees dropping fruit prematurely is a very common problem. There may be one of the following reasons, or a combination of them:
- Cold winters may affect production, and while Canistel is generally pretty hardy tropical plant that can easily withstand short periods of chill, the fruit may never form properly if it had a cold winter.
- Lack of water. Canistel tree is pretty drought tolerant, but for the proper production cycle it needs regular irrigation. Especially during hot summer.
- The tree may be not strong enough; young trees drop fruit very often when they don't have enough "fruiting energy" built up in their system.
Your tree looks well established and vigorous, however, flower/fruit drop is often a sign of insufficient nutrients of particular kind, usually Boron (B) and/or Molybdenum (Mo): either when a tree is too young and not strong enough, or because of poor soils and lack of necessary elements.

Here is what can be done, considering you live in a warm, frost-free climate.

1. Provide regular fertilizing program. We recommend liquid fertilizers Sunshine Boosters that are safe to use with every watering and year around. It is beneficial to switch plants from traditional "slow-release" fertilizer to the liquid one because it makes a huge difference in plant growth and flower/fruit quality and quantity. See also:
- Why liquid fertilizers are better than dry
- Article about benefits of liquid fertilizers.

Use this plant food for your Canistel tree:
SUNSHINE C-Cibus - Crop Nutrition Booster

2. Apply micro-element remedies that are very effective for improving fruit production, especially when flower or fruit drop occurs:

SUNSHINE Honey - promotes more efficient blossoming and pollination, makes flowers bigger and reduces bud drop.
SUNSHINE SuperFood - improves plant vigor and quality and size of flowers These are all natural, eco-friendly supplements that work great for fruit trees and other edibles.

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Healthy Plants: Q&A from Mr Booster

Fertilizing in Winter

Q: I have many tropical plants in my garden, both in the ground and in pots. I realize it is wintertime and some of them, the Hydrangea, Hibiscuses, and roses are in bloom but the rest of them seem wilty and droopy. Is it alright to fertilize them now, or should I wait for a few days? I have an all purpose tropical fertilizer and a 20-20-20 also. Please advise what to do.

A: During wintertime, tropicals may suffer from low temperatures and lack of sunshine which causes droopy leaves, and leaf loss.
Regardless of the cause and plant condition, you should NEVER apply traditional dry fertilizers during cool months. When cold, dry fertilizers (EDTA-chelated) may create nutrient lock up in soil and damage the roots. Dry fertilizers (both granulated and water-soluble) can be used only during hot season - when min temperatures stay above 65F for at least a week in a row, and daytime temperatures are over 75-80F. During hot, active growth season plant metabolism increases. This provides less chance for a chemical root burn, as the nutrients are used up quickly.

However, liquid fertilizers, as long as they are amino-acid based, can be used year round. From our own experience last winter, we discovered that fertilizing sickly looking plants (with signs of cold damage and root issues) with Sunshine Boosters actually revived those plants. Sunshine Boosters even brought back to life some hopeless specimens. Take a look at this gardenia that grows in our garden (picture above). See full article.
In your case, it would be beneficial to use a mild formula of liquid boosters in combination with Sunshine Epi -a natural plant hormone that boost their growth and helps to cope with cold-, temperature- and low-light-related stress.

These are the products we recommend:
- Sunshine Bombino - add to every watering
- Sunshine Epi - twice a month as foliage spray

Since you grow plants in pots, feeding program is especially essential, because plants are limited with a container size where roots can't reach out to more food in the outer soil. In professional nursery set up with injector irrigation systems, container plants are fed daily (depending on season, more than once a day) with every watering. This is why greenhouse plants are so healthy looking.
So feel free to give your plants Sunshine boosters with every watering, dozing according to the label. During cold period, plants need less frequent watering, so fertilizer input will be balanced accordingly, it will depend on temperature and plant metabolism.

Sunshine Bombino - mild, "pampering" formula for young and tender plants, as well as plants recovering from stress and/or winter damage.

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7 secrets of a Happy Avocado Tree

Q: I purchased an avocado tree from local garden centers three times but every time it dies on me. My neighbor has a nice tree in his yard and it grows beautifuly. I just purchased one online from you and I need to know what I was doing wrong? Are there any secrets how to make an Avocado tree happy? I have a big garden and several mango trees, but no luck with Avocado...

A: Avocado tree is famous for being such a pain to establish. But once it starts growing, it's growing! We will share a few simple tricks how to make it right.

1. Plant high and provide good drainage. Wet feet is number one reason for failing an avocado tree. It doesn't like wet soil and won't tolerate soggy conditions. Plant it in the highest spot of your yard and slightly on a "hill" (3-4" higher than the surrounding ground).
DO NOT plant Avocado tree in low spots or wet spots of your yard. Save those spots for Cannas or Black Sapote or even a Mango if you want a fruit tree there.
2. Use quality soil. Use only well-drained soil with high content of organic matter. You may add compost to existing sandy soil, or add some professional potting mix that contains pine bark and perlite. Remove rocks from the hole if you see any while digging. Dig a big hole and fill it with a good soil; compact the soil in the hole very well before setting the root ball. Reminder: plant the tree high!
3. Water regularly. After planting an Avocado tree in a nice high spot with a good drainage, start watering it... daily! Avocado likes water, although it doesn't like wet feet! Once you figure out this combination, you've got the recipe of success. Water by hand daily for the first week after planting, then twice a week for couple weeks, then once you notice new growth - you may rely on sprinklers, but keep watching the tree and don't let the soil over-dry. It must be slightly moist, but not soggy.
4. Fertilize. For such finicky tree, we suggest mild formulas of fertilizers. Dry fertilizers may burn roots, especially of a young tree. Even smart-release granulated fertilizers should be used very carefully. The best way to feed your young avocado tree - get a complete set of Sunshine Boosters Pro system. It has all necessary elements for all stages of plant development and never burns the roots. Sunshine Boosters Pro can be used with every watering - no need to guess how much and when. Besides, it is a natural fertilizer based on amino acids - exactly what you want to use on your fruit trees and other edibles!
5. Boost immune system of the tree. Apply Sunshine Epi plant hormone every 2 weeks as a foliar spray to boost immune system and metabolism of the tree and protect it from diseases. Epi makes plants (especially young plants) grow twice faster! It also enhances effect of fertilizers by increasing plant metabolism.
6. Do not prune until you see significant growth. The tree is small and can use as many leaves and branches as possible for photosynthesis and healthy metabolism. We suggest to avoid pruning for at least the first year. On the second year your tree most likely will be covered with flowers (assuming you followed fertilizer program). Let it go through the blooming stage and setting fruit; prune in Fall after fruiting is over.
7. Keep number of fruit to minimum for the first crop. Don't let the small tree exhaust itself. Keep just 2-3 fruit to develop. The next year, no need to control fruit quantity, the tree will develop as many as it can support.
P.S. If you got the tree from a mail-order, remember to establish it in a pot before planting in the ground; move gradually from shade to sun. Follow planting instructions.

Learn more about Sunshine Nutrition System - a Natural solution for your garden.

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When to apply super boost?

Sunshine Boosters: a breakthrough in Winter fertilizing

In the photo: plants are tough survivors. Life can't be stopped even by a brick road!

Q: Just wanted to know best time of day to apply super boost as spray and watering? Only listed to make sure night temp doesn't drop below 65F...

A: As a rule of thumb, plant's needs in fertilizers are very low in the cold season because they consume less nutrients during dormancy. For tropical plants, when minimum temperatures drop below 65F - we stop applications of dry (granulated) fertilizers until spring, to avoid root burn.
Liquid Sunshine Boosters are exceptions from this rule to a certain extent, for 2 reasons:
- they are amino-acid based which means, salts do not build up in the soil, and thus will not burn the roots even with slower plant metabolism.
- concentrations/formulas are mild and designed for as frequent as daily watering

1) When a plant goes into full dormancy (drops leaves and does not show any new growth), you may stop fertilizing with any Macro NPK products (both dry and liquid)

2) If a plant is evergreen and continues growing during the cooler period, and especially if it is a winter bloomer, mild liquid fertilizers can be applied, depending on the stage of plant development.
Robusta and TotalFeed are used for vegetative growth and pre-flower.
Megaflor and C-Cibus are used for winter flowering/ fruiting plants during the bloom stage.

See full list of liquid boosters

3) Micro-elements can be used all year round for all plants that are not dormant (do not drop leaves)

4) Always use Sunshine-Epi as a foliar spray to activate immune system and unlock protective mechanisms, BEFORE applying other boosters. It is especially important during Fall-Winter for improving cold tolerance and disease resistance.

5) Always apply foliar spray and/or drench the soil with solutions in morning hours so the plant has time to process the nutrients during daylight when metabolism is the most active.

6) Avoid any dry fertilizers during winter

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Healthy Plants: Q&A from Mr Booster

How to fertilize Caladiums and other Aroids

By Ed Jones, the Booster Guy

Q: I have a large collection of Aroid plants, different Monsteras, Philodendrons, and several unique varieties of Caladiums. I've been always told that Caladiums should not be fertilized, they don't like it. Is it so?

A: Caladium farmers often say that these plants don't need any additional fertilizer and that they really don't like it... The thing is, caladiums do not like DRY fertilizers, and this is why. Most Aroid plants do not like being watered too often, so dry fertilizers in combination with infrequent watering create excessive salinity for the root system. We have run some tests on the proper fertilizers for caladiums and the best results were performed after using SUNSHINE Robusta. It is amino acid based, so the delicate, large-leaved Aroid plants will not have to work quite so hard to take up the nutrients, and there will be no nutrient lock up in soil. The nutrients are readily available to these plants.
In this article, you will see some test results of caladiums fertilized with SUNSHINE Robusta vs. other brands of fertilizer, with more vigorous growth and larger leaf size occurring after use of Sunshine Robusta...

Caladiums do not have to be just an accent plant. They can also be the focus point of a garden area. It is said that as many as 98% of the world's caladium tubers come from right here in Highlands County, Florida, also home to the Sunshine Boosters manufacturing facility. It is such a big deal that they have a Caladium Festival here each summer. The fields are absolutely stunning in all of their colors. This year the festival runs this weekend, July 23 - July 25.

CONTINUE READING >>

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Shaping a tree and regrowing branches

Q: I have been so worried about the beautiful ligustrum on my property since my husband decided to "prune" it 2 days ago. He removed about 20 branches from the tree and completely altered the look of the canopy which was so full and lovely 😭. Please advise me if there is anything I can do to help this tree. Will any of the branches grow back? Will the canopy return? It looks practically bare to me now.... so heartbroken. Any advice and reassuring would be greatly appreciated.

A: The good news is, the tree will regrow new leaves and will branch out. The question is, how soon. Ligustrum is pretty slow-growing species and it may take a while until it gets to the shape that is close to the original.
On the other hand, pruning is beneficial almost for every plant, it promotes new growth and bushy shape. So do not panic, your beautiful tree has good chances to become even prettier.
To speed up the process of re-leafing and promote healthy new growth, we recommend the following:

1) Provide extra watering, assuming you have a sprinkler system that covers the yard. Water additionally 1-2 times a week using a garden house, for 1-2 minutes, saturating the soil around the tree and up to a drip line.

2) Apply the following fertilizers:
Tropical Greenhouse Plus - Foliage Booster
Tropical Allure - Smart-Release Booster

3) In addition to fertilizers, we recommend these 2 supplements that will enhance effect of fertilizers and make re-grow process even faster:
SUNSHINEâ„¢ SuperFood
SUNSHINEâ„¢ HumiHum - a natural humate vitamin for plant

4) Mulch well around the tree, keeping it 2-3" away from the trunk

This should help to get your tree back in shape!

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How to grow Cerbera and make it flower

Q: I purchased Cerbera manghas - Enchanted Incense a year ago. As you see from the photo, it's doing great however, no blooms. I fertilize properly and very often and use worm castings for micronutrients. Yes it's not "your" fertilizer, but my plumerias, that are also in pots they are over 5 feet tall and blooming like crazy. I don't see any inflows coming on the Cerbera at all and it is hot and humid here in North Carolina, so it's happy but no sign of blooming. What is your advice?

A: Top Tropicals first brought Cerbera manghas into the US plant market a few years ago, it was recommended to us by our friend, plant taxonomist John Mood who visited Thailand, and among other exotic plants noted this fragrant beauty. Since then we've been successfully growing this plant, it has become one of everybody's favorites.

Generally speaking, Cerbera culture is very similar to Plumerias. These plants are closely related. So if you know how to grow Plumeria, you sure will succeed with Cerbera. Hot and sunny location, well-drained mix, moderate water and bloom boom fertilizer will do the trick. However, we have noticed a few distinctive features that make this plant somewhat challenging at times.

1) Flowers

For past years, we've been studying what triggers its flowering. Sometimes these plants start flowering in 1 gal pot, 1 ft tall. Other times a large developed tree 5-6 ft tall, in 5-7 gal pot, grows beautiful foliage with no signs of flowers. Eventually all of them bloom, no matter how stubborn they are, it's just some individual plants start flowering sooner than others, all grown in the same conditions.
One of our plants in the ground, a well-branched tree, was covered with flowers for a few months, but only on the 3d year after planting. Before that, it only produced a few random blooms. Others bloomed in pots at very young age.
The following factors benefit to Cerbera flowering:
- full sun at least 10 hours a day
- hot temperatures above 85F
- regular water but not heavy rains
- regular fertilizer - Bloom Booster type
- very good drainage and drying out before waterings. If root ball stays moist, the plant may look healthy but won't set flower buds. Keeping on a dry side will encourage flowering. Very similar to Jasmines: they bloom like crazy in April while it's hot and dry in Florida, but once our summer rainy season starts, they reduce blooming.

We highly recommend using Sunshine Megaflor bloom booster or SUNSHINE Pikake in combination with micro-element supplements Sunshine Honey (B-Mo) and Sunshine Superfood (complex micro) that induce flowering. Dry and granulated fertilizers may not supply exactly what a plant needs: certain elements that trigger flowering may be missing. Sunshine Boosters formulas are scientifically balanced, they contain precise amounts of nutrients needed for setting flowers. Besides, excessive salts from regular dry fertilizers create nutrient lock up that may retard plant metabolism; with liquid amino-acid based Sunshine boosters, plants consume the whole menu of elements without building them up in the soil.

2) Fruit

Fruit of Cerbera are very pretty and cover the tree after profuse flowering. To inexperienced eye they may look very much like small mango or avocado fruit - so make sure kids or visitors don't try to eat them! Cerbera seeds are extremely poisonous.

3) Leaves

If you ever grew Passiflora or Milkweed, you know how leaves can be eaten by caterpillars overnight. This may happen to Cerbera too, as we discovered. In Florida environment this exotic plant doesn't have natural predators for protection from certain insect species that may feed on it. So watch out and if noticed first signs of leaves damage - its time for insect control.
Other than that, Cerbera foliage is usually beautiful and colorful, here in Florida it looks much healthier than that of Plumerias often affected with rusty residue during high humidity months.

Hope this helps. The Cerbera fragrance is enchanting, it is worth the efforts and waiting!

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