Top Tropicals Team in Ukraine

The tragedy hits quite close to home for Top Tropicals as we have a number of friends and associates who are currently in the Ukraine. These kind and hardworking people have contributed significantly to the success of Top Tropicals, most specifically our line of Sunshine Boosters fertilizers...
Top Tropicals has a research and development center in Ukraine. Where we develop SB plant fertilizer and number of new and exciting products, including Carefree Garden Complete Greenhouse/Grow Room Controller...

Our Ukrainian Team members are:

Fedor Shabliy - a brilliant chemist. Under his supervision the Sunshine Boosters series was developed, and then tested by local farmers in the Ukraine.
Oksana Shabliy (chemist)
Anton Tkachenko (mechanical and electronic engineer)
Roman Bidyuk (software developer)
Igor Kayun (software developer)
Igor Sushelnitsky (software and electronic engineer)
Olga Ozerova (project manager)
They have families, kids...

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Cardboard window shutters to protect against broken glass...

Sunshine Boosters Special

With all this in mind, we are earmarking a percentage of all Sunshine Booster sales for this team of friends to aid in their living expenses and full recovery. In order to give back to our team in Ukraine, we are offering the following Sunshine Boosters Garden Series items at a discounted price:

Your purchase helps support Ukraine!

Sunshine C-Cibus 1 gallon
Sunshine Mango Tango 1 gallon
Sunshine Megaflor 1 gallon
Sunshine Robusta 1 gallon
Currently priced at 33% off reg price!

In addition, we will also donate $5.00 from each purchase to help Support Ukraine.

Spring is the time to fertilize and all of you will be getting some food for your plants. So get your plants Sunshine Boosters - the Fertilizer that Works, developed in Ukraine. Help us to support our Ukrainian Research Team! As always, we appreciate the support of our loyal community of Top Tropicals customers and enthusiasts.

Avocado Q & A

Sensation: Avocado 2.5 y.o seedling just bloomed!

Ed's Avocado seedling blooming at age 2.5 years old... Go figure!

Q: Can I plant a seed from a store bought avocado and expect it to bear fruit?

A: Avocados grown from seed do not always come true, meaning being the same as the avocado that produced the seed being planted. Also, avocados grown from seed will take upwards of 8 years to flower and bear fruit unless grown by Ed Jones and his witchcraft. Ed Jones, the Avocado Guy... Yes, he is also the Mango Guy, and the Booster Guy... We don't know how he does it. He grows the most beautiful fruit trees, many of them from seed and they all seem to flower within two years! (See his blogs about his Star Fruit, Olive trees, and video about Shaping Mango Trees). All we know for sure, he uses Sunshine Boosters for all his plant experiments.
As far as Avocado , we recommend a grafted variety, where a scion, or branch tip, of a known cultivar is grafted to good rootstock. These trees will usually flower right away and bear good amount of fruit within a couple of years of being planted in the ground.
It's a good chance now to get a good grafted Avocado on our special Happy Value Sale while supply lasts, for only $59.95.

Happy Value Avocados

Limited 2 trees per customer. Limited time offer, while supply lasts.

Photo above: TopTropicals Avocados 2022

Why should you use Sunshine Boosters?

by Ed Jones, the Booster guy

...You have heard it before, but I will tell you again. Sunshine Boosters are safe to use with every watering. It means that you can use Sunshine Boosters amino acid based fertilizers whenever you water your plants, even in the winter. Why is that so important?..

...We normally stop using dry, timed release, fertilizers around the first of November and not resume using them until the first part of March. This is true in many areas of the deep south where the ground stays above freezing year round...

However, it is safe to use Sunshine Boosters during these cooler months... Temperature does not play a role in the absorption of nutrients when using Sunshine Boosters...

To find out how it works, see Ed's new Article Why should you use Sunshine Boosters. If you want to learn even more in depth, check out his blog: Micronutrients Delivery Systems.

As of this writing, all Sunshine Boosters are on Holiday Sale. There are boosters for all different types of plants. Check them out and -

Give your plants a little something extra for Christmas!

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Winter is coming tips

Reminder from Kristi, the Tropical Flower Girl

As the weather gets cooler, many of you move your potted tropical plants indoors. Please remember:

1. Leaf drop. Lower air humidity, lower light and short day may cause some leaf drop. This is normal for seasonal environment change.
2. Reduce watering as it gets cooler and darker. Under lower light and in cooler temperature, plants won't need much water; some plants go dormant and only need minimum water (so soil doesn't completely dry out). Excess water may damage roots and kill a plant in winter.
3. No dry fertilizer in winter. Active growth stops. Let the plant to go into dormancy or simply have a rest. You can continue liquid Sunshine Boosters according to regular dosage chart with every watering. Since the watering is reduced, the plants will get only as much food as needed for getting through the winter.
4. Watch for insects by inspecting leaves regularly. They may attack plants more likely in the indoor conditions. You may use organic NoBug insecticide especially for your indoor plants.

   Stay Warm!

   

   In the photo: Mr Big and Zoe-the-Scooby-Doo sharing a warm tub with Emerald Peperonia.

How to grow a nice Olive tree fast?

by Ed Jones, the Booster guy

Q: I got an Olive tree from you a few months ago, planted in the ground and it is doing well, but I don't see any active growth. The tree looks healthy but still about the same size when I planted it in June. I'm old and I want to see the olives sooner than later. Any suggestions, should I give it some fertilizer?

A: Olive trees are relatively slow growers, however, with balanced nutrition they can grow much faster, as fast as a few feet per year. Check out this Article by Ed Jones where he describes how he grew nice, bushy Olive trees just within one season with a help of Sunshine Boosters fertilizers. The article shows in details how to properly use liquid fertilizer on your fruit trees.

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Is Ugly Betty mango ugly or awesome?

A note from our customer

"...Hello my name is Gary, I bought your Ugly Betty Mango tree a little over a year ago. When I saw your photo I thought to myself why are they calling this mango ugly Betty? It doesn't look ugly at all to me. It was a deep yellowish orange with a little red to it round so what is so ugly about it? Once the fruit started developing on my tree I thought - now I understand, it's such an odd shape! However, it looks nothing like your photo and personally I thought this mango should be called Awesome Mango! I did not find it ugly at all. Here's a photo of what you call an ugly mango Betty..."

Sunshine Mango Tango.
Plant Food for every Mango to be Awesome

Mango Talk: How to prune mango trees for best shape and production

by Ed Jones, the Booster Guy

...Why should you prune your mango trees? There are a few reasons.
First, a good foundation is the key to strong growth and a shapely tree.
Second, if you get your mango tree started off on the right foot with a strong foundation, it becomes much easier to keep it shaped nicely.
And third - it will be forced to produce more branches allowing for more places for fruit production...

...We received our Mango tree in late February of 2020 as a relatively small plant in 3 gal pot...
...The opening photo was taken just last week and you can see that as she grows, her shape is very nice...
...She is now about 7' tall and just as wide. She has a great foundation and a lot of branches. We also have less grass to mow. She also got her very own marker painted on a brick:

...We have also enlarged the circle of mulched area under the tree to allow it to be able to get nutrients from it's SUNSHINE Boosters Mango Tango without having to compete with the grass. This is one mistake that I see frequently in my neighborhood with all trees...

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Hibiscus: TopTropicals' first plant

- September 2001 @ TopTropicals -

Q: I wonder how you started your plant business and what was your first plant?

A: It was 20 years ago this month that we started Top Tropicals Project. No idea where it was going or how to even get "there", just started with the idea of sharing these wonderful creatures we call plants with anyone and everyone who felt the same way.

Believe it or not, the first plant at TopTropicals was a hibiscus. Right before we opened our plant nursery in Florida, we ran into a place called Winn Soldani's FANCY HIBISCUS. The variety of colors inspired us to start our own tropical plant business. We asked the owner Winn Soldani: what plants do you suggest us to grow in Florida? His answer was, "Your plant will find you". Very soon we discovered jasmines, then perfume trees and fruit trees - all those became our specialty. Then very quickly TopTropicals.com turned into a large Plant Mall where you can find every tropical plant you can think of!
But at TopTropicals we still grow hibiscus!

- September 2004 @ TopTropicals -

Hibiscus Plus

Hibiscus is a wonderful plant, considering there are thousands of hybrids with color palettes you can only imagine. Especially interesting are those rare and useful species, yet very easy to grow, such as:
- Salad Hibiscus - Hibiscus furcellatus - yes, used in salads
- Coral Hibiscus with crazy pendant flowers - Hibiscus schizopetalus
- African Cranberry hibiscus that is used for making teas and salads - Hibiscus acetocella
- Cotton Candy Hibiscus mutabilis - the flower changes color, opens as white and turns into bright pink within 3 days, like Yesterday-Today-Tomorrow

Photo above: Hibiscus mutabilis Cotton Candy

Care of Hibiscus and other flowering tropicals

"If your plant isn't flowering, feed it."
- Winn Soldani, Fancy Hibiscus -

Among gardeners, Hibiscus plants have a reputation to have couple maintenance issues:

1. they can get bugsy (because they must be so tasty!)
2. they can get leggy, especially fancy grafted cultivars, and after a while they don't look as perfect as when they came from a nursery.

   4 tips for healthy and pretty hibiscus plant

   1. Full sun. Essential for profuse flowering and keeps away diseases.

3. Pruning. Keep it pruned and it will get bushy and produce more blooms.
4. Well-drained soil. Hibiscus likes regular watering but hates wet feet.
5. Nutrition program. Hibiscus plants are heavy feeders. But keep in mind that if you just keep pushing granulated plant food, you can over-fertilize the plant. Excessive salts will accumulate in soil and you will end up with a sickly looking plant.

   Keys to balanced plant food and bloom booster

   1) Use liquid fertilizer, preferably amino acid based, it won't create nutrients lock up

6. Fertilize on regular basis, it's better dilute concentration and add food with every watering
7. Always add micro-elements - they are essential for plant health

   If you do this part right, the result will be:

- healthy, green plants, like they just came from a nursery
- reliable blooming circle
- better cold tolerance and disease resistance. Remember that a strong plant will be less stressed and less "bugged" by bugs!

We always suggest Sunshine Boosters - scientifically balanced liquid fertilizers that are amino acid based = they are natural and organic, can be used for both flowers and edibles, and what's most important - year around. They are safe to use virtually with every watering.

This is all you need for healthy plants and lots of flowers!

Fertilizer and the Fall Garden

by Ed Jones, the Booster Guy

...Well Labor Day has come and gone. Summer is winding down and depending on where you live, thoughts are now turning to pumpkin spice, witches, fall decor and gardening. Wait, did I just say gardening? Yes, if you live in the deep south, and I do, it is time to think about fall gardening and fertilizer. Even those of you in the north can put in a few quick crops now for fall. Think onions, radishes, lettuce and other greens and of course, garlic...

Next month, we can start putting out our plants that do better in cooler weather. We will put out some beans and of course cabbage. We may do some potatoes too. What do you like to grow?
But what about fertilizer? Glad you asked. Now, most of us have our favorite brand of fertilizer. Some of us had some secret fertilzers that we used in the past. For me it was composted alpaca manure. Yes, we raised alpacas in the north, but that is another story for another day....

...Once the temperatures have begun to drop, it is better to use a good liquid fertilizer. The one I will be using this year is SUNSHINE Robusta. SUNSHINE Robusta is an organic amino acid based liquid fertilizer that is safe to use with every watering. It uses amino acids to chelate (bind) micro-nutrients and makes it easier for plants to take them up from the soil. Most fertilizers use EDTA to chelate their micro-nutrients and plants must use about 4 times more energy to break them down than they do with SUNSHINE Boosters. This means that your plants will have more energy to put into growth. And isn't that what we are after?
With Special Seasonal price for 16 oz bottle reduced to only $19 with FREE shipping, this is your best choice of organic, safe fertilizer for your vegetable garden!..

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How to fertilize herbs and vegetables

Q: We moved to Florida from New York earlier this year. My wife and I used to grow many fresh veggies and herbs in our garden up North during Summer, but it seems like in hot Florida the season for them is not until Fall. So we are preparing the beds and also looking for some organic fertilizer solutions. We've heard a lot about your natural Boosters and wonder if they can be used in our vegetable garden?

A: You came to the right place for organic fertilizer solution. Sunshine Boosters are based on organic amino-acids and are completely natural, non-toxic, eco-friendly, and do not build up nutrients in the soil. Their mild formulas designed specifically for edibles.
We just have started our own vegetable garden with some Biquinho and Wiri Wiri peppers, cherry tomatoes, and basil, and will be adding more as the the weather cools down.
For small scale gardens (both vegetables and herbs), you can start with Sunshine Robusta - a total feed "all on one". All necessary elements are provided in just one bottle, both macro- and micro-elements, it is a scientifically balanced formula. For larger gardens, especially if you have fertilizer injector system, we recommend Sunshine Boosters Pro Series - this product is much more economical, and you will need to mix only 3 solutions into your watering tank at the time of watering.
For more information, please contact our Booster guy Ed Jones, he can help you with selection and dosage information. Sample Discount program is available for samples of Sunshine Pro.