Date:
Get your plants ready for winter:
Just spray this to improve cold hardiness...
How to improve plant cold hardiness?
Pland cold hardiness depends on several factors, including:
- genetics of specific species
- maturity of the plant, size of root system, stems and branches
- plant health and vigor which is supported by proper nutrition program
and adding special plant hormones.
While 1) and 2) may be out of our control, the 3rd factor is something that can be easily improved! It is important to feed plants during the season of active growth on regular basis by applying macro- and micro- elements. Liquid fertilizers and especially natural plant food like Sunshine Boosters can be applied year around to keep plants healthy and strong.
Besides the routine fertilizing program, just a few applications of special plant hormones can increase tropical plant hardiness big time! Before the cold is coming, spray your plants with these 3 magic potions and they will gain a few degrees in low temperature tolerance! It is recommended to make 2-3 applications.
- Sunshine Superfood
- Sunshine Epi
- Sunshine Power-Si
Date:
Vietnamese Mickey Mouse Plant...
Hoa Mai - for good luck!
Ochna integerrima (thomasiana)
What is the yellow flower that brings good luck on Vietnamese New Year (Tet) Celebration? Why is it called Mickey Mouse Plant?
The most celebrated flower in Vietnam, Ochna integerrima, called in Vietnam Hoa Mai
or Mai Vang, blooms profusely on the occasion of Tet, the Vietnamese New Year. Commonly known as Yellow Mai Flower (Hoa Mai literally means
"yellow blossoms"), this plant is considered the quintessential symbol of Spring. In
Southern Vietnam, Hoa Mai are some of the first plants to flower.
This plant is a must for exotic plant collection. It is a rather slow
growing, medium size shrub that can be trained into miniature tree. In winter the plant is covered with pretty bright yellow
flowers, believed to bring good luck and prosperity. They are followed by cute shiny black berries on bright red sepals that resemble the face of
Mickey Mouse.
The plant is easy to grow and relatively cold hardy to light freeze. Start fertilizing your Hoa Moa plant right now through the Winter to encourage early blooms. Luckily, we have a perfect bloom booster liquid fertilizer that is safe to use year around, including Winter months: Sunshine Boosters MegaFlor!
Lunar year 2023 will be a year of the Cat on the Vietnamese zodiac, from January 22nd, 2023 to February 9th, 2024. Cat is the fourth sign in Vietnamese Zodiac, taking place of the Rabbit in Chinese Zodiac.
Date:
Fertilizing indoor plants in Winter
What is the best fertilizer for
indoor plants?
Can I fertilize house plants in Winter?
The best fertilizer for indoor plants is liquid fertilizer Sunshine Boosters (TM). It is amino-acid based, natural, and is safe to use with every watering and year around. Unlike dry fertilizers that are not recommended to use during Winter, Sunshine Boosters formula is mild and scientifically balanced. Your houseplants will consume exactly as much nutrients as they need even during cooler months of less active growth. Sunshine boosters will not burn roots and won't create nutrient lockup (excessive salts that often caused by dry fertilizers). Sunshine Boosters is a perfect food for all kinds of plants, and different boosters available for different plant types (flowering, fruiting, even for orchids). Check out Sunshine Boosters selection.
Grow Purple! In the photo: Arundina graminifolia - Bamboo Orchid, Bird Ground Orchid - Winter flowering orchid that grows in regular soil. These plants are in bloom right now, picture taken this week!
Date:
Fragrant Yesterday-Today-Tomorrow
Brunfelsia from Brazil
Grow Purrrple! Purrrfect houseplant...
by Alex Butova, the Witch of Herbs and Cats
...The magic of this flower is, Yesterday it opened deep purple, Today it changes color to pale lavender, and Tomorrow - will turn white!...
...One of the greatest features of all brunfelsias is shade tolerance. Most species prefer filtered light, stay happy
and bloom indoors even in low light conditions; they are also great candidates for shade locations where other flowering plants may not bloom. They add a great color and
fragrance to every shade garden...
CONTINUE READING >>
Photo above: Brunfelsia pauciflora compacta - Dwarf Yesterday-Today-Tomorrow - very compact grower, great for indoor garden.
Date:
Plant Horoscope - Scorpio
What is your lucky Zodiac Plant?
By Alex Butova, the Witch of Herbs and Cats
...Scorpio is the "hottest" among aquatic...
...Scorpio loves plants very much, they can provide invaluable assistance
to this sign. Plants are able to calm Scorpio, transfer his attention and
passionate energy to himself and transform it, directing it into a creative
direction....
Scorpio is an aesthete. He loves flowers - unusual, bright, large - and
lovingly grows them if he has such an opportunity. Their favorite plants,
despite all their effectiveness, are often unpretentious and can grow in the most
unfavorable conditions...
Of particular importance in the sensual relationships of Scorpio with
plants is the smell to which this sign is extremely sensitive. Aromas of some
plants can affect Scorpio as an aphrodisiac...
CONTINUE READING >>
Date:
Add a little Sunshine
to keep your plants looking their best
By Ed Jones, the Booster Guy
...Just like people, a little sunshine goes a long way in keeping them
happy. It is usually easier to keep a plant healthy than it is to fix it when
it is not well. Proper plant nutrition is often times the issue. The good
news is that it is easy to keep your plants looking good by following proper
nutrition practices...
...Feeding your plants with micronutrients that they just don't get in
regular fertilizers can prevent deficiencies. Let's get started on a regular
program of using foliar sprays to help keep your plants looking their best...
We recommend using three products in combination - the Complete SUNSHINE Microelement Supplement Kit that consists of:
- Sunshine Superfood
- Sunshine Epi
- Sunshine Power-Si
How often do I need to treat my plants?
We are recommending a foliar spray once per week to maintain optimal
health conditions. This is based on recent studies done in Ukraine by the scientist who invented Sunshine Boosters products...
Continue reading to see an easy treatment schedule that will provide
your plants with:
- Increased photosynthetic activity
- Increased insect and disease resistance
- Reduced mineral toxicity
- Improvement of nutrient imbalance
- Enhanced drought and frost tolerance
- Enhanced plant growth
Read more about these wonderful products and what they do >>
Sunshine Boosters are developed in Ukraine and manufactured in the USA. We support Ukraine fight for freedom. All profits from these fertilizers will be donated to support our Team in Ukraine.
Date:
Project Ian
A letter from a gardener:
"We just want our paradise back!"
"...My name is Ian, and I am a 21 y/o Natural Resource Management
student at South Dakota State University. In 2006, my family found a small
barrier island lush with foliage and virtually untouched by the modern world, and
we fell in love. Little Gasparilla Island became a piece of our family and
now after 16 years, we still spend months out of each year enjoying the
island's natural beauty.
Enter Hurricane Ian.
With the eye of the hurricane traveling directly over the island, many
homes and materialistic items were destroyed, but more importantly, the once
beautiful "jungle" is now more comparable to a barren desert.
This is where I was hoping to get some help... to restore the beauty of
Little Gasparilla. After almost 3 weeks, neither the county nor FEMA has made it
out to survey our island. And it is almost as if we feel forgotten. After
fending for ourselves for clean-up, I am ready to get to work on landscaping.
Plants are my passion and it pains me each day to wake up and see that 90% of
our Australian and Norfolk Island Pines are completely gone, along with most
foliage and palms.
We just want our paradise back, and many of us will work for it by any
means necessary..."
We replied to Ian who suffered from Ian... We are willing to help his beautiful island, as well as everyone who is looking for help restoring our Florida beauty. Check out our deals and re-leaf discounts we send in our Newsletters. Remember to attend our Garden Festival on Nov 19, with some big discounts as well as free plants for after-Ian re-leaf!
We will make Florida beautiful again.
We will call it Project Ian!
Date:
Fertilizing in Fall:
Plants need food too!
Q: I know that I am not supposed to fertilize plants in winter. But I just bought several ground orchids from you, they are blooming now and I wonder if I can give them some food to support their bloom energy? When should I do the last application of fertilizer? I will keep them in a sun room during Winter until Spring.
A: Traditionally, end of October to November is the time when we
give the last dose of fertilizer to our tropical plants. Liquid fertilizers,
and especially amino-acid based Sunshine Boosters, are safe to apply year around. This means, you can
continue feeding your plants with Sunshine Boosters through the Winter without
risk of over-feeding or burning roots. Why?
The answer is very simple: even with their metabolism slowed down in
Winter, plants will use all that food.
Sunshine Boosters have special mild formulas that are scientifically
designed and based on Amino Acids. Plants will use all essential elements from the
solution as needed.
Liquid fertilizer is diluted in water, and will be applied only when you
water the plant. During Winter, water needs are lowered = watering times are
less frequent, with less amount of water = the plants will get less water and
less fertilizer accordingly.
Importance of micro elements
in combination with plant food during winter
In the photo: winter chlorosis on Kumquat leaves that is very hard to treat and should be prevented instead
Keep in mind that feeding your plants regularly during Winter will help to avoid "winter chlorosis" and other deficiency problems. So called "cool-temperature-induced chlorosis" (CTIC) is especially common in Spring on young, actively growing leaves. Unless chlorosis is prevented by micro-element applications, affected leaves may remain in this condition for the rest of the growing season.
Make sure to select proper type of fertilizer for your over-wintering plants. We have special formulas for foliage, flowering plants, fruit trees, young seedlings, even for for orchids and bromeliads. Check out our selection!
Date:
Re-Leaf discount extended!
The prettiest plants of the month
Aphelandra sinclairiana - Panama Queen
We thank everyone who made a purchase in the past few days, you made a big difference! We continue clearing debris and rebuilding our greenhouses. Thanks to your support, we will be able to get our plants ready for winter! This is what we are doing this month:
rebuilding woodframes for greenhouses
installing new shade cloth and plastic
cutting fallen trees
getting new equipment that suffered from flood
adding rock in the nursery to be ready for the Fall Festival
You help us - we help you!
Ask for more RE-LEAF specials when you visit our Garden Center!
Hurricane Ian re-leaf discount extended
For 10% off your entire order, use this code:
IANRELEAF
Use this code on top of our fantastic deals and make it a
super deal:
As low as $5
sale of selected items
Secret
Garden - 50% off
Min order $100. Exp. 10-08-22.
Hedychium flavum x coccineum Dr. Moy - Variegated Hardy Ginger Lily
Date:
Fall Festival
rescheduled:
now November 19th
Due to hurricane Ian aftermath in SW Florida, many gardeners aren't able to attend our Garden Event that was originally scheduled for this coming Saturday Oct 8. So we decided to reschedule it for November 19, 2022 so everyone can come. Please update your calendars!
We have spent weeks planning this special event and the show will go on, as soon as everybody gets back on their feet. Stay strong and come back, we will help you to restore your gardens!
NEW: Festival RE-LEAF special
FREE plant for every guest - no purchase necessary!
Throughout years of living in Florida with its sometimes harsh weather - hurricanes, flood, freeze, drought - we have lost plants too, and we feel your pain now! To help everyone to restore their gardens after hurricane Ian, we are offering a FREE plant program. Yes, it's absolutely free, and no purchase required. This promotion will be run during our Fall Festival and every guest will receive a free gift plant!
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