Garden Blog - Top Tropicals
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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:
1) genetics of specific species
2) maturity of the plant, size of root system, stems and branches
3) 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
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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.
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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!
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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.
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Annona montana - Mountain Soursop
Grow Your Own Food
Exotic fruit, a cold hardy alternative to a Soursop
Not only tasty, this exotic fruit has the most unusual
looks! This exotic beauty grows up to a pound and just look at these curious
and life-like spines! We guarantee that everyone who sees this fruit in your
garden will ask for seeds even before they taste the fruit. And you will have
lots of seeds to share because Mountain Soursop is very reliable producer
with many seeds in each fruit.
Mountain Soursop tastes similar to regular Soursop (better known as the
Guanabana), with slightly milder flavor. The pulp is highly scented, with good
aroma. It is eaten out of hand or can be used in milkshakes and smoothies. The
fruit is softball sized with orange-yellow flesh, somewhat smaller and
rounder than the regular Soursop. The tree is medium sized, with beautiful, large,
leathery dark green leaves that emit a strong aroma when crushed.
How to grow Mountain Soursop?
Mountain Soursop is a very easy to grow, medium size exotic fruit tree that is great for beginners. This species is much more cold hardy than the Soursop, established trees can take temperatures a few degrees below freezing, tolerating cold spells down to 24F when full grown. Mountain Soursop tolerates a variety of soil types and will grow well in dry conditions. Trees produce within just 2-3 years from seed, like many Annonas, and can happily grow and produce in a large container.
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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 >>
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What is the best Avocado variety?
Grow Your Own Food
Q: Most trees in my yard were destroyed by hurricane Ian and now I have to start my landscape from scratch. So I decided to plant something useful. Avocado is my favorite. In the stores I see two kinds, large green or small black, but I was told there are many varieties. When I googled the best variety of avocado I found your website. You have quite a selection! Now I don't know which variety to chose. Can you please help? I have room for several trees.
A: Indeed there are many varieties of Avocado (we grow over 50 kinds). Some avocado lovers try
to get as many varieties as they can fit in their yards because every variety
has its unique flavor and texture.
2 main Avocado kinds that we usually see in grocery stores are -
1) smaller black fruit with rich, buttery texture - Mexican and Guatemalan
hybrids
2) green avocado, some can be as large as a small melon, but they have
light texture - West Indian types
There are many hybrids. How to pick the right variety for your yard?
Check out our Avocado variety page and scroll down to see a chart that shows characteristics of fruit, tree size, cold hardiness, and chose the right variety that fits your needs.
Below are just a few picks from our horticulturist - our favorite varieties that we enjoy and highly recommend to others.
Best tasting large green Avocado hybrids:
Bernecker, Beta, Doni, Catalina, Pollock.
Best tasting black or dark green, buttery Avocado hybrids:
Winter Mexican, Brogdon, Black Prince, Day, Fantastic, Florida Hass, Marcus Pumpkin, Mexicola Grande, Nishikawa, Waldin
Dwarf trees (black fruit):
For local customers: see large 15-gal size Avocado trees, delivery and installation available!
Today all avocados are 13% off instantly with no min. order, take advantage of this quick sale and get all varieties you want!
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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.
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What is Akee fruit?
One of the most bizarre looking, yet useful...
Email from our Florida customer:
I got an Akee tree from you last year for my tropical fruit garden collection and honestly didn't know much about what it was. This year it started growing real fast and branched out. In spring it was flowering like crazy and now I have about 20 bright coral fruit hanging off the tree that look like Christmas decorations. They are extremely showy and can be seen from far away, I have neighbors stopping by asking what kind of tree it is. I finally did more research on it and found a recipe how to cook the fruit. Only a few had ripened and opened so far, but I already had a chance to try the meal. Cooked the arils and fried in a pan with some butter. What a delicious surprise! To my taste, it is like a mix of potatoes and eggs. Just through in some bacon and it will make a complete breakfast! One of the coolest fruit I've tasted. Just wanted to share this with you.
About Akee (Blighia sapida)
This showy fruit, a close relative of Lychee, Longan, and Rambutan, is a
National fruit of Jamaica. It is indeed very exciting one, and what is also
important, the tree is easy in cultivation, fast growing and can be maintained compact. I it is
not bugsy or picky about soil/water conditions, and is relatively cold tolerant for
being a tropical tree. You can find delicious akee meals only in Jamaican restaurants. But no
need to search for it - grow your own tree, it can't be easier. It will start
fruiting for you the next season, you don't have to wait long. Sometimes it
fruits twice a year! However, remember, the fruit is used as a vegetable, and is not eaten raw. It must be
picked after the fruit has opened naturally so the flesh is fully exposed to
light. When the fruit has "yawned", discard the seeds (or better plant them to
grow more trees - to share with your friends!). The arils, while still fresh
and firm, are best parboiled in salted water or milk and then lightly fried in
butter. Then they are really delicious!
Read
more about this tree...
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Grow your own food:
Pouteria campechiana - Canistel
The curious heart-shaped Egg Super-Fruit
by Alex Butova, the Witch of Herbs and Cats
...You will be surprised how many health benefits this fruit can offer! Yet is is a beautiful, curiously shaped piece of Nature's Art, and the tree is super easy to grow. It is relatively cold hardy and fast growing, providing with the first crop within a year or two...
10 greatest health benefits of Canistel fruit
1. Canistel is good for the heart
2. Canistel lowers the risk of diabetes
3. Canistel lowers the risk of cataract
4. Canistel treats osteoarthritis
5. Canistel prevents cancer
6. Canistel is immunity booster
7. Canistel is great for digestion
8. Canistel prevents anemia
9. Canistel promotes healthy bones
10. Canistel reduces the risk of Alzheimer's
