Easy Sunday Morning Deals: Sweet Dragon or Sweet Cherry?.. Both!

Sweet Dragon or Sweet Cherry?.. Both!

Photo above: Biquinho Pepper (Capsicum annuum x chinense) - nipple-shaped bright orange to red fruits with unique flavor which packs quite a bang!
Not because of its heat, but because of its intense fruity habanero flavor!

Saving on your favorite plants is Easy. Easy like Sunday Morning...

This weekend we celebrate our Easy Sunday and Cyber Monday together!
So we've doubled your opportunity to Save AND we've added a second beautiful plant to help you save even more!
Take an extra day to enjoy your Easy stroll through Top Tropicals' Garden with savings of

50% OFF and MORE!

For two days only, you can easily get the sweetest variety of the Dragon Fruit and add a super rare variety of Tropical Black Cherry Lolita to your garden!
Both plants Easy Priced at $19, that's a savings of more than 50% from the regular $39 price!
Learn more about these plants:

Yellow Dragon Fruit

Selenicereus megalanthus - Yellow Pitaya, Dragon Fruit
- is the best tasting Dragon Fruit in the world that is not only sweet, it has a great flavor (unlike most Pitayas that are pretty watery).
These plants originated from Ecuador and are well-developed, multi-branched, as you can see from the photo.

Picture of the actual plants for sale:

Lolita Cherry

Eugenia uniflora - Black Surinam Cherry Lolita
- rare, hard-to-find black-fruited variety Surinam Cherry starts as red and turns black as it ripens.
It is very sweet and has exceptional flavor, without aftertaste, large 1-1.2 inch, very juicy.
Reliable producer. The tree is upright, freely branching, cold hardy to upper 20's once established.
Plants are in 2 gal pots, well branched and ready to fruit next season.

Picture of the actual plants for sale:

You can save even more by using our Black Friday sales discount code on your order:

FRIDAY20 - 20% OFF - for orders over $200
FRIDAY15 - 15% OFF - for orders over $150
FRIDAY10 - 10% OFF - for orders over $100

Excluding S&H. Codes extended through Monday: 11/29/21

Remember, the special $19 prices are good for only 48 hours and expire Tuesday morning at 7 am EST.
Limited to availability, while supply lasts, hurry up!

Enjoy!

Cold hardy tropical fruit trees for Zone 9

Q: Can you suggest tropical fruit that can be grown (cold hardy) in Zone 9?

A: There are quite a few tropical/subtropical trees that will grow well in zone 9. Our favorites are: Figs - very cold hardy and drought tolerant.
Loquats - grafted trees that start fruiting right away, reliable producers.
Tropical Mulberry - very fast growing trees that can take freeze, heavy producers.
Macadamia - these trees are of a compact nature, very easy to grow and start producing nuts right away.
Many different varieties of Eugenias - tropical cherries - all-time favorites. Another tropical cherry - Malpighia, or Barbados cherry - starts fruiting in small size under one food tall! Great for containers.
Tropical (Low Chill) Peaches, Nectarines, and Plums. See full list of low-chill, relatively cold hardy fruit trees.
And of course - Bananas!

Don't forget to fertilize your fruit trees to improve their cold hardiness!

Red Stopper Cherry

Rare plant from Key West

by Mark Hooten, the Garden Doc

Eugenia rhombea, commonly known in Florida as "Red Stopper", is one of four species of Eugenia native to North America. It is a beautiful small tree, bearing small shiny deep green leaves which are pinkish-orange-red when young, giving them the appearance of a flowering tree at a distance when flushing out new growth a number of times a year.
Its native range includes Florida, Bahamas, Cuba, Hispaniola and part of Eastern Central America. However, here in Florida, it is federally listed as an endangered species, only known from the lowermost Everglades and Keys, where even there it is rare.
These elegant little trees grow to perhaps 12 or so feet tall, developing an elegant, umbrella shaped canopy. At a distance, they rather resemble Ficus benjamina, yet with a more orderly and refined appearance. In addition, they develop fluffy white flowers with a delightful fragrance, followed by holly-like long lasting red berries which are relished by wonderful song birds.
Although appearing delicate, this tropical species is surprisingly hardy, and would likely even make striking, a one-of-a-kind houseplant in the North.
These very few plants were grown from seeds collected near Royal Palm Hammock in the Everglades, and and may not be available again for some time...

Fast-fruiting trees?

Photo above: Annona reticulata - Red Custard Apple

Q: More of a question than a review, but a review regarding your catalog, it would be easier for us buyers, if we could search for plants that produce fruit in 2 years or less, I don't have the patience to wait longer than that for fruit. I'm trying to buy for a fairly good sized garden but want some fast growers and fruit produced in 2 yrs. Can you help me out?

A: Fruiting time depends on many factors (established size, growing conditions, fertilizing, and even specific variety), this is why we can not just put a simple icon "will fruit within 2 years".
However, most grafted and air-layered fruit trees, including all Mango, Avocado, Loquat, Sapote, Sapodilla, Lychee/Longan, Peaches and Nectarines - will fruit right away. If you see in our store "grafted" or "air-layered" in plant description - these trees will fruit soon. Some of them already flowering and fruiting.
Some non-grafted trees or seedlings like Annona, Artocarpus (Jackfruit), Eugenia, Guava, Banana, Dragon fruit, Mulberry, Blackberry/Raspberry - will fruit within 3-4 years from seed or even sooner (Banana, Mulberry, Dragon fruit, Blackberry-Raspberry - within a year). Usually it says in description that this plant can produce fruit soon.
Bigger size plants are more established and have more energy to produce, so try to get larger size plants if your budget permits, and especially if you can pick up bigger plants rather than shipping them - obviously, shipping has size limitations.
In addition, all spice trees like Bay Leaf, Bay Rum, Allspice and many more - they will produce spice for you right away, so you don't need to wait at all!
If you have questions about fruiting time on any specific plant you put your eye on, don't hesitate to ask!

Photo above: Pimenta dioica - Allspice

Fast-fruiting trees

Q: It would be easier for us buyers, if we could search for plants that produce fruit in 2 years or less... I don't have the patience to wait longer than that for fruit. I'm trying to buy for a fairly good sized garden but want some fast growers and fruit produced in 2 yrs. Can you help me out?

A: Fruiting time depends on many factors (growing conditions, fertilizing, and even specific variety), this is why we can not just put a simple icon "will fruit within 2 years". However, most grafted and air-layered fruit trees, including all Mango, Avocado, Loquat, Sapote, Sapodilla, Longan, Peaches and Nectarines - will fruit right away.
If you see in our store "grafted" or "air-layered" in plant description - these trees will fruit soon. Some of them are already flowering and fruiting!

Some non-grafted trees will fruit within a couple of years or even sooner (those from cuttings, root division or even seedlings) - such as: Annona, Artocarpus (Jackfruit), Eugenia, Guava, Banana, Dragon fruit, Mulberry, Blackberry/Raspberry. Banana, Mulberry, Dragon fruit, Blackberry-Raspberry - usually fruit within a year. You may refer to our store directory page for fruit specials.

Also, all spice trees like Bay Leaf, Bay Rum, Allspice and many more - will produce spice for you right away, so you don't need to wait at all!

Grafted or seedling?

Photo: Mr Barcy meditating before planting Nutmeg seeds

Q: I planted an avocado seed and it sprouted quickly, it has been only a couple months and I already have a small plant. How soon will it produce fruit? Can I grow other tropical fruit from seed?

A: Unfortunately, some fruit trees, including varieties of avocado, mango, lychee, as well as apples and peaches - must be either grafted or air-layered in order to produce, for 2 main reasons:
- seedlings may take a very long time until fruiting, up to 10-15 years
- seedling gives no guarantee on the quality of the fruit or variety
These fruit trees should be propagated as "clones" - both grafted material or cuttings are actually copies of the mother plant and will keep the same fruit qualities. Grafted trees usually start producing immediately.
However there is a number of fruit trees that come true from seed, and take a very short time to start flowering. Jackfruit, Annonas (Sugar Apple, Guanabana, etc), Papaya, Icecream Bean, Eugenias start producing at a young age (3-4 years from seed).

Recommended fertilizers for fruit trees:

Fruit Festival Plant Food - Super Crop Booster
Mango-Food - Smart Release Fruit Tree Booster
SUNSHINE-Honey - for sweeter fruit
SUNSHINE SuperFood - microelement supplement