Garden Blog - Top Tropicals

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Cold protection for tropical plants

greenhouse and cold protection covers on tropical plants

Pushing the limits of tropical gardening

The year is almost over but the winter is not. This Christmas weekend at our Sebring B-farm we had it down to 30F. As a tropical gardener, winter can be challenging, especially if you grow plants outside of tropical zones.

greenhouse with tropical plants

To protect your garden from the cold, consider the following:

1. Monitor freeze watches and be prepared to take action if necessary.
2. Create temporary structures like mini-greenhouses using PVC pipes, carport frames, or bamboo sticks to support covers.
3. Use covers such as frost cloth, cardboard boxes, blankets, and bed sheets.
4. Use Christmas lights and other heating elements, including propane heaters, to keep plants warm.
5. Add a layer of heavy mulch around plant trunks to protect them from the cold.
6. Apply plant boosters that improve cold hardiness, such as Sunshine Epi, Sunshine-Si, and Sunshine Superfood.

At TopTropicals B-Farm, we sprayed our plants with a special cold hardiness treatment Sunshine-Si and covered and wrapped everything we could. We also moved cold sensitive species inside greenhouses. All of our plants are looking great and happy!

Mulching mango trunks and using Christmas lights for cold protection

Photo above: Mulching mango trunks and using Christmas lights for cold protection

Read more about this special treatment plan: Cold Hardiness Improvement Kit.

Covering plants during cold night

Plastic warm house wrapping

Photo above: Temporary wrapping of a section of a greenhouse with a plastic or frost cloth protects from a windchill. It may also win you a few degrees even without a heater. In this particular case, according to our temp sensors, it was 30F outside, and 41F inside this "dome", no heaters used.


Sunshine Boosters:

Last chance to stock up
at a lower price!

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Don't miss out on this opportunity to get the best value for your money!

Use discount for even better deal:

22FOR22
for 22% off orders $220+

Min order $220. Offer expires 12-31-22

Sunshine boosters for different plant types

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You are safe in your garden!

"In front of my house, banana Musa basjoo in ground since more than 12 years!"
Lucie Herard, Montreal Tropical.

Lucie's tropical garden in Montreal, Canada:
"The movement of plants fascinates me!"

Our customer Lucie Herard shared pictures of her tropical garden with us... Many of you have beautiful gardens that you are proud of... but this one is... in Canada! Believe it or not, before winter she digs everything up and brings it inside! Then in Spring, she starts again every year. Dedication? Determination? Heroism! Lucie won the Planet Bananiers photo contest for the third time.
Look at these pictures and visit Lucie's Facebook page for more photos and videos of her amazing garden. Ask yourself: and what can I do? Is my life really that hard with mowing a lawn once a week and blowing the leaves? You don't have to be a hero to make something worthwhile in your life. Just take a shovel and start... one plant a day. And you will end up living in Paradise.
Lucie reminds you: "Ornamental horticulture production activities are now considered an essential service! Add soil in a pot, water very slightly for the first two weeks and put closer to the window. That's all, the leaves will start growing again!"

Tropical Paradise Contest 2020

Share with us photos of your garden. The winner of this contest will get plants $200 worth, with FREE shipping!

Submit your photos before April 15, 2020
and win $200 in tropical plants!

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How to set up indoor lighting for tropical plants

TopTropicals.com

Q: My tropical plant collection goes indoors for winter. I have over 100 plants now and all windowsill space is taken. I am planning to build some shelves so I can also start some rare seeds indoors. Can you advise me on the choice of the grow lights so I can do it right?

A: Indoor plants are very unlucky: they have to grow in "caves," and everybody knows that plants don't grow in the caves. The luckiest plants win sunny windowsills, but even there they dwell rather like in underbrush under tall trees, where the sun illuminate them only early in the morning or in the evening, and its light is diffused by foliage. Usually, domestic plants are in desperate lack of illumination not only in winter but also in summer. No light - no growth, no flowering. So, plants need extra light to compensate for the lack of illumination in the "room-cave" conditions. And here is some science behind it...

Continue reading...

Check out our selection of tropical plants tolerant to low light conditions.

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Shopping for gifts is not an easy chore!

6 important steps for successful Holiday Gift Plant Shopping

1. Make a list of friends and family members that absolutely require your special plant attention. Obviously, a live plant is the best present!
2. Set deadlines for shipping gift plants. Remember good timing is 50% of a good surprise!
3. Set a budget and call our Customer Service to help you pick the right plant that fits your needs and finances. Check out current sales and deals to get more for your dollar, and low cost offers.
4. Buy plants for plant lovers, or simply for those who appreciate the Nature, and the Beauty. Check out fragrant gift plants, fruit, and spice plants - these are always win-win! A gift certificate can be a great option so they can pick what they like, and it is not time sensitive!
5. Prepare. Remember that live plant requires some attention. Prepare pots, soil, and planting instructions beforehand so your beloved ones can enjoy a happy plant for a long time.
6. Don't forget about yourself! Take advantage of BOGO deals to get One for Present, One for Me! Personally, here at Top Tropicals, we all buy at least one plant for ourselves for each holiday!

Happy Holidays!

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Lighting for overwintering tropical plants indoors

TopTropicals.com

Q: Days are getting shorter and darker... I brought my tropical plants indoors for overwintering (I live in Atlanta, GA). Could you give me some advice on what lamps should I use for additional lighting of my plants?

A: Indoor plants are very unlucky: they have to grow in "caves," and everybody knows that plants don't grow in the caves. The luckiest plants win sunny windowsills, but even there they dwell rather like in underbrush under tall trees, where the sun illuminate them only early in the morning or in the evening, and its light is diffused by foliage.
Usually domestic plants are in desperate lack of illumination not only in winter, but also in summer. No light - no growth, no flowering. So, plants need extra light to compensate the lack of illumination in the "room-cave" conditions.
Before you will start any practical actions to help your plants, you need first to decide whether you are going to set an additional illumination, or provide full lamplight. In the case of just additional illumination, rather inexpensive luminescent lamps will do, and you don't have to think about their spectrum. Continue reading...

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Plants of Love. TopTropicals Webinars

Plants of Love - Valentines Day Sale. For Valentines day, look beyond roses for a plant that will last a lifetime! It is not a surprise that the most popular plants that has been ordered from TopTropicals for Valentines day for the past 3 years, are: Vanilla, Chocolate, Grape, Strawberry tree, Rose apple - all things you get for your Valentines!

This year we are celebrating Valentines day with our special local event - "Aphrodisiacs, or Plants of Love".

When: Saturday, February 11, 2017, from 10 am to 2 pm
Where: Toptropicals Garden Center, 13890 Orange River Blvd, Ft Myers, FL 33905
Agenda:
10:00 am - Explore the grounds: Customers can come in to look through the nursery and guided tours through gardens.
12:00 pm - Aphrodisiac plants. Class on plants used for aphrodisiacs throughout history.
1:00 pm - Plant giveaway. Must be present to win one of the aphrodisiac plants in lecture.
2:00 pm - sale ends.
Special Love Discounts for local visitors! Snacks and drinks.

Just a few examples of the most famous plants of love that we will be talking about -
Coffea arabica - in East Africa and Arabia it was a sacred beverage to African sufis. For aphrodisiac results mix in cardamom and honey.
Banisteriopsis caapi, Ayahuasca - giant liana from tropical Amazon forests psychedelic, ritual inebriant that promotes potency. Drink is made from the bark and is taken in love rituals to revive the mythical past of the tribe.
Areca catechu, Betel Nut - seeds have stimulating effect on the entire body and eros. It’s a traditional aphrodosiac in Ayurvedic medicine and is counted among the eight types of pleasure in the Brahmanic tradition. It has magical and religious properties and used as an offering to the Gods.
Theobroma cacao, Chocolate - mild stimulant, beans contain aphrodisiac. Antient Indian "recipe of chocolati" will be shared at the event! Cocoa was considered the "food of gods".
Cinnamon - in Southern Asia used as stimulant, in food or massage oil for erotic stimulation.
Cola nitida, Cola nut - used in love magic, was used as currency in W Africa.
Cananga odorata, Ylang-Ylang - increases eroticism with oil inhaled. Prescribed to treat impotency and frigidity.
Butea monosperma, Flame of The Forest - is traditionally used to manage male sexual disorders.
Mimosa pudica, Sensitive Plant - significantly increases the libido and hormonal levels of testosterone.
Satureja Viminea, Kama Sutra Mint Tree - used for love gel...
- and much more!

TopTropicals Webinars. Welcome to Top Tropicals Webinar! Discover the world of Rare Plants and surround yourself with a Tropical Paradise! Our plant experts will be answering your garden questions. Our next LIVE air time is just before Valentines Day - Saturday February 11, at 2 pm ET, with a topic of... of course, Aphrodisiac Plants! Get your questions ready!

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December Fest on Dec 10, mark your calendars!

Topic: Edible landscape. 10:00am - 2:00pm. Agenda:

Class @ 11:00am by Robert Riefer. How to keep pests off of maturing fruit.
Class @12:00pm Super foods by Zoe Merring. Benefits of Soursop, barbados cherry, goji, moringa. Benefits and recipes.

Discounts on all edibles
Prize giveaways at 12:00pm and 2:00pm (must be present to win)

20% off After-Cyber-Monday sale! Now that everybody is done with shopping for monitors and speakers, it is time to get some happy stuff! 20% off on all fruit trees, 1 day only! Enjoy your shopping and get the plants you always wanted at a low price!