🏆 The best tropical fruit tree for container growing, and the fastest to fruit: Annona.

🍏 Annonas (Annona sp) are very much loved tropical fruit. The fruit has smooth, creamy flesh, just like a natural custard - hence one of the common names - "Custard Apple". Growing an Annona tree is a rewarding experience, its a small compact tree that will let you enjoy its creamy and exotic fruit right away.

The best tropical tree suited for container growing, due to its small height. It can be maintained within 6-8 ft tall.

The fastest fruiting tree: 2-3-4 years from seed to fruit, depending on species.

Most species are deciduous: drop leaves during winter-spring.

Thrives in frost-free climate. Some species are cold hardier than others. Container culture is a good way to cold protect these beautiful small trees.

❤️ 6 top most popular Annonas:

• ▪️ Rollinia (Rollinia deliciosa) - the biggest Annona fruit and the most showy
• ▪️ Sugar Apple (Annona squamosa) - the most popular
• ▪️ Guanabana (Annona muricata) - the most cold sensitive but the fruit is so tasty!
• ▪️ Pineapple Annona Golden (Annona costaricana) - cold hardy and easy to grow
• ▪️ Custard Apple (Annona reticulata) - with red flesh
• ▪️ Mountain Soursop or Hedgehog (Annona montana) - mentioned earlier, cold hardy

📚 Learn more:
Horoscope for Guanabana tree
Hedgehog Mountain Soursop - Annona montana
How to grow and hand-pollinate Guanabana Tree indoors (PDF)

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🍊 What is the best fruit in the world? How to grow your own Lychee tree.

Lychee (Litchi chinensis) is often called the best fruit in the world. You've eaten these no doubt in Chinese restaurants: fresh or sun-dried (Litchi Nuts) or canned in syrup. Growing a lychee tree is a rewarding way to enjoy this sweet and exotic fruit right at home!

• 📍 The fruit has been grown in China for over 2,000 years and was once considered a luxury food for the wealthy. Lychee trees can produce fruit for more than 100 years.
• 📍 Lychee fruit is a burst of sweet, juicy and fragrant goodness with every bite. Unique blend of sweet and floral notes, a taste of the tropics! It is delicious on its own or in desserts, drinks, and salads.
• 📍 Packed with vitamin C, has high water content - keeps you refreshed and hydrated. It is a guilt-free snacking with minimal calories. Loaded with antioxidants.
• 📍 The tree loves full sun and prefers well-drained, slightly acidic soil. It needs regular watering, especially during dry periods. keep the soil moist but not waterlogged.
• 📍Space needed: it can grow quite tall and wide, give the tree plenty of space to spread out. Relatively resistant to pests!
• 📍Slow Grower: although air-layered trees start fruiting right in a pot, it takes years for the tree to grow big (approx. 10 years for 20 ft tree).

❓ What other BEST fruit in the world do you know? Mango, Sugar Apple, Mangosteen... What's your favorite? Share in comments.

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🥑 Healthy breakfast, lunch or snack: Avocado toast

Avocado toast is creamy, crisp and so satisfying. It’s a delicious and simple breakfast, snack or light meal!

🥪 Ingredients (makes 1 toast):

• 
  ◾️ 1 slice of bread (thick-sliced whole-grain or rye bread is the best)
• ◾️ ½ ripe avocado
• ◾️ Pinch of salt and black pepper

📝 Instructions

• 
  ◾️ Toast your slice of bread until golden and firm.
• ◾️ Remove the pit from your avocado. Use a big spoon to scoop out the flesh.
• ◾️ Spread avocado on top of your toast.
• ◾️ Sprinkle with a pinch of salt and pepper.

🍿 Enjoy!

🛒 Grow your own Avocado and Pepper plants

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🍍 The most luscious Hospitality Fruit

💥 Pineapple plant (Ananas comosus) produces a delicious fruit treat and is a fascinating plant to grow.

• 🔻 King of fruits. Pineapple is often referred to as the "king of fruits" (along with Durian and Mango). It is cherished for its sweet and tangy taste, refreshing qualities, culinary uses, and health benefits, including high vitamin C content and digestive enzymes.
• 🔻 Bromelain for healthy guts: pineapples contain an enzyme called bromelain that can break down proteins and is often used as a meat tenderizer. It's great for digestion; eat 1 slice of pineapple after every meal to maintain healthy digestive system.
• 🔻 Single fruit per plant: each pineapple plant produces just one pineapple per year.
• 🔻 Growth time: It takes about 18-24 months for a pineapple to mature and be ready for harvest.
• 🔻 Symbol of Hospitality: in many cultures, pineapples are a symbol of hospitality and welcome.
• 🔻 Those are berries! A pineapple is formed from many individual single fruit (technically, berries), which fuse together around the core.
• 🔻 Cultivation. Pineapples are easy to grow. They need only a little water to thrive. Take full sun, shade, semi-shade. For faster production, fertilize with SUNSHINE boosters Ananas - Pineapple and Bromeliad Booster. Perfect container plant, can be grown indoors as a houseplant.
• 🔻 Propagation: pineapples can be grown from the crown of the fruit. If you like the variety of the fruit you just ate, just cut the top off and plant it in potting soil, it will root within a few weeks. Make sure to not overwater it. Many superior varieties are available in selection.

📚 Learn more: The most luscious Hospitality Fruit: Pineapple

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🍊 Top 3 most wanted Papaya varieties

Papaya fruit is one of the superfoods as we mentioned earlier. Below are the top 3 most interesting varieties: a full size tree, a semi-dwarf and a dwarf.

1. Maradol. Vigorous full size plant with high yield. Commercially grown throughout Central Mexico, these papayas are 3 to 5 pounds in weight and the shape of an elongated melon. Soft and juicy, they have salmon pink or red flesh that is very sweet with a slightly perfumed, fruity flavor. Cut them in half lengthwise. Delicious and irresistible with a sprinkle of fresh lemon or lime juice.
2. Solo Sunset, Semi-Dwarf from Hawaii. Commercially grown primarily on Kauai, it has dark pink to reddish-orange flesh. The fruit is medium to small size, shape is somewhat round. This is the sweetest Papya variety we ever tasted!
3. Solo Waimanalo, Dwarf - oval, large size yellow fruit with dark yellow flesh. Low bearing tree makes harvesting easy. Grows wonderfully in Central Florida in both a container or in the ground. Will go from seed to fruit in just one year. Waimanalo has yellow-orange flesh.


❓Do you eat Papaya fresh or you also cook with it? Share in comments👇

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🥭 10 steps: how to grow a mango tree?

Follow these steps and you'll be on your way to growing a healthy mango tree and enjoying delicious fruit:

1. ❗️ Choose the right variety that suits your needs and yard. See earlier posts:
2. most Favorite Mango Varieties
3. Dwarf "Condo" Mango
4. large and vigorous Mango varieties
5. 🌳 Buy a grafted tree from a reputable nursery to ensure better fruit quality and faster fruiting.
6. 🏡 Planting site: choose a sunny location with well-draining soil. Ensure there is enough space for the tree to grow, as some varieties can become quite large.
7. ⛏ Planting: dig a hole twice as wide and just as deep as the root ball. Mix in organic compost to enrich the soil. Place the tree in the hole, making sure the growth point is 1-2" above the soil line. Fill the hole with soil, pressing gently to remove air pockets. Water the tree thoroughly.
8. 💦 Watering: Water the tree regularly, especially during the first few weeks. Allow the soil to dry slightly between waterings to prevent root rot.
9. 🪵 Mulch: apply mulch around the base of the tree to retain moisture and suppress weeds. Keep the mulch a few inches away from the trunk to prevent rot.
10. 🧪 Fertilize: use a balanced fertilizer formulated for fruit trees. We recommend Sunshine Boosters Mango Tango formulated specially for mango trees.
11. ✂️ Prune to shape the tree to encourage good airflow and sunlight penetration, and to improve the yield.

🎥 Shaping your Mango Tree.

9. 🕷 Pest and disease control: monitor for scale and mealybugs and treat them with systemic pesticides. Keep an eye out for fungal diseases and treat them promptly with copper spray.

10. 🥭 Harvesting: Mangoes are ready to harvest when they change color and soften slightly.

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💰Good luck tree that brings money and prosperity? And yet shade, spectacular flowers and edible nuts? It is Guiana Chestnut!

• 🤞 Pachira aquatica (Bombax glabra) - Malabar Peanut or Guiana Chestnut is a beautiful, fast growing flowering tree with edible nuts!
• 🤞 Tropical wetland tree native to Central and South America, known for its large, glossy leaves and its distinctive, braided trunk.
• 🤞 The tree is believed to bring good luck and prosperity to those who own it, and is sometimes referred to as a "money tree."
• 🤞 Pachira aquatica is also used in traditional medicine and often used for bonsai.

❓ What other plants bring good luck? Share in comments👇

🛒 Order Guaiana Chestnut Money Tree online

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🏆 Tropical Fruit Tree Contest: enter to win the Jaboticaba Tree!

Post a picture of your own container grown tropical fruit tree and win this Jaboticaba!

🫐 Jaboticaba (Myrciaria cauliflora) is one of the most popular native fruit of Brazil and is used to produce their famous Jaboticaba Vine. Grape-like purple fruit with a thick skin and delicious melting pulp somewhat resembling Northern Black Currant in flavor. They grow right on the trunk! The tree is very slow growing, so large specimens are very expensive and hard to find.

💰$69.95 Value + FREE shipping 🚚
yes, delivered to your door absolutely FREE! Large, developed plant.

❗️ How to become a winner? It's very simple!
Post a picture of your own tropical fruit tree grown in CONTAINER in comments to this post.
The entry that receives more likes (hearts, thumbs up, etc.) will be the winner!

👨�‍👧 Invite your friends and family to vote: to put their likes and hearts and support your work!

📋 RULES AND TERMS:

1. Must be our Channel Subscriber (click JOIN 👇)
2. Only 1 post per participant. The post should contain 1-3 pictures and a plant name.
3. A plant must be:

a) tropical fruit tree grown in a container. No temperate apples and no in-ground trees at this time.
b) must be a perennial tree or a shrub (annual garden veggies will have their chance in our future contests)
c) your own plant, not in a nursery or botanical garden
d) fruit on the plant is a plus (more likes), but not a must.
4. Delivery - USA addresses only. To receive the prize, the winner will be requested to provide shipping info.
5. Unclaimed prizes will be canceled after 2 weeks.
6. Deadline - July 1, 2024 at 3 pm, then we will count the hearts and pick the Winner.
7. No purchase necessary to enter or win (see full rules PDF)

🏅 Good luck!

Post your entries in comments to this post👇

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🏵 JOIN TopTropicals and win!

🤩 Happy Father's Day - June 16!

❤️ Have a perfect day with dear friends, loving family, and healthy meals.

Consider growing a #Food_Forest to add some good stuff to your diet 🍌🍍🌶🥑🍒🥥🥭

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FATHERS2024

Your savings with this code:
5% off orders $100+
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🎁 Last minute gift shopping: get a Top Tropicals Gift Card with 15% bonus value.

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🍊 The truth about Papaya:

1. it is grass, and
2. it can go transgender!

The secret facts of Papaya's private life.
• 📌 Did you know that Papaya technically is not a tree? It is a large herbaceous plant, usually with a single, straight trunk that can reach 30 feet!
• 📌 Many dwarf varieties available in selection, reaching only 6-8 ft tall, but producing large crops of full size fruit - they are easy to harvest.
• 📌 Papaya trees have very complex gender mechanism, but the bottom line is - the tree can chance its sex based on conditions! Many varieties are self-fertile, but it always recommended to plant a few trees for cross-pollination and better yield.
• 📌 The sweetest Papaya is from so called "Solo" cultivars: the fruit is usually round or oval, on a smaller side, but super sweet.
• 📌 Fruit from Solo cultivars are not susceptible to fruit flies.
• 📌 Being officially a tropical plant, Papaya is pretty cold resistant and can withstand light freeze without significant damage.
• 📌 Surprisingly, Papayas are also hurricane-resistant plants and can take strong winds without damage. They still stand when other trees are down!
• 📌 Papaya is one of the Super-Foods thanks to papain - a natural enzyme containing in this fruit. Papaya fruit offers the best digestive aid! Eat some papaya after each meal to maintain healthy digestion.
• 📌 Try papaya leaf wraps for cooking meats - you won't need a meat tenderizer!
• 📌 Easy to grow trees, Papayas don't take any space in the garden, but bring so much goodness into your life!


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