Date: 3 Aug 2024 Top Tropicals Telegram channel & chat

How to always have your own Root Beer

Piper auritum - Root Beer Plant, Acuyo, False Kava-Kava

🥤 How to always have your own Root Beer

🥙 Piper auritum - Root Beer Plant, Acuyo, False Kava-Kava - is a close relative of Piper methysticum (Kava-Kava), and Piper nigrum (Black Pepper). It is very often confused with Kava-Kava, and probably has some similar medicinal effects.
🥙 This herb originated from Tropical America and grows also in the South Pacific.
🥙 Large-leaved perennial, known for its leaves, which are used for their spicy aromatic scent and flavor, some liken to root beer, others to anise-clove. It can be used for making a root beer-flavoted drink.
🥙 This species is easily identified by its huge leaves which can grow over a foot long in older specimens.
🥙 The leaves are chopped and used for flavoring, as well as used whole, as wrappings for meats, tamales, etc.

📚 Learn more about Piper plants

🛒 Grow your own Root Beer Plant

#Food_Forest #Remedies

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Date: 2 Aug 2024 Top Tropicals Telegram channel & chat

What is a good exotic looking flowering plant for a shade garden?

Chrysothemis pulchella - Copper Leaf, Black Flamingo

🔥 What is a good exotic looking flowering plant for a shade garden?

🏀 One of the most unusual looking plants in or shade garden collection is Chrysothemis pulchella - Copper Leaf, Black Flamingo.
🏀 It is a spectacular tropical perennial that can be grown as a houseplant or in a greenhouse.
🏀 From summer to late fall it is covered with showy orange-red flowers, may bloom sporadically several times a year.
🏀 Forms a dense mountain of flowers and foliage.
🏀 The plant forms tubers at the base of the stem. By the end of fall the leaves may die back, the plant goes dormant till spring. Then it re-sprouts in Spring again.
🏀 Reduce water to minimum during dormancy period.

🛒 Order online

#Shade_Garden #Container_Garden

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Date: 1 Aug 2024 Top Tropicals Telegram channel & chat

Why walking outdoors improves mental health

🌳 Why walking outdoors improves mental health

🚶‍♀️Spending time in nature - even as little as 10 minutes - can yield short-term benefits for individuals with mental illness, according to a new study involving 1,492 participants with a diagnosed mental illness and 14,168 studies.
🚶‍♀️Just 10 minutes of walking, running, or exercising in nature has a positive effect.
🚶‍♀️The type of setting doesn’t matter - parks, mountains, forests, and farms all work.
🚶‍♀️Nature benefits people with mood disorders and stress the most.

So, lets go outside and touch some plants!

🐈 Are you looking forward to results of study where cats are involved?

#Fun_Facts #Remedies

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Date: 31 Jul 2024 Top Tropicals Newsletter

Why we want to plant a tree today

Name: Piper auritum - Root Beer Plant, Acuyo, False Kava-Kava
Uploaded: 1969-12-31T19:00:00-05:00
Description: Piper auritum - Root Beer Plant, Acuyo, False Kava-Kava

Code red: Study reveals human degradation of tropical forests
is greater than previously estimated

This summer has been scorching hot across the globe, with every summer month breaking temperature records in recorded history.

Have you ever wondered what kind of natural world your children or grandchildren will inherit? Will they grow up surrounded by lush forests and greenery, or will they only know cities made of metal and concrete?

Tropical forests are super important for biodiversity and fighting climate change, but humans are messing them up more than we thought. Using fancy tech from the International Space Station, scientists found that human activities like logging and road-building are degrading these forests a lot. Even edges of forests are suffering, reducing canopy height and biomass significantly. This degradation is often overlooked, even though it has a huge impact on carbon emissions and biodiversity loss.

Planting trees in your yard, or even better, several trees, helps combat this problem by restoring some of the lost biodiversity and absorbing carbon dioxide. Plus, it's a fun way to make your space greener and contribute to a healthier planet!

Together, we've planted over 15,000 trees this year!

This year at TopTropicals, we have planted quite a few trees. Let's see...
- 44 mango trees planted at our BFarm...
- 49 tropical fruit trees
- 127 flowering trees and shrubs... (special thanks to Mick and Aurelio)
- 15,282 plants were ordered and, hopefully, planted by our customers this year so far...

Join us. Plant a tree today to make the difference!

"Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago." - Warren Buffett

Get some plants!

Date: 29 Jul 2024 Top Tropicals Telegram channel & chat

What is better - Blue or Pink? You need both!

Blue Butterfly Bush (Clerodendrum ugandense)

Pink Butterfly Bush (Clerodendrum mastacanthum)

🦋🎀 What is better - Blue or Pink? You need both!

These two varieties of Clerodendrum must go together - Blue Butterfly and Pink Butterfly - perfect combination! The flowers and butterfly-like shape attract butterflies and other pollinators to the garden. So these plants are all about butterflies!

🦋 Blue Butterfly Bush that we mentioned earlier, is a popular fast growing showy shrub with bright blue butterfly-like flowers

🎀 Pink Butterfly Bush is very rare new plant in cultivation, is very similar to more common Blue variety but has pink flowers.

🛒 Order Butterfly Bushes

#Butterfly_Plants

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Date: 25 Jul 2024 Top Tropicals Telegram channel & chat

How to grow Bougainvillea bonsai

Bougainvillea bonsai

🎍 How to grow Bougainvillea bonsai

🌸 Choose a Variety: Select a dwarf variety or one with smaller leaves and flowers for easier training. The best dwarfs are "Pixie" and "Sunvillea" varieties.
🌸 Potting: Use a small, shallow bonsai pot with good drainage. A bonsai soil mix is ideal as it provides proper aeration and drainage.
🌸 Pruning and Training: Regularly prune to maintain shape and encourage new growth. Use wire to train branches, but be careful not to damage the plant. Prune after flowering to shape and maintain size.
🌸 Watering and Feeding: Water thoroughly when the soil is dry but avoid waterlogging. Use a liquid fertilizer such as Sunshine Megaflor for profuse flowering.
🌸 Light: Place in a sunny location, as bougainvilleas require plenty of light to thrive and bloom.

📚 Learn more: Compact Bonsai and Money Money

🛒 Shop plants for bonsai

#Container_Garden

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Date: 24 Jul 2024 Top Tropicals Telegram channel & chat

How to grow your own Pepper plants

Piper sarmentosum - Vietnamese Pepper, Lalot leaves wraps

Piper nigrum - Black Pepper

Piper auritum - Root Beer Plant, False Kava-Kava

Piper betle - Betel leaf

Piper longum - Indian Long Pepper, Pippali, Bengal Peppe

🔥 How to grow your own Pepper plants. Five most valuable 'Pipers'.

ℹ️ Leafy Pepper plants - Pipers - are a source of black pepper and many other "peppery" flavors. These plants come from the Piperaceae family and are used as a spice for their pungent, peppery flavor. Don't confuse them with with Capsicum peppers, such as bell and chili peppers.

🔻Piper sarmentosum - Vietnamese Pepper, Lalot: it is eaten raw in salads or cooked with other greens or dishes, or wrap meats and cook in oven or on stove or grill. It is used medicinally in India and SE Asia. The root is also chewed with Betel Nut as a tonic and medicine. The leaves are used as food (food wraps) in Vietnam.
🔻 Piper nigrum - Black Pepper: While black and white pepper were already known in antiquity, but green pepper (and even more, red pepper) is a recent invention. Pungent and aromatic. The pungency is strongest in white pepper and weakest in green pepper, while black and green pepper are more aromatic than the white one. Moderate growing vine that can be grown on a trellis. Prefers shade to semi-shade.
🔻 Piper auritum - Root Beer Plant, False Kava-Kava: close relative of Piper methysticum (Kava-Kava) and probably has some similar tonic effects. It is used for its spicy aromatic scent and flavor, liken to root beer, or to anise-clove. Huge leaves can grow over a foot long. The leaves are used for flavoring, as wrappings for meats and tamales.
🔻 Piper betle - Betel leaf: very popular Indian spice with medicinal properties. Chewed with Betel Nut as a tonic and medicine. Great for wrapping food (similar to grape leaves).
🔻 Piper longum - Indian Long Pepper, Pippali, Bengal Pepper: edible and medicinal plant used as spice and in traditional Chinese medicine. Fruit used as a spice and seasoning. It has sweeter and less pungent taste than Black pepper. Highly valued medicinal plant used to treat respiratory infections, stomachache, bronchitis, cough, and much more.

Learn more:
📚 Vietnamese Pepper - Lalot food wraps BBQ recipe
🎥 Growing Lalot Pepper

🛒 Shop pepper plants: Pipers

#Food_Forest #Recipes #Container_Garden #How_to

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Date: 24 Jul 2024 Top Tropicals Telegram channel & chat

How to grow Lobster Claw

Heliconia rostrata - Lobster Claw, Parrot's beak

💅 How to grow Lobster Claw

🦞 Heliconia rostrata - Lobster Claw, Parrot's beak is one of the most recognized and widely grown tropical plants, and one of the most beautiful!
🦞 The inflorescence is one of the most colorful you will ever encounter.
🦞 The flowers last a long time and make an excellent cut flower.
🦞 It is an easy grower in tropical areas but some room is required because the stalks can reach 7 feet in height.
🦞 Pretty cold hardy, it can withstand temperatures in the high 20s F.
🦞 Can be grown in large pots in colder areas.

🛒 Grow your own Lobster Claw

#Hedges_with_benefits #Nature_Wonders

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Date: 23 Jul 2024 Top Tropicals Telegram channel & chat

Where does Vanilla come from? How to grow your own Vanilla Beans

Vanilla planifolia - Bourbon Vanilla Bean Orchid beans, seeds

Vanilla planifolia - Bourbon Vanilla Bean Orchid flower

Vanilla planifolia - Bourbon Vanilla Bean Orchid

Vanilla dilloniana - Leafless Vanilla Orchid, flower

🫘 Where does Vanilla come from? How to grow your own Vanilla Beans.

❣️ Vanilla spice comes from Vanilla Orchid!
❣️ Vanilla planifolia is a leafy climbing orchid from hot, wet tropical America. It is grown for its pods which, when dried, become the commercial vanilla.
❣️ The flowers are hand pollinated.
❣️ The Aztec Indians in Mexico used Vanilla Pods to flavor their chocolate drink 'Xoco-latl'. Vanilla was believed to be a tonic for the brain.
❣️ Vanilla Pods are picked green when they have no scent. The lengthy curing process, which develops fragrant aroma, is one reason for its high cost.
❣️ Vanilla orchid needs a flat, solid, porous support for climbing and in order to flower and produce seed pods. It can be grown over a log or a board (make sure the support wood is not chemically treated), or climb over a tree.
❣️ If really happy, Vanilla orchid can exceed 100 feet in length in just a few years. The plants flower only when mature, which takes a few years. It only flowers when it gets strongly attached to a support with its aerial roots.
❣️Vanilla orchid can be grown indoors as a house plant. Culture is similar to traditional orchids, however, it will need a support or trellis. Just keep in mind that for Vanilla Bean production, Vanilla Orchid must attach to a porous surface (like a wood log).

Learn more:

📚 Vanilla - The Most Versatile Orchid

🎥 How to produce my own vanilla: secrets of Vanilla pollination
Vanilla dillioniana - The Biggest Vanilla Orchid in 100 Gal Pot

🛒 Shop vanilla orchids

#Food_Forest #Remedies #Container_Garden

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