Garden Blog - Top Tropicals

🌳 How to create privacy with indoor or patio plants

"If you want to keep a secret, you must also hide it from yourself." - George Orwell

🐈📸 Cats Timo and Cash enjoying their privacy with Calathea plants at TopTropicals PeopleCats.Garden.

#PeopleCats #Quotes

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⭐️ Straight from the Amazon: the most beautiful ginger everyone asks about at our farm

• 🌀 Variegated Spiral Ginger - Costus arabicus (amazonicus) is not your average ginger. Unlike the common gingers with plain green leaves and short flower spikes, this one is a real standout. Its tall spiral stems are striped with bold white variegation, creating a dramatic swirl of green and cream even before it blooms.
• 🌀 And when it does bloom - the flowers are pure white with soft yellow centers, like porcelain sculptures nestled among the leaves. It's a tropical showpiece that turns heads wherever it grows.
• 🌀 Originally from South America and now loved in Hawaii and Florida, this ginger thrives in moist, rich soil and loves plenty of water. It handles both sun and shade, but really shines in a bright, filtered light spot.
• 🌀 We have one growing right by our farm office, and everyone who walks by stops, stares, and says the same thing: "I want that plant!"

Now you can have it too - straight from the Amazon forest to your garden!

🛒 Get your own Amazon Ginger

📚 Learn more:

• 💋The most spectacular variegated ginger
• 💋Ginger makes a natural shampoo
• 💋How Raspberry ginger became spiral
• 💋5 most spectacular Gingers
• 💋Spice Up Your Garden with Variegated Ginger

#Container_Garden #Shade_Garden

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💐 I got flowers on my mind!

"I am the king of the jungle, just ruling the couch temporarily."

🐈📸 Cat Bob ruling TopTropicals PeopleCats.Garden.

#PeopleCats

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🍉 Guava beats banana in the potassium game

• 🍉Everyone talks about bananas when it comes to potassium, but guava (Tropical Guava - Psidium guajava) quietly beats them! One cup of guava packs around 688 milligrams of potassium, compared to about 450 in a banana!
• 🍉Potassium is essential for strong bones, steady blood pressure, muscle function, and a healthy nervous system. Adults need between 2,600 and 3,400 mg daily, according to the National Institute of Health - so adding guava to your fruit bowl is a smart move.
• 🍉Guavas are common across the tropics - from Mexico to the Caribbean - with green or yellow skin and beautiful pink or off-white flesh. Sweet, aromatic, and easy to grow in warm climates, guava is one tropical fruit that truly earns its place in the garden and on your plate.

🛒 Your body needs potassium - your garden grows it on guava tree!

📚 Learn more:

• ▫️Six guava varieties that will keep you picking year-round
• ▫️How to grow a Guava Tree: Practical Guide to Growing Guava
• ▫️More about #Guava

#Food_Forest #Guava #Discover

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🔴Cook guava pulp with sugar until thick, pour into a pan, cut into squares.
🔴A tropical fudge-like sweet.

🍴 Guava fudge: quick-n-fun exotic recipes

Ingredients

• 2 cups ripe guava pulp
• 1½ cups sugar
• 1 tbsp lemon juice (optional)

Instructions

1. Cook guava pulp with sugar in a pan over medium heat.
2. Stir constantly until mixture thickens and pulls away from sides.
3. Pour into a greased pan and let it cool.
4. Cut into small squares and enjoy your tropical fudge.

🛒 Grow your own sweet guava fruit

📚 Learn more:

• ▫️Six guava varieties that will keep you picking year-round
• ▫️How to grow a Guava Tree: Practical Guide to Growing Guava
• ▫️More about #Guava

#Food_Forest #Recipes

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👑 The princess of the castle

"You don’t have to kiss a lot of frogs if you’re happy being the princess of your own castle." - Rita Rudner

🐈📸 Cat Scooby the Princess of TopTropicals PeopleCats.Garden.

#PeopleCats #Quotes

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🚚 How we ship plants: quick guide

If you’re a first-time mail order plant buyer, or just want peace of mind before sending a live plant on its journey in a box, check out these videos. And if you have questions, feel free to ask - we’ll be happy to answer them all!
Rest assured, your plants are in good hands!

• 📱 How do we ship plants? Part 1: prepare the plant
• 📱 How do we ship plants? Part 2: packing in the box
• 📱 How do we ship plants, Part 3: it's Christmas - unwrapping is fun?

🛒 Shop plants online

📚 Learn more:

• ▫️Shipping information page
• ▫️Planting instructions

#How_to

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😘 Tight spaces

"If I fits, I sits."

🐈📸 Philemon the Cat at TopTropicals PeopleCats.Garden.

#PeopleCats

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🌳 Which dry fertilizer to use - slow release or controlled release?

❓ Q: You offer two kinds of dry fertilizers - Slow Release Trop Dress and Controlled Release Green Magic. What is the difference, and which one should I use? I used your water-diluted Sunshine Boosters with every watering, but now that I’ll be away for a few months, I just want to give my garden a long-lasting fertilizer.

• ✔️ A: Top Dress Slow Release Fertilizer is used for quick greening-up. Although it’s called “slow release,” the nutrients become available fairly fast. It contains soluble nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) that dissolve with rain or irrigation, acting within a week or a few weeks depending on temperature and rainfall. It’s great for giving your plants a quick boost of “fast food.”

We use Top Dress mainly for in-ground plants. It can be used in pots only during warm weather and active growth, but not in cooler months, as it may burn roots. Since we introduced Green Magic, we mostly use Top Dress only for garden beds and landscapes.
• ✔️ Green Magic Controlled Release Fertilizer is a true long-term, controlled-release fertilizer. Thanks to its PolyOn Technology coating, it provides steady, consistent feeding for 5-6 months. Unlike regular dry fertilizers that dump all nutrients at once, Green Magic releases them gradually - no burn, no guesswork, just steady nutrition.

Green Magic ideal for potted fruit trees, ornamentals, and houseplants. One handful keeps your plants fed for half a year. We use it for all container plants when potting up or refreshing soil every six months. It can also be used for in-ground plants if you want the best, most consistent results. Green Magic: try it out! (Sample here)

🛒 Shop Plant Food & More

📚 Learn more:

• ▫️Green Magic effect: before and after
• ▫️The SECRET growers never tell you: simple trick how to bring plants back to life and keep green
• ▫️Give your plants their magic treat
• ▫️How to make plants green quickly: Green Magic - the fertilizer that truly works like magic!
• ▫️How to to make leaves green
• ▫️What Fertilizer to Use Now and How? Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
• ▫️Why my plant turned yellow and why plants need Micronutrients?
• ▫️Why Should I Use Sunshine Boosters
• ▫️Why is my palm tree turning yellow?
• ▫️Which fertilizer to use: Organic or Inorganic?
• ▫️How to make plants green
• ▫️The Truth about fertilizers

#Fertilizers #How_to

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🍴 Chaya stir-fry: quick-n-fun exotic recipes

• 🟢Boil chaya leaves first (to remove toxins), then stir-fry with onions and eggs.
• 🟢Nutritious and earthy with a spinach-like taste.

  Chaya Stir-Fry (Maya Spinach)

  Ingredients

  • 2 cups Chaya leaves, boiled first to remove toxins
  • 1 small onion, sliced
  • 2 eggs, lightly beaten
  • 1 tbsp cooking oil or butter
  • Salt to taste

  Instructions

  1. Boil Chaya leaves for 15-20 minutes before eating. This is essential to destroy natural toxins. Never eat raw Chaya leaves.
  2. Drain and chop the boiled leaves.
  3. Heat oil in a pan and saut onions until soft.
  4. Add the boiled Chaya leaves and stir-fry for 2-3 minutes.
  5. Push leaves to one side, pour in the eggs, and scramble.
  6. Mix everything together and season with salt. Serve warm.

🛒 Add nutritious Chaya to your garden and kitchen

📚 Learn more:

• ▫️Variegated Chaya - beauty meets nutrition
• ▫️Chaya's health benefits: a must-have tropical leafy vegetable for sustainable gardening

#Food_Forest #Recipes

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