Growing mango in hot Arizona

By Mike D, Mesa, AZ. Despite to what you may think, mango can be successfully grown in desert Arizona climate. It has good heat and drought tolerance. It's possible providing the following:
1) Winter protection of a young plant when temperature goes around or below freezing. Try to plant trees in locations where they're protected from cold wind. Minimal temperatures vary widely. Areas which are closer to downtown are few degrees warmer, while outskirts can be very cold.
2) Some people are lucky enough to live in areas with good soil. However, most of us will have a so-called hardpan (extremely compacted desert) or caliche (layers of soil cemented together by calcium carbonate). Check with your local county extension office to determine how to deal with such conditions. Gypsum is usually used to loosen compacted soil.
3) When planting, dig a large hole making sure it has good drainage. Plant tree as usual, add mulch around it. It helps to conserve moisture.
4) Best time to plant is late Fall or early Spring, so mango can get established before Summer heat.
5) Plant where tree gets few hours of sun.
5) Water a lot until established. Once established, water when soil is dry.
6) Small plant may need protection from summer heat. Use shade cloth.
7) Mango requires very little nitrogen fertilizer. In hot climate, overdosing nitrogen may result in quick plant decline. Use balanced low nitrogen slow release fertilizer or avoid nitrogen completely. If you use mulch, then decomposing mulch provides enough nitrogen. Foliar spray of micronutrient solution is recommended during active growing period. Read more...

Taking care of Soursop after shipping

Q: Since I have never grown a soursop tree before I need some pro help. My tree was delivered absolutely beautiful, leaves were a pretty green. I potted it and gave it a good drink of water and put it in a shaded area outside. Then the weather here became cool so I brought it in for a few days until the weather warmed, and it lost all the leaves. Is it in shock and will come around eventually? Will I be able to grow this tree indoors during winter?

A: Soursop - Annona muricata trees are very sensitive to temperature drops. This always causes leaf loss. You seem to be doing everything right. Do not water until soil gets slightly dry; keep it in bright shade. The weather should be good now with high temperatures and humidity rising. No fertilizer until the plant shows active new growth. Be patient with your plant, it should recover soon.

Soursop is an ultra-tropical tree and doesn't take any freeze. If you live in cooler climate, keep the plant in a pot (the good news is, Annonas in general have compact nature and are perfect for container culture). Bring the tree indoors during cold period, providing bright light.

We have very interesting article about growing and fruiting Soursop in apartment. Check out 4534 Tropical Treasures Magazine # 7.

Growing Vanilla Orchid

Q: I want to buy Vanilla orchid and I wonder if I can grow it in my bathroom by the skylight.

A: Growing Vanilla orchid is no different than other orchids. It is very simple. All that the plant needs is a good light, good air humidity, and good porous support.

Light. Grow Vanilla orchid in a very bright light, but protected from direct hot sun.

Air humidity.The higher the air humidity, the better your plant will grow. Many people grow orchids in a bathroom where these plants can enjoy occasional "humidity treats" after showers.

Growing media. Vanilla orchid cuttings are rooted very often in a regular potting mix with high content of pine bark and/or Perlite, Coconut Husk Chips. Once the little plant is well-rooted and starts developing, it will need a special porous surface to climb on and to attach to with developing aerial roots. A log covered with porous bark is used often. Another option is a piece of wood wrapped with a burlap fabric. In the Nature, this plant climbs up high onto trees and attaches to the bark with aerial roots - at this point, it doesn't need those terrestrial roots any more which may even die off. Climbing a porous support is absolutely necessary for your vanilla for setting buds, flowering and producing vanilla beans. If you are lucky to live in frost-free climate, plant you vanilla by a tree that will provide a shady canopy and a great natural climbing surface (bark). You may see the flowers as soon as within 1-2 seasons!

Forget the gym and get to gardening?
Calories Burned Gardening

Fun workout? We never have enough time to go to the gym or do an exercise so it's good to know that just doing something that you love can give you a workout. We all know that when we are out in the garden it gives us a bit of exercise but we do not realize how much exactly. Working out in the yard is a healthy hobby for many reasons, the high number of calories burned gardening being one of them. When you do this kind of physical labor, you carry out a wide variety of movements that most definitely burn calories, and may even tone. The best part about it in terms of physical activity is that if you enjoy yard work at all, you aren't watching the clock or counting down the minutes until you are done (the way that many people do while they are on a treadmill). You can easily spend a whole afternoon or an entire day working without feeling as though you are putting yourself through a mentally grueling workout. Finding physical activities that you enjoy are key to maintaining a healthy weight throughout your lifetime, and this hobby is a perfect example of that scenario for many people.

Research says that three hours of gardening can have the same effect as an intense 1-hour gym session. The study was carried out with a group of 100 gardeners who were asked to monitor the amount of time spent doing a series of common gardening tasks over a four week period. Gardening tasks that were monitored included weeding, digging, mowing the lawn, hedge trimming, trimming shrubs and trees, raking, planting shrubs, and moving garden waste using a wheel barrow. Here are some facts and numbers:
- Just doing half an hour weeding can burn up to 150 calories and tasks that handle heavy electrical equipment such as hedge trimming will give you a good workout burning 400 calories per hour.
- Spending a day or five hours each week in the garden will burn up to around 700 calories
- Over a gardening season that works out at 18,772 calories per year, equivalent to running seven marathons
- The gardening hobby could help burn a million calories over a lifetime.

Calories burned with only 1 hour of:
340 cal - Chopping wood, splitting logs, gardening with heavy power tools, tilling a garden, chain saw. Mowing lawn, walk, hand mower. Shoveling by hand.
272 cal - Carrying, loading or stacking wood, loading/unloading or carrying lumber, digging, spading, filling garden, composting, laying crushed rock or sod. Clearing land, hauling branches, wheelbarrow chores.
238 cal - Operating blower, walking. Planting seedlings, shrubs, trees, trimming shrubs or trees, manual cutter. Weeding, cultivating garden.
224 cal - Raking lawn, sacking grass and leaves
136 cal - Picking fruit off trees, picking up yard, picking flowers or vegetables. Walking, gathering gardening tools.
102 cal - Walking, applying fertilizer or seeding a lawn
34 cal - Watering lawn or garden, standing or walking

Sources: DailyMail, CalorieLab, FitnessBlender.

5 secrets of propagation

How to propagate rare plants? It is exciting and fascinating process - to be a Creator of a rare plant collection. Sometimes when you have a rare plant, you baby it and wish you could have at least two of the kind, just in case you lose one to weather conditions or an accident... If you lose one, it hurts! Plant collectors know the feeling - it is always a good idea to propagate a few more of the rare kind. Here at Top Tropicals we know that feeling too, and we want you to keep your baby plants alive and thriving, multiply them, share with others, and make our planet better - one plant at a time! Know your different plants, and different ways of their propagation. Ready for the secrets revealed?

1. Seeds. The most popular way and in most cases the most reliable. Also, a seedling has a strong, vertical root system (cuttings or air layers have shallow roots). However growing from seed is the only sexual method of propagation (vs other methods - asexual, or cloning), which means, some varieties don't come true from seed. Similar to a baby born from two parents, blonde mother and brunette father, can have either light or dark hair... or even red, genetically provided by the great-grand father! The most important factors of success when growing from seed are - well-drained germination mix (check out our Seed Germination Mix #3), and a combination of perfect temperature (high temperature 80-90F induces germination, but some species like it cooler!) and mix moisture level (can't stay soggy).

2. Cuttings. In most cases, works great as long as you know the secret for this method: clean (sterile) soil mix (check out our Propagation Mix #2), warm temperatures and very high air humidity (not moist soil, but humid air!). Mist house works well (see picture) with periodically controlled foggers (5-20 sec of fog every 5 to 20 min during light time - depending on species, and temperature), but simple clear plastic bag over a pot or tray works as well! Large leaves should be trimmed in half, or more, to eliminate extra evaporation, and soil should be only slightly moist, not soggy. Remember to use rooting hormone that not only improves rooting but keeps away fungus problems. You are welcomed to visit mist house in our facility, we will be happy to share experience.

3. Air Layers. From our experience, key to success with this method is patience. Most air layers take a few months to set root. Keep sphagnum moss moist, and create air layers only during active growth season - Sprint through Summer. Use rooting hormone.

4. Grafting. This method requires the most skills and experience but is not as difficult as it sounds. Plants can be grafted withing the same genus (e.g. one Gardenia sp. on another Gardenia sp.). There are many grafting manuals on internet. Try once, and you will get addicted to grafting! In many cases it is the most effective method. Especially when seeds not available and cuttings don't work with the species, while grafting works much faster than air-layering. The main secret in grafting is using the right type of graft, which comes with experience. Another important thing is keeping grafting parts and tools clean/sterile. Treat/clean surfaces with anti-fungicides horticultural soap (Example: Abound anti-fungal, Green Shield soap) and use rooting hormone.

5. Root divisions. All gardeners know that some plants are best to propagate by rhizome/root divisions, like Gingers, Heliconias, or Iris. And not everyone knows that some fruiting and flowering trees don't mind to reproduce by root divisions. For example, Jujube - Ziziphus jujuba, and Strawberry tree - Muntingia calabura, readily produce root suckers. Watch out for them and don't let them go to waist when spraying weeds. All time favorites, fragrant Clerodendrums also like this easy method of reproduction, especially C. bungei, C. philippinum, and many others.

Check out our Growing supplies section for professional soil mixes and drainage components that are so important in your propagation success. At Top Tropicals, we often use Coconut Coir for propagation. Good luck in your growing, and remember - if you propagated a few extra collectibles, Top Tropicals may trade or buy from you!