Fertilizing in Winter?

Q: I'm a bit confused about what winter fertilization schedule I should follow in South Florida. For blooming plants, usually, I use a monthly granular bloom booster fertilizer as well as a liquid fertilizer every 10 days or so. Should I continue that schedule in the winter as well? Should I stop fertilizing altogether in the winter? How about fruit trees? What fertilization schedule should I follow in the winter?

A: Here is a general fertilizing schedule for established plants that we follow here in SW Florida.
The rule of thumb is, do not fertilize (with macro- NPK elements) when minimum temperatures drop below 65F and stay at that level for more than 7 days. At this temperature point, most of the tropical and subtropical plants slow down their metabolism and some of them going into dormancy. This means, nutrients are not consumed as much as during active growth period, and built-up nutrient supply within a plant plus whatever is available in the soil is just enough to get by through the winter. So additional fertilizing is not necessary. You may continue micro-element supplements and bio-stimulants throughout the year. In fact, it is highly recommended to do so, to help the plant survive cold spells. These are very effective tropical plant protectors:
SUNSHINE-Epi - Brassinosteroid plant hormone
SUNSHINE-Power-Si - Advanced plant protector with Silicon
SUNSHINE SuperFood - Complex microelement supplement

This rule is applied to both flowering and fruiting plants, in general. However, some species are winter-flowering and winter-fruiting. For those, you can make an exception and provide extra nutrients for flowering and fruiting, as long as the weather stays warm. During cold spells, avoid any NPK fertilizers and use only bio-stimulants and micro-elements. If you apply NPK during cold, it won't be consumed by a plant, build up in the soil, and may create a root burn situation.

In simple words, fertilize from March to October. Give plants some rest from November to February.

Helping plants to survive winter:
SUNSHINE BOOSTERS - FROM SUNSHINE STATE

A magic plant hormone so wanted by gardeners, is finally here! When people purchase plants and trees either on-line, or from their local nursery, expectation and anticipation for their new find is high. Many times, however, disappointment is encountered due to a variety of reasons. These reasons include changes in light, temperature, water, soil conditions and transportation; just to name a few. So how can the stress on newly transported and transplanted plants be mitigated? Easy! There are plant stimulators able to reduce the shock encountered.

One such plant stimulator, produced at TT Laboratories is SUNSHINE, a revolutionary, broad spectrum, plant stress reliever. Extracted initially from plant pollen, SUNSHINE can bring back and keep the vigor to stressed plants in both the home and garden. Sunshine is indeed a plant stimulator on the cutting edge of plant care technology. Reasonably priced, and easy to use, SUNSHINE will be your plants' best friend, next to yourself, of course.

SUNSHINE will help your plants:
- recover from stress
- dramatically increase growth rate
- get profuse flowering and fruiting
- improve disease resistance, cold hardiness, and heat resistance
- promote seed germination and root cuttings easily

Great for indoor plants and improving cold tolerance!

Line of products:
SUNSHINE-E - general plant booster, growth stimulator and immune booster
SUNSHINE-BC - Bonsai and Caudex developer
SUNSHINE-S - seeds and cuttings pre-treatment
SUNSHINE-T - Thermo-protection for overwintering tropical plants
SUNSHINE-Micro - ultimate micro-element mix from TT Laboratories

On the photo: Tomato seedlings, with and without Sunshine-E treatment; 1 week after treatment, 09-01-2016. Continue reading...

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SUNSHINE in a bottle - your help during winter

Q: I have been using your new plant hormone SUNSHINE for plants after shipping, and I must admit it does make a big difference! They recover right away. I order plants online very often, and usually it takes up to a week or more until they start showing new growth. After SUNSHINE treatments, they look fresh within a day or two. My question would be, for improving cold tolerance, what do you recommend? I live in Florida and it is still warm here, should I start spraying my garden now or should I wait until cold spells?

A: SUNSHINE is very effective plant stimulant that helps tropical plants survive different kinds of stress, including cold, heat, drought, low light, etc. At TopTropicals gardens and nursery, we have been using this hormone for many years to protect our plants from unfavorable conditions, and it saved us many rare tender species, and lots of money!
The sooner in Fall you start treatments, the better. Don't wait until cold spell. SUNSHINE works slowly and in very low doses. The mechanism is actually about boosting, building up the plant's own immune system. Low doses once a week, even every other week will work just fine, so you will need very little of the product. For less than $5 you can help expensive rare plants to go through winter painlessly. Recommended application is only 2.5 ml/1 gal of water, to spray every 1-2 weeks throughout winter period.

Start spraying your plants with SUNSHINE now, to help them survive short winter days, build up insect resistance (especially for plants indoors), and what is most important, to remain strong through lower temperatures. These are our suggestions:

- SUNSHINE-T - thermo-protection booster. It is specially formulated for winter protection of tropical plants. To improve cold hardiness even more, spray 1-2 days prior to cold with 5 ml/1 gal solution and after that, continue applications with 2.5 ml/1 gal solution every 10-15 days throughout winter period.
- For large plant collections, and in-ground gardens in subtropical areas, take advantage of very cost effective bulk items 50 ml and 100 ml bottles of SUNSHINE.
- Don't forget that SUNSHINE is only a stimulant, and not a plant food. While regular fertilizer should be avoided during winter months, it is always beneficial to apply microelements through foliar spray. During cooler period, chances of chlorosis increase, because at low temperatures iron is difficult so absorb by roots especially in moist soil, hence iron deficiency! Our new Iron supplement SUNSHINE-Super-Iron microelement booster will help to avoid yellowing leaves and to maintain your plants strong and healthy during slow growth period. Ultra-potent, highly absorbable iron mix, with chelated Iron with DTPA (instead of usual EDTA) that is better soluble in hard water and more effective for chlorosis. This mix contains both EDTA + DTPA chelated iron in higher concentration than regular micro-elements mixes.

See all SUNSHINE booster products in our store. For advanced information on SUNSHINE plant boosters, history of use, formulation, and frequently asked questions, visit our manufacturer's website TTLaboratories.com.

Best plants suitable for containers. Check out our large selection of plants that are easily grown in containers. This week only, 20% off!

Gardenia flowers: how to prevent bud-drop

Q: My gardenia looks beautiful, but the flowers fall off of it before they even open up, the majority of them get this brown color at their base. Can you point me in the right direction.

A: There are 3 possible problems, either one, or a combination:
1) Lack of light
2) Too much water
3) Lack of micro-nutrients in soil
Try the following treatments:
- micro-elements SUNSHINE-SuperFood as foliar spray + drench rootball, once a month, it will improve quality of the flowers.
- Silicon protection: SUNSHINE-Power-Si. This supplement has Silicon as an active element (Si). Adding it to soil or/and over foliar spray can immensely enhance plants' resistance to external factors and boost their growth and health.
Make sure the soil is not soggy, reduce watering especially during fall/winter.

SUNSHINE boosters for small and large gardens

Q: I tried your magic SUNSHINE booster on my Champaca tree and results were amazing. The tree was having a hard time establishing after shipping and didn't want to grow, losing leaves. I almost lost it. Then I sprayed SUNSHINE booster and right after the first application the plant perked up and new leaves grew within a week. Now I want to use this stuff on all my plants. I am a plant collector, with a few hundred pots and almost a hundred plants in the ground, living in California. I wonder if you have bigger size bottles of SUNSHINE so I can use on my flowering plants, and fruit trees, to promote blooming and fruiting. And another question, how often should I spray my plants? Your instructions say once in 20 days, should I spray more often for better results? Should I water through roots too? Do I still need to fertilize plants or SUNSHINE will be enough for their health?

A: Great news! We just added new SUNSHINE items to our store, 50 ml and 100 ml - bigger bottles, they will be great for small and big gardens, as well as small plant nurseries and plant businesses. It is a good idea to start bi-weekly applications to improve your plants tolerance during winter time to cold and low light, especially when it comes to house plants. SUNSHINE improves plant resistance to insects which is a big deal during winter, when we bring tropical species indoors.
SUNSHINE is indeed a wonderful plant stimulant and stress reliever, although it is not a "magic-cure-all" medicine where one can't find its active ingredient. The hormone (epibrassinolide) is well-known and used in different countries along with other hormones for promote growth, fruiting, blooming, rooting, etc. One of the most amazing properties of SUNSHINE is that it works in extremely low dozes. Only a few drops will be enough to make a solution in distilled water, to treat a large size plant. If you want to try it out, one 5 ml bottle will last for several applications.
The formula works through plant metabolism within 2-4 days, repeat application not sooner than in one week. The formula is created for absorption through foliage, not roots, so do not try to water with solution. Plants should be evenly sprayed in clear windless day. Do not spray if rain is expected. Re-spray if it rains within 12 hours.
Remember that SUNSHINE is not a fertilizer and won't replace it. You have to apply fertilizer (except during winter months) and micro-element solution to keep your plants healthy.
See more information about SUNSHINE boosters, and buy them from our store.