Garden Blog - Top Tropicals

Date: 22 Apr 2020

PeopleCats saving us from COVID-19!

Cat owners have higher immunity for COVID-19?

In our previous newsletter, we were talking about cats fighting the coronavirus and how to help them to recover.
The research made by Sabina Olex-Condor, a Polish doctor who works in a clinic in Madrid, showed that due to cross-immunity (cats are a known reservoir of coronaviruses) cat owners have milder sympthoms of COVID-19! Perhaps this is due to the fact that in a cross-reaction antibodies are produced to the virus, and owners of cats are more protected from COVID19... Read more)
Now that quarantine has been introduced almost universally because of coronavirus, dog owners are also in a better position - they can officially go outside for a short while. But the benefit of dogs (and other pets) is not only that. Scientists from the Italian city of Catanzaro found in the course of the study, that those who have a four-legged pet, have very mild symptoms of the COVID-19. A similar effect was observed in those in contact with cattle... To find an explanation for this phenomenon, the researchers compared viruses. It turned out that the disease of bulls, cows and other cattle is similar to Chinese coronavirus by 38.4%, and the virus of dogs by 36.9%. This means that owners of animals already have some kind of immunity. So the owners of cats and dogs, as a rule, tolerate coronavirus easier or completely asymptomatic. Read more...

Stay safe and healthy with your PetPeople!

TopTropicals PeopleCat Club

Thank you everybody for supporting us in helping PeopleCat Community!
Make your kind donation today and receive a surprise gift from us. Every little bit helps! Thank you and God bless you and your pets!

Date: 12 Feb 2020

Meet PeopleCats of TopTropicals. Cat of the Day: Mister Booster

Everybody knows our Sunshine-colored Mister B, because... he is the Boss?... Not only that, but he is also very intelligent Purrrson. After over a decade of running TopTropicals marketing team, energetic Mr B decided to lead a new project: Sunshine Boosters.

What's in his store for us? He will guide you through his new website and show you around, where you can find all kinds of good stuff for your plants. For many years, TopTropicals customers have been enjoying the benefits of many effective plant supplements, and today Mr B with Sunshine Boosters brings new formulas of scientifically developed, natural, environmentally safe plant food for all your growing needs!
- For home gardeners and professionals.
- For small plant collections and large commercial growing facilities.
- For flowers and fruit trees.
- For medicinal plants and vegetables.
- For all to be happy.

Please check out Mr Booster's website , he worked really hard for the past year on making this project happen, and helping the Earth to be a better, nicer, and safer place!

And for those of you who are growing your own business, Mr B would like to help! He is offering FREE samples for small business starters! He knows it's not easy to find a perfect nutrition system and make your growing a success. He is here to help!

On February 13-14, as a Valentines Day Special, Mr B is exhibiting his new business Sunshine Boosters in Phoenix, AZ - in the Largest Arizona Expo! Don't miss our presentation seminar Feb 13th, Seminar Room #2, 1:45 PM: Precision growing with Sunshine Boosters. For those who can not attend the show in purrrrson, the presentation will be available for downloading from our website.

Happy Growing!

Check out Video: and more Cat of the Day stories.

Date: 2 Feb 2020

Meet PeopleCats of TopTropicals. Cat of the Day: James Coconuts progress report

Many people asking about James Coconuts who used to be in charge of our Office and Customer Service team. What is he doing now? Did he get a promotion? We addressed this question to Coconuts and here is what he's got to say:

"Hi folks, I am doing just fine. Yes, I got a promotion and currently working in Sunshine Boosters Lab together with Mr Booster (I just call him Mr B). We are developing a revolutionary Sunshine Plant Nutrition Program. It is important that your plants have good food! I can tell from my own experience. When these nice people at TopTropicals picked me up from the street couple years ago, I was nothing but bone and skin... not even much fur. And look at me now! I am still working on my work out, and my resolution for 2020 is to become even more fluffy, just like that chick in the calendar! I think everyone should eat good... and do good... Like someone said:

"Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good!" (Minor Myers Jr).

Check out and more Cat of the Day stories.

Date: 23 Jan 2020

Meet PeopleCats of TopTropicals. Cat of the Day: Weasley the Immigrant

Weasley came from the neighborhood cat community (our neighbor takes care of at least a dozen of cats). Whether TopTropicals dry food tastes better than neighbor's, or simply he is such an enthusiast of tropical gardening, he hangs out with us all the time.
When you see him in our Garden Center drinking milk or chilling right on the walkway with other PeopleCats, don't get him confused with other two ginger cats we have: Barcy and Snitch... as well as the Russian Blue cat with a similar name Wesley...
Although Weasley currently has a status of a legal immigrant, he feels pretty confident around our greenhouses and will be happy to give you a tour. He is still a volunteer here but has already applied for a permanent residence and a full time position, so his food needs are being added to our cat payroll.
When visiting TopTropicals nursery, feel free to add your donation to a Cat Jar located in our office by customer's computer. We appreciate everybody's help - every penny goes to PeopleCat's needs.

Check out Video: Meet PeopleCats of TopTropicals and more Cat of the Day stories.

Date: 24 Jun 2018

TopTropicals

URBAN TROPICAL GARDENING:
10 secrets of successful Container Mango growing on a balcony.

Q: I live in Miami in apartment on a second floor, and I have a balcony with SE exposure. I wonder if I can grow a mango tree in a pot? Will it fruit for me? I recently moved to South Florida and I don't know much about tropical plants; but I tasted real fiberless mangos from someone's garden - it was so delicious and different from those in the grocery store. I wonder if I can have a fruiting tree on my balcony? And if yes, how do I plant and take care of it?

A: Yes, you can! Here is what you need to do:
1) Temperature. You are lucky to live in Tropics, keep it on a balcony year round.
2) Light. Position the pot in a spot with the most sun exposure. Mango trees can take filtered light too, but the less sun, the less fruit you will get.
3) Soil and Container. Use only well drained potting mix. Step up the purchased plant into next size container (3 gal into 7 gal, 7 gal into 15 gal). When transplanting, make sure to keep growth point (where roots meet the trunk) just at the top of the soil. Covering base of the trunk with soil may kill the plant.
4) Water. Water daily during hot season, but only if top of soil gets dry. If it still moist, skip that day. Mangoes (unlike Avocados!) prefer to stay on a dry side.
5) Fertilizer. Use balanced fertilizer once a month, 1 tsp per 1 gal of soil. Do not fertilize during fruiting - this may cause fruit cracks.
6) Microelements. Apply SUNSHINE-Superfood once a month. This will help your mango healthy, vigorous, and resistant to diseases. Use SUNSHINE-Honey to make your fruit sweeter.
7) Insect control. Watch for scales and mealybugs, clean with solution of soapy water + vegetable oil (may need to repeat 2-3 times with 10 days interval), or with systemic insecticide like imidacloprid only as needed (if non-harsh treatment didn't help). Most Flea shampoo for dogs contain that chemical, you may try that shampoo solution.
8) Trimming. Once potted, do not remove leaves that are discolored or have spots until new growth appears. Dark dots on mango leaves, especially in humid climate like Florida, may be signs of fungus. Treat with fungicide according to label, and remove only badly damaged leaves. Trim crown as needed after flowering and fruiting (by Fall). Train into a small tree, and you may remove some lower branches eventually.
9) Flower and fruit. Mangoes are winter bloomers with bunches of tiny flowers coming in thousands. Many of them set fruit (if pollinating insects present). Keep in mind that young trees can only bare a few fruit. Normally a tree will drop excessive fruit and keep only a few that it can manage. To save the young tree some energy, remove fruit if too many and leave only 2-3 for the first year. It will pay you next year with more abundant crop.
10) Variety. Last but not least: Choose the right variety for container culture! Pick from "condo" dwarf varieties such as Icecream, Nam Doc Mai, Carrie, Cogshall, Julie, Fairchild, Pickering, Graham, Mallika, and a few others - check out Mango Chart pdf and full list of our Mango varieties.

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