Garden Blog - Top Tropicals

Date: 8 Jul 2020

Meet PeopleCats of TopTropicals. Cat of the day: Russian Blue - a true Angel

Many customers ask if they can adopt one of our PeopleCats. Sorry, the answers is no, because they are not only members of our family, but also valuable employees who help us around the nursery: to grow and ship plants, work on construction projects, and even take care of property security. However, we can give some advise on what kind of cats make the most purrrfect companions.
If you are searching for a pet with a heart of an Angel, who is gentle and loving, the Russian Blue is the perfect purrson to add to your family. The Russian Blue breed comes in beautiful shades of gray, varying from a light shimmering silver to a darker, slate gray. Their short, dense coat has been the hallmark of the Russian breed for more than a century. It is a naturally occurring breed originated in the port of Arkhangelsk in Russia. They are also sometimes called ArchAngel Blues. It is believed that sailors took Russian Blues from the Archangel Isles to Great Britain and Northern Europe in the 1860s.
Throughout the history of Top Tropicals, we've had many Russian Blues, including famous Wesley, Marco, and King that are loved by everyone.

In the photo: TopTropicals editor Alex with Gosha - manager of the Puppet Kingdom, Museum of Dolls in Preili, Latvia

In the photo: King is checking security of the new window

TopTropicals PeopleCat Club and Zoo

Thank you 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: 19 Feb 2019

Australia Planting 1 Billion Trees To Fight Climate Change

Australia plans to plant 1 billion new trees to fight climate change, by the year 2050. That is a lot of trees and is the first real effort the country has made toward combating climate change. The only real problem is finding enough space to plant that many trees...
A billion trees is a billion trees, and even with a team of 30,000 people planting a tree per day for the next 31 years, the final tally would still only be 339,450,000 trees. Australia will need a tree army to get that many trees planted by 2050... Read the whole story...

How about planting just one tree today and save the World one step at a time?

On the photo: Callistemon, Australian native tree.

Date: 12 Sep 2019

Helping Citrus and other fruit trees with Nutritional Supplements

Q: Can you recommended a product to help with my citrus? Combating greening and chlorosis.

A: Citrus greening is spread by an insect called the Asian citrus psyllid. The psyllid feeds on the stems and leaves of the trees, infecting the trees with the bacteria that causes citrus greening. Florida Citrus growers dedicated the last decade to researching citrus greening. Officially, currently there is still no cure, however, some Nutritional solutions have shown promising results. To slow the progression of citrus greening in infected trees, nutrients are applied to the leaves and to the roots. Providing better nutrition helps trees fight against citrus greening and enables them to continue to produce quality fruit.

We recommend the following products for use on regular basis:

SUNSHINE Epi is a natural Brassinosteroid plant hormone and a bio-stimulant that may be very effective as citrus greening treatment. It works through plant's immune system and shows amazing results of recovery of weak and sick plants.

SUNSHINE Superfood, a complex micro-element supplement, maintains plant's health and provides vigorous growth.

SUNSHINE-Honey is a basic nutritional complement, it contains essential plant micronutrients Boron (B) and Molybdenum (Mo). These elements are essential to vegetative and reproductive growth, cell expansion, tissue growth, and fertility. A very common problem for most unimproved garden soils is lack of Molybdenum and Boron as soil micro-component. This results in underdeveloped / low quality fruit and/or premature fruit drop. Applying SUNSHINE Honey on your fruit trees will fill that gap and help a fruit tree to form a healthy fruit.

Macro-nutrients should be applied in combination with micro-nutrients on regular basis:

Mango-Food - Smart Release Fruit Tree Booster (works great for all tropical fruit trees)
Fruit Festival Plant Food - Ideal blend designed to improve fruit trees health and vigor, and increase crop yield.

See SUNSHINE Boosters page for the complete list of plant boosters.

Date: 18 Apr 2020

Fast-fruiting trees

Grafted trees, including Mango and Avocado, will start flowering and fruiting right away

Q: It would be easier for us buyers, if we could search for plants that produce fruit in 2 years or less... I don't have the patience to wait longer than that for fruit. I'm trying to buy for a fairly good sized garden but want some fast growers and fruit produced in 2 yrs. Can you help me out?

A: Fruiting time depends on many factors (growing conditions, fertilizing, and even specific variety), this is why we can not just put a simple icon "will fruit within 2 years". However, most grafted and air-layered fruit trees, including all Mango, Avocado, Loquat, Sapote, Sapodilla, Longan, Peaches and Nectarines - will fruit right away.
If you see in our store "grafted" or "air-layered" in plant description - these trees will fruit soon. Some of them are already flowering and fruiting!

Some non-grafted trees will fruit within a couple of years or even sooner (those from cuttings, root division or even seedlings) - such as: Annona, Artocarpus (Jackfruit), Eugenia, Guava, Banana, Dragon fruit, Mulberry, Blackberry/Raspberry. Banana, Mulberry, Dragon fruit, Blackberry-Raspberry - usually fruit within a year. You may refer to our store directory page for fruit specials.

Also, all spice trees like Bay Leaf, Bay Rum, Allspice and many more - will produce spice for you right away, so you don't need to wait at all!

Annonas start fruiting within 3 years from seed and are the most popular fruit trees for both container culture and small gardens.

This Jackfruit started fruiting on the second year after planting in the ground.

Carambola - Start Fruit - will start producing fruit the same year or next year. We have them fruiting in pots, sometimes as small as 1 gal pots!

Date: 3 Mar 2020

Tu BiShvat - New Year for Trees

By Alex Butova

Tu BiShvat is the Israeli Arbor Day, and it is often referred to by that name in international media. Ecological organizations have adopted the holiday to further environmental-awareness programs. The modern practices and interpretations of Tu BiShvat often revolve around the earth and environment. This holiday is a celebration of nature and appreciation for creating the natural world. In Israel, Tu BiShvat is celebrated as an agricultural holiday. The 15th of Tu BiShvat was celebrated this year on February 10, 2020. This day marked the beginning of a new year for trees. This day marks the season in which the earliest-blooming trees emerge from their winter sleep and begin a new fruit-bearing cycle. Often the date of Tu BiShvat is used for determining the age of fruit baring trees and therefore establishes their birth dates. Therefore, Tu BiShvat is the "birthday" of trees!

The traditions and customs of Tu BiShvat vary, however, the most common include planting trees and gathering with family and friends for a meal. It is celebrated by eating fruit, particularly the kinds that praise the bounty of the Holy Land: grapes, figs, pomegranates, almonds, dates, olives and others. It reminds people that "a man is a tree of the field", and reflects on the lessons we can derive from the botanical analogue.

Check out fruit trees and nuts:

Persimmon tree

Loquat tree

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