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: 25 Jun 2020

Meet PeopleCats of TopTropicals. Cat of the day: Anders from the King's Palace

We receive many letters from customers who enjoy our Cat of the Day column, including those who want to share their cat stories with us! Today's guest in PeopleCat studio -

Cat Anders. Anders lives in Stockholm. He is a manager of a Garden Center located in one of the King's properties - Palace Ulriksdal. He has so many beautiful flowers in stock! Lots of orchids, camellias, and showy colorful annuals.
Anders' favorite spot is to sit by the cash register where he can closely monitor every payment transaction. Sometimes he takes a walk around the premises to take care of security issues and to stay on top of his inventory control. During lunch time Anders visit Flower Cafe nearby, to make sure visitors' dogs behave properly... Yes, dogs and cats are welcomed in!

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: 4 Sep 2020

Healthy Plant Food: Q&A from Mr Booster

Encouraging blooms on the Hawaiian Sunset Bell Vine

Q: Please can you advise how to encourage the Stictocardia beraviensis the Hawaiian Sunset Bell vine blooms? Mine is all beautiful leaves and full sun in Miami.

A: Providing full sun, Stictocardia blooms profusely. In your area, it should be happy and thriving. However, keep in mind that these flowers can be seasonal (meaning, not ever-blooming). The good news it, Hawaiian Sunset Bell usually blooms several times a year on and off. In our garden, we have a large plant growing in the ground and covering a whole fence; we see flowers 3 times a year:
- Early Spring
- Summer (sporadically)
- Late Fall to early Winter

Make sure to provide proper fertilizer to encourage blooms. It is especially important if you grow this plant in container (where nutrients are very limited). We suggest the following fertilizer for your Stictocardia:

SUNSHINE Megaflor - Bloom Nutrition Booster

Date: 30 Aug 2020

Healthy Plant Food

Q&A from Mr Booster

How to make Mango tree fruit

Q: Hello, I have a five-year-old Lemon Meringue tree that has only given me fruit one year. It put out about 50 mangoes and has done nothing for the past three years. Do you recommend any vitamins or any of the nutrients that you guys sell to help with this for next season?

A: We've had very similar problem with our Nam Doc Mai Mango tree, fruited once and no more next year. Usually the reason is nutrients deficiency, here in Florida we have poor soils. We applied Mango-Tango tree booster and it started flowering within a couple of weeks.
Generally, Mango flowering season is over by now, however, we recommend to feed the tree starting now, during active growth season. This way it will get better established before winter and also will store away all elements necessary for triggering flowering and fruiting. So by late Fall through Winter it will be ready to flower.
Along with the fertilizer, additional micro-element supplements will be beneficial. For improving fruit quality and increasing number of flowers, we also recommend to use SUNSHINE-Honey - sugar booster

SUNSHINE Mango Tango - Mango Tree Booster, for healthy mango trees and profuse fruit production.

SUNSHINE Honey - a natural supplements that makes fruit sweeter, and increases fruit quantity and quality.

Date: 13 Aug 2020

Healthy Plant Food

Q&A from Mr Booster

Establishing Avocado Tree

Q: I received my avocado Wurtz tree yesterday. Per instructions I have put the tree in a pot first. However I am having difficulty deciding what to trim off. Yesterday I removed obvious damaged leaves. However as you can see, the leaves are lighter in some areas and contain yellow and red in some spots. What would you advise? Given this is a critical state as I do not want to shock the tree after the trip, I would like to do everything possible to protect it and ensure viability.

A: Your Avocado tree looks great and healthy overall. You've done excellent job planting it. Wurtz is a good, vigorous variety, while the tree is somewhat dwarf, great for containers.
You are right, it is the best for the tree to leave it alone and do not trim or remove leaves any more, until it starts showing new growth. Then it will be obvious what needs to be trimmed. Reddish/orange color of young leaves is normal. If any spots or dots - no need to remove those leaves yet. Wait until the plant grows more leaves. It needs them for photosynthesis, in order to become stronger.

Keep the tree in bright shade and gradually move from filtered sun to full sun. Water daily. Within a week or two after planting, you can start applying mild fertilizer and micro-elements. We recommend at this growth stage:
SUNSHINE C-Cibus - Crop Nutrition Booster
SUNSHINE SuperFood - Micro-element Plant Booster

SUNSHINE C-Cibus - Crop Nutrition Booster from Garden Series, or Combo Total Feed Collection - all nutrients in just one bottle, for fruit trees and edibles.