Garden Blog - Top Tropicals

Date: 10 Jul 2021

Healthy Plants: Q&A from Mr Booster

Pineapple Season is Here!

Pineapple season is here and people often ask, "how do you get them to grow?" Well, the answer is simple really. One method involves cutting the top off a pineapple, prepping it and then planting it. You can find several different ways to do this with a short Google search. Of course the easiest way is to purchase plants that have already been started. You can do that here...

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Date: 29 Jan 2020

The most luscious Hospitality Fruit: Pineapple

by Mark Hooten, the Garden Doc

I wonder how many people know that the Pineapple (Ananas comosus) was actually the very first New World tropical fruit to have been sampled fresh by European royalty? It happened 527 years ago, when one made it to Spain, being personally delivered to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella by Christopher Columbus... He had obtained a huge number of them, however only one actually survived intact and edible! That pineapple was instantly declared to be the most luscious wonderful fruit ever!..
...During the 1700s before the Revolutionary War, the overly monetarily intoxicated super-rich were actually paying a modern equivalent of⁠ - get this - 8000 dollars for a single fruit!..
...In conclusion, I will add the simple recipe for my personally favorite go-to comfort food...

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Pineapple plantation in Hawaii

Date: 29 Oct 2020

The Best Pineapples

Q: What varieties of the Pineapple are the best for planting in Florida? When do they fruit? I have a small yard, with a room for one or two, but can I keep more in pots? I am excited to grow my own pineapples!

A: Pineapple is truly the King of fruits! One of the most delicious fruits in the world. They start flowering from January to March in Florida and yes, they happily grow in the ground as well as in pots. Heaviest fruiting is in Summer (May to September), and some staggered throughout the year.
Be careful with watering, keep in mind that like any bromeliad, Pineapple needs very little water and needs the soil to get dry between waterings. Use only acidic soil and acidic plant food.
Make sure to feed these plants on regular basis, especially if grown in pots. Pineapples are heavy feeders but are also very sensitive like all bromeliads, so be careful with traditional fertilizers, do not exceed recommended dosage. It is safe to use liquid amino-acod-based Sunshine Boosters Ananas fertilizer year round.

The mot popular pineapple varieties for home growers are:
Elite Gold
Royal Hawaiian - Royale
Sugar Loaf

Date: 25 Nov 2019

Flavor of Feijoa Superfood

by Onika Amell, tropical plant specialist

Q: What exactly is Feijoa - Pineapple Guava? Does the fruit really taste like pineapple? I am curious to know if it is easy to grow.

A: Feijoa is certainly one of the easiest fruit trees to grow as it does not require much care. It is an attractive, evergreen tree or large shrub with dark green, oval, leathery leaves. It has an abundance of uses in the garden and produces lovely edible flowers and fruit! The fruit is eaten fresh, added to smoothies or fruit salad and is also commonly used to make delicious jams and wicked chutneys. Feijoa fruit go a long way in flavor.
This plant is drought tolerant and will grow in almost any soil type. It loves full sun or partial shade and is wind resistant. A lot of gardeners like to grow it as a wind barrier for this reason. It can easily be shaped into a dense, informal hedge or screen that needs very little pruning. Because of this density, it provides excellent shelter for all kinds of wildlife. Butterflies, birds, and butterflies will all love you for growing Feijoa!
Space the plant five feet apart to create a wind barrier hedge. Heat does no not bother it at all and it will also withstand temperatures to 10 degrees F.
The plant gets its names from the delicious perfume it emits. Some folks seem the fruit taste like pineapple, with a slight minty undertone. Others feel the flavor reminds them of juicy fruit gum! The texture is described as smooth and slightly gritty - almost like a pear, but firmer.
If you prefer to grow this plant as a tree rather than a large shrub, simply remove the lower branches up to one-third of the tree's height over a period of time. The Pineapple Guava can grow up to 15 feet wide and tall. They also do really well as a container plant on patios where you can truly enjoy the lovely fragrance of the fruit. It prefers rich, organic, well-drained soil and will need light fertilization every other month in most soils.

We recommend:

Fruit Festival Plant Food - Super Crop Booster
Mango-Food - Smart Release Fruit Tree Booster
SUNSHINE-Honey - Sugar booster
SUNSHINE C-Cibus - Crop Nutrition Booster

Pretty, pink, edible flowers will wow you from May to June, followed in late summer or fall by the delicious and fragrant fruit. An interesting thing about this fruit is that you don't pick it. It falls to the ground when it is ripe. Or simply place something under your tree, like a tarp, and shake the tree. The ripe fruit will fall off. You can store the fruit in your refrigerator for up to a week. And remember! The fruit of the Feijoa is not only a very rich source of soluble dietary fiber, but also an excellent source of Vitamin C, and very rich in antioxidants. They are also low in calories. Each fruit only holds 55 calories.

Date: 13 May 2022

New Video:
Golden Sugar Apple - Pineapple Annona

In this video we talk about a rare hybrid of Annona - Golden Sugar Apple. This rare Annona is a species originally brought to us from Costa Rica. We believe it to be a natural hybrid between A. muricata and A. glabra...
Fast growing, it forms a nice bushy specimen. It has a large, up to 1 lb fruit, green when unripe, turning dark yellow to orange on ripening. The pulp is golden to orange when ripe, with a strong Pineapple scent, and resembling Jackfruit in texture. Flavor is like the custard apple but with pineapple, papaya, apricot and melon overtones. Note that some people dislike the taste, others find it good... The tree tolerates flooding. It is also cold hardy! The plant would be very interesting for rare fruit collectors as it offers a large, exotic fruit of unusual color and taste, and appears to be much more hardy and water tolerant than similar looking but sensitive A. muricata, A. montana and Rollinia.

Annona - Golden Sugar Apple youtube video

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