Date: 6 Jan 2017
6 easiest fruit trees and 5 spices to grow in containers indoors
Q: This is why I want to move so that I can grow absolutely anything I want from your catalogue. Prefered Puerto Rico. Right now I live in New York and there is absolutely nothing I can grow there.
A: Of course living in Puerto Rico brings more opportunities to grow tropical species. However, you can create your unique tropical paradise even living in New York. We have many customers from up North who successfully grow tropical species (and get them to flower and fruit) in greenhouses, and even indoors.
Here are a few suggestions of tropical fruit trees that adapt well for container/indoor culture - for both beginners and advanced gardeners.
Top 6 fruit trees great for indoors / container culture / beginners
1. Mango (Mangifera indica). Select from one of smaller mango varieties
2. Sugar Apple (Annona squamosa)
3. Guanabana, Soursop (Annona muricata)
4. Miracle Fruit (Synsepalum dulcificum)
5. June Plum (Spondias cytherea)
6. Guava (Psidium guajava)
5 top spice plants (the spice will be with you right away, you don't have to wait for it to grow)
1. Allspice (Pimenta dioica)
2. Cinnamomon or Campor tree
3. Bay Leaf (Laurus nobilis)
4. Mint Tree (Satureja vimenea)
5. Vanilla orchid (Vanilla planifolia)
See a brief article of growing tropicals outside of tropics.
Don't forget to get some SUNSHINE boosters for your plant collection - for both successful indoor culture and cold protection!
See also our magazine Tropical Treasures
Date: 24 Jun 2018
Spring is coming, plants need food! Time to fertilize...
Last winter was long and snowy in the most part of our
country. Hold on fellow gardeners up North, it is almost
over!
Here in Florida we have been blessed again with a mild
winter without serious cold snaps. Early Spring that is
already in the air. Look at this picture of flowers in our
front yard now.
If the weather is already warm in your area (low
temperatures above 55), it is time to start fertilizing.
We are sending our love and support to tropical Puerto
Rico suffered from hurricane last year, and will be happy
to help you guys to restore your lost gardens!
CHECK LIST
what
to do to give your garden a good kick start:
1. Slow release granulated food. Apply Slow Release Fertilizer and
continue once a month. 1 tsp per gallon of pot, or a
handful for in-ground plants. This will provide essential
macro elements (NPK) required for a plant growth.
2. Water soluble micro-elements. Besides
macro-elements, plants need many other elements that most
of the time missing in soil. A lack of micro-elements
causes different deficiencies, resulting in weak root
systems, slow growth, deformed leaves, leaves yellowing,
lack or no flowers/fruit. Apply these supplements as a
foliar spray once a month to induce healthy growth and
flower/fruit development. We recommend the following
micro-element products to keep your plants healthy and
vigorous year round:
a) SUNSHINE SuperFood - plant
health booster. This revolutionary new liquid complex
contains ALL microelements needed and can fix all possible
problems occuring to your tropical plants - from roots to
flowers and fruit. We have convenient dropper bottles of 5 ml for small plant
collections, 50 ml for larger gardens, and
100 ml for professional
landscape applications.
b) SUNSHINE-Micro - Microelement
booster - for common iron deficiency (pale leaves)
c) SUNSHINE-Super-Iron -
Microelement booster - for severe iron deficiency
(severe yellowing leaves)
3. SUNSHINE plant boosters -
SUNSHINE-E, -BC (caudex plants and bonsai), -H (house
plants). Apply these natural plant stimulants to
help plants recover from cold, dormancy, increase plant's
metabolism and make a plant more readily absorb both
Macro- and Micro-elements. SUNSHINE boosters also will
help plants grow vigorously, withstand Summer heat and
drought, and produce bigger and better flowers and fruit.
4. Kickstart a sweeter fruit. To get a better and
sweeter crop in Summer and Fall, you need to start first
application now. SUNSHINE Honey - is natural,
Amber-colored, honey-like liquid microelement product for
fruiting and edible plants that will make them sweeter,
tastier and more flavorful! Very effective for tropical
fruits, tubers, vegetables. Great for tropical fruit
trees: Mango, June Plum, Annonas, Tropical Cherries,
Carambola, Citrus; subtropical fruit trees: Peaches,
Apricots, Loquat and berry plants (blackberry, mulberry,
etc.)
5. SUNSHINE-S. Don't
forget to plant seeds! It's a perfect timing
now to start your tropical garden indoors even if it is
still cold outside. Soak them in SUNSHINE-S solution to
increase germination rate.
See full list of SUNSHINE boosters
Date: 8 Jul 2020
Grafted fruit trees for Hawaiian gardens
Q: Aloha guys, I purchased a Diospyros digyna - Black Sapote grafted var. Black Beauty from you and am checking to make sure it will fruit by itself and not need both sexes. Also checking to see if the grafted atemoya I bought from you will fruit at sea level (where I'm at) or if I should give it to a friend who is above 1,000 so it will fruit? My grafted Maimi soursop is thriving! Looking at getting a grafted jackfruit from you all next.
A: Black sapote Black Beauty does not need a second plant to produce
fruit. Grafted trees should be flowering and setting fruit right away, or
sometimes on the second year.
Atemoya does not require high elevation for fruiting. It is a hybrid
Annona squamosa x Annona cherimola (A. cherimola species prefers higher
elevation) so Atemoya is usually is happy at sea level.
Congratulations with your Soursop! It should be really happy in your location.
As for grafted Jackfruits, this is the list of varieties we usually carry. Since many of them are very rare, they sell out quickly once we get new arrivals. If you are looking for a specific variety, I strongly recommend to add it to your wishlist (click on "Notify me when available") and you will receive email from us as soon as we have it in stock, so you will be the first one to know about it!
Our favorite Jackfruit varieties (and also hot sellers)
Black Gold
Borneo
Red
Crispy
Dang
Rasimi
We also suggest to get a Kwai Muk (while we still have it!) - the most delicious fruit, and it should do well in Hawaii.
Date: 15 Jan 2021
Healthy Plants: Q&A from Mr Booster
New Boosters for the New Year!
Sunshine Total Feed: Orchidasm and Citron
How to grow everblooming orchids?
Q: I ended up with a large collection of orchids that I was given as presents... They grow well but unfortunately after the showy blooms were gone, I don't see any more flowers, just green leaves. What do I need to do to make them bloom again? Should I fertilize them with Azalea bloom booster?
A: Orchids culture is different from garden ornamental plants. First big difference, they are epiphytes, growing in a loose bark medium rather than soil, and
benefit from daily mist. Second difference is a type of fertilizer. You can not use a regular garden fertilizer on orchids,
because they are very sensitive to salts. Orchids need special, acidic type of fertilizer, very mild in action.
Luckily, Sunshine Boosters formulas are exactly what orchids need! They are amino-acid based, have very mild formulas, and do not create nutrient lock up (building up salts is one of the biggest
enemies of tender orchids).
A new Sunshine Boosters Orchidasm TotalFeed is scientifically balanced orchid food that contains all
necessary nutrients, including micro-elements, for healthy, happy, vigorous orchids. It can be used as often as daily with every foliage spray. From our testing experience, after using Orchidasm Booster, orchids not only got happy and thriving -
they also bloom more often - up to several times a year, shooting new flower spikes one after another! (while normal blooming cycle for most
orchids is once a year). It gets even better - the flower display lasts twice longer!
To enjoy these beautiful flowers year around - treat them with Love, give them some
Orchidasm!
See more information with pictures in Sunshine Boosters Orchid Blog
Secrets of a healthy Citrus tree
Q: We planted several citrus trees in our yard - Meyer Lemon, Grapefruit and Blood Orange. The trees came from the store full of flowers and even had a few fruit, but a year after planting - no more flowers! The old leaves are green, but new growth doesn't look healthy, leaves are yellowish and have spots, maybe eaten by bugs (?), and how do we get them to fruit?
A: Citrus plants are not the easiest trees to grow; they are susceptible to various diseases, pests, and deficiencies, especially in areas with high humidity/rainfall like Florida.
Fungi, viruses, leaf minors, chlorosis - this is not a complete list of citrus common problems. In commercial groves, these conditions are kept under
control by using harsh chemicals on solid schedule.
For home gardeners, growing citrus trees may become a challenge. Many people don't want to use harsh
chemicals on their edibles; and those who do, may not always have time to apply treatments on a professional schedule. So as much as we all love a fresh juicy orange,
growing your own may become quite a pain!
Sunshine
Citron TotalFeed is your simple, eco-safe solution to a healthy looking, productive citrus tree with organic fruit! Amino-acid based formula provides all
necessary elements to strengthen the tree and make it resistant to possible problems.
Did you know that treatment of leaf chlorosis (yellow leaves with dark
green veins), commonly treated with iron supplements, in fact requires a complex combination of nutrients - both balanced NPK and micro-elements?
Use Sunshine Citron in combination with Sunshine GreenLeaf and
Sunshine SuperFood and never see yellow chlorotic leaves again!
Apply Sunshine Epi on regular basis (every 2 weeks) and help your tree boost its immune system and stay virus-free.
Add Sunshine Honey, and you will have large, juicy fruit that
are much sweeter and more flavorful than those from the store! All these boosters are compatible with each other, and perfectly natural. Eat your fruit safely and enjoy...
Read more about treating citrus tree defficiencies in Sunshine Boosters Citrus Blog.
Date: 20 Feb 2017
Flowering plant for a front yard
Q: I need your expertise. I had a plant in the front of my house that when I moved in (two years ago) wasn't doing well. It was infested with grasshoppers and snails. I treated it with a pesticide and fertilizer and it flourished. Had beautiful flowerings and was almost the size of the mulch area. Then the property management company hired some terrible grass cutters that I believed destroyed it. I would come home and find the red mulch and leaves from the plant all over the front lawn. And since then it has gone down hill. I am attaching a picture. As of now the larger of the remaining two trunks (out of six that were there) is falling over and it doesn't seem to be doing well. So I was wondering if you can recommend a nice plant that I can replace this one with. Nothing extravagant but nice enough to fill in that area. Also since I only lease here don't want to get to pricey either. Thanks for any advice and plants you have.
A: The plant you have is called Spider Lily. It is one of the easiest landscape plants that doesn't require much care and is great for low maintenance yards. In your case, besides possible damage from the grass cutter, looks like the plant is very old judging by the thick woody stem. It is not a bad idea to replace it with something more pretty rather than trying to baby it. Other suggestions for this location would be something easy and low maintenance, especially if you don't have reliable sprinkler system in that area of your yard and don't want to spend time hand-watering with a house:
Sweet mimosa - grows into very large bush, Pony tail, Dwarf poinciana, Powderpuff, Clusia, Devils backbone (smaller bush 3 ft tall), Cordyline, Ti leaf - these are very colorful.
There are more low maintenance plants you can chose from.
And always remember that traditional "landscapers" that only mow grass, may not be experts on plants. You may always call TopTropicals Garden Doctor