Garden Blog - Top Tropicals

Date: 22 Jul 2025

Why gardeners love the Pink Butterfly Tree: blooms, shade, and zero fuss

Bauhinia variegata, Pink Butterfly Orchid Tree

Bauhinia variegata, Pink Butterfly Orchid Tree

Bauhinia variegata, Pink Butterfly Orchid Tree, flowers close up

Bauhinia variegata, Pink Butterfly Orchid Tree, flowers close up

🌸 Why gardeners love the Pink Butterfly Tree: blooms, shade, and zero fuss

🌸 Bauhinia variegata, Pink Butterfly Orchid Tree - is a gorgeous, fast-growing tree with orchid-like blooms in shades of magenta to lavender. Flowers appear from late winter through spring - and sometimes again in summer - filling the air with a soft, sweet fragrance. Its butterfly-shaped leaves and wide canopy make it perfect as a focal point, shade tree, or street-side beauty. Great for sustainable landscapes, shelterbelts, and windbreaks too.
🌸 Easygoing and low-maintenance, it thrives in just about any soil - loam, sand, clay, even rocky ground - as long as it drains well. Loves full sun, needs little water once established, and grows fast (up to 2–3 feet per year) with plenty of cooling shade.
🌸 The bright blooms bring in butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds.
🌸 Extra bonus: its buds and blossoms are edible and used in traditional cooking, and the bark has been used in folk remedies for things like thyroid and ulcers.
🌸 Tough, fast, and blooming with elegance, the Pink Butterfly Orchid Tree is a gorgeous shade tree that thrives on neglect - poor soil, low water, no problem! Fragrant, orchid-like flowers light up your garden from winter to spring: easy to grow and even easier to love!

🛒 Limited stock - plant one this season!
Discover more Bauhinias - Orchid trees.

📚 Learn more about Orchid trees:

#Trees

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Date: 30 Jul 2025

Why tipping mango trees makes them fruiting machines (DIY Garden Tip)

🥭 Why tipping mango trees makes them fruiting machines (DIY Garden Tip)

📱

🌳 Want more mangoes from your backyard tree?
In this step-by-step guide, Ed from Top Tropicals in Fort Myers, Florida, shows how to tip mango trees to boost branching, improve structure, and increase fruit production. Whether you're growing Valencia Pride, Orange Sherbet, or Glen mangoes - this method works!

✔️ You'll learn:

When and how to tip branches
What tools to use (and how to clean them)
Real before-and-after results from trees in our Florida garden
Tips for shaping young trees for long-term success

🛒 Get your own mango trees

🌱 More garden tips and tropical fruit care

#Food_Forest #Mango #Mango_Rainbow

🟢 Join 👉 TopTropicals

Date: 14 Oct 2025

Yes, you can grow a tropical fruit tree in a pot!

Yes, you can grow a tropical fruit tree in a pot!

Yes, you can grow a tropical fruit tree in a pot!

🥭 Yes, you can grow a tropical fruit tree in a pot!

🍒 If you dream of picking fresh tropical fruit - Mango, Avocado, exotiс Annona and more - but only have a patio, balcony, or small yard, you’re not out of luck. Many tropical fruit trees grow perfectly well in large containers. The key is choosing the right variety, pot, and care routine.
🍒 Pick a compact tree type

Start with a dwarf or semi-dwarf variety. Regular tropical trees can grow huge, but container-sized cultivars stay under 8–10 feet and are much easier to manage. For example, Condo varieties of Mango like Pickering or Ice Cream stay small and still produce full-sized fruit. The same goes for Dwarf Avocados like Wurtz (also called Little Cado) and Sugar apples. Blackberry Jam fruit tree (Randia formosa) and Peanut Butter Fruit tree (Bunchosia argentea) are also excellent choices.

🍒 Choose the right pot

Begin with a 5-gallon container and move up as the tree grows. A mature plant will be happy in a 20–25-gallon pot. Drainage is critical - roots will rot if the pot stays soggy. Use a sturdy plastic, ceramic, or wooden container with multiple holes in the bottom.

🍒 Soil and watering

These trees all like loose, well-draining soil. Mix potting soil with perlite or pine bark for better aeration. Water deeply but not too often - let the top few inches dry before watering again. Overwatering is the quickest way to kill a potted tropical.

🍒 Light and feeding

Full sun is a must - aim for at least 6 hours daily. Fertilize during the growing season with a balanced fruit tree or slow-release fertilizer like Green Magic or liquid Sunshine Boosters. Many tropicals appreciate an extra boost of micronutrients like iron and magnesium to keep their leaves green.

🍒 Cold protection and pruning

If you live where winters get chilly, move the pot indoors or into a greenhouse before frost. Prune lightly in spring to keep shape and airflow. Container trees can fruit heavily if given light, warmth, and consistent care.

At the end of the day, container culture lets you grow the tropics anywhere - from a city balcony to a backyard deck.

➡ Next: The best tropical fruit trees for containers...

📸 Growing and fruiting Soursop in apartment (PDF download)

🛒 Explore tropical fruit trees

#Food_Forest #How_to #Discover

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Date: 7 Jul 2016

Growing fruit trees in containers

Will it fruit in a pot? YES! Many tropical fruit trees can be grown in a pot. We get many calls from customers in cooler climates asking if our tropical trees can grow and fruit in a pot. The answer is yes!

Several plants fruit well in pots. Blackberries and raspberries, barbados cherries, blueberries and many more start fruiting even in their 1 gallon containers. We are especially excited about our new Pixie grapes, which are heavily laden with grapes even at only a foot long!

While some plants are small and will fruit easily in a container, others are large trees. For the tree type fruits, we recommend growing only non-seedling plants for pot culture. We have cuttings, air layers and grafted plants that are great options. These have the ability to fruit right away, as they are the same age as the parent tree. Some horticulturists recommend removing the first year fruit to allow the plant to focus on growth and establishing. If the plant is being kept in a pot, this is not necessary.

We also have several dwarf varieties of fruit trees that will thrive in a pot. For avocados, we carry the Wurtz variety which is a dwarf tree... read more...

Date: 7 Jul 2023

Fertilizing a Mango tree in container

Q: I live in the area with cooler winters so I am keeping my mango tree in a pot. What fertilizer do you recommend for the best growth and fruit production?

A: If you're growing fruit trees in pots, using liquid fertilizers is a great choice. And when it comes to liquid fertilizers, ones that are based on amino acids are super cool because they're natural and plants can gobble up all the good stuff without any problems. So, if you have a mango tree, the absolute star in amino acid-based fertilizers is -

Sunshine Boosters Mango Tango

Your tree will be doing a happy dance with this stuff!

Why Sunshine Boosters liquid fertilizers are so popular?

Here are a few awesome reasons:

1. Speedy nutrients: Sunshine Boosters liquid fertilizers are like a fast pass for plants. They get absorbed by the roots super quick, giving your fruit tree a speedy delivery of all the nutrients it needs. This is especially great for potted plants with limited soil space, like those yummy fruit trees.

2. Nutrients for all: Sunshine Boosters are like the fairy godmothers of nutrients. When you pour them around the base of your tree, they spread out evenly, making sure every bit of the tree gets its fair share of the good stuff. No nutrient deficiencies allowed!

3. The power of precision: Sunshine Boosters liquid fertilizers and other cool plant supplements let you become a master mixologist for your plant. You can measure and mix them just right, giving your tree the exact nutrients it craves. It's like creating a customized cocktail for your tree's taste buds. Try adding the magic works of SUNSHINE Microelement Supplement Kit - that improves hardiness, vigor, and production.

4. Leafy goodness: Sunshine Boosters have a secret talent - they can be sprayed directly on the leaves! It's like giving your tree a refreshing nutrient-packed spa treatment. The leaves slurp up those nutrients, bypassing any soil limitations. Talk about a VIP treatment!

Remember, while liquid fertilizers are awesome, they work best when you team them up with other good plant care practices. So don't forget to water properly, keep that soil in tip-top shape, and give your tree plenty of sunshine. With this dream team, your potted mango tree will thrive and grow like a champ!

Shop All Sunshine Boosters

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