Garden Blog - Top Tropicals

Date: 6 Nov 2022

Annona montana - Mountain Soursop
Grow Your Own Food

Annona  montana  -  Mountain  Soursop  spiny  fruit

Exotic fruit, a cold hardy alternative to a Soursop

Not only tasty, this exotic fruit has the most unusual looks! This exotic beauty grows up to a pound and just look at these curious and life-like spines! We guarantee that everyone who sees this fruit in your garden will ask for seeds even before they taste the fruit. And you will have lots of seeds to share because Mountain Soursop is very reliable producer with many seeds in each fruit.
Mountain Soursop tastes similar to regular Soursop (better known as the Guanabana), with slightly milder flavor. The pulp is highly scented, with good aroma. It is eaten out of hand or can be used in milkshakes and smoothies. The fruit is softball sized with orange-yellow flesh, somewhat smaller and rounder than the regular Soursop. The tree is medium sized, with beautiful, large, leathery dark green leaves that emit a strong aroma when crushed.

How to grow Mountain Soursop?

Mountain Soursop is a very easy to grow, medium size exotic fruit tree that is great for beginners. This species is much more cold hardy than the Soursop, established trees can take temperatures a few degrees below freezing, tolerating cold spells down to 24F when full grown. Mountain Soursop tolerates a variety of soil types and will grow well in dry conditions. Trees produce within just 2-3 years from seed, like many Annonas, and can happily grow and produce in a large container.

Annona  montana  -  Mountain  Soursop  fruit  with  pulp

Date: 21 Oct 2022

Grow your own food:
Pouteria campechiana - Canistel
The curious heart-shaped Egg Super-Fruit

by Alex Butova, the Witch of Herbs and Cats

Canistel  fruit

...You will be surprised how many health benefits this fruit can offer! Yet is is a beautiful, curiously shaped piece of Nature's Art, and the tree is super easy to grow. It is relatively cold hardy and fast growing, providing with the first crop within a year or two...

10 greatest health benefits of Canistel fruit

1. Canistel is good for the heart
2. Canistel lowers the risk of diabetes
3. Canistel lowers the risk of cataract
4. Canistel treats osteoarthritis
5. Canistel prevents cancer
6. Canistel is immunity booster
7. Canistel is great for digestion
8. Canistel prevents anemia
9. Canistel promotes healthy bones
10. Canistel reduces the risk of Alzheimer's

LEARN THE DETAILS >>

Canistel  tree

Date: 18 Aug 2022

Grow your own food:
How hardy is a Loquat tree?

Loquat  trees  and  fruit

Q: I am looking for a fruit tree for my backyard that is low maintenance, fast fruiting, and can take some cold (I live in Orlando FL and we do get occasional frost in winter). I like the taste of Loquat fruit, it reminds me of apricots. How cold hardy is this tree?

A: Loquat tree is a very good choice for Florida gardens. It can take both cold and heat and produces lots of tasty fruit right away. Last winter when we had a record freeze in our area with a couple of nights around 25F, the only trees that didn't get any damage at all were Loquats and Macadamias, and those were still young, newly planted 4 ft trees.
To learn more about Loquat trees, check out this and article: Golden Loquat - the symbol of Prosperity.

Loquat  video

Date: 14 Aug 2022

Grow your own food:
Avocado Q & A

from Ed Jones, the Avocado Guy

two  avocado  fruit

Q: Do I need to have more than one avocado tree in order to produce fruit?

A: While a single avocado tree will normally produce enough fruit for most people, it never hurts to have more than one tree and even more than one variety to increase the chances for good pollination. Be sure to look at our catalog for the many different varieties available from our store.

Avocado  tree

Date: 3 Aug 2022

Grow your own food:
Tropical Asparagus (Katuk)

By Alex Butova, the Witch of Herbs and Cats

Sauropus  androgynous  -  Tropical  Asparagus,  Katuk

...One of the most popular leaf vegetables in South Asia and Southeast Asia, the Tropical Asparagus (Katuk) - Sauropus androgynus, is notable for its high yields and palatability. Cooked Tropical Asparagus is great with crab meat, minced pork, dried shrimp, or in a soup...
Katuk is one of the most popular leaf vegetables in Southeast Asia. It is among only a few flora containing vitamin K. Leaves and stemmed can be cooked as vegetable; the plant has many medicinal properties.
Katuk is fast growing and keeps growing as you trim it for your kitchen needs. Multiple upright stems can reach 6-7 ft high. It has great ornamental value, has pretty red flowers and ornamental fruit showing shiny black seeds when they crack open. Varieties with green leaves and variegated leaves have slightly different flavor but are equally good for your healthy, fiber-rich diet... CONTINUE READING >>

Sauropus  androgynous  -  Tropical  Asparagus,  Katuk