Date: 17 Apr 2019
Mulberries - biggest, sweetest, and compact...
Q: What is the difference between Pakistani and Australian Mulberry plants? Would one be better suited for South Florida backyard? Can one be maintained/pruned to be a tall shrub vs a large tree? Which one has the sweetest fruit? Thank you for the previous plants we've purchased from you. They're all doing great.!
A: These two varieties are very similar indeed.
Both fruit are very large. Var. Pakistani fruit is a little longer than var. Australia and the tree is a more vigorous grower, but they both are
very sweet, even before the fruit fully ripen. Both trees are a good choice and
start fruiting at a young age.
We've had Australia in the ground in our garden for 4 years by now and
for some reason, it has been very slow growing which is normally not the case
with Mulberries. Maybe it is not fully happy with FL humid conditions.
There are two Mulberry varieties that can be maintained as bushes: Issai
and Dwarf
Everbearing. However, even vigorous Mulberry trees respond well to
pruning and can be kept compact for easy harvesting. Just make sure to prune before
the flowering season starts; here in S Florida Mulberries start flowering in
March, and fruit start ripening during April-May.
Check out our Mulberry trees.
Date: 24 Jun 2018
Avocado, Lychee and Mango setting fruit... give them some FOOD!
Q: Do I need to fertilize tropical fruit when they set fruit?
A:
It is traditionally believed that mango and other tropical
fruit shouldn't be fertilized during fruiting period. It
is true to an extent: you don't want fruit to burst from
fast excessive growing. Instead, try to feed fruit trees
wisely, because they still need proper nutrition to
produce flowers and fruit.
Our spring specials of Lychee, Avocado and Mango are full of buds and
some already set tiny fruit (see examples on the photo).
Here is the feeding plan for these plants once you receive
your mail order:
1) Once received the plant, pot it into container size of
the root ball and let establish for couple weeks. Use SUNSHINE-E to help the plant
recover from shipping stress and establish root system.
2) Apply SUNSHINE-Honey right before
flowering, and next time at setting fruit, to provide
sweeter and bigger fruit, eliminate fruit cracks and help
resist fungus and other fruit diseases.
3) Use balanced granulated fertilizer,
1 tsp per each gallon of soil. Apply once a month during
Spring-Summer season. This gives the plant balanced
macro-elements (NPK) necessary for overall plant health.
Do not use on fruit trees fertilizers with high Nitrogen
content.
4) Apply SUNSHINE SuperFood
micro-element booster to keep fruit trees vigorous,
develop strong root system and avoid deficiencies.
5) In case of signs of chlorosis (yellowing leaves with
darker veins), give the tree SUNSHINE-GreenLeaf and watch
the leaves turning green quickly.
After harvesting, don't forget to make another treatment
of SUNSHINE-Honey
Date: 29 Aug 2021
Those mouthwatering Blackberries...
Blackberry Patch Bundle Exclusive Collection
Two Collections of Superior Blackberry Varieties, well adopted to tropical and subtropical climates. Mouth watering, all time favorite fruit will be always with you - these plants are so easy to grow!
Blackberry Patch Bundle Exclusive Collection - buy 3 get 2 free.
The Collection includes 5 blackberry varieties: Navaho, Osage, Ouachita,
Triple Crown Thornless, Iceberg White Blackberry.
Blackberry Patch Bundle Premier Collection - buy 3 get 2 free.
The Collection includes 5 blackberry varieties: Arapaho, Caddo, Kiowa,
Natchez, and Prime-Ark Freedom.
Mouth Watering High Protein Blackberry Cobbler
Ingredients
25g light butter
45g self-rising flour
33g vanilla whey
20g egg whites
50g almond or cashew milk
75g blackberries
Stevia/Splenda to taste
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Melt butter half-way so it's just warm, not hot. In a mixing bowl, combine all ingredients except for blackberries. Pour into a 4-5"ramekin sprayed with Pam. Sprinkle blackberries on top of batter and bake for 15-20 minutes. It's best slightly gooey on the inside (not completely cooked). Enjoy!
Date: 22 Aug 2021
How to fertilize herbs and vegetables
Q: We moved to Florida from New York earlier this year. My wife and I used to grow many fresh veggies and herbs in our garden up North during Summer, but it seems like in hot Florida the season for them is not until Fall. So we are preparing the beds and also looking for some organic fertilizer solutions. We've heard a lot about your natural Boosters and wonder if they can be used in our vegetable garden?
A: You came to the right place for organic fertilizer solution.
Sunshine Boosters are based on organic amino-acids and are completely natural,
non-toxic, eco-friendly, and do not build up nutrients in the soil. Their
mild formulas designed specifically for edibles.
We just have started our own vegetable garden with some Biquinho and Wiri Wiri peppers, cherry tomatoes, and basil, and will be adding more
as the the weather cools down.
For small scale gardens (both vegetables and herbs), you can start with Sunshine Robusta - a total feed "all on one". All necessary elements are provided in just one bottle, both macro- and micro-elements, it is a scientifically balanced formula. For larger gardens, especially if you have fertilizer injector system, we recommend
Sunshine Boosters Pro Series - this product is much more economical, and
you will need to mix only 3 solutions into your watering tank at the time of
watering.
For more information, please contact our Booster guy Ed Jones, he can help you with selection and dosage information. Sample Discount program
is available for samples of Sunshine Pro.
Date: 15 Aug 2021
How to grow Cerbera and make it flower
Q: I purchased Cerbera manghas - Enchanted Incense a year ago. As you see from the photo, it's doing great however, no blooms. I fertilize properly and very often and use worm castings for micronutrients. Yes it's not "your" fertilizer, but my plumerias, that are also in pots they are over 5 feet tall and blooming like crazy. I don't see any inflows coming on the Cerbera at all and it is hot and humid here in North Carolina, so it's happy but no sign of blooming. What is your advice?
A: Top Tropicals first brought Cerbera manghas into the US plant market a few years ago, it was recommended to us by our friend, plant taxonomist John Mood who visited Thailand, and among other exotic plants noted this fragrant beauty. Since then we've been successfully growing this plant, it has become one of everybody's favorites.
Generally speaking, Cerbera culture is very similar to Plumerias. These plants are closely related. So if you know how to grow Plumeria, you sure will succeed with Cerbera. Hot and sunny location, well-drained mix, moderate water and bloom boom fertilizer will do the trick. However, we have noticed a few distinctive features that make this plant somewhat challenging at times.
1) Flowers
For past years, we've been studying what triggers its flowering.
Sometimes these plants start flowering in 1 gal pot, 1 ft tall. Other times a large
developed tree 5-6 ft tall, in 5-7 gal pot, grows beautiful foliage with no
signs of flowers. Eventually all of them bloom, no matter how stubborn they
are, it's just some individual plants start flowering sooner than others, all
grown in the same conditions.
One of our plants in the ground, a well-branched tree, was covered with
flowers for a few months, but only on the 3d year after planting. Before that,
it only produced a few random blooms. Others bloomed in pots at very young
age.
The following factors benefit to Cerbera flowering:
- full sun at least 10 hours a day
- hot temperatures above 85F
- regular water but not heavy rains
- regular fertilizer - Bloom Booster type
- very good drainage and drying out before waterings. If root ball stays
moist, the plant may look healthy but won't set flower buds. Keeping on a dry
side will encourage flowering. Very similar to Jasmines: they bloom like crazy
in April while it's hot and dry in Florida, but once our summer rainy season
starts, they reduce blooming.
We highly recommend using Sunshine Megaflor bloom booster or SUNSHINE Pikake in combination with micro-element supplements Sunshine Honey (B-Mo) and Sunshine Superfood (complex micro) that induce flowering. Dry and granulated fertilizers may not supply exactly what a plant needs: certain elements that trigger flowering may be missing. Sunshine Boosters formulas are scientifically balanced, they contain precise amounts of nutrients needed for setting flowers. Besides, excessive salts from regular dry fertilizers create nutrient lock up that may retard plant metabolism; with liquid amino-acid based Sunshine boosters, plants consume the whole menu of elements without building them up in the soil.
2) Fruit
Fruit of Cerbera are very pretty and cover the tree after profuse flowering. To inexperienced eye they may look very much like small mango or avocado fruit - so make sure kids or visitors don't try to eat them! Cerbera seeds are extremely poisonous.
3) Leaves
If you ever grew Passiflora or Milkweed, you know how leaves can be
eaten by caterpillars overnight. This may happen to Cerbera too, as we
discovered. In Florida environment this exotic plant doesn't have natural predators for
protection from certain insect species that may feed on it. So watch out and
if noticed first signs of leaves damage - its time for insect control.
Other than that, Cerbera foliage is usually beautiful and colorful, here in
Florida it looks much healthier than that of Plumerias often affected with
rusty residue during high humidity months.
Hope this helps. The Cerbera fragrance is enchanting, it is worth the efforts and waiting!
