🍲 What Fertilizer to Use Now and How?
Part 2. Macro elements, or everyday plant food
Sunshine Booster for different types of plants can be applied as often as with every watering.
✔️ For Rapid Growth
Sunshine Robusta - Rapid Growth Booster: general fertilizer for both foliage plants and small starters that need an extra boost.
✔️ For Flowers
Sunshine Megaflor - Bloom Booster: boosts flowers on established plants; and Sunshine Pikake - Fragrant Plant Booster: best for fragrant flowers.
✔️ For Fruit Trees
Sunshine C-Cibus - Crop Booster: contains all necessary elements for fruit trees and their production. Sunshine Mango Tango - specifically formulated for Mango and Avocado trees, and Sunshine Citron - ideal for citrus trees.
✔️ For Tender Perennials
Sunshine Orchidasm - Orchid Total Feed and Sunshine Ananas - Pineapple and Bromeliad Booster: mild formulas for these tender perennials.
✔️ Microelement Supplements Are a Must
Besides macronutrients, plants need additional microelements, just like humans need vitamins. We will explain in details about micro-elements in our next post 🔽
Smokey and Sunshine Prepare Plants for the Cold Night.
Smokey: Come on, Sunshine, help me move these plants inside before it gets
dark!
Sunshine: I am helping... see? I’m supervising the mango
tree.
Smokey: You call that supervising? The frost cloth’s upside down!
When the forecast drops into the 30s, panic is not a plan. This is your
simple, clear checklist to protect every tropical in your garden. Think of
it as the quick emergency manual that goes hand in hand with the previous
cold-weather newsletter.
"We
all love our tropical flowers, mangoes, bananas, and rare fruit trees. A
single cold night does
not have to be a disaster. The key is knowing what to do, when to do it, and
what mistakes to avoid." - Tatiana Anderson, Top Tropicals Plant
Expert
🌡️ FROST AND FREEZE
A frost and a freeze are not the same. A frost is when you see ice crystals
on leaves or grass, while a freeze is when the air temperature drops below
32 F. The tricky part is that you can get
frost even when the air is above freezing, and you can have a freeze with no
frost at all. It all depends on humidity and the dew point. If the dew
point
is below freezing, the ground can cool faster than the air, letting frost
form even when your thermometer reads 35 or 36 F. And once the air itself
drops below 32 F, even for an hour, tender tropicals can be damaged. For
plants, a freeze is far more dangerous, because freezing air pulls heat out
of stems, branches, and roots. Frost usually burns leaves, but a true freeze
can injure wood, kill buds, and damage the entire plant.
Frost on the grass and leaves on Winter morning in Central
Florida
WHAT TO DO
AND NOT TO DO BEFORE A COLD SNAP
✔️ 5 THINGS TO DO:
Water well. Hydrated plants tolerate cold better than dry, stressed
ones.
Add mulch. A thick layer around the base keeps roots warm.
Block the wind. Move pots to a sheltered corner or patio.
Cover at night, uncover in the morning. Let plants breathe and get
light.
Add gentle heat if needed. Non-LED Christmas lights or a small old style
15-20W light can raise temps a few degrees.
❌ 5 THINGS NOT TO DO:
Do not prune or trim. Fresh cuts freeze first.
Do not overwater. Wet, cold soil invites root rot.
Do not let plants dry out either. Wilted plants freeze more easily.
Do not use dry fertilizer. Gentle liquid feeds like Sunshine
Boosters are safe to use with every watering: its intake naturally slows
down as watering decreases.
Do not look only at the thermometer. A long, windy night can be worse
than a short freeze.
TEMPERATURE
ACTION GUIDE (40 to 25 F)
40 to 38 F: Move potted plants to shelter, water soil, and cover
tender tropicals.
37 to 33 F: Use frost cloth and anchor it down so the wind does
not lift it.
32 to 30 F: Add a heat source like non-LED lights.
29 to 25 F: Double-cover sensitive plants, wrap trunks, and
protect roots heavily.
COLD
TOLERANCE BY PLANT TYPE
Before a cold night, it really helps to know your plant’s exact
cold limits. Every species is different, and young plants are always more
sensitive than mature ones. Take a few minutes to look up your varieties in
our Tropical
Plants Encyclopedia
— it will tell you the safe temperature range, how much protection
each plant needs, and which ones must be covered or moved before the next
cold snap hits.
Bananas: leaf burn below 37 F
Mango, Annona: hurt around 32 F
Cold hardy avocados: Mature tree can take about 25 F. Young trees must
be protected
Olives, Citrus, Guava, Jaboticaba: usually OK outside with mulch
QUICK-ACTION
TABLE
Before the cold arrives, make yourself a quick list of every plant and
what action each one needs. It saves time when temperatures start dropping
and keeps you from scrambling in the dark. Check that you have enough frost
cloth, blankets, and supplies on hand so you can cover everything without
rushing. Planning ahead makes cold nights much less stressful.
Bring Indoors: Cacao, Bilimbi, Coffee. They need warm, bright
light.
Cover Outdoors: Mango, Jackfruit, Banana, Annona. Use frost cloth, not
plastic on leaves.
Covering large mango and avocado trees in pots at TopTropicals during
cold nights
GADGETS AND
TOOLS THAT HELP
Indoor helpers: LED lights, small heaters, bottom-heat mats,
timers.
Outdoor helpers: frost cloth rolls, mini greenhouses, non-LED Christmas
lights or small incandescent lights, smart thermometers.
Always keep electrical safety in mind, especially if you are using extension
cords outdoors. Use only weather-rated cords, keep all connections off the
ground, and protect plugs from moisture. Make sure heaters and lights are
stable, secured, and never touching fabric covers. A few minutes of safety
check
can prevent a dangerous situation on a cold, wet night.
And if you want to keep plants strong through winter, add Sunshine
Boosters to your watering routine. It is gentle, safe in cold weather,
and gives plants an extra edge.
AFTER THE
COLD PASSES
In the morning, uncover plants. Leaving covers on during the day can trap
heat and cook the tender new growth, especially under the sun. The only
exception is true frost cloth designed for all-day use, which allows air,
light, and moisture to pass through. Regular blankets, sheets, and plastic
must come off as soon as the sun rises.
Do not cut anything yet. A plant can look completely dead after a freeze,
but many branches are still alive under the bark. Cutting too soon removes
wood that would recover on its own. Wait until new growth begins in spring.
That is when you can see exactly which branches are truly dead.
Use the scratch test. Gently scratch the bark with your nail or a small
knife. If the layer underneath is green, the branch is alive. If it is brown
and dry, it is likely dead. But even then, wait until warm weather to be
sure, because sometimes only the tips die back while the lower part of the
branch survives.
Once the weather stabilizes, resume light feeding. Plants coming out of cold
stress need gentle support, not heavy fertilizer. A mild liquid feed like
Sunshine
Boosters helps them rebuild roots and push new growth without burning
tender tissue.
Your tropical garden can survive any cold night if you prepare right. Cold
snaps always feel stressful in the moment, but once you know your plants,
have the right supplies, and follow a simple plan, it becomes routine. A few
minutes of preparation before dark can save months of growth and keep your
collection healthy all winter.
Frost cloth is the true workhorse of cold protection: it keeps heat in,
keeps frost off, and will not suffocate plants the way plastic or blankets
can. Having a few rolls ready means you never have to scramble at the last
minute. Sunshine
Boosters give your plants gentle support during the colder months so
they stay strong enough to bounce back quickly when warm weather
returns.
A little planning now will pay off in spring, when your mango, banana,
citrus, and all your favorite tropicals come back happy and ready to
grow.
Prepare your plants for Winter with Sunshine Boosters
We usually stop using dry slow-release fertilizers from November to March. However,
liquid Sunshine Boosters, which are natural plant food, can be used all year. They help your plants survive winter. When it gets colder, we water less,
so the fertilizer decreases too. The plants only use what they need. To learn more about how Sunshine Boosters work and why they're safe and helpful, check
out this blog: Using Sunshine Booster during Winter.
If your plants look stressed, slow, or inconsistent, the issue might not be your care - it might be how you're feeding them. Most fertilizers are harder to use than they should be. Once you understand why, everything starts to make sense.
Why fertilizers are so confusing?
If you've ever stood in front of a shelf full of fertilizers thinking "what do I even pick?" - you're not alone.
Most feeding programs are a mess. Different brands, different formulas, different schedules. One for growth, one for bloom, one for micros, one more "just in case".
And somehow it still feels like guesswork.
Easy to overfeed. Easy to underfeed. Easy to waste money.
That's exactly the problem Sunshine Boosters were built to solve.
The formulas are balanced and mild, so you can use them regularly without stressing about mistakes.
Now here's where it gets interesting.
The problem with traditional fertilizers
Most traditional fertilizers weren't made for how we actually grow plants today. Dry fertilizers are built for large field use. They often carry excess salts and don't work well in containers or soilless mixes. Many don't even include enough trace elements.
And over time, they can build up in the soil.
Sunshine Boosters works differently.
Why liquid feeding wins
First - it's liquid.
Plants don't eat nutrients, they drink them. Liquid feeding means nutrients are available right away. Every watering becomes feeding. No waiting, no uneven supply.
Amino-acid chelation - the real difference
Second - the way nutrients are delivered is completely different.
Most fertilizers use synthetic chelators like EDTA. They keep nutrients stable, but plants have to spend energy to use them. Sunshine Boosters use amino-acid chelation instead.
That means nutrients come in a form plants already recognize and use naturally. Less effort for the plant, more energy for growth, flowers, and fruit.
And there's no salt buildup over time.
Low salt index - better water uptake
Speaking of salts - this is a big one.
High salt levels in fertilizers actually make it harder for plants to absorb water. That's why plants can look stressed even when the soil is wet.
Sunshine Boosters has a low salt index.
Less resistance, better water flow into the roots, better hydration, stronger plants.
Faster growth without the risk
Put it all together and you get faster growth, stronger structure, more flowers and fruit - without the usual risk of burning or overdoing it.
Because the nutrient levels are balanced and not overly concentrated, they do not affect the natural taste of fruits and edibles.
The products are also safe for regular use and friendly to pollinating insects, which is important for fruit production.
Feeding made simple
And the best part?
It's simple.
Mix Sunshine Boosters with water. Use it when you water. That's it.
Stay with us - next we'll break down how different formulas match different plant needs, so you can get even better results. More... Get your plants real food
Stop messing with fertilizers - you’re probably feeding your plants wrong. Keep it simple. Let your plants do the work.
Most gardeners don’t have a plant problem - they have a fertilizer problem. If feeding your plants feels confusing, expensive, or inconsistent, there’s a reason. The way most fertilizers are designed doesn’t match how plants actually grow today. Here’s what’s really going on - and why a simpler system works better.
A simple way to feed your plants right
Feeding plants shouldn’t feel like a chemistry class. But somehow it always does. Too many products. Too many formulas. Too many schedules. And somehow - still not sure if you’re doing it right.
The truth is, growing healthy plants is simple. Good soil. Enough light. Proper care. And the right nutrients.
That last part is where most people get stuck.
Sunshine Boosters were made to fix exactly that. It’s a complete nutrition system that gives your plants what they actually need - without all the extra steps and guesswork.
What Sunshine Boosters are and how they work
So what is it, really? Sunshine Boosters is a new generation of plant nutrients based on amino acids. It includes the main nutrients plants need - nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium - plus all the microelements, already balanced in one formula.
No extra bottles. No missing pieces.
It dissolves completely in water, so plants can take it in right away. No buildup in the soil, no leftovers sitting there doing nothing.
You just mix it with water and use it during regular watering. That’s it. It works through the roots, and even through the leaves if you spray it.
Instead of trying to manage a whole feeding system - you just feed and grow.
Less work, better plants.
Stay with us - this is just the start. We’ll break it down step by step so you really understand what your plants need and how to give it to them. More... Get your plants real food
