Date: 19 Jan 2021
Healthy Plants: Q&A from Mr Booster
Fertilizing in Winter
Q: I have many tropical plants in my garden, both in the ground and in pots. I realize it is wintertime and some of them, the Hydrangea, Hibiscuses, and roses are in bloom but the rest of them seem wilty and droopy. Is it alright to fertilize them now, or should I wait for a few days? I have an all purpose tropical fertilizer and a 20-20-20 also. Please advise what to do.
A: During wintertime, tropicals may suffer from low temperatures
and lack of sunshine which causes droopy leaves, and leaf loss.
Regardless of the cause and plant condition, you should NEVER apply
traditional dry fertilizers during cool months. When cold, dry fertilizers
(EDTA-chelated) may create nutrient lock up in soil and damage the roots. Dry
fertilizers (both granulated and water-soluble) can be used only during hot season -
when min temperatures stay above 65F for at least a week in a row, and
daytime temperatures are over 75-80F. During hot, active growth season plant
metabolism increases. This provides less chance for a chemical root burn, as the
nutrients are used up quickly.
However, liquid fertilizers, as long as they are amino-acid based, can
be used year round. From our own experience last winter, we discovered that
fertilizing sickly looking plants (with signs of cold damage and root issues)
with Sunshine Boosters actually revived those plants. Sunshine Boosters even
brought back to life some hopeless specimens. Take a look at this gardenia
that grows in our garden (picture above). See full article.
In your case, it would be beneficial to use a mild formula of liquid
boosters in combination with Sunshine Epi -a natural plant hormone that boost their growth and helps
to cope with cold-, temperature- and low-light-related stress.
These are the products we recommend:
- Sunshine Bombino - add to every watering
- Sunshine Epi - twice a month as foliage spray
Since you grow plants in pots, feeding program is especially essential,
because plants are limited with a container size where roots can't reach out to more food in the outer soil.
In professional nursery set up with injector irrigation systems, container plants are fed daily (depending on season, more than once a day) with every watering. This is why greenhouse plants are so healthy looking.
So feel free to give your plants Sunshine boosters with every watering,
dozing according to the label. During cold period, plants need less frequent
watering, so fertilizer input will be balanced accordingly, it will depend on
temperature and plant metabolism.
Sunshine Bombino - mild, "pampering" formula for young and tender plants, as well as plants recovering from stress and/or winter damage.
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: 28 Dec 2020
Healthy Plants: Q&A from Mr Booster
How to grow a happy Red Jade Vine?
Q: My Red Jade Vine has the leaf tips turning brown. I water this plant four times a week and I am using a half a teaspoon of miracle grow bloom booster 15-30-15 per 2 gallons, every two weeks. In the beginning I had to water this plant off city water in South Fort Myers. Over the last two months I picked up a dechlorinator buggy plus threw that on my hose and I've been watering it with that but it didn't seem to make a difference. I put this plant in the ground last September. It has three shoots that run into the top of the tree, so it is growing but leaves seem to drop off down low at the base of the vine and the brown tipping running into the top of the plant. But not the newest shoot its leaves are solid green all the way at the top. Thanks for any advice.
A: Mucuna benettii - Red Jade vine - is not the easiest plant to grow, and
we are glad your vine is growing well. For those who love this plant but not
ready to face all challenges, we recommend its cousin - Camptosema grandiflora - Dwarf Red Jade Vine, which is much hardier and
easier plant.
We looked at the photos and these are our thoughts.
1) The top of the plant with green fresh leaves definitely indicates
that the plant is generally healthy and vigorous.
2) Dry tips of the old leaves may indicate excess salts in soil, in
combination with the summer heat that it went through. Based on your feeding program
description, that fertilizer may create a problem. Water soluble traditional
fertilizers are EDTA-chelated which often causes nutrients lock up in soil
and leaf drop. Try to stay away from that fertilizer for a month and let the
rains and/or irrigation water flush the soil for a couple of weeks.
3) Red Jade vine is a very sensitive species. Normally, during hot season
it is safe to use traditional fertilizers, especially slow-release granulated.
However, with this plant we recommend you to switch to more delicate formula
and use only liquid fertilizer.
SUNSHINE Megaflor - Bloom Nutrition Booster will be the best. It is
safe to use it as frequent as with every watering! It is amino-acid
based, and will be totally consumed by the plant without nutrient lockup.
4) Another cause of dry leaf tips may be micro-element deficiency.
Megaflor booster already has all necessary micro-nutrients in it, plus you
may apply some extra: SUNSHINE Superfood.
5) You may continue using regular water for watering (including city water)
as long as you use amino-acid based plant food and supplements: they improve
soil acidity (what tropical plants like is acidic soil, and Florida soils
are alkaline). Additionally, to improve soil acidity which can be critical for
this Mucuna species, you may add 1"layer of pure peat moss on top of the
soil around the plant. Please keep us in loop how the plant is doing. It is
pretty rare species in cultivation and we will be happy to help you to keep it
thriving.
Date: 19 Nov 2020
Healthy Plants: Q&A from Mr Booster
Feeding Indoor Plants
Q: I am moving all my potted plants indoors as weather is cooling down. I still have Sunshine Boosters that I got from you in Summer. Do I need to continue fertilizing and how often, or should I wait until Spring?
A: Indoor plants add a vibrant warmth to your home, and can even
improve the air quality. But most importantly, indoor plants give you access
to year-round gardening.
While majority of house plants are easy to maintain, they still require
proper care to thrive.
Too many gardeners overlook the importance of fertilizing plants indoors.
However, proper feeding is essential to grow healthy, vibrant plants. With
outdoor plants nature sends rain and a plant will send new roots to find food,
an indoor plant is limited to only what you will give it. That is why it is
essential to feed your plants a healthy nutritious meal even indoors.
Many granular and slow-releasing fertilizers will recommend that you only
feed your plants occasionally, but this is not the healthiest for plants,
since they need to "snack" every day to satisfy their daily nutrient needs. When you feed a plant a large meal rarely, it cannot absorb the nutrients effectively, leftovers creating build up in soil (it's called "locked up nutrients") and that is why we specifically designed our fertilizers to be a light, daily nutritious meal for your plants -
Sunshine Home for houseplants...
Date: 29 Oct 2020
Healthy Plants. Q&A from Mr Booster: How to get Ylang Ylang to flowering
Q: I am writing in reference to my Ylang ylang tree. I purchased this from top tropicals a few years ago and although the plant is doing well, I don't see any flowers yet. Can you tell me when it will flower? Do I need to do something special for it to flower?
A: Cananga odorata, Ylany Ylang tree, takes a few years until it
starts flowering, hopefully it will bloom for you any time soon.
However, keep in mind that it may be a bit challenging for a potted plant.
In natural conditions, this is a large tree that requires lots of room not
only for the tree itself, but also for the root system. It is still possible to
get Cananga odorata to bloom in container, considering the plant has all
necessary nutrients for flowering. Here is the trick.
When grown in the ground, root system can reach out to all necessary elements in surrounding soil (considering soils are not too poor on necessary elements). In a pot, a supply of nutrients can be exhausted very quickly, so a quality fertilizer program is very important. Fertilizer must include all necessary nutrients in easy accessible (soluble) form, and a plant must have their constant supply for proper development.
SOLUTION:
prescribe Ylang Ylang tree the following combination of plant food:
- SUNSHINE Pikake - Fragrant Flower Booster
It will provide well-balanced amounts of high absorption Phosphorus (P) and
Nitrogen (N), as well as Potassium (K) - to provide enough flowering energy
to the tree, plus a combination of all necessary micro-elements. It is safe
to apply this fertilizer as frequent as with every watering, including winter
time.
- SUNSHINE-Honey - sugar booster This supplement has a high content of elements Mo and B - once the tree starts getting them on regular basis (a few times a year, according to the label), it will trigger flower production.
You may also consider getting dwarf varieties of Ylang Ylang that starts
flowering in container right away:
Cananga fruticosa - Dwarf Ylang-Ylang
Currently these high demand plants are sold out, but new plants are
establishing and will be ready for sale within couple months. You may add your email
to wishlist ("Notify me when available") to get notification as soon as we
have it back in stock.
Ylang Ylang vines also start flowering within a year.
