Garden Blog - Top Tropicals

Date: 16 Jun 2025

Why is my palm tree turning yellow?

Green and yellow palm

Green and yellow palm

🌴 Why is my palm tree turning yellow?



Yellowing leaves are a common concern with palms and can be a sign of several issues, most commonly: nutrient deficiency and pests or disease. Additionally, leaf yellowing may be a sign off overwatering or poor drainage, underwatering, or cold damage.
  • ✔️ Nutrient deficiency


    Nutrient deficiency is the most frequent cause of palm issues. Palms are heavy feeders, and even a slight imbalance can lead to yellowing. Lack of nitrogen, magnesium, iron, or potassium is the leading cause.
  • ✔️ Signs of nutrient deficiencies:


Magnesium and Iron deficiency is one of the top culprits, especially in sandy soils. It causes older fronds to turn yellow with green veins.
  • Potassium deficiency causes yellow or orange spots on older fronds.
  • Nitrogen deficiency leads to overall pale yellowing, especially in new growth.


✔️ How to fix?


Use a slow-release fertilizer with high Nitrogen content, like Green Magic, that includes all these elements; with 16-6-11 grade and 6 months release, it turns plants green very quickly! You can also use a balanced liquid fertilizer like Sunshine Robusta. Additionally, a supplement of magnesium sulfate (Epsom salt) and micro-element supplement containing chelated Iron can help, like Sunshine Superfood (amino-acid based natural product).
  • ✔️ Pests and Diseases


    Pests and fungal diseases can lead to yellowing. Check for signs of scale, mites, or fungal and bacterial problems, especially if yellowing is uneven or spotted.
  • ✔️ Signs of pests:


Thrips cause silvery-yellow streaks or mottling
  • Spider mites, especially in dry conditions, cause yellow speckling
  • Scale insects can suck sap and weaken fronds
  • Mealybugs often found in leaf bases and crowns


✔️ How to fix?


Inspect your palm regularly and treat pests early with neem oil, insecticidal soap, or horticultural oil.
  • ✔️ Lethal yellowing


    Lethal yellowing is a serious disease caused by a phytoplasma, a type of bacteria-like organism. It affecting mostly Coconut palms and some other species like Phoenix (Date) palms. It causes premature fruit drop, yellowing of fronds starting from the lower ones, and eventual death of the tree.
  • ✔️ How to fix?


    Unfortunately, there's no cure, but early removal of infected trees can slow the spread. Disease-resistant coconut varieties are available.
  • ✔️ Other causes


Overwatering or Poor Drainage: Too much water can suffocate roots and lead to yellowing. Make sure the soil drains well and let it dry slightly between waterings.
  • Underwatering: Dry soil for too long will stress the palm. Water deeply but infrequently.
  • Cold Damage: Exposure to cold temperatures can turn fronds yellow or brown, especially in tropical varieties.


✔️In most cases, leaf yellowing isn't fatal, but it's a sign your palm needs attention. Focus on balanced feeding, proper watering, and pest checks to keep your palm healthy and green. Trim only fully dead fronds - yellow ones still provide nutrients to the palm. With proper care, your palm should green up again.

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Date: 10 Sep 2025

The secret to abundant dragon fruit harvests

The secret to abundant dragon fruit harvests

✍️ The secret to abundant dragon fruit harvests



🔴 Dragon fruit (Pitaya) thrives when it's fed regularly. For the best results, use Sunshine C-Cibus, a complete liquid fertilizer made for fruit trees. It is gentle enough to apply with every watering, all year long, and it gives your plants the steady nutrition they need to set more flowers and produce bigger harvests.

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Date: 31 Oct 2023

How to establish Tabernaemontana
and get more fragrant blooms

abernaemontana  australis  flowers

Q: I purchased Tabernaemontana australis from you back in June of this year and it recovered just fine, but the new growth got some chlorosis.   Older leaves still look normal.   The flowers also look normal but lack fragrance.   Since I live up north, I have it in a heated greenhouse for the winter, with a grow light to compensate for the short days.   I have it in a 10 inch clay pot in a mix of equal parts standard indoor potting soil, peat moss, and perlite.   It gets fed with half strength 10-10-10 about once a month on average.  Is there some specific culture that you would recommend for this plant ? I really love it and want it to thrive.

A: Tabernaemontana is a plant that may take some time to establish itself, and leaf chlorosis often becomes a common issue when the root system is not well-established. This symptom is indicative of Iron deficiency, and possibly other micro-element deficiencies, such as Boron or Molybdenum, which become more apparent when the plant receives excessive water. This problem tends to intensify as temperatures drop, particularly when a combination of cool and wet conditions prevails. It's worth noting that your potting mix seems to be appropriate for this plant.

In light of these circumstances, we recommend the following steps:

1) Reduce watering during the cooler season, especially when daylight hours are shorter. Allow the top layer of the soil to dry before watering again.

2) Consider supplementing with microelements using a product like   Sunshine Superfood. You can apply this as a foliar spray and mix it with your watering can.

3) Maintain your regular fertilizing program throughout the winter months, but ensure that you use only liquid amino-acid fertilizer, such as   Sunshine Megaflor. Follow the instructions on the label for the correct dosage and apply it with each watering, even during the winter. Since you will be reducing amount of water, the amount of fertilizer also will be adjusted accordingly.
Important: do not use any dry fertilizers during winter months (Nov-March).

Regarding the fragrance of the flowers, they typically emit a mild, sweet scent, although it may not be as potent as that of gardenia or jasmine. The strongest aroma usually becomes more prominent during warm (but not excessively hot) and humid conditions, particularly in the morning hours. As the plant grows larger and healthier, the fragrance should become more intense because the flowers produce more essential oil when the plant is robust. You may also apply Sunshine Honey supplement to improve flower quality and fragrance strength.

abernaemontana  australis  bush

Date: 4 Jul 2019

Super RARE: the Honduran Moon-Torch Cactus

by Mark Hooten, the Garden Doc

The most wonderful, easily growing, giant flowering, fragrant, and floriferous species of Selenicereus I have grown is an almost unknown species called Selenicerius hondurensis.  While its climbing stems are rarely thicker than a Sharpie marker, it's flowers measure 12 to 14 inches across (!), open as the sun is setting, and produce a most incredible fragrance... very rich and spreading thru the area. It smells like a combination of both white chocolate and vanilla. S. hondurensis also develops the most richly colored flowers of the Selenicerei, the outermost petals being a glowing orangey-gold. It's very stunning and provocative!  It flowers magnificently, several times during the summer... Continue reading...

Recommended fertilizers:

Tropical Greenhouse Plus - Plant Booster
Tropical Allure - Smart-Release Booster

Picture of the actual plants for sale:

Date: 18 Oct 2016

Checklist - preparing for winter in subtropical areas.
Watering. Start reducing the amount you water your plants in early fall, once the temperature drops below 65 °F. Avoid watering your plants during cool nights, as this may cause serious root rot.
Mulch. When a plant is protected by a thick layer of mulch, the root system stays healthy.
No Pruning. Avoid pruning, trimming, or pinching branch tips altogether during the fall and winter which encourages new shoots that are soft, tender, and very cold sensitive.
No Fertilizer. Avoid fertilizers during the winter. The main reason being the same as above for pruning: fertilizing promotes growth of the upper plant parts which should be avoided during the winter months.

Time to clean your yard!
In the South. It's getting cooler in subtropical areas, and garden work becomes even more enjoyable. Your garden now is in the most perfect shape after summer vigorous growth. It is the best time now to run the last trim before winter, as well as last fertilizer application. Clean up your yard without sweating off, add mulch to help plants to survive through possible winter chills. Don't forget to start reducing watering! Remember once temperatures drop below 65F, tropical plants slow down or stop growing and go into winter dormancy sleep.

Up North. When temperatures drop below 45 °F, start bringing sensitive plants indoors or into protected areas. Prepare/cover greenhouse, check availability of covers (sheets, plastic) and condition of heaters. Plants indoors will experience environment change, may drop leaves, and need different care than out in the sun. Reduce watering, check for insects once a week, and stop fertilizing until spring. Remember to pick the brightest spots for overwintering your tropical plants!

Enjoy cooler weather, fresh air, and thank yourself for a wonderful work you have done in your yard!