Garden Blog - Top Tropicals

Date: 8 Jul 2024

What is the best Avocado variety? Five most popular Avocado varieties

Avocado Brogdon

Avocado Brogdon

Avocado Hass

Avocado Hass

Avocado Fuerte

Avocado Fuerte

Avocado Oro Negro

Avocado Oro Negro

Avocado Winter Mexican

Avocado Winter Mexican

Five most popular Avocado varieties



"What is the best variety of Avocado?"
"Do you have the one with small black fruit and bumpy skin?"

"I have avocado with very large green fruit, what variety is it?"

These are frequently asked questions we get from our customers. This basic "classification" by black/green doesn't encompass all the wonderful qualities avocados have to offer. There are numerous hybrids in cultivation, and once you plant your first tree and taste the REAL fruit (not from the grocery store), you'll be eager to explore other varieties. While it's true that avocado fruit can vary in "butter" content, most superior varieties are equally delicious.

✅ We will guide you through Avocado varieties like we did with Mango varieties in earlier posts. First comes first -

🏆 The most popular Avocado varieties:



1. Brogdon - red-purple pear-shaped fruit, 7-15 oz. Skin is very thin, yellow buttery flesh. Fruit ripens in late summer-fall. Very cold hardy.

2. Hass - probably the most popular, but this tree prefers drier climate (Florida is humid, so we plant adaptable Florida Hass here). The fruit is dark-colored with a rough and bumpy skin, turns black when ripe.

3. Fuerte - a dwarf and a very cold hardy variety. Everybody's favorite "Condo Avocado": perfect for container culture and small yards. The mature tree in the ground is under 15 ft; 6-7 ft in containers.

4. Oro Negro - Oro Negro means "black gold" in Spanish, which is an incredibly appropriate name for this fruit. This Monroe hybrid (with big size fruit) is crossed with a Mexican type which would explain the black skin. The flesh is rich and buttery with a creamy texture.

5. Winter Mexican - one of most cold hardy varieties, Guatemalan x Mexican origin. Mature trees may withstand temperatures in the mid 20s. Oblong fruit, 12-18 oz, thick green skin. Very vigorous tree, bears heavily and regularly in December-January.

📚 Learn more: Avocado Variety Guide - check this out for interactive chart of Avocado varieties and sort them by flower type A or B, tree habit, fruit shape and quality, cold hardiness, origin, season and more!

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Date: 3 Jul 2024

Why everyone wants the Sugar Apple?

Annona squamosa - Sugar apple, Red fruit Kampong Mauve

Annona squamosa - Sugar apple, Red fruit Kampong Mauve

Annona squamosa - Sugar apple, Green fruit Thai Lessard

Annona squamosa - Sugar apple, Green fruit Thai Lessard

🍏 Why everyone wants the Sugar Apple?



Annona squamosa - Sugar apple - is considered by many as the most delicious tropical fruit. We introduced the Annona trees earlier.
  • ✳️ Very small, compact tree, perfect for container or small yard, see photos from our Tropical Fruit Tree contest Winner.
  • ✳️ Starts fruiting within 3 year from seed!
  • ✳️ Easy to grow and undemanding
  • ✳️ The fruit is sheer deliciousness, pulp resembling custard.


🛒 Order Sugar Apple

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🏵 TopTropicals

Date: 20 Jun 2024

The most luscious Hospitality Fruit

Pineapple plant (Ananas comosus)

🍍 The most luscious Hospitality Fruit



💥 Pineapple plant (Ananas comosus) produces a delicious fruit treat and is a fascinating plant to grow.
  • 🔻 King of fruits. Pineapple is often referred to as the "king of fruits" (along with Durian and Mango). It is cherished for its sweet and tangy taste, refreshing qualities, culinary uses, and health benefits, including high vitamin C content and digestive enzymes.
  • 🔻 Bromelain for healthy guts: pineapples contain an enzyme called bromelain that can break down proteins and is often used as a meat tenderizer. It's great for digestion; eat 1 slice of pineapple after every meal to maintain healthy digestive system.
  • 🔻 Single fruit per plant: each pineapple plant produces just one pineapple per year.
  • 🔻 Growth time: It takes about 18-24 months for a pineapple to mature and be ready for harvest.
  • 🔻 Symbol of Hospitality: in many cultures, pineapples are a symbol of hospitality and welcome.
  • 🔻 Those are berries! A pineapple is formed from many individual single fruit (technically, berries), which fuse together around the core.
  • 🔻 Cultivation. Pineapples are easy to grow. They need only a little water to thrive. Take full sun, shade, semi-shade. For faster production, fertilize with SUNSHINE boosters Ananas - Pineapple and Bromeliad Booster. Perfect container plant, can be grown indoors as a houseplant.
  • 🔻 Propagation: pineapples can be grown from the crown of the fruit. If you like the variety of the fruit you just ate, just cut the top off and plant it in potting soil, it will root within a few weeks. Make sure to not overwater it. Many superior varieties are available in selection.


📚 Learn more: The most luscious Hospitality Fruit: Pineapple

🛒 Select Pineapple varieties

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🏵 TopTropicals

Date: 19 Jun 2024

Top 3 most wanted Papaya varieties

Papaya Maradol

Papaya Maradol

Papaya Solo Sunset, Semi-Dwarf from Hawaii.

Papaya Solo Sunset, Semi-Dwarf from Hawaii.

Papaya Solo Waimanalo, Dwarf

Papaya Solo Waimanalo, Dwarf

🍊 Top 3 most wanted Papaya varieties



Papaya fruit is one of the superfoods as we mentioned earlier. Below are the top 3 most interesting varieties: a full size tree, a semi-dwarf and a dwarf.
  1. Maradol. Vigorous full size plant with high yield. Commercially grown throughout Central Mexico, these papayas are 3 to 5 pounds in weight and the shape of an elongated melon. Soft and juicy, they have salmon pink or red flesh that is very sweet with a slightly perfumed, fruity flavor. Cut them in half lengthwise. Delicious and irresistible with a sprinkle of fresh lemon or lime juice.
  2. Solo Sunset, Semi-Dwarf from Hawaii. Commercially grown primarily on Kauai, it has dark pink to reddish-orange flesh. The fruit is medium to small size, shape is somewhat round. This is the sweetest Papya variety we ever tasted!
  3. Solo Waimanalo, Dwarf - oval, large size yellow fruit with dark yellow flesh. Low bearing tree makes harvesting easy. Grows wonderfully in Central Florida in both a container or in the ground. Will go from seed to fruit in just one year. Waimanalo has yellow-orange flesh.


Do you eat Papaya fresh or you also cook with it? Share in comments👇

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🏵 TopTropicals

Date: 19 Jun 2024

Breaking news: flower smells of freshly baked bread! It smells so good, you want to eat it!

Vallaris glabra - Bread Flower

🍞 Breaking news: flower smells of freshly baked bread! It smells so good, you want to eat it!
  • 🍔 Vallaris glabra - Bread Flower - is one of the most impressive tropical vines that is very popular in Thailand and other South-East Asia countries.
  • 🍔 Moderate growth woody climber with clusters of freshly-baked-bread fragrant white flowers.
  • 🍔 Easy to care and tolerates wide range of conditions. It can be trained as a compact bush and is good for container culture.
  • 🍔 Attracts butterflies and hummingbirds.
  • 🍔 Relatively cold hardy, mild frost doesn't do any damage to it, even large tropical leaves stay glossy, green and healthy.
  • 🍔 It is very vigorous grower that can create nice privacy hedge or cover a large fence.


Have you smelled the Bread Flower? Did you like the fragrance? Share in comments👇

🛒 Shop tropical vines

#Hedges_with_benefits #Nature_Wonders #Butterfly_Plants

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