Garden Blog - Top Tropicals

Date: 26 Apr 2023

The Benefits of Companion Planting

Landscaped garden with companion planting

Q: What is companion planting?

A: Companion planting is a gardening technique that involves planting different crops or types of plants together in a way that benefits all plants. This practice has been used for centuries, and it can be especially useful in tropical gardens where there is a diversity of plant life: trees, shrubs, vines and climbers, ground covers, fruit and edibles, and different flowering ornamentals. It is a great way to improve the health and yield of fruit tree crops while reducing the need for fertilizers and pesticides. By choosing the right companion plants and planning your garden layout carefully, you can create a vibrant and diverse ecosystem that will benefit both your plants and the environment.

Companion planting involves:

Planting different crops together to repel insects: adding such plants as Lemon grass, Patchouli leaf, or Moujean Tea near your vegetables can deter aphids and other pests.

Attracting pollinators - Butterfly plants. Many tropical crops, such as passion fruit, papaya, mango, and avocado, rely on pollinators to produce fruit. Companion planting can help to attract pollinators such as bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds to your garden.

Providing nutrients to the soil, adding mulch and low growing plants (ground covers) to preserve moisture.

Planting a variety of different types of plants together in order to create a more resilient ecosystem that is less susceptible to pests and diseases.

To get started, plan your garden layout and choose companion plants with similar water and light requirements.
For example, plant in the same group lush foliage plants, gingers, and flowering brunfelsias in shady areas; plant jasmines and gardenias in full sun and very well-drained spots.
Rotate annual crops regularly and experiment with combinations to find what works best. By doing this, you can create a thriving ecosystem that benefits both your plants and the environment, reducing the need for harmful chemicals.

Landscaped front yard with companion planting

Chose your plants wisely

Buddah and flowers

Date: 29 Jul 2019

When to fertilize and prune tropical fruit trees?

Q: Can tropical fruit trees (Soursop, Mango, Star fruit, etc) be given plant food any time of year? Also can they be trimmed this time of year/summer?

A: True tropical plants (including fruit trees) need plant food most of the year in real Tropics, where temperatures have very little fluctuations, and active growth season is close to 12 months a year. In subtropical areas when temperatures in winter drop below 65F, plant metabolism slows down, so it is recommended to fertilize only during the warmest period (March through November). So yes, Summer is the perfect time for fertilizing your trees; their metabolism is at the highest point and they can use more food!

Trim your fruit trees right after harvesting. Obviously, you don't want to prune branches before or during flowering or fruiting. The specific time of the year for pruning depends on the plant - every tree has its own flowering/fruiting season. However, avoid pruning right before winter: young shoots promoted by pruning are tender and can be cold damaged.

Recommended fertilizers for fruit trees:

Fruit Festival Plant Food - Super Crop Booster
Mango-Food - Smart Release Fruit Tree Booster
SUNSHINE-Honey - for sweeter fruit
SUNSHINE SuperFood - microelement supplement

Date: 19 Jan 2022

Avocado Q & A

Sensation: Avocado 2.5 y.o seedling just bloomed!

Ed's Avocado seedling blooming at age 2.5 years old... Go figure!

Q: Can I plant a seed from a store bought avocado and expect it to bear fruit?

A: Avocados grown from seed do not always come true, meaning being the same as the avocado that produced the seed being planted. Also, avocados grown from seed will take upwards of 8 years to flower and bear fruit unless grown by Ed Jones and his witchcraft. Ed Jones, the Avocado Guy... Yes, he is also the Mango Guy, and the Booster Guy... We don't know how he does it. He grows the most beautiful fruit trees, many of them from seed and they all seem to flower within two years! (See his blogs about his Star Fruit, Olive trees, and video about Shaping Mango Trees). All we know for sure, he uses Sunshine Boosters for all his plant experiments.
As far as Avocado , we recommend a grafted variety, where a scion, or branch tip, of a known cultivar is grafted to good rootstock. These trees will usually flower right away and bear good amount of fruit within a couple of years of being planted in the ground.
It's a good chance now to get a good grafted Avocado on our special Happy Value Sale while supply lasts, for only $59.95.

Date: 16 May 2026

🔮 When the World Around Becomes Too Gray

When the world feels gray, plant another tree. Smokey brings the jaboticaba. Sunshine brings donuts and encouragement.
Sunshine: Smokey, what do we do when the world around becomes too gray?
Smokey: Plant a tree.
Sunshine: And if that does not help?
Smokey: Plant another one.
Sunshine: And eat a donut.
Smokey: Not strictly necessary, but statistically beneficial.

If you have been feeling a little worn down lately, you are not alone.

You already know about the headlines. We do not need to list them. You have probably seen them today before breakfast.

We are not here to pretend that is not happening. It is happening. And it is a lot. But here is the thing we keep coming back to, the thing that has been true for as long as people have had hands and a patch of ground: when the world feels out of control, you can still plant something.

Gardening is not an escape. It is an answer. When you put a tree in the ground, you are making a quiet statement. You are saying that you expect there to be a future. That you intend to be in it. That shade and fruit and flowers still matter, and you are going to make sure they exist in your corner of the world.

That is not naive. That is courageous in the most ordinary and underrated way.

One tree, planted this season, might give you fruit in a few years. It might give butterflies somewhere to stop. It might give a bird a place to nest. It will almost certainly give you something to look at on a hard day that reminds you the world still contains beauty, and that you put some of it there. And if one tree does not quite do it? Plant another one.

Dostoevsky said beauty will save the world. We think a mango fruiting in your backyard counts. So does a Magnolia opening on a quiet morning.

Do not skip the donut.

A donut is a small, simple, completely unnecessary thing. That is exactly the point. It is not productive. It does not solve anything. It is just good, and sometimes that is the whole reason. In a world that constantly demands you be useful and informed and concerned, eating a donut is a quiet act of being human. You are allowed to enjoy a small thing on a hard day. You do not have to earn it.

Rest a little. Then go put something in the ground. Anything that will grow and flower and remind you that beautiful things are still happening whether the headlines mention them or not.

We have the plants. You bring the donuts.

🛒 Plant a sweeter world: grow color and flavor

Tray filled with freshly harvested tropical plums in shades of red, orange, and yellow resting on green grass, with a few leafy branches placed on top of the fruit.

We just finished harvesting loquats and mulberries, and now another wave is coming in - low chill plums, peaches, and nectarines fresh from the garden. This is one of the most rewarding times of the year, when every season brings the fruit of your labor and all that work finally turns into something sweet.

📚 Learn more from our garden Blog

Date: 9 Aug 2021

Care of Desert Roses

Q: I am looking forward to my three desert roses I just ordered from you and I am wondering how to take care of them, especially during winter time. Should I put the pots in full sun or shade? What kind of soil do they like? How often should I water them? When it gets cooler, should I bring them inside? We do have occasional frost here during winter.

A: Here are a few tips for your desert roses:

1. When received Adenium from mail-order, unpack carefully; branches are fragile. Plant in well-drained potting mix. Cactus mix will do, but we recommend special Adenium mix. If using regular acidic peat-based potting mix, you may add sea-shells on top of soil to neutralize acidity: adeniums prefer alkaline soils. Using clay pots is beneficial. Water once and do not water again until soil gets dry. Place in bright shade until new leaves sprout, then the plant can be moved to full sun.

2. Adenium is a succulent, but not a cactus. It needs watering, however let soil dry before waterings. Reduce watering during cool season and discontinue when plant gets dormant (drops all leaves in winter).

3. Bright light is the best for profuse flowering. However, adeniums look much healthier in slightly filtered light rather than in all-day full sun.

4. Fertilize and spray leaves with liquid fertilizer SUNSHINE Megaflor - Nutrition Bloom Booster. Phosphorous is responsible both for flowering and caudex development. Avoid caudex, spray over foliage only. Dry fertilizer can be used only during hot months.

5. Watch for spider mites during hot and dry season.

6. Give plants a break during winter dormant season. Keep in bright shade and reduce watering to 1-2 per month or stop watering if temperature is below 65F.

More info on growing Desert Roses:
What you need for successful growing Adeniums
Overwintering Adeniums outside of tropics
Growing Exotic Adeniums - Growing Exotic Adeniums

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