Garden Blog - Top Tropicals

Date: 7 Jun 2025

From seed to fruit. How to grow Loquat from seeds, step-by-step guide. Part 1: planting seeds

Loquat tree (Eriobotrya japonica) - seedlings

✍️ From seed to fruit. How to grow Loquat from seeds, step-by-step guide. Part 1: planting seeds

  • 🍑 1. Harvesting and Preparing Seeds


  • Harvest: Select ripe Loquat fruits (when they are bright yellow color) and remove 1-3 seeds from each.
  • Clean: Rinse seeds thoroughly in cool water to remove all fruit residue. Like with every fruit seeds, any pulp leftover may prevent germination and/or cause rot of the seeds.
  • Storage: If not planting immediately, wrap seeds in a damp paper towel and store in a vented container with moist sawdust or moss (to avoid drying out) at room temperature (if stored a few days) or at 40F if stored for over a week. Seeds can remain viable for up to 3-6 months. Refrigerating the fruit doesn't harm the seeds, although may take seeds longer to germinate. If the seeds are slightly dry, soak them in water overnight.


🍑 2. Planting Seeds

  • Container: Use a pot with a good drainage.
  • Soil: Fill with well-draining, soilless potting mix (no compost or top soil). Perfect seed germination mix is Abundance Mix: peat moss (or coconut fiber) - 80%, perlite - 10%, small pieces of pine bark - 10%.
  • Depth: Plant seeds 1"deep. Place them horizontally.
  • Spacing: Multiple seeds can be planted in one pot or tray (with drainage holes); space them adequately. You can use so called “community pots”, then separate the seedlings once they reach 2-4" in height.


🍑 3. Germination Conditions

  • Light: Place the pot in a bright, warm area with temperatures at least (and above) 70F . The warmer, the faster the germination. We germinate seeds in a "hot house" where temperatures can reach 100F.
  • Moisture: Keep the soil consistently moist but not wet.
  • Germination Time: Loquat seeds germinate within 2-4 weeks.

Continued in next post ⤵️

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Date: 6 Jun 2025

How to grow Dragon Fruit

🐉 How to grow Dragon Fruit


  • 🌵 Selenicereus megalanthus - Yellow Pitaya, Dragon Fruit Palora, is the best tasting Dragon Fruit in the world that is not only sweet, it has a great flavor (unlike most pitayas that are pretty watery).

  • 🌵This particular species of Dragon fruit doesn't mind regular water and rains but is also drought-tolerant. Watch a short video how to grow it:

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📚 Learn more:



🛒Grow your own Tasty Dragon Fruits

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Date: 5 Jun 2025

Why Mallika Mango is stealing the spotlight in small gardens

Mallika Mango tree with fruit

🌈 Why Mallika Mango is stealing the spotlight in small gardens

🥭 Mallika mango is a top-tier Indian dessert mango with rich flavor, zero fiber, and condo-friendly size. It is a semi-dwarf mango from India known for its deep orange, fiberless flesh and intense sweetness with citrus and melon notes. The fruit is harvested mature-green and ripens off the tree at room temperature, reaching peak flavor after 2 to 3 weeks. Small but highly productive, Mallika is ideal for containers and prized for its flavor, disease resistance, and reliability. Best eaten fresh, but also excellent for juice and dried mango slices.

🛒 Shop Mango varieties

📚 Previous posts: #Mango_Rainbow - varieties you should try

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Date: 4 Jun 2025

How long until I get fruit from my Lychee tree?

Lychee tree with fruit

💖 How long until I get fruit from my Lychee tree?

  • 🍓 Is your Lychee tree ever going to fruit? Yes!
  • 🍓 A Lychee tree grown from an air-layered plant (Litchi chinensis) can start flowering and setting fruit right away, with good crops to be expected within 3 to 5 years, but don’t expect fruit every season. Lychees are often alternate bearers, meaning they may produce a heavy crop one year and little to none the next. Factors like variety, weather, and the tree's health affect this cycle.
  • 🍓 Lychees cannot be reliably grown from seed or grafted, as seedlings lack the necessary mycorrhizal environment found under mature trees. For best results, always start with a quality air-layered tree from a trusted source.


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🎥 In the video: This Lychee Mauritus tree (very productive variety) was planted last year, and already has fruited; this is the second year crop.

#Food_Forest #Discover
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Date: 3 Jun 2025

What fruit smells like roses

😏 What fruit smells like roses



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🛒 Plant your Rose Apple, smell the roses and be happy!

#Food_Forest #Fun_Facts

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