Noni, the Superfruit

Nature's Food and Pharmacy

At our Christmas Plant Market a few days ago, many guests purchased a Noni tree. Everybody loved its large, beautiful leathery leaves, and were buying Noni as a present. It was appreciated as ornamental, for example as a showy specimen tree with a tropical look for a pool area. But very few people actually knew that this tree was a source of a famous Noni Juice - a unique remedy from Mother Nature... Some were surprised the plant had so many health benefits! So we promised to tell more about Noni in our newsletter.

The Noni tree - Morinda citrifolia - is a beautiful ornamental tree because of its glossy green leaves and curious fruit. The tree is prized for its medicinal fruit.
The Noni is considered to be a "superfruit" because of its high levels of antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals. The fruit, leaves, and roots of the Noni tree are used in traditional medicine to treat a wide variety of ailments, including pain, inflammation, and infections. Some people also use Noni fruit and juice as a natural health supplement because of its potential health benefits.
Additionally, the Noni tree is easy to grow and care for, making it a popular choice for both gardens and houseplant collections.

For more information on health benefits of Noni, download pdf of Noni article (from our Magazine Tropical Treasures) and watch the video: Doctor Noni.

In the photo: Noni as a houseplant. So much better than a boring ficus!

In the photo: Noni is happily fruiting in 7 gal pot. It's a beautiful ornamental and a conversation piece.

Eight best fruit trees that produce right away

Grow Your Own Food

In the photo: Malpighia glabra - Barbados Cherry, Acerola

Get your plants ready for winter:
Just spray this to improve cold hardiness...

While 1) and 2) may be out of our control, the 3rd factor is something that can be easily improved! It is important to feed plants during the season of active growth on regular basis by applying macro- and micro- elements. Liquid fertilizers and especially natural plant food like Sunshine Boosters can be applied year around to keep plants healthy and strong.
Besides the routine fertilizing program, just a few applications of special plant hormones can increase tropical plant hardiness big time! Before the cold is coming, spray your plants with these 3 magic potions and they will gain a few degrees in low temperature tolerance! It is recommended to make 2-3 applications.

- Sunshine Superfood
- Sunshine Epi
- Sunshine Power-Si

What is the best Avocado variety?

Grow Your Own Food

Q: Most trees in my yard were destroyed by hurricane Ian and now I have to start my landscape from scratch. So I decided to plant something useful. Avocado is my favorite. In the stores I see two kinds, large green or small black, but I was told there are many varieties. When I googled the best variety of avocado I found your website. You have quite a selection! Now I don't know which variety to chose. Can you please help? I have room for several trees.

A: Indeed there are many varieties of Avocado (we grow over 50 kinds). Some avocado lovers try to get as many varieties as they can fit in their yards because every variety has its unique flavor and texture.
2 main Avocado kinds that we usually see in grocery stores are -
1) smaller black fruit with rich, buttery texture - Mexican and Guatemalan hybrids
2) green avocado, some can be as large as a small melon, but they have light texture - West Indian types
There are many hybrids. How to pick the right variety for your yard?

Check out our Avocado variety page and scroll down to see a chart that shows characteristics of fruit, tree size, cold hardiness, and chose the right variety that fits your needs.

Below are just a few picks from our horticulturist - our favorite varieties that we enjoy and highly recommend to others.

Best tasting large green Avocado hybrids:

Bernecker, Beta, Doni, Catalina, Pollock.

Best tasting black or dark green, buttery Avocado hybrids:

Winter Mexican, Brogdon, Black Prince, Day, Fantastic, Florida Hass, Marcus Pumpkin, Mexicola Grande, Nishikawa, Waldin

Dwarf trees (black fruit):

Wurtz, Fuerte.

For local customers: see large 15-gal size Avocado trees, delivery and installation available!

Today all avocados are 13% off instantly with no min. order, take advantage of this quick sale and get all varieties you want!

Guava, the easiest container fruit tree

Grow Your Own Food

Guava is one of the most popular and well-known tropical fruit because it is so tasty, sweet, juicy and flavorful! Many people are familiar with it because of the large number of products made from this aromatic fruit. But very few people know that Guava tree culture is very easy and this plant can fruit in a pot right away. Guava tree start blooming and producing fruit as small as 1 gal pot size. It can be kept in compact shape, responds well to pruning, stays bushy and grows very fast. It is a perfect container fruit tree or a specimen for a tropical garden of any size.
Upon ripening, the fruit becomes soft and juicy. It may be eaten fresh, made into a juice or nectar contain fruit pulp, or made into preserves, jam, jelly, or paste. A distinctive, savory-fresh aroma of fruit is thermo-stable, thus survives processing. The guava is an excellent source of vitamins C and A.
The plant is relatively cold hardy. Our young trees, 3 months after being planted in the ground were exposed to a short period of freeze last winter (mid-20's) but they grew back without significant damage. Try to keep Guava cold-protected for the first winter, then it will be much hardier once established.
Guavas are fast growers and heavy feeders, and benefit from regular applications of fertilizer. Make sure to get some Sunshine Boosters fertilizer: Sunshine C-Cibus - Crop Booster, and feed them your round.