Date: 27 Oct 2025
Large Grafted Mango Trees - Plant Now Before Winter!
"Next Time We'll Specify - A TREE!" - Smokey and Sunshine Plant a Giant Mango
🌡️ Why plant now?
Fall is the perfect time to plant tropical fruit trees. The soil is still warm, the air is mild, and your trees can quietly build strong roots. By spring, they’ll already be settled and ready to grow fast.
Imagine walking outside next summer and picking your own mangoes from a tree you planted this fall!
💲 Special Offer – 20% off Large Mango Trees: 7-15 gal
Get 20% OFF large grafted Mango trees (7-25 gal) with code
MANGO2025
Min order 150 (excluding S/H), valid online only, cannot be combined with other offers.
Hurry, offer expires November 03, 2025!
👉 Explore Mango Varieties:
15 gal pots: pick up or delivery
Date: 18 Aug 2025
🌟Repotting FAQ
Q: How big should the new pot be?
A: Only a few inches larger than the old one. Oversized pots hold too much moisture and may cause root rot.
Q: Why are plastic pots better than ceramic?
A: Plastic pots are lighter, easier to handle, and you can cut them if a root-bound plant is stuck. Ceramic pots are heavy, breakable, and often lack drainage.
Q: How do I safely remove a plant from its pot?
A: Turn the pot upside down and let gravity help. Never pull by the stems or leaves. If stuck, lay the pot on its side and squeeze or tap it. Cut the pot if needed.
Q: Should I remove old soil from the roots?
A: No. Roots have tiny hairs that absorb water and nutrients. Shaking off soil damages them and sets the plant back.
Q: Why must the plant sit at the same soil level?
A: Planting too deep suffocates the stem, and planting too high exposes roots. Keeping the same level protects the root crown.
Q: How soon should I water again after repotting?
A: Water thoroughly right after repotting, then wait until the top inch of soil dries before watering again.
🌱 Done! Your plant now has room to grow stronger before fall.
Date: 31 Jul 2025
Anthurium Collector Set
These aren't your typical tropicals - they're collector-grade Anthuriums grown for foliage and texture. Each one brings something different, but they all thrive in the same kind of setting: shade or filtered light, warmth, and humidity. Perfect for growing in containers indoors or out.
Anthurium Black Dragon
This is the most dramatic of the trio. Upright, leathery leaves shift from dark green to nearly black depending on light. Instead of bright flowers, it produces a dark brown spadix and glowing red berries. A hybrid not found in the wild, it's grown from seed - no two are exactly alike.
- Best for: Indoor focal plant, shaded patio, black ceramic pot
- Height: 2–4 ft in container
- Texture: Thick, architectural leaves
- Highlight: Color shifts with light intensity
Read more about Black Dragon Anthurium
Anthurium hookeri – Giant Bird's
Nest
This one's about scale. Broad, crinkled leaves with a cardboard-like texture form a bold rosette. It can get huge with time - up to 6 feet across. Perfect for gardeners who want the "instant jungle" look.
- Best for: Shaded garden, large pots on porches
- Height: Up to 5 ft; width even more
- Texture: Wrinkled and leathery
- Highlight: Bright red berries in maturity
Buy Giant Bird's Nest Anthurium
Read more about Giant Bird's Nest Anthurium
Anthurium vittariifolium – Long
Leaf Anthurium
Graceful and rare, this species sends out narrow strap-like leaves that can reach 5–6 ft long. Ideal for hanging baskets or mounting. Bonus: it produces small pink fruit against deep green foliage.
- Best for: Hanging displays, vertical planters, bright bathrooms
- Height: Leaf length, not upright height - up to 6 ft
- Texture: Smooth, ribbon-like
- Highlight: Cascading growth and color contrast
Read more about Long Leaf Anthurium
✅ How to Care for Anthuriums
- Light: Bright, indirect light is best. Avoid direct sun, especially mid-day. These plants evolved in rainforest understory - think "dappled light under trees."
- Water: Keep the soil lightly moist but not soggy. Let the top inch dry before watering. They hate wet feet.
- Humidity: These are tropicals - they'll do fine in 50-60% humidity, but thrive at 70%+. Use pebble trays or place near other plants. Bathrooms with windows work great.
- Soil: Use an airy mix: orchid bark + perlite + peat or coco coir. Drainage is key. Never use plain potting soil.
- Fertilizer: Feed with SUNSHINE Robusta every 2–4 weeks during warm seasons. It's formulated for aroids and won't burn roots.
- Potting: Use shallow, wide containers. Repot only every 2–3 years, or when roots crowd the pot. They don't like frequent disruption.
- Temperature: Ideal: 65–85 F. Short dips to the 30s F are tolerated by mature plants, but avoid cold drafts.
Date: 6 Dec 2025
🌿 Bring the Jungle Inside: Winter Survival Guide Part 1: Lighting ❄️
Smokey: "Winter lighting must be precise. I need this light exactly at 14
inches."
Sunshine: "Sure. I am holding this… little number thing."
Smokey: "It reads humidity. Your main job is to look cute."
🌞 LIGHT, TEMPERATURE, PLACEMENT
Winter indoors is a different kind of battlefield. Dark rooms. Dry air. Cold windows. Random drafts. Weak light. Sad plants. We've been talking about keeping your tropicals alive outdoors previously. But some of you have no choice this time of year. You have to bring the jungle inside.
If that is you, then this is your plant survival guide.
☀️ LIGHT: THE WINTER LIFELINE
Light advice here comes straight from our in-house expert, Michael Dubinovsky, a high-tech lighting engineer with over 30 years of hands-on experience. If he says brightness beats hours, trust him.
Here is the truth: Indoor light in winter is 10 to 50 times weaker than outdoors. Short days. Low-angle sun. Windows filtering half the useful light. It all adds up.
Tropicals need 10 to 12 hours of real brightness. Winter sun cannot do that on its own. Not even in a big window. So we help them.
Use bright LED shop lights or utility lights. 5000K to 6500K CCT. High lumen output. Skip decorative bulbs. Skip purple grow fancy toy lights. If you want a single plant light, even a clamp lamp is fine if you screw in a bright daylight LED bulb.
Panels work best for plant clusters. Bars for shelves. Bulbs for single plants. And grouping plants under one bright panel always beats spreading them out.
Distance matters: keep LEDs about 12 to 18 inches above the leaves. Too close: leaf burn. Too far: stretching, weak stems.
Leaves reaching up? Light is too high or too weak. Leaves curling down? Light is too close.
If you want a reality check, download any smartphone lux meter app. Most indoor corners are 50 to 200 lux without supplemental light. Tropicals want much more
And a quick tip about windows: winter sun comes in sideways. A spot that looks bright at noon can go dull by 2 PM. Don't count of window light
Bright light or long hours
People try to fix weak light by running it for 16 or 18 hours. That does not work. Plants care more about light intensity. A few hours of strong light beats all-day dim light. If the light is weak, adding more hours will not change anything except your electric bill.
Simple rule: Short duration but bright is always better than long duration but weak. - by Michael, Top Tropicals lighting expert
No need for fancy horticultural panels
You do not need purple grow lights. You do not need special horticultural fixtures. You do not need expensive panels unless you want real winter growth.
For winter plant holding till spring, the inexpensive solution works great:
- Bright LED daylight bulbs (5000K to 6500K) from hardware store
- High lumen output
- Inexpensive clamp lamps
- Aim directly at the plant from 12 to 18 inches
This setup keeps tropicals happy until spring without buying anything fancy. Save the money for soil, pots, or your next plant.
Indoor plant lighting safety note:
- Use timers. Keep cords dry. Do not overload outlets.
- Do not hang lights over humidifiers.
- And do not put fixtures on piles of books to raise them. People do this.
✔️ WINTER INDOOR FAQ: TEMPERATURE AND PLACEMENT
Q: I am in Home Depot. Which light do I buy?
A: LED shop light, daylight color (5000K to 6500K), high lumens. Skip fancy plant bulbs.
Q: Can I use clamp lamps or floor lamps for plants?
A: Yes. Clamp lamps with a bright daylight LED bulb work great for winter holding.
Q: Do I need special horticultural grow lights?
A: No. A bright LED daylight bulb works fine for winter. Save the fancy lights for real growth projects.
Q: How far should the light be from the plant?
A: About 12 to 18 inches above the leaves. Too close burns. Too far stretches.
Q: Can I run weak lights for 18 hours to compensate?
A: No. Weak light plus long hours still equals a weak plant. Brightness matters more than hours.
Q: How do I know if a spot is bright enough?
A: Use a free phone lux app. Most indoor corners are much too dim for tropicals.
Q: I have a huge window. Why do I still need LEDs?
A: Indoor winter light is weak, short, and filtered by glass. Plants want intensity, not just a big window.
Q: My window faces north. Now what?
A: North windows are decorative only. Use supplemental lighting or move the plant.
📚 Learn more:
Date: 20 Dec 2025
☃️ Winter is choosing season
Smokey: "December is for planning, not planting."
Sunshine: "Gift card now. Perfect plants later."
Smokey: "You surprise me sometimes. Must be the donuts."
This time of year always feels special to us. The days are shorter, the garden slows down, and we finally have a moment to pause, look at our wish lists, and dream a little about spring.
As gardeners, we know winter is not really planting season. It is choosing season.
It is when ideas take shape. When we think about what we want to grow next, what we want to add, and what we want to do differently when warm days return. That is why, in winter, the best plant gift is not a plant itself. It is the promise of one.
Cold weather and holiday shipping can make winter plant deliveries stressful, especially for tropical plants traveling north. A gift card lets plants wait for the right moment, and lets the gardener enjoy the fun part now: planning, choosing, and imagining.
It also solves something we all know too well. Every gardener is wonderfully different. Some dream of fruit trees, others of flowers, rare collectors, or easy growers. Some plant in containers, some in the ground. Guessing is hard. A gift card lets them choose exactly what fits their garden and their vision.
🎁 Holiday Gift Card Bonus
To make the season a little brighter, we are offering a holiday gift card bonus through 12/31/2025.
When you purchase a gift card, we add 15% extra value. Just add Christmas greeting in gift card message field. For example, a $100 gift card becomes $115 to spend.
The bonus value is not valid with other promotions or discounts. Gift cards cannot be used to purchase other gift cards. Bonus value is added at the time of purchase.