Garden Blog - Top Tropicals

Date: 27 Nov 2025

🎃 Thanksgiving Weekend Deal

Schlumbergera  x  New  Deal  -  Thanksgiving,  Christmas  Orchid  Cactus,  plant
 
 
  covered  in  cascading  bright  pink  flowers  indoors.

Photo above: A long-blooming holiday classic, Schlumbergera New Deal, an heirloom Thanksgiving-to-Christmas cactus with cascades of oversized pink flowers. Blooms from Thanksgiving through Easter!

As our way of saying thank you for growing with us all year long, here is your exclusive holiday code. Use it for 15% off any order over $100 (excluding shipping and handling):

THANKS2025

Ends November 30th, 2025 (Sunday) at midnight.
Min order $100 (exculuding S/H).
One use per customer.
Cannot be combined with other discounts.
Cannot be applied to previous orders.

Check out our specials below - hand-picked by our horticulturist for size, beauty, and vigor! These are the biggest, fullest plants you'll see all year! Take advantage of this Holiday discount code and get them now at their best and fullest point!

🛒 Shop Tropical plants

Gloxinia  sylvatica  -  Bolivian  Sunset,  close-up  of  a  flowering  plant 
 


with  many  bright  red  tubular  blooms  and  dark  green  leaves.

Gloxinia sylvatica - Bolivian Sunset. A perfect fall-winter standout: it bursts with glowing blooms and makes a great holiday gift as a flowering start.

Large  blooming  Gardenia  nitida  plant  with  many  white  star-shaped 
 


flowers  and  glossy  green  leaves  growing  in  a  container

Gardenia nitida, Shooting Star: a rare African gardenia with sweet fragrance and star-shaped blooms that appear several times a year. Soft diamond-shaped leaves. This true collectors gem blooms in dramatic waves, filling the air with a strong, sweet scent.

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

Date: 28 Sep 2024

What is Barbados Gooseberry?

Perescia aculeata - Barbados Gooseberry, flowers

Perescia aculeata - Barbados Gooseberry, flowers

Perescia aculeata - Barbados Gooseberry

Perescia aculeata - Barbados Gooseberry

Perescia aculeata - Barbados Gooseberry, fruit

Perescia aculeata - Barbados Gooseberry, fruit

What is Barbados Gooseberry?



Perescia aculeata - Barbados Gooseberry, is a very interesting, unusual addition for any self-sustaining landscape due to its fast-growing nature and unique combination of cactus and leafy vine, with beautiful flowers and showy edible fruit.

Low-maintenance plant, it is perfect for covering walls or fences, adds greenery and a productive food source, making it both practical and visually appealing.
  • A unique cactus with real leaves, unlike most cacti. Needs very little water.
  • Fast-growing vine that can cover fences or walls quickly.
  • When in bloom, the vine is covered with beautiful white flowers, followed by bright orange, edible, tangy fruits.
  • Great for adding greenery and a food source to your garden.


🛒 Plant Barbados Gooseberry

#Food_Forest #Hedges_with_benefits

🔴 Join 👉 TopTropicals

Date: 8 Jul 2025

How to grow Dragon Fruit from a cutting - Quick Guide

Dragon fruit, Pitaya - Hylocereus sp.

🌵 How to grow Dragon Fruit from a cutting - Quick Guide

  • 🐉 Get a healthy cutting


    Use a 6-10 inch long stem cutting from a mature dragon fruit plant. Let the cut end dry in the shade for 2-5 days so it forms a callus. This also helps prevent rot and fungus.
  • 🐉 Prepare the soil


    Use well-draining soil - well drained potting mix, Adenium mix, or cactus mix is ideal. Dragon fruit hates wet feet!
  • 🐉 Plant the cutting


    Stick the callused end about 2-3 inches deep into the soil. Make sure it's planted upright (the way it grew on the parent plant).
  • 🐉 Support it


    Add a trellis or post. Dragon fruit is a climbing cactus and needs something to grow on.
  • 🐉 Water lightly


    Water once after planting, then wait until the soil dries before watering again. Overwatering can rot the cutting.
  • 🐉 Give it sun and warmth


    Place in bright, indirect sunlight while it roots. Once established, it can handle full sun.
  • 🐉 Watch it grow!


    Roots usually form in 2-4 weeks. New growth means it's taking off! This is the time to Ferilize it!


🛒Shop Dragon Fruit plants and cuttings

📚 Learn more:


#Food_Forest #How_to #Dragon_Fruit

🟢 Join 👉 TopTropicals

Date: 10 Jul 2025

🐉 New video:
Quick Guide - How to grow Dragon Fruit from a cutting

Dragon  fruit  from  cutting  video  guide

Step by step guide:

1. Use a 6-10 inch long stem cutting from a mature dragon fruit plant. Let the cut end dry in the shade for 2-5 days so it forms a callus. This also helps prevent rot and fungus.

2. Use well-draining soil - well drained potting mix, Adenium mix, or cactus mix. Dragon fruit hates wet feet!

3. Plant the cutting. Stick the callused end about 2-3 inches deep into the soil. Make sure it's planted upright (the way it grew on the parent plant).

4. Support it. Add a trellis or post. Dragon fruit is a climbing cactus and needs something to grow on.

5. Water lightly. Water once after planting, then wait until the soil dries before watering again. Overwatering can rot the cutting.

6. Give it light and warmth. Place in bright, indirect sunlight while it roots. Once established, it can handle full sun. Watch it grow! Roots usually form in 2-4 weeks. New growth means it's taking off! This is the time to Ferilize it!

Watch the 30-sec video
Dragon  fruit  collage Shop Dragon Fruits