Garden Blog - Top Tropicals

Date: 24 Jun 2018

TopTropicals

What you need for successful growing Adeniums

1) Adenium plants - from TopTropicals Endless selection of Adeniums. We have double flower, red, purple, yellow and even black flowers!
2) A small pot with excellent drainage is a must. Position the plant in a pot, size of root system.
3) Adenium soil mix. TopTropicals Adenium Soilless Mix. Use only well-drained soil.
4) Lots of light. Adeniums need lots of light for heavy flowering. However from our own experience, in super hot climates, they look healthier in filtered bright light. After initial planting, once the plant is established and starts growing new leaves (may take a few weeks), gradually move it into brighter light.
5) Little water. Adeniums like a neutral to hard water. Acidic water tends to sour the soil too fast and may cause root rot. Water plants preferably in the early morning, and allow them to drink up throughout the day. Watering can be done daily to every few days. Do not water again until soil dries on surface. Never allow your plants to sit in a saucer of water, but don't let them to dry out too often - this causes adeniums to go into early dormancy. Adeniums do not like both over-watering or drying-out.
6) Fertilizer. To make your plant develop a large swollen base/trunk, you'll need a good quality fertilizer. Use slow-release granulated fertilizer for overall plant health, and liquid water soluble fertilizer for swelling up trunks that is also used to increase flowering. It shouldn't be too high in nitrogen, the middle number should be the highest (similar to 10-50-10). Never apply fertilizer directly on roots and do not liquid feed when a plant is thirsty: always water first slightly to avoid root burn and leaf drop. Do not wet leaves.
7) SuperFood micro-elements. Besides macro-nutrients provided by fertilizer, Adenium needs micro-elements for balanced development of root system and especially caudex: Sunshine-SuperFood.
8) SUNSHINE-BC. Spray leaves with SUNSHINE-BC once a month to encourage young growth, profuse flowering and large caudex.
9) Growing caudex. There is a secret how to create a large swollen caudex: raise the plant a bit every time you re-pot it, so that the upper part of roots will be a little exposed. The plant will form more roots that will go down.

See full list of Adeniums - plants and seeds.

Date: 23 Nov 2025

🏡 To Use Your Garden Or Be Used By It

Two  cats  in  a  garden  planting  a  young  tree.  Smokey,  a  black-and-white 
 


tuxedo  cat,  holds  a  small  shovel  and  works  the  soil,  while  Sunshine,  a 
 


fluffy  orange  tabby,  sits  smiling  beside  a  bag  of  garden 
 


soil.

Smokey and Sunshine November Planting.

Smokey: Winter roots make spring easy. Keep that plant straight.
Sunshine: I am keeping it straight by not touching it at all.
Smokey: That is exactly what I was afraid of.

November is the month when the garden finally stops yelling at you. The heat backs off, the bugs calm down, and the weeds take a breath. This is when we get to take control again. And as gardeners, we know the truth: Either you use your garden, or your garden will use you in spring. Let me walk you through this, gardener to gardener.

"November is when the garden finally listens. Give it a little direction now, shape it, guide it, and prepare it for spring. It will reward you all year." - Tatiana Anderson, Top Tropicals Plant Expert

🌴 When The Garden Uses You

We have all lived this scene:

  • March weeds appear, and two days later it looks like a jungle.
  • One missed watering turns into five wilted plants and a full week of recovery.
  • A skipped feeding shows up as yellow leaves and panic searching online.
  • Bugs return fast, and suddenly you are washing leaves every other day.
  • Random plant purchases fill your yard with chaos and mismatched care needs.
  • When the garden takes control, spring feels like hard work, not joy.

An  overgrown  tropical  garden  with  dense  foliage  and  vines  spilling  over
 
 
  a  walkway,  showing  how  a  garden  can  take  over  when  not  maintained.

Overgrown Tropical Garden Showing How a Garden Can Use You

📊 When You Use Your Garden

November flips the script. Plants slow down. Soil stays warm. This is the safest month to experiment, move plants, fix mistakes, and redesign.

What you do now pays off huge in March.

  • You map out sun zones and shade zones.
  • You mulch now so weeds do not explode later.
  • You move plants to better positions without heat stress.
  • You remove the high-drama plants before they start another season of complaints.
  • You pick what you want for next year instead of letting impulse buys rule you.

Spring becomes smooth instead of overwhelming. And honestly? It feels good to walk outside in March and see order instead of chaos.

A  neat,  organized  tropical  garden  with  trimmed  plants,  open  pathways, 
 


and  balanced  landscaping,  showing  how  a  gardener  can  use  and  direct  the 
 


garden.

In the photo: Every garden starts in small steps. Biquinho Pepper (front) in the garden.

What Benefit Do You Get Personally?

  • Less watering.
  • Fewer bugs.
  • Bigger fruit.
  • Better flowering.
  • Less money wasted.
  • Less time fixing problems you could have prevented now.

This is why experienced tropical gardeners adore November.

Garden

In the photo: Organized Tropical Garden. Firebush (lemon gold variety) and Cordylines (Ti Leaf) make colorful spots in the garden.

🐭 Start With Something Small Today (5 Minutes)

Pick one:

  • Add mulch to the driest spot in your yard.
  • Cut one dead branch from any tree.
  • Move one pot to a better sun angle.
  • Pull three weeds from the worst area.
  • Water deeply once this week.

Small steps now save hours later.

⭐ One Short Story

Last year we planted a Star Fruit in November. By March, it was already covered in flowers, and have been harvesting fruit non-stop since then! That is what winter planning does: it gives plants a head start you can actually see.

Young  Carambola  Star  Fruit  tree  fruiting

🐍 Plants That Will Use You If You Let Them

These are great plants, but only if you plan before planting them:

  • Banana (thirsty)
  • Hibiscus (hungry)
  • Brugmansia (sensitive)
  • Passion vine (takes over anything it touches)

Place them wrong, and they become full-time jobs.

An  overgrown  passion  vine  covering  a  garden  swing,  showing  how  a 
 


fast-growing  plant  can  take  over  when  not  maintained.

In the photo: Passion Vine taking over the swing.

🐰 Plants That Work For You

These feel like free upgrades to the yard:

Pick even one of these and your garden starts giving back.

A  landscaped  garden  path  with  a  Cattley  Guava  tree  featuring  a  twisted 
 


multicolor  trunk,  surrounded  by  trimmed  tropical  plants  and  decorative 
 


garden 
 


elements.

In the photo: Cattley Guava brings not only tasty fruit but also a wonderful character with its amazing multi-color twisted trunk.

🌡️ November Advantage

You cannot ruin anything in November. This is the safest, calmest month to shape your garden the way you want. If you act now, spring becomes a victory lap. If you wait, spring becomes a rescue mission.

A  landscaped  tropical  garden  with  a  potted  Adenium  in  full  bloom,  red 
 


Cordylines  behind  it,  and  neat  mulched  beds  with  decorative  garden 
 


elements.

In the photo: Adenium is a colorful accent in the garden.

💐 Thanksgiving Tie-In

This is the season to reset, breathe, and be thankful for your outdoor space. A garden that works for you is one of the best gifts you can give yourself going into the new year.

Start your November plan today. Use your garden. Do not let it use you.

A  neatly  designed  tropical  garden  bed  featuring  Megaskepasma,  iris, 
 


Colocasia,  colorful  Crotons,  Dracaena,  and  Ti  Leaf  plants  arranged  in 
 


mulched 
 


landscaping.

In the photo: Megaskepasma, Iris, Colocasia, Crotons, Dracaena and Ti Leaf bring instant tropical look to your garden.

Shop Fruit trees

Shop Flowering shrubs

Date: 23 May 2024

Now you have seen everything: multi-grafted Adenium with different colors of flowers on the same plant!

Adenium

🌸 Now you have seen everything: multi-grafted Adenium with different colors of flowers on the same plant!

🛒 Shop Adenium colors and hybrids


#Container_Garden #Nature_Wonders

🏵 TopTropicals

Date: 22 Mar 2025

What are the most beautiful desert roses

Desert roses - Adeniums, collage of varieties

Desert roses - Adeniums, collage of varieties

🌸 What are the most beautiful desert roses
  • 🌸 Check out Top Tropicals selection of Desert roses - Adeniums, while we still have the most interesting varieties.
  • 🌸 If the weather is still cold in your area, we can hold shipping of your order weather-permitting. Don't miss the varieties you always wanted! They are selling fast, first come first serve.


📚 About Adeniums:



🛍 Shop Adenium colors and hybrids

#Container_Garden #How_to #Shade_Garden

🔴 Join 👉 TopTropicals

Date: 23 May 2024

ow you have seen everything: multi-grafted Adenium with different colors of flowers on the same plant!

🌸 Now you have seen everything: multi-grafted Adenium with different colors of flowers on the same plant!

🛒 Shop Adenium colors and hybrids


#Container_Garden #Nature_Wonders #Adenium

🏵 TopTropicals