Garden Blog - Top Tropicals

Date: 22 Aug 2022

What tree will fruit indoors?

Fruit  trees  for  indoor  containers

Q: I love your tropical fruit selection and I wish I lived in a warmer climate. Is there any fruit tree that can be happy indoors during winter and have fruit? I am not expecting a big crop but it would be fun to have a small piece of tropics at home. I don't have much gardening experience, can you suggest something easy for a start?

A: Several tropical fruit trees can be grown indoors, in pots, providing bright light that is necessary for flowering and setting fruit. Among them are many varieties of Bananas, Guavas, Annonas and tropical Cherries - these can be easily maintained in containers. Even dwarf varieties of Avocado and Mango are good candidates for indoor culture. You can bring containers indoors for winter and take outside into full sun during warm months so your plants can store lots of energy in Summer.
The easiest fruit tree for indoor culture that doesn't require bright light and can be grown indoors year around is a Coffee tree. Start with it, it is on sale today! Once you gain some experience, you can upgrade to a Chocolate tree!
Remember, all container grown plants need balanced nutrition program. It can be easily provided with Sunshine Boosters your around. For fruit trees, just add some Sunshine C-Cibus Crop Booster to your cart.

Coffee  video

Date: 28 Nov 2021

Easy Sunday Morning Deals: Sweet Dragon or Sweet Cherry?.. Both!

Sweet Dragon or Sweet Cherry?.. Both!

Photo above: Biquinho Pepper (Capsicum annuum x chinense) - nipple-shaped bright orange to red fruits with unique flavor which packs quite a bang!
Not because of its heat, but because of its intense fruity habanero flavor!

Saving on your favorite plants is Easy. Easy like Sunday Morning...

This weekend we celebrate our Easy Sunday and Cyber Monday together!
So we've doubled your opportunity to Save AND we've added a second beautiful plant to help you save even more!
Take an extra day to enjoy your Easy stroll through Top Tropicals' Garden with savings of

50% OFF and MORE!

For two days only, you can easily get the sweetest variety of the Dragon Fruit and add a super rare variety of Tropical Black Cherry Lolita to your garden!
Both plants Easy Priced at $19, that's a savings of more than 50% from the regular $39 price!
Learn more about these plants:

Yellow Dragon Fruit

Selenicereus megalanthus - Yellow Pitaya, Dragon Fruit
- 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).
These plants originated from Ecuador and are well-developed, multi-branched, as you can see from the photo.

Picture of the actual plants for sale:

Lolita Cherry

Eugenia uniflora - Black Surinam Cherry Lolita
- rare, hard-to-find black-fruited variety Surinam Cherry starts as red and turns black as it ripens.
It is very sweet and has exceptional flavor, without aftertaste, large 1-1.2 inch, very juicy.
Reliable producer. The tree is upright, freely branching, cold hardy to upper 20's once established.
Plants are in 2 gal pots, well branched and ready to fruit next season.

Picture of the actual plants for sale:

You can save even more by using our Black Friday sales discount code on your order:

FRIDAY20 - 20% OFF - for orders over $200
FRIDAY15 - 15% OFF - for orders over $150
FRIDAY10 - 10% OFF - for orders over $100

Excluding S&H. Codes extended through Monday: 11/29/21

Remember, the special $19 prices are good for only 48 hours and expire Tuesday morning at 7 am EST.
Limited to availability, while supply lasts, hurry up!

Enjoy!

Date: 3 Aug 2019

Grafted or seedling?

Photo: Mr Barcy meditating before planting Nutmeg seeds

Q: I planted an avocado seed and it sprouted quickly, it has been only a couple months and I already have a small plant. How soon will it produce fruit? Can I grow other tropical fruit from seed?

A: Unfortunately, some fruit trees, including varieties of avocado, mango, lychee, as well as apples and peaches - must be either grafted or air-layered in order to produce, for 2 main reasons:
- seedlings may take a very long time until fruiting, up to 10-15 years
- seedling gives no guarantee on the quality of the fruit or variety
These fruit trees should be propagated as "clones" - both grafted material or cuttings are actually copies of the mother plant and will keep the same fruit qualities. Grafted trees usually start producing immediately.
However there is a number of fruit trees that come true from seed, and take a very short time to start flowering. Jackfruit, Annonas (Sugar Apple, Guanabana, etc), Papaya, Icecream Bean, Eugenias start producing at a young age (3-4 years from seed).

Recommended fertilizers for fruit trees:

Fruit Festival Plant Food - Super Crop Booster
Mango-Food - Smart Release Fruit Tree Booster
SUNSHINE-Honey - for sweeter fruit
SUNSHINE SuperFood - microelement supplement

Date: 2 Jan 2025

New Year with New Plants:
Choose from 17 Tropical Paradise Resolutions!

Indoor  garden  and 
 


greenhouse

"A garden is never so good as it will be next year..." - Thomas Cooper.

Happy New Year, dear fellow gardeners! As we step into a fresh new year, it's the perfect time to think about what exciting, special, and life-changing plants we can add to our gardens. The days are getting longer, and spring is just around the corner, so now's the time to make a plan and prepare for the season ahead. Let's take small steps each year to create the garden of our dreams. This winter, consider these fun resolutions:

  1. Hang a bird feeder and install a rain barrel
  2. Order some tropical plant seeds for an early start
  3. Ask your grandparents about their favorite garden plants
  4. Build a raised bed for succulents
  5. Plant a fruit tree or two to have some crop this year
  6. Start a compost pile
  7. Switch to organic fertilizers and plant boosters
  8. Fill empty spaces with flowering trees, shrubs, and vines
  9. Add butterfly attractors to your garden
  10. Provide water for bees and butterflies to help them thrive and pollinate your fruit trees
  11. Get a bonsai starter to try bonsai art
  12. Enjoy meals outside as often as you can
  13. Teach a child how to plant a tree
  14. Plant berry-bearing shrubs like Tropical Cherries to feed the birds
  15. Rake up leaves for winter mulch
  16. Add a few exotic plants to your indoor collection or container garden
  17. Share plants as gifts all year long

Happy gardening in 2025!

Cat  with  tropical  plants

Date: 1 Jan 2019

Top Tropicals New Year Resolutions

We take this opportunity to extend our grateful thanks to all visitors and friends of our garden and website. The entire Top Tropicals team wishing you a Happy New Year with Happy New Plants!

In 2019, Top Tropicals plans include (but are not limited to):
- improved design of the website, online store and shopping cart
- many new introductions of rare flowering plants including Red Jade Vine, lots of new Adeniums
- rare fruit trees, including Mangosteen, Nutmeg, Clove and more
- extended selection of rare tropical seeds
- many new videos of rare tropical plants
- free and discounted shipping
Stay informed with our Newsletter updates!

New Year Resolutions for Gardeners in 2019

TopTropicals.com

January is the month to plan and dream about your yard and garden. Grow your garden a few steps at a time each year: pick a few resolutions for 2019 and plan accordingly. Next year, a few more, and so on until you build the garden of your dreams.
This winter, resolve to:
- Hang a bird feeder.
- Order seeds of some rare plants so you can have an early start.
- Prune a tree into an espalier - it's a perfect time before Spring.
- Ask your grandparents what they grew in their gardens.
- Build a raised bed for succulents.
- If you live in a warm climate, plant a fruit tree or two.
- Start a compost pile.
- Plant a palm tree.
- Try some plant boosters to improve your plants hardiness.
- Chose Flowering trees, shrubs and vines suitable for areas in your garden that still have room...
- Install a rain barrel.
- Eat outside as often as possible.
- Show a child how to plant a tree.
- Provide a water source for bees and butterflies. They are not only cool, but also pollinators that will help to set fruit and seeds!
- Call TopTropicals for garden advise - what to plant, where to plant, and how not to kill it!
- Plant a berry-bearing tree or shrubs to feed the birds. Mulberry, Blackberry, Tropicals Cherries - are always good choices. They are 15% OFF now, offer expires 1/8/19.
- Rake and save fallen leaves for winter mulch for your garden beds.
- Save seeds from flowers to plant next year.
- Give plants as gifts all year long.

Happy gardening in 2019!