Garden Blog - Top Tropicals

Date: 23 Sep 2020

Fast-fruiting trees?

Photo above: Annona reticulata - Red Custard Apple

Q: More of a question than a review, but a review regarding your catalog, it would be easier for us buyers, if we could search for plants that produce fruit in 2 years or less, I don't have the patience to wait longer than that for fruit. I'm trying to buy for a fairly good sized garden but want some fast growers and fruit produced in 2 yrs. Can you help me out?

A: Fruiting time depends on many factors (established size, growing conditions, fertilizing, and even specific variety), this is why we can not just put a simple icon "will fruit within 2 years".
However, most grafted and air-layered fruit trees, including all Mango, Avocado, Loquat, Sapote, Sapodilla, Lychee/Longan, Peaches and Nectarines - will fruit right away. If you see in our store "grafted" or "air-layered" in plant description - these trees will fruit soon. Some of them already flowering and fruiting.
Some non-grafted trees or seedlings like Annona, Artocarpus (Jackfruit), Eugenia, Guava, Banana, Dragon fruit, Mulberry, Blackberry/Raspberry - will fruit within 3-4 years from seed or even sooner (Banana, Mulberry, Dragon fruit, Blackberry-Raspberry - within a year). Usually it says in description that this plant can produce fruit soon.
Bigger size plants are more established and have more energy to produce, so try to get larger size plants if your budget permits, and especially if you can pick up bigger plants rather than shipping them - obviously, shipping has size limitations.
In addition, all spice trees like Bay Leaf, Bay Rum, Allspice and many more - they will produce spice for you right away, so you don't need to wait at all!
If you have questions about fruiting time on any specific plant you put your eye on, don't hesitate to ask!

Photo above: Pimenta dioica - Allspice

Date: 2 Apr 2026

Stop Fixing Your Soil: 15 Bulletproof Fruit Trees for Tough Ground

Loquat (Eriobotrya japonica) fruiting

Stop Fixing Your Soil: 15 "Bulletproof" Fruit Trees for Tough Ground 💩

Not everyone starts with a lush, loamy paradise. In many parts of Florida and the South, "soil" is just a polite word for sand, limestone rock, or depleted clay.
The biggest mistake new gardeners make? Spending hundreds of dollars on soil amendments before they ever put a tree in the ground.
The secret the pros know: You don't need to change your land to fit your plants; you need to choose plants that love your land. Some of the most delicious fruits actually thrive on neglect - and a few even produce better fruit when the soil is "poor."

🌳 The "Big 5" Toughest Fruit Trees

Jujube, Chinese Date

Ziziphus jujuba

Loquat

Eriobotrya japonica

Mulberry

Morus alba

Fig

Ficus carica

Pomegranate

Punica granatum

🌳 Tropical Flavors That Don't Need "Perfect" Dirt

🌟 The Sand-Lovers:

Mango (Mangifera indica): While young trees need a little babying, a mature Mango is incredibly drought-tolerant and handles Florida’s sandy "sugar sand" like a champ.

Sapodilla (Manilkara sapota): A rugged, wind-resistant tree that produces fruit tasting like brown sugar and pear. It is a top-tier choice for coastal or sandy areas.

Tamarind (Tamarindus indica): It’s slow-growing but patient. Once it’s in, it’s there for a century, regardless of soil quality.

🌟 The Low-Maintenance Stars

Longan

Euphoria longana

Citrus

🌟 The "Quick-Win" Berry & Shrub Layer

Dragon Fruit

Hylocereus undatus

Barbados Cherry

Malpighia glabr

Grumichama

Eugenia brasiliensi

Surinam Cherry (

Eugenia uniflora

Pineapple Guava (

Feijoa sellowiana

🌳 The Strategy: "Plant First, Improve Later"

In the South, the "dig a $100 hole for a $10 tree" rule doesn't always apply. Trying to completely re-engineer your soil often leads to drainage issues (the "bathtub effect").

Try this instead:
1. Select a species naturally adapted to your pH and texture.
2. Plant it at the correct height (never too deep!).
3. Mulch heavily with wood chips. This improves the soil from the top down over time, mimicking a natural forest floor.

🛒 Shop Fruit Trees and Mango

📚 Learn more:

· Loquat, Sapodilla, Mulberry, Eugenia, Tamarind - in Plant Encyclopedia
· 10 best fruit trees to grow in Florida and Southern landscapes

#Food_Forest #How_to #Discover

🟢 Join 👉 TopTropicals

Date: 7 Feb 2017

After Super Bowl Sale

Chill out and relax by planting a tree! We just watched the most exciting Super Bowl ever... What a game! It was the greatest comeback in Super Bowl in history. Now it is time to let Top Tropicals help give your garden a great comeback too. Relax, have some peaceful happy time, and nothing can be better than planting a tree!

The best tree ever, by many features is a Mango tree. Here at least 5 reasons why:
1. Mango tree is good for beginners since it has low maintenance requirements, including low water needs.
2. Mango tree is easy to ship.
3. Mango tree is a great present.
4. Mango tree is a rewarding fruit tree that will produce fruit for you the same or next year - all our varieties are grafted and ready to bloom.
5. Mango tree produces the most delicious fruit in the world. The sweetest, flavorful, fiberless varieties can be only tasted from home gardens - they simply are not available from grocery stores due to transportation reasons (only fiborous low quality fruit can be safely shipped and stored).

Take advantage of this generous 25% off offer and get yourself a mango tree:
- Dwarf varieties, "Condo" mangoes, great for containers: Carrie, Cogshall, Ice Cream, Julie, Lancetilla, Lemon Meringue, Mallika, Nam Doc Mai, Pickering.
- Large, fast growing, vigorous trees that will quickly create shade and comfort in your garden: Bailey's Marvel, East Indian, Haden, Jakarta, Philippine, Southern Blush, Valencia Pride.
- Exotic collectibles that are hard to find and almost nobody has, be a proud owner of delicious exotic flavors: Alampur Baneshan, Alphonso, Choc Anon (Miracle), Heidi, Maha Chinook, Pim Seng Mun.

Happy planting, end enjoy your fruit soon! See all varieties (for backorder items, add to your wishlist and you will be notified when available, very soon!)

Hurry up, WHILE THE STOCK LASTS! Offer is valid 2 days only, and expires February 9. Offer not valid for previous purchases.

Date: 16 May 2024

When Bigger means Better

Everybody loves shopping online nowadays, and plants are no exception. Buying plants by mail order is not uncommon anymore; it only takes one click, and luckily, there are many sources - from big shopping malls like Amazon to small backyard nurseries that sell their seedlings on eBay or Facebook - all delivered to your door. But plants are alive... So when doing your online plant shopping, you must ensure that you fully enjoy your experience and are happy with a healthy plant that a) doesn't die; b) recovers quickly; and c) starts growing fast, so you can see flowers and fruit as soon as possible.

The rule of thumb for shipping plants: bigger plants undergo shipping better, experience less stress, less leaf drop, and recover quicker than plants with smaller root systems. So when it comes to buying plants online, the bigger, the better. Unfortunately, many mail-order plant sources may sell you a tiny twig that has very few chances of surviving. Shipping is very expensive today, so shipping a bigger size plant may cost more than the plant itself.

Below is a piece of advice on how to make the best plant selection for your garden...

Photo above: Loquat trees in 3 gal containers.

5 important rules on how to buy trees online

1. Find a source with bigger plants. Check reviews, ask friends for recommendations, inquire from the company about the size of their plants and how they pack their plants for shipping.
TopTropicals offers well-established, strong plants with developed root system, in container sizes 1, 3, 7, 15 gallon, directly from a tropical Florida growing farm. Our unique plant-packing techniques are state of the art!

2. Price not always reflects the size and quality of the plant
TopTropicals offers many deals, discounts and sales, while still providing the biggest and strongest plants grown in real tropical conditions.

3. Most fruit trees must be grafted to produce good fruit. Make sure you are not purchasing a seedling when it comes to Mango, Avocado, Peaches and some other trees with named varieties that don't come true to seed.
TopTropicals offers only grafted - Mango, Avocado and a large number of other tropical cultivars.

4. Pick up when possible from the nursery your ordered from, or get a delivery, instead of shipping the plants. A drive to the nursery will save you more time and money in the future, plus you can hand-pick the biggest and healthiest specimens.
TopTropicals is open 7 days a week for your convenience. Visit our Ft Myers Garden Center or Sebring Farm to select the biggest plants.

5. Take advantage of X-Large size plant material if you live outside the tropical zone and are trying to zone-push your tropical garden. Bigger plants will establish faster and have more chances to survive cold winters. Again, it will save you money in a long run (although bigger plants may be more expensive, but their survival rate is much higher when it comes to cold nights).
TopTropicals offers X-Large flowering and fruiting trees (7-15-25 gallons), and most of the varieties you see in our online store can be custom-ordered in big sizes. Delivery and installation available.

Shop 7 gal trees