Garden Blog - Top Tropicals

Date: 4 Mar 2025

What are the best varieties of edible Banana and which one should I plant?

Truly Tiny Banana

Truly Tiny Banana

Cuban Red Dacca Banana

Cuban Red Dacca Banana

Double Mahoi Banana

Double Mahoi Banana

Dwarf Cavendish Banana

Dwarf Cavendish Banana

Gran Nain Banana

Gran Nain Banana

Banana Lakatan

Banana Lakatan

🍌 What are the best varieties of edible Banana and which one should I plant?



Continued for the previous post🔼

🔥 The most popular edible banana varieties:

  • 🍌 Truly Tiny - is a compact banana variety growing 2-3 feet in pots and up to 5 feet in the ground, perfect for small spaces or container gardening, producing 4-5 inch fruit with a distinctive pineapple flavor.
  • 🍌 Cuban Red Dacca - a vibrant tropical banana variety with reddish-purple, plump, and short bananas that are sweeter and richer in flavor than common yellow bananas, thriving in warm climates and reaching 8-15 feet tall.
  • 🍌 Double Mahoi - is a Cavendish banana variety that typically produces a double stalk of bananas in its second year, boosting the harvest.
  • 🍌 Dwarf Cavendish - a hardy, vigorous banana variety growing under 5-8 feet, producing large, flavorful fruit with minimal care, making it a popular backyard banana in Florida and one of the most common Cavendish types for hobbyists and container gardens.
  • 🍌 Gran Nain - is the true Chiquita banana, growing under 5-8 feet tall and producing large bunches of fruit, making it a staple of commercial banana production.
  • 🍌 Ice Cream (Blue Java) - a cold-tolerant hybrid of Musa balbisiana and Musa acuminata, vigorous banana growing 10-15 feet tall and producing 40-60 lb bunches of stout, bluish-skinned fruit with sweet, vanilla-flavored, cream-like flesh that can be eaten raw or cooked.
  • 🍌 Banana Lakatan - a popular Philippine banana cultivar prized for its sweet taste, rich aroma, and firm texture, making it a top choice for dessert bananas.


🆒 Banana #Fun_Facts
  • 🟡Bananas are rich in potassium, which helps regulate blood pressure and supports heart health.
  • 🟡They provide a quick source of energy and are great for post-workout recovery.
  • 🟡The fiber in bananas aids digestion and promotes gut health.
  • 🟡Eat them fresh, add to smoothies, bake into breads and desserts, or use in various savory dishes.
  • 🟡Rubbing the inside of a banana peel on mosquito bites can reduce itching and swelling.

Learn about ornamental Bananas in next post 🔽

🛍Shop Banana varieties

#Food_Forest #Bananas

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Date: 17 May 2025

How to double your banana crop without extra space

Banana Double Mahoi

🍌 How to double your banana crop without extra space

  • 🍌 Double Mahoi - is a Cavendish banana variety that typically produces a double stalk of bananas in its second year, boosting the harvest. It is one of the most popular banana varieties for home growers - and for good reason! Here's what makes it so great:
  • 🍌 Double the Fruit: After the first fruiting, this variety often produces a second flower stalk - two harvests from one plant, which is rare among bananas.
  • 🍌 Heavy Producer: Known for large, dense bunches of sweet, dessert-type bananas. One plant can produce up to 100 bananas per cycle!
  • 🍌 Dwarf Size: Grows only about 6 to 8 feet tall, making it perfect for smaller yards, containers, or even patios.
  • 🍌 Tasty Fruit: The bananas are sweet, soft, and flavorful, similar to the classic Cavendish but often fresher and more satisfying.
  • 🍌 Self-Pollinating & Reliable: Easy to grow, doesn't need another plant to fruit, and performs well with basic care.
  • 🍌 Great for Containers: Compact growth and fast fruiting make it ideal for container growing - even indoors with enough light.
  • 🍌 Fast Fruiting: Can begin producing in 12-18 months under good conditions.
  • 🍌 Why everyone wants Double Mahoi Banana? Because it's the most productive dwarf banana for home gardens. You get lots of fruit, it doesn't take up much space, and you can grow it in almost any warm climate - or in a pot anywhere else. Double Mahoi is the go-to banana for gardeners who want reliable harvests in a small footprint.


🛒 Grow twice the Bananas - plant Double Mahoi

📚 Learn more about #Bananas

#Food_Forest #Discover

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Date: 28 May 2025

How to make your own coffee from homegrown beans

Coffee Tree in a cup (Coffea arabica)

Coffee Tree in a cup (Coffea arabica)

Coffee Tree with fruit (Coffea arabica)

Coffee Tree with fruit (Coffea arabica)

Coffee beans (Coffea arabica)

Coffee beans (Coffea arabica)

Coffee beans (Coffea arabica)

Coffee beans (Coffea arabica)

Coffee beans (Coffea arabica)

Coffee beans (Coffea arabica)

Coffee cherries on a tree (Coffea arabica)

Coffee cherries on a tree (Coffea arabica)

☕️ How to make your own coffee from homegrown beans



Q: Can you make coffee from your
own tree? Isn't there a process involved to prepare beans for it?
A: Absolutely! Yes, it is quite a process... But homegrown coffee lets you enjoy the freshest, chemical-free beans with rich flavor and the satisfaction of growing it yourself. Besides, it's fun! Below is a quick guide how to grow and make your own coffee from freshly harvested coffee fruit (called "cherries").
  • Harvest the ripe cherries


    Pick the bright red fruits when they are fully ripe. These contain the coffee beans inside.
  • Remove the beans


    Squeeze the cherries to pop out the seeds (beans). Rinse off any pulp and soak them in water for 1-2 days to ferment and remove the slimy coating.
  • Dry the beans


    Spread the clean beans on a tray in a sunny, dry spot. Let them dry for 1-2 weeks, turning them daily, until they feel hard and papery.
  • Remove the parchment


    Once dried, crack and remove the thin husk around each bean. You now have green coffee beans ready to roast.
  • Roast the beans


    Use a dry skillet or oven. Heat until beans turn brown and fragrant, stirring constantly. The longer you roast, the darker and stronger the flavor.

Cool and grind


Let roasted beans cool completely, then grind them just before brewing. Enjoy your homemade cup of fresh coffee!

🛒 Grow it. Pick it. Roast it. Drink it. Buy your coffee tree now!

📚 Learn more from previous posts:


#Food_Forest #Container_Garden #Shade_Garden #Discover

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Date: 1 Jun 2025

How to have your own FREE fresh Noni juice year round

How to have your own FREE fresh Noni juice year round

Many people have heard about the mysterious and miraculous Noni fruit, yet few know exactly what it is. This odd-looking fruit grows on a beautiful tropical tree from Polynesia - Morinda citrifolia, that actually belongs to a Coffee family! The Noni fruit, also called Cheese Fruit for its special odor, has unique health benefits. It is said that this plant food is to be used when we are feeling really ill or really old... Do you want to know how to have your own FREE fresh Noni juice year round?
📱

#Food_Forest #Remedies

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Date: 19 Jun 2025

Valencia Pride mango - a stunning shade tree with red-blushed, fiberless, honeyed fruit

Valencia Pride mango

Valencia Pride mango - a stunning shade tree with red-blushed, fiberless, honeyed fruit.
Mango Rainbow🌈


🥭 Valencia Pride is a vigorous Florida heirloom - a Haden seedling from 1941, famed for its large, oblong-sigmoid fruit with yellow skin and crimson blush. The nearly fiberless, firm flesh is juicy and flavorful, offering sweet-tart notes of honey, coconut, and stone fruit . The tree grows tall and open, making it ideal for shade in zones 9-11, and is moderately cold-hardy with good disease resistance. It ripens mid- to late summer (July-August in Florida) and produces reliably once established.

🛒 Shop Mango varieties

📚 Previous posts: #Mango_Rainbow - varieties you should try

#Food_Forest #Mango #Mango_Rainbow

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