Date: 9 May 2017
Secrets of flowering of Jasmine Sambac
Q: Q: My Jasmine sambac Maid of Orleans is growing very fast and produced lots of branches and dark green leaves, when will I see flowers? I only saw 2 or 3 flowers since since Spring. I is planted by East wall of the house. Should I use some special fertilizer perhaps?
A: Jasmine sambac is a tropical bush or vine that enjoys hot summers. Since it
tolerates wide range of light conditions, it can be grown both in shade or sun; this is why it is highly recommended for indoor
culture where light level is limited. Remember though that profuse blooming directly depends on the light level. Your Eastern
exposure location may not be providing enough light for the flowering. Dark green leaves are also a sign of a filtered light
sitution. Extra fertilizing may not help to induce flowering if the light is low, although it is always beneficial for a plant
(it may just start producing even more leaves and branches). The ideal conditions for Sambac's flowering are - full sun all
day long, high temperatures (upper 80's-90's, even over 100F is fine), and very good drainage. Some gardeners call Jasmine
sambac "almost a succulent", referring to its low watering needs. To be exact, this plant requires regular watering, but will
produce lots of flowers only providing perfect drainage. You may never see flowers if the plant has wet feet or water-logging
occurs. If your summers are rainy (like in Florida), make sure your jasmine is planted with at least 4-5"elevation and not in a
low/wet spot.
See Top Tropicals Video about jasmine Sambac:
Date: 18 Jan 2017
10 plants that can make you happy.
3D garden ideas.
3D garden ideas.
Q: Can you make my yard bigger and prevent it from freezing?
A:
Yes, we can make your backyard bigger by adding a 3rd dimension - trees as a upper level, shrubs as a second level, vines in between, low growing perennials below them. Add ground covers and potted plants as separate specimens in between in-ground planted trees and shrubs. One more separate dimension is orchids and other epiphytes that happily grow on the trees. This multi-level structure will allow you not only collect so many plants, but also maintain them in a natural environment, similar to how they grow in a wild.
As far as preventing from freezing - it depends. You can use greenhouse, cover plants, create microclimate under large canopies, etc. Some tropical plants are tolerant to light frost, once established. If it gets below freezing in your area for more than a few hours, and especially if you have numerous nights with frost throughout winter, we recommend to keep plants in pots (BTW, this way you save space and can collect even more!). Pots can be moved to protected area during cold nights. The more established the tree, the more chances to survive colder temperatures. You may also use propane heaters during cold nights.
We also use plant booster SUNSHINE boosters to increase plants cold tolerance.
Cold protection is a lengthy subject. Here is some more information on cold protection.
Also, we recommend to check out our magazine Tropical Treasures (about pushing the limits of tropical gardening) for a detailed article on cold protection.
These are specific articles on Zone-Pushing in different issue #s regarding dealing with cold. See downloadable issues:
(#1) Growing Tropicals in Nontropical Climate, Three Freezing Nights in Southwest Florida
(#2) Temperature drops - an alert or a rehearsal?
(#5) Dealing with cold snaps, Cold hardy beauties
(#7) When winter is around the corner, Growing exotic Cordyline in colder climate
(#8) When the weather outside is frightful
(#9) Winter champions
(#11) Ready-for-winter checklist for in-ground plants
(#13) Winter checklist
(#18) Dealing with cold damaged plants
You may also order hard copies.
If temperatures drop below freezing in your area, remember to add Heat Pack to your order!
10 plants that will make you happy.
Everyone wants to be happy. Did you know that growing plants is not only fun but can also make you happy? In our new series we will introduce to you 10 plants for your tropical collection that will make you happy.
Visit our Facebook, YouTube Channel and stay happy!
Check out this video: 10 plants that will make you happy. Plant # 1 - Rose Apple.
Stay updated with TopTropicals Videos by subscribing to our channel at YouTube.com/TopTropicals
Date: 24 Oct 2016
Overwintering Adeniums outside of tropics
Q: We bought several adenium plants from you. We are moving to the Denver area of Colorado. How can we make sure the plants survive? Should we use a green house?
A: Adeniums are perfect container plants, and house plants. They can be easily grown outside of tropical climate. During winter, Adeniums drop leaves and go into dormancy which makes it easy to keep these plants in a dormant stage in a warm location of your house, or possibly even in well-lit spot of garage (with a window), with temperatures above 50-60F.
Here in South Florida, during time of cold, when chances of freeze are high, we move our own Adenium collection into lanai, with plastic sheet protection around lanai.
In colder climates, Adeniums can be kept indoors as house plants during winter. There are some requirements/tips for you:
- Temperature. Move Adeniums indoors when temperature starts dropping below 45F.
- SUNSHINE. Use SUNSHINE boosters to improve cold resistance of Adeniums, and essure healthy plant throughout winter. SUNSHINE-BC
Date: 28 Sep 2016
Helping plants to survive winter:
SUNSHINE BOOSTERS - FROM SUNSHINE STATE
A magic plant hormone so wanted by gardeners, is finally here! When people purchase plants and trees either on-line, or from their local nursery, expectation and anticipation for their new find is high. Many times, however, disappointment is encountered due to a variety of reasons. These reasons include changes in light, temperature, water, soil conditions and transportation; just to name a few. So how can the stress on newly transported and transplanted plants be mitigated? Easy! There are plant stimulators able to reduce the shock encountered.
One such plant stimulator, produced at TT Laboratories is SUNSHINE, a revolutionary, broad spectrum, plant stress reliever. Extracted initially from plant pollen, SUNSHINE can bring back and keep the vigor to stressed plants in both the home and garden. Sunshine is indeed a plant stimulator on the cutting edge of plant care technology. Reasonably priced, and easy to use, SUNSHINE will be your plants' best friend, next to yourself, of course.
SUNSHINE will help your plants:
- recover from stress
- dramatically increase growth rate
- get profuse flowering and fruiting
- improve disease resistance, cold hardiness, and heat resistance
- promote seed germination and root cuttings easily
Great for indoor plants and improving cold tolerance!
Line of products:
SUNSHINE-E - general plant booster, growth stimulator and immune booster
SUNSHINE-BC - Bonsai and Caudex developer
SUNSHINE-S - seeds and cuttings pre-treatment
SUNSHINE-T - Thermo-protection for overwintering tropical plants
SUNSHINE-Micro - ultimate micro-element mix from TT Laboratories
On the photo: Tomato seedlings, with and without Sunshine-E treatment; 1 week after treatment, 09-01-2016. Continue reading...
Date: 12 Apr 2016
Hot novelty plant for hot Arizona
Q: What plants would you recommend for very hot and dry spot in front of my house that gets full sun all day long? I live in AZ, we recently had a couple good rains but this is going to be it for a long time. It gets so hot during the day that every plant I tried didn't make it. We have a few nice orange trees growing well but I would like to plant something compact, colorful and hopefully fragrant if there is such plant.
A: There is a perfect small size plant for you that is extremely fragrant and yet will be thriving in these conditions. It is the famous Jasmine sambac. It will appreciate dry air of Arizona and will bloom profusely for you in full sun or in partial shade. It doesn't mind heat at all.
For colorful accents, a proven winner is Crown of Thorns - Euphorbia millii. New giant size flower varieties were recently selected in Thailand, and we just received a great selection, look at the colors! These plants don't mind hot sunny location at all. The more sun, the better the bloom! Small plants need regular watering until establish, then once they start developing, they will require less water.
Giant Euphorbia flowers from Thailand are 4-5 times bigger than regular flower euphorbia. Diameter of the flower is around 2". Compare giant flower to normal size - picture on the right.