Garden Blog - Top Tropicals
Details for the quiz
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Pictures of flowers for the quiz
Cucumber Tree (Averrhoa bilimbi)
Parijat Tree (Nyctanthes arbor-tristis)
Hummingbird Tree (Sesbania grandiflora)
Papaya Tree (Carica papaya)
Date:
Don't miss this one:
PodCast Premiere!
Episode 1
How to Protect Tropical plants in Winter: Q & A
Featuring Horticulturist Mark Hooten
...We are introducing our new Series: Top Tropicals Podcast. Growing tropicals and pushing the limits. Watch the first episode:
...Who doesn't like tropical beauty? Everyone wants tropical plants. But not everyone lives in a warm climate. Is it possible to grow tropicals outside of Tropics?
Top Tropicals horticulturist Mark Hooten, who is well known to many
gardeners as the Garden Doc with his
Saturday Plant Clinic, is answering gardeners' questions about how to prepare and protect tropical plants during winter...
Premiere scheduled:
Thursday, January 27, 8:00 AM
More about cold hardiness and cold protection:
Cold hardy tropical fruit trees
Growing Stephanotis and cold protection
Cold protection of tropical container plants
Plumeria cold protection
Ghost Cold Protection
Seven rules of cold protection for tropicals
Improving cold hardiness before winter: fertilizer and micro-elements
3D garden ideas and winter cold protection
Cold protection - winter action for your plant collection
About Cold Protection
Date:
Cold protection of tropical container plants
Q: I am long time customer of yours, I live in San Diego California and while the summer and Fall temperatures are warm to mild, the winter temperatures dip to a point where some tropicals die off. We are experimenting with different variations of way to heat and insulate the pots we have the tropicals planted in as a way to keep them alive during the colder winter months. I was wondering if you knew of the ideal soil temperature for these tropical in order to look their best year round. All of the heaters we have installed have thermostats and temperature adjustments so we can now keep the soil anywhere between a range of between 65-75 degrees. Any advise you can provide would be greatly appreciated.
A: This is a very interesting concept you are working with.
Indeed, keeping pots/roots warm, may help a lot! We've been experimenting with
cold protection for a long time - for the above-ground plant parts. For sure
keeping roots protected (even with a thick layer of mulch) will benefit tropical
plants during winter. In case with container plants, this may help
dramatically.
The guideline is, tropical plants slow down or stop their metabolism at
65F. As long as you can keep soil above that temperature - this should work
great. Of course, the higher the better.
Optimum temperature for growing tropical plants in general - 70-85F.
Above 90F, metabolism stops too, unless it's a heat tolerant, desert
plant.
More information on winter cold protection of tropical plants and zone pushing:
Greenhouse in Virginia
Plumeria cold protection
Ghost Cold Protection
Seven rules of cold protection for tropicals
About Cold Protection
Cold protection - winter action for your plant collection
Tropical Treasures articles on zone pushing.
Date:
Ghost Cold Protection
Q: Has anyone ever tried using heat packs under frost blankets to protect tropical plants from frost?
A: The reality is, the heat packs used for shipping do not have enough heat capacity to create efficient warming effect. From our own experience, the best way is to use small 25W incandescent bulbs which produce lots of heat (considering observing all safety precautions and fire safety). Some gardeners use Christmas lights. See picture of our plants in the ground during a cold night. We called them Ghost Cold Protection! ;)
See more columns on cold protection:
Seven rules of cold protection for tropicals
About Cold Protection
Cold protection - winter action for your plant collection
Tropical Treasures articles
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What is the best fruit tree producing in winter
Loquat flowers
- 🍑 If you answered the quiz What makes loquats different from other fruits - then you know that Loquat trees flower and produce fruit during the winter months, making them a rare source of fresh fruit when most other trees are dormant.
- 🍑 Loquat flowers are very pretty! Loquats are relatives of Apples, Peaches, Plums and Pears - they belong to Rosaceae family.
🎥 Loquats are in full bloom in our garden now. The fruit will ripen by April
📚 More about Loquat from previous posts:
- 💋Top 10 fruit you'll ever need for your health benefits: #10 Loquat
- 💋Loquat Liquor recipe
- 💋Top 10 fast-fruiting trees:#5. Loquat (Eriobotrya japonica)
- 💋Golden Loquat – the Symbol of Prosperity, and it tastes like apricots
🛒 Plant a Loquat Tree
#Food_Forest #Fun_Facts #Loquat
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