Garden Blog - Top Tropicals

Date: 23 Oct 2025 Top Tropicals Telegram channel & chat

How we ship plants: quick guide

How to ship plants

🚚 How we ship plants: quick guide

If you’re a first-time mail order plant buyer, or just want peace of mind before sending a live plant on its journey in a box, check out these videos. And if you have questions, feel free to ask - we’ll be happy to answer them all!
Rest assured, your plants are in good hands!

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📚 Learn more:

▫️Shipping information page
▫️Planting instructions

#How_to

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Date: 22 Oct 2025 Top Tropicals Telegram channel & chat

Which dry fertilizer to use - slow release or controlled release?

dry top dress fertilizer

controlled release fertilizer Green Magic

🌳 Which dry fertilizer to use - slow release or controlled release?

❓ Q: You offer two kinds of dry fertilizers - Slow Release Trop Dress and Controlled Release Green Magic. What is the difference, and which one should I use? I used your water-diluted Sunshine Boosters with every watering, but now that I’ll be away for a few months, I just want to give my garden a long-lasting fertilizer.

✔️ A: Top Dress Slow Release Fertilizer is used for quick greening-up. Although it’s called “slow release,” the nutrients become available fairly fast. It contains soluble nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) that dissolve with rain or irrigation, acting within a week or a few weeks depending on temperature and rainfall. It’s great for giving your plants a quick boost of “fast food.”

✔️ Green Magic Controlled Release Fertilizer is a true long-term, controlled-release fertilizer. Thanks to its PolyOn Technology coating, it provides steady, consistent feeding for 5-6 months. Unlike regular dry fertilizers that dump all nutrients at once, Green Magic releases them gradually - no burn, no guesswork, just steady nutrition.

Green Magic ideal for potted fruit trees, ornamentals, and houseplants. One handful keeps your plants fed for half a year. We use it for all container plants when potting up or refreshing soil every six months. It can also be used for in-ground plants if you want the best, most consistent results. Green Magic: try it out! (Sample here)

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#Fertilizers #How_to

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Date: 21 Oct 2025 Top Tropicals Telegram channel & chat

Cassia vs Bauhinia: which is better as an everblooming container tree?

🌈 Cassia vs Bauhinia: which is better as an everblooming container tree?

🌸 Cassia (Senna) trees are very popular flowering trees - fast growing, free-flowering, relatively cold hardy, and they love the summer heat. Cassias come in several colors: yellow, orange, pink, red, and rainbow. Rainbow varieties (which are hybrids between yellow and pink cassias) are the most popular thanks to their multicolor blooms with swirls of yellow, pink, red, and orange. But while Rainbow Cassia is a spectacular flowering tree for southern gardens, is it a good choice for a container when you want color on your patio or pool deck?
🌸 Some yellow-flowering cassias make attractive bushes that bloom most of the year and stay compact, so they can be grown as container specimens:

Cassia didymobotrya

Senna alata

Cassia fistula

🌸 When it comes to Rainbow or pink cassias such as Cassia javanica - Apple Blossom Tree or Cassia grandis- Red Cassia and other species and hybrids (Cassia marginata - Rainbow Shower Tree, Cassia roxburghii - Ceylon Senna, Cassia x nodosa - Pink Shower), these are usually more vigorous trees that may take several years to bloom. Their flowering season lasts from a few weeks to a couple of months. These trees grow moderately fast but typically need to reach about 10 feet before they start flowering.
🌸 So, the answer is: if you want rich, deep color year-round from a container tree, go with Bauhinias - Orchid Trees. Most varieties grow well in pots, stay compact, and reach blooming maturity within just one season. The following varieties are everblooming and can produce flowers for up to 10 months of the year:

▫️Bauhinia madagascariensis - Red Dwarf Orchid Tree. Blooms from winter through fall, up to 10 months a year. The most cold-hardy of all.
▫️Bauhinia blakeana - Hong Kong Orchid Tree. A large tree in the ground, but compact in pots if trimmed. Grafted trees flower right away. Winter bloomer, cold hardy to light frost.
▫️Bauhinia tomentosa - Yellow Orchid Tree. Flowers from Winter through Summer, cold hardy to light frost.
▫️Bauhiniamonandra - Napoleon's Plume Orchid Tree. Almost everblooming with the longest flowering period (less cold hardy than the first three).
▫️Bauhinia acuminata - Dwarf White Orchid Tree. Blooms from summer through winter (also less cold hardy than the first three).

🛒 Explore Cassia trees and Bauhinias (Orchid Trees)

📚 Learn more:

#Container_Garden #Trees #How_to

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Date: 20 Oct 2025 Top Tropicals Telegram channel & chat

11 tropical fruits to eat instead of taking a fiber supplement

Tropical fruits to eat instead of taking a fiber supplement

🍑 11 tropical fruits to eat instead of taking a fiber supplement

When we think of tropical fruit, we picture sweetness, sunshine, and exotic flavors packed with vitamin C. But beneath all that juicy goodness lies another gift: dietary fiber - quietly working to support digestion, feed the gut microbiome, and help keep blood sugar steady.
Avocado leads the pack among tropical fruits for fiber content. One creamy, ripe fruit can provide around 10 grams of fiber, roughly a third of an adult’s daily need. And there’s more to avocado than fiber - it’s also rich in healthy fats, micronutrients, and that silky texture everyone loves.
Other tropical fruits bring their own kind of fiber strength. Guava delivers up to 9 grams per cup, plus a burst of vitamin C.
Mango offers about 3 grams in half a fruit, especially when eaten with some of the skin.
Pineapple, though not always seen as a fiber powerhouse, still contributes around 2 grams per cup, along with bromelain, the enzyme that helps digestion.
Jackfruit’s fibrous pulp makes it another standout - it’s so meaty, it’s even used as a plant-based substitute in savory dishes.
Sapote fruit (Mamey, Canistel) and Sapodilla add fiber with a smooth, custard-like texture.
Adventurous tropical varieties like Annona (custard apple, soursop) may not top the charts in fiber numbers, but their soft, fibrous flesh still adds value: about 1.3 grams of fiber per 100 grams of fruit.
Bananas contain both soluble and insoluble fiber; the soluble part (mainly pectin) helps control blood sugar and appetite, while the insoluble fiber aids regularity.
Mulberries are rich in insoluble fiber, especially in their skin, supporting digestion and promoting healthy bowel movements.
Dragon fruit offers a mix of soluble fiber in its juicy flesh and insoluble fiber from its tiny edible seeds, which help support gut health and feed good bacteria.

These fruits aren’t just delicious - they help you meet your daily fiber needs in ways that are far more enjoyable (and sustainable) than taking supplements. And when home gardeners, farmers, or tropical communities grow and share them, it’s a double win: nutrition and tradition hand in hand.

✔️ Tropical fiber power: tips for getting more fiber from tropical fruits

⏺Eat whole, not juiced. Most of the fiber is in the pulp, skin, and seeds. Juicing removes much of that goodness.
⏺Mix it up. Tropical fruits are great, but balance them with legumes, whole grains, nuts, and veggies for a full fiber range.
⏺Take it slow. If your diet is low in fiber, increase gradually to avoid bloating or discomfort.
⏺Drink plenty of water. Fiber works best when paired with hydration.
⏺Mind the ripeness. Unripe fruits can have more resistant starch, another form of fiber.
⏺Get creative. Toss tropical fruits into smoothies, salsas, breakfast bowls, or even desserts - a tasty stealth-fiber strategy.