Q: I would like to buy a noni tree, something that would produce much fruit as soon as possible.
I live in NJ, would you ship here?
A: Noni is one of the most suitable fruit trees for potting culture. A 1-3 gallon size plant will
flower and fruit for you within a year. These are Noni's special features:
- flowers and fruits at young age, nearly year around
- tolerates shade and grows large ornamental leaves in filtered light
- suitable for indoor culture
- easy in cultivation, drought and water tolerant, not susceptible to insects
- medicinal properties are endless and cannot be under-appreciated
This plant can be shipped to any state, and will produce fruit for you under minimal care. Just
provide warm frost-free conditions, as this tropical tree is very cold sensitive.
Q: Please help! We just moved into a new house in Florida and
don't have any mature trees yet, but the sun is already brutal! Can you suggest
any super-fast growing shade tree that can make shade over my driveway as
soon as possible?
A: Check out Giant Potato Tree - it is very fast growing, has very large leaves plus
very pretty purple flowers as a bonus year round! The pictured tree was
planted from 3 gal only 6 months ago, and already covers with shade the whole
car. It is small to a medium size tree, but one of the fastest growing.
If you are looking for a larger tree and willing to be more patient, here
is the full list of tropical and subtropical fast growing shade trees. Most of
them may take a few years until they reach a mature size, however, in order
to enjoy your shade tomorrow, you must plant the tree today!
Q: I am interested in a Strawberry Tree... does this tree produce
fruit while still small or do I have to wait until it is large before it
produces? Should I fertilize it so it produces sooner? I ask because my garden
is not large and I prefer to keep my fruit growing trees in a smaller size.
Also, how big is the fruit and does it have a seed?
A: Strawberry Tree, Muntingia Calabura, is one of those fascinating fruit trees that starts
flowering and fruiting in small size. We have plants growing in 1 gal
containers that already have flowers. This tree is nearly year-round producer
providing warm conditions. It is a fast grower, although a compact tree when
mature, and can be trimmed to desirable size without affecting production.
Muntingia fruit is one of our favorites. It is super sweet and juicy,
and the seeds are tiny small, not bigger than the strawberry seeds, so you
don't have to spit them out. The fruit size normally about 1/2 inch, but we have
a tree in our garden that produces almost cherry-size fruit! See picture
above. The secret is, good watering and using fruit booster - SUNSHINE honey micro-element supplement. We also fertilize our fruit
trees using Fruit Festival and Mango-Food fertilizers.
Customer comment on our Mulberry column in the previous newsletter:
...I planted a Himalayan mulberry, Morus macroura, about six years ago.
For several maddening years, it shot only very long, un-branching tentacles
out there, and it resisted my efforts to force some branching by pruning. It
would send another long, reaching shoot from the tip of the pruned branch,
with NO laterals. Several times, it did this. Finally, two years ago, it broke
buds that looked like they meant it all along those long branches, and in one
season, it fluffed out. The next season it elaborated on this, acting much
more like a proper tree. The fruit is fabulous, three or more inches long, very
sweet, with a rich berry flavor that’s more raspberry than mulberry. I
guess it just needed more time. My understanding is that mulberries don’t
really like to be pruned, but it needed to happen in this case, along a driveway,
so I reigned it in, and now it’s a treasure. Be patient.
Cheers, your admirer, C
Q: What is the difference between Pakistani and Australian
Mulberry plants? Would one be better suited for South Florida backyard? Can one be
maintained/pruned to be a tall shrub vs a large tree? Which one has the
sweetest fruit? Thank you for the previous plants we've purchased from you.
They're all doing great.!
A: These two varieties are very similar indeed.
Both fruit are very large. Var. Pakistani fruit is a little longer than var. Australia and the tree is a more vigorous grower, but they both are
very sweet, even before the fruit fully ripen. Both trees are a good choice and
start fruiting at a young age.
We've had Australia in the ground in our garden for 4 years by now and
for some reason, it has been very slow growing which is normally not the case
with Mulberries. Maybe it is not fully happy with FL humid conditions.
There are two Mulberry varieties that can be maintained as bushes: Issai
and Dwarf
Everbearing. However, even vigorous Mulberry trees respond well to
pruning and can be kept compact for easy harvesting. Just make sure to prune before
the flowering season starts; here in S Florida Mulberries start flowering in
March, and fruit start ripening during April-May.
A word from the owner... ...When I first started growing tropical fruit trees, I noticed that
Lychee just can't be grown from seed, period. The seed germinates readily, a
little happy seedling grows like crazy... but only for the first couple weeks.
Then it stops. Then it shrinks. Then it dies.
My teacher, tropical fruit tree expert Murray Corman (Garden of Delights), made fun of me for growing Lychee
from seed, and explained his sarcasm with two words - "Need Mycorrhiza!" It
appears that in Nature, Lychee seedlings can only grow around its mother plant
which has this magic plant-friendly fungus around its roots! The only way to
succeed with some seedlings is using this amazing Nature symbiosis... Check
out Mycorrhiza - and try it, works 100% in all stubborn cases!
Myco Mix is an amazing underground secret to a better garden! This
professional growing medium with Mycorrhiza is a must for establishing plants,
recovering weak plants, and for transplanting applications, including seedlings and
cuttings...Learn more...
The name of this cool unusual tree comes from the shape of the thorns
which do indeed resemble the horns of a bull! The tree has a strong, symbiotic
relationship with a species of an ant, Pseudomyrmex sphaerocephala for
which it is the obligate habitat. The ants act as caretakers for the tree,
and clear the ground and keep it free of any other plants and even prune
surrounding branches of other trees that threaten to outshade the acacia. Without
the protection of the ant colony, the acacia tree would fall vulnerable to
chewing insects such as beetles or caterpillars, and surrounding trees and
shrubs would quickly outcompete the acacia without the maintenance work of the
ants to keep the tree safe.
Q: I live in Southern Ohio and love growing lots of tropical plants.
In the warm months, they all go outside under the protection of tall trees,
but in the cold months, they all come inside in a snug but very brightly lit
sun-room. For many years I have successfully kept a dwarf Meyer's lemon which
amazes my friends, and I am wondering if you could suggest some other dwarf
tropical fruit tree which I might be able to grow that would amaze them even
more?
A: Without hesitation, I would strongly suggest a particular
variety of carambola (star-fruit) called Dwarf Hawaiian, as it is truly special as tropical fruit trees go.
First and foremost, they begin fruiting at a very young age, often while only in
a one-gallon pot, and even less than a couple of feet tall with a very little
trimming. Better even is that they are perfectly happy living perpetually in
a pot. I have one myself which is content in a 12 inch pot and which fruits
freely throughout the year. Also, even though it should be too much to be
expected, the fruits are of the highest quality and are as sweet as candy. I
also like the fact that the fruits hang decoratively on the tiny tree for quite
some time before finally ripening, rather like ornaments. One of these little
trees in-fruit is an amazing sight and ought to make anyone take notice,
especially in a sun-room in Ohio! They really are very easy to grow, and if you
have a Meyer's lemon which does well, you'll certainly have no particular
issues with a Dwarf Hawaiian carambola.
However, I have found that in order for them to remain extra dwarf and
fruit especially precociously, this variety needs to be grafted and not
cutting grown. Fortunately, Top Tropicals has recently obtained a number of these
extra wonderful grafted trees which are of the highest quality I have seen in
some time, all of which will likely begin fruiting very shortly. They simply
are wonderful little trees! Check them out...
Q: When do I start re-mulching my garden? Should I wait till
summer?
A: It is time now to get ready for the growing season when not
only plants start growing, but weeds as well. To protect your garden from
unwanted invasives, keep a thick layer of mulch in areas around tree trunks and
shrubs.
Heavily mulch your garden at least once a year, at springtime. Add
mulch during the year as needed.
After mowing your lawn, use cut grass (hay) as a mulch around trees.
Hay is the best natural mulch, it compresses well after the rain or watering
and becomes very dense - weeds won't grow through it. You may cover it with
some colored mulch of your choice for a more attractive look.
Mulching is also helpful for retaining water for root systems, so
plants will require less frequent watering.
- SUNSHINE Superfood microelements as foliar spray for healthy growth,
profuse flowering, and disease/bug resistance
-
SUNSHINE-E to help plants come out of dormancy faster and increase metabolism. 100 ml bottles and 50 ml
bottles available for large plant collections.
-
SUNSHINE-Honey to fruit trees so you can enjoy sweeter and bigger fruit later this year
4. If nights are still chilly, take potted plants outside to enjoy the
afternoon sun and bring them back indoors for the night.
A word from the owner...
Q: I live in Southern Ohio and love growing lots of tropical plants.
In the warm months, they all go outside under the protection of tall 
