Healthy Plant Food

Q&A from Mr Booster

Establishing Avocado Tree

Q: I received my avocado Wurtz tree yesterday. Per instructions I have put the tree in a pot first. However I am having difficulty deciding what to trim off. Yesterday I removed obvious damaged leaves. However as you can see, the leaves are lighter in some areas and contain yellow and red in some spots. What would you advise? Given this is a critical state as I do not want to shock the tree after the trip, I would like to do everything possible to protect it and ensure viability.

A: Your Avocado tree looks great and healthy overall. You've done excellent job planting it. Wurtz is a good, vigorous variety, while the tree is somewhat dwarf, great for containers.
You are right, it is the best for the tree to leave it alone and do not trim or remove leaves any more, until it starts showing new growth. Then it will be obvious what needs to be trimmed. Reddish/orange color of young leaves is normal. If any spots or dots - no need to remove those leaves yet. Wait until the plant grows more leaves. It needs them for photosynthesis, in order to become stronger.

Keep the tree in bright shade and gradually move from filtered sun to full sun. Water daily. Within a week or two after planting, you can start applying mild fertilizer and micro-elements. We recommend at this growth stage:
SUNSHINE C-Cibus - Crop Nutrition Booster
SUNSHINE SuperFood - Micro-element Plant Booster

SUNSHINE C-Cibus - Crop Nutrition Booster from Garden Series, or Combo Total Feed Collection - all nutrients in just one bottle, for fruit trees and edibles.

Healthy Plant Food

Q&A from Mr Booster

Plant food for a Star Fruit

Q: I have 2 Starfruit plants from you. One on the left is B10 has a lot of flowers but no fruit is developing. On the rite is Kenjeng. This one has no flowers at all. Both plants are growing very well. Plenty of sun and water. I am located in Boynton Beach Florida. So what to do?

A: Your trees on the pictures look very healthy, congratulations with a great care!
Starfruit, as well as other grafted fruit trees (like mango, avocado, etc) usually flower/fruit easily and readily while in pots in the nursery. Sometimes, once planted in the ground, they may reduce flowering or even stop flowering. What happened?
The answer is simple. In pots, we fertilize them on regular basis. In our nursery, we have fertilizer injector inline with irrigation system that dozes plant food with EVERY watering. In other nurseries, they may also use slow-release fertilizers, but it is still a regular routine to provide plant food to potted plants.
In the ground, especially in Florida poor soils, fruit trees may stop flowering or delay fruiting due to lack of nutrients, or dis-balance of elements in the ground. Without fertilizer, a tree may take extra time to develop bigger root system to reach out for necessary elements, and eventually will start fruiting anyway.
But we want it to fruit soon! The only way to fix the problem is to provide fertilizer on regular basis for a young tree. It is especially important during hot summer months when plant metabolism is fast due to high temperatures, plus nutrients may get washed away with frequent summer rains (like we have in Florida) even if you've added some fertilizer at time of planting.

You can use smart release fertilizer once a month during hot season, this one or similar:
Mango-Food - Smart Release Fruit Tree Booster.

But the most effective way to get a tropical tree to flowering and fruiting, is frequent applications of liquid fertilizer. We use Sunshine Boosters with every watering on our plants. They work great even on hard cases and weak plants, and you see the difference in a matter of weeks, sometimes even days.
We recommend the following fertilizer that contains all necessary elements for young fruit trees: SUNSHINE C-Cibus - Crop Nutrition Booster

SUNSHINE C-Cibus - Crop Nutrition Booster from Garden Series, or Combo Total Feed Collection - all nutrients in just one bottle, for fruit trees and edibles.

Macaranga grandifolia - Elephant Ear Tree

The very quintessence of tropical foliage luxury

by Mark Hooten, the Garden Doc

Why is this wonderful little tree so unknown here in Florida? I can only guess it's because people don't see them, and therefor don't know about them, and that basically no nurseries grow them. Yet it's one of the most utterly spectacular foliage plants conceivable... Provided with an appropriately warm climate such as South Florida or elsewhere, there is no reason they should not be seen more often (for purposes of utter awe).

CONTINUE READING >>

Macaranga's genuinely grand foliage much more resembles the ears of actual elephants (esp. the Asian species) than do the leaves of the much more commonly known and grown "elephant ears" meaning certain Alocasia and Colocasia.

The best grafted Loquat varieties
at 15% OFF for 3 days!

Q: I have a nice Loquat tree started from seed. I understand it will not bear fruit unless grafted. Can you graft the tree in your nursery? If this is not possible let me know the cost of Loquat tree and I buy it from your nursery.

A: From our experience, Loquat trees grown from seed bear fruit much sooner (within 5-6 years) than seedlings of such trees as Mango and Avocado (8-15 years). Also, unlike Mango and Avocado, the fruit quality of a Loquat seedling is usually not too bad. However, in order to have a tree with a superior fruit, it is recommended to plant grafted variety for a guaranteed tasty crop. If your seedling is already a large plant (with a trunk diameter over 5 mm), it may be too late to graft it, because quality graft requires fresh wood.
If you have plenty of room in your yard with enough space for both grafted tree and a seedling, you may still plant the seedling in the ground and give it a chance to produce in a few years. If your garden space is limited, we recommend you to plant a grafted variety and enjoy fruit as soon as the next year.

The most popular grafted Loquat varieties, heavy producers:
Champagne
Christmas
Gold Nugget
Yehuda

SALE: 15% OFF now, no min. order!

- $20% OFF discount code PARENTS2020 for orders over $200
- 5% automatically off all orders over $100
= make it a steal!

Offer expires 7-28-20

If you are local, stop by our Garden Center and we will pick the biggest and the best tree for you. Or just order online and get it in just a few days to your doorstep!
See full list of Loquat varieties available at the moment.

Delicious Turkish Brown Fig

by Onika Amell, tropical plant expert

...Did you know that figs were among the very first plants grown in the hot and arid Middle East? Fast growing and utterly delicious, they soon made their way all over the Mediterranean, transported aboard ships and on the backs of camels...
If you are a fig lover, you may be tempted to grow your own. Market-bought figs are never as good and tasty as your own, homegrown figs. They just simply do not keep well in supermarkets. Fast growing, undemanding and low maintenance, figs will bear fruit in just two years, often bearing two crops in a year. Another plus is that they are not bothered by too many pests and are self-fertile. Apart from the delicious fruit, any fig tree will add beauty and shade to a garden...

CONTINUE READING >>

Read more about fig trees:

Tropical Treasure magazine # 13 (3) 2010:
- Hard copy
- PDF Download

Grafted fruit trees for Hawaiian gardens

In the photo: Atemoya, one of the Annonas - fruit lover favorites.

Q: Aloha guys, I purchased a Diospyros digyna - Black Sapote grafted var. Black Beauty from you and am checking to make sure it will fruit by itself and not need both sexes. Also checking to see if the grafted atemoya I bought from you will fruit at sea level (where I'm at) or if I should give it to a friend who is above 1,000 so it will fruit? My grafted Maimi soursop is thriving! Looking at getting a grafted jackfruit from you all next.

A: Black sapote Black Beauty does not need a second plant to produce fruit. Grafted trees should be flowering and setting fruit right away, or sometimes on the second year.
Atemoya does not require high elevation for fruiting. It is a hybrid Annona squamosa x Annona cherimola (A. cherimola species prefers higher elevation) so Atemoya is usually is happy at sea level.
Congratulations with your Soursop! It should be really happy in your location.

As for grafted Jackfruits, this is the list of varieties we usually carry. Since many of them are very rare, they sell out quickly once we get new arrivals. If you are looking for a specific variety, I strongly recommend to add it to your wishlist (click on "Notify me when available") and you will receive email from us as soon as we have it in stock, so you will be the first one to know about it!

Our favorite Jackfruit varieties (and also hot sellers)

Black Gold
Borneo Red
Crispy
Dang Rasimi

We also suggest to get a Kwai Muk (while we still have it!) - the most delicious fruit, and it should do well in Hawaii.

In the photo: Black Sapote

In the photo: Jackfruit at TopTropicals Garden in Ft Myers, FL

Plants like to snack!
How to feed Poinciana tree

(and other tropical flowering trees)

Q: We purchased a Royal Poinciana tree from TopTropicals not too long ago and we gradually gave it more sun until finally we were able to plant it in direct sunlight where it's been for a week or so. Rain has been sporadic lately so I'm giving it a little bit of water every day. It seems to be doing fine. I do have a question about whether the leaves are as green as they should be? I read online that I should fertilize it with gardenia / ixoria fertilizer in March, June, and October. I looked on homedepot.com but didn't really find anything that goes by that name. Would fertilizer help? Can you suggest a fertilizer?

A: Your Poinciana tree looks pretty healthy and happy, congratulations with a great job!
Traditional (old-school) fertilizer recommendations usually suggest feeding a plant 2-3 times a year with a slow-release fertilizer. And although a plant will benefit from any fertilizer application (extra food is always good), however, for the best results, faster growth, sooner and more profuse blooming, your should use complete plant nutrition products - liquid fertilizers (see why liquid fertilizers are better than dry).
Here is an example. Some people eat a big heavy meal once a day which we all know, is not very healthy. Other people eat balanced food more frequently but in smaller portions - this is always the best way to go.
From this point, plants prefer SNACKING - frequent feeding, but with less concentrated, mild and balanced nutrients.
For your beautiful Poinciana tree (and other flowering plants), we suggest the following nutrition program:

1) SUNSHINE Megaflor - Bloom Nutrition Booster - you may use this fertilizer as frequent as with every watering, it won't burn the roots, and will provide a complete nutrition for all plant needs throughout the year. You can continue fertilizing with Megaflor even during winter time. Sunshine Megaflor will help you to keep the plant healthy, vigorous, and resistant to stress and diseases. It turns leaves green and makes the plant strong so it will start flowering sooner for you.

2) Tropical Allure - Smart-Release Booster. Apply it once a month during hot season only (in Florida - from March to November).

How to prevent mango fruit drop

Q: My mature mango tree is fully grown 15 yrs old and each year it fully blooms, sometimes twice. Shortly thereafter, all the baby mangos and flowers fall off providing no mangos for the season. I have tried fertilizing, spraying the tree for fungus or other insects, to no avail. I give up, any suggestions?

A: Dropping fruit in pretty common issue with mango trees. There may be several reasons, or a combination of reasons.

1. Fungal disease (anthracnose), and/or powdery mildew. To avoid fungal disease problems, spray your tree when it just begins to form the flower spikes. Treat foliage with Copper fungicide. There is also another one, very effective for anthracnose: Thiophanate methyl.
2. Inadequate nutrition. Feed your tree with a combination of granulated fertilizer Mango-Food, liquid booster SUNSHINE Mango Tango and micro-elements Sunshine Honey and Sunshine Superfood

Check out pictures of our mango tree problems that were fixed within a month by using Sunshine Boosters.
3. Too much rain or heavy dew during blooming and fruit set (see 1 - use preventive treatment for fungus)
4. Cold. Sometimes the cause of premature fruit drop is from the cold weather during bloom and fruit set. Usually the most affected varieties are the early bloomers including Glenn, Haden. The cold damages the developing embryo in the seed. The fruit starts to develop but because of ethylene gas given off by the damaged embryo, the fruit is triggered to drop before maturity. To see if cold temperature was the cause for your fruit dropping, cut open the fallen fruit. Even if there is a small speck of brown in the seed, that’s enough damage to stop fruit development.
To learn more how to care for your mango, please read this publication.

Perfumed Milky Way Tree

Stemmadenia litoralis

by Onika Amell, tropical plant expert

What is a garden without fragrance? Unknown to so many gardeners because of its rarity, the Milky Way tree or Stemmadenia litoralis is one of those trees that are simply unforgettable. This is without a doubt one of the most fragrant flowering trees you can plant in the tropics or warm greenhouse conditions...
When this tree is in full bloom, masses of large, white, tornado-shaped flowers cover the branches. The fragrance is something to behold… soft, vanilla sweet and musky. Leaves are dark green and sparkly and a striking contrast against the large, white flowers. Even the seed pods are pretty, double-horned and orange-gold, born in pairs and hanging from the tree. This tree is so ornamental!..

CONTINUE READING >>

Harvesting from a young mango tree

Q: About a year ago we bought a mango tree from you folks and planted it in our backyard in Estero. It has done well. It now has several mangoes and I am wondering if the tree is strong enough to support the fruit or if I should just cut off the fruit and wait until next year when the tree is a bit stronger. I am attaching some pictures. I am most concerned about the branch on the right which seems to be sagging. If you do not suggest that I cut off the fruit, can I wait until they ripen on the tree and eat them. They seem to be a bit on the small side for eating.

A: Your mango tree looks very healthy and happy, congratulation with a great job! For young mango trees, it is always recommended to minimize a number of fruit to 2-3 so the tree has enough energy for vegetative growth rather than fruiting. In your case, as we can see from the pictures, your tree is very well established, has a strong root system, nice symmetrical shape, and vigorous new growth. In our opinion, you can save all these fruit and let them ripen on the tree. To support the plant's energy, make sure to fertilize it during summer with slow-release Mango Food, and year around - with Mango Tango booster. Use Sunshine Honey supplement for sweeter fruit.
Secure the heavy fruit branch with a v-shape stake (a big branch may work), it can definitely use the support otherwise may break under strong Florida winds. You are all set to enjoy your first crop and be rewarded with fruit of your excellent work!

In the photo above: Mr B is harvesting Mango Pim Seng Mun after his successful Sunshine Boosters fertilizing program.