Comments regarding Top Tropicals LLC

I ordered a bamboo to add to my massive collection growing in my backyard.

It arrived INFESTED with bamboo spider mites. Yellow or dried up, stippled leaves and the other common symptoms of an infestation. Impossible to miss, yet they had the nerve to send me this plant.

I usually shop at TropicalBamboo.com but they were out of everything I wanted and the lower price at Top Tropicals lured me in. Proof positive that you get what you pay for.

They're ignoring my emails, by the way. So much for their "satsifaction" guarantee.

Our first plant order was a grafted gardenia Aimee in 2006. We've been regulars since. We gave their fertilizers ( liquid and granular) a try this year and they are as unbelievable as the plants they grow and ship. We've been "that neighbor" before we started using their supplements this year and can't wait for next summer. Quality, punctuality, friendliness are always super.

The newsletter breaks our hearts as there is always something we want and have no more room.
Many thanks and may God continue to bless you all.

I've ordered from them numerous times the plants are large and healthy. As I'm in Pennsylvania I've only visited there website. Well I finally got a chance to visit there today. Wow the people are friendly and helpful and quite knowledgeable. Of course I purchased several plants. A special shout out to Onika what a nice person to deal with. Plus the cats who can resist the cat. All in all wonderful nursery and plants I highly recommend.

Tracking #778719753095

Be careful buying from Top Tropicals. Fedex tells me the shipment is considered lost and gave me a case number so I can get a refund but told me I have to give the case number to Top Tropicals and Top Tropicals has to make the claim with the number. Top Tropicals refuses to help me. She keeps telling me it will be delivered by the end of the day every day 3 days in a row and not to call Fedex. It's friday and still no package. Fedex told me I could pick it up this morning and I drove an hour up to have fedex say they can't find it. It amazes me that Top Tropicals has one simple job to do and just call and yet just refuse to help me get my money or my plant. She also keeps telling me to stop calling Fedex. Fedex has my box and won't deliver it. Who else do I call? Top Tropicals isn't even trying. At this point I paid $52.00 for the box, 3 days being told it will be here by the end of the day, and 2 hours driving to where Fedex told me my box would be for me to pick it up only to be sent away.

Kept delaying order for over 2 months, then never shipped and kept the $280 (about $120 of it being for shipping)
Details: ordered 3 plants as they showed 'In Stock' in early May 2019.
They emailed saying to look out for an email with shipping info after 10 days.
By the end of May when I asked where is my order, they emailed saying 'Due to our shipping service provider (FedEx/USPS) holiday closures we will postponing'.
After Memorial day passed, and it was now mid June 2019, emailed again and they again sent 'Due to our shipping service provider (FedEx/USPS) holiday closures we will postponing'.
After Independence week past I requested tracking on Monday after Independence weekend but got a reply saying 'Some items are currently back-ordered', listing all the plants in my order.
When I contacted Paypal for a refund, they said I should have disputed in the first 45 days after ordering that I didn't receive order; that now is too late.
So now I have to go in person into my bank to file a chargeback, since it was a debit card not a credit card I used to pay.
Never again, TopTropicals. Buyer beware!

I ordered a Michellia Champaca tree as they seemed to be one of the only retailers selling this plant online and at a decent price at that. The plant was shipped out in good time and what I received was an about 15 inch tall cutting with a few healthy leaves. IT's been about 2 months since I received the plant and it's still doing pretty well.

I placed 3 different orders this year. One for a black sapote, the next a "Dwarf Hawaiian" starfruit, and most recently, a Wurtz avocado. They all arrived a little droopy from being in a box, but I followed the instructions enclosed with each order for repotting and care. The starfruit and black sapote both now have new growth, and are out on my deck for the summer. I just received the avocado about a week ago and it is potted and acclimating on my shady side porch. It's looking good so far. If it does as well as the other 2 trees, I will be well pleased. Top Tropicals has loads of information about the plants they sell on their website, that I have found it both interesting and useful. I have been well satisfied with the plants I have received.

The staff was rude. Not welcoming.

Place my first order to Top Tropicals and today received my Aphelandra hartwegiana. It arrived well packaged and in good shape. 3 gallon plant is about 2 feet high. Plant was also shipped when I requested.

I ordered seeds of five plants from Top Tropicals. None of them sprouted even though two year old seeds of another company did sprout in the same seed starter setup.
They include a disclaimer on their website stating that their seeds are fresh and that any seeds that do not sprout are the customer's fault.
They are not a trustworthy company.

They sent great plants. 1 was damaged in shipping and 1 was missing. They replaced both with healthy plants. Couldn't have asked for anything better.

My experience with Top Tropicals is good. I live up north, and bought 2 mango trees a couple months ago. They came in very nice condition - the plants were healthy and they were packaged well. It's winter now and I had some questions about their care indoors (less than perfect conditions). I e mailed by the "contact" form, and got a response back from Anna almost right away. Anna and Kristi patiently worked with me to answer all my questions. So I have to say I received excellent customer service from them.

Bought three plants. Two guava and one Jaboticaba. The plants were in the sleeves that come in some nursery pots and about half the height of the pot, and the roots were greatly disturbed when they were removed from the pots. Seemed like the plant had been lifted from the pots by grabbing the stems, as the roots had ripped off. I was very disappointed. I have had plant shipped at least 20 times from other nurseries in great condition where I could just leave the plant in the original container for a few days then transplant it. This time I felt like I had a plant emergency. the guava leaves were not hardened off and they were withering and brown. I had to transplant it immediately to save my plants. It has been 1 week. I lost many leaves from one guava but the plants are recovering well from the poor handing and shipping conditions. Needless to say, I will never order from Top Tropicals again.

I love shopping online at Toptropicals nursery. I ordered plants last year also and all survived in winter except piper betel.It was quite expensive plant & I had received it in a good condition. Having passion for gardening, I transplant baby plants on to a bigger pot all the time and I understand that plant undergo stress as they are living beings. I placed an order for the same plant and it came in a good condition and survived.
This year also I ordered many rare plants including Rangoon Creeper etc,. Barleria Cristata was damaged during transit and did not look like it would survive. It didn't survive. I called Top tropicals and explained. They were also disappointed that it got damaged but they assured they would reimburse the amount if the plant did not survive. After a couple of weeks, I sent a picture and they credited the full amount back to my credit card. I am happy to have found the top tropical nursery because they have a good collection plus they shipped what exactly I ordered. Both Zoe and Anna have been responsive and I am pleased with their service. For my plant garden needs, top tropical nursery is my first choice.

This company sends trees with more than 75% newly emerging leaves even before they harden. They also send half dead trees, overwatered, in plastic bags with no drains and roots mummified in saran wrap. If they don't have the plant in stock, bad luck. You will be charged but you will not get the plant. I have spent thousands of dollars on them because they are one of the two companies with online website with large variety of tropical plants. And like most northerners, I thought I didn't know how to deal with tropical plants or greenhouse was a problem. This year, after failing to revive mango trees for 3 years, I bought some trees in top tropicals but I arranged to get the same trees on the same day (same fedex trip) from Jene's tropicals and for comparison. To my surprise, Jene's trees came in full 7 gallon pots and are doing fine. Trees from Top Tropicals dropped all leaves and died. When contacted, they offered me new plants for discount.

They keep offering me discount for "top customer" but fail to take action with tree deaths. Their strategy is to sell 2 plants instead of one. They cut the growing pots by 3/4 for trees to be shipped, while growing them. So, when you get a 7 gallon tree, it has 2.5 gallon soil. Trees like mangoes that do not like water are forced to sit in water and bake in plastic bags for days before they reach us. Shipping isn't cheap either.

I have lost several hundred dollars and 3 years. Only after I got trees from Plantogram and Jene's tropicals I realized that the problem is theirs, not mine because all other plants have adjusted well. So, I am posting my first post, sadly a negative one.

Posted on May 27, 2016, updated May 17, 2017
Beware! Do not use Top Tropicals. In the past I used Top Tropicals with great success, but last year I ordered some Daturas. As with previous orders the plants were large and expertly packed. However, somehow the plants were infested with some kind of bugs which ate most of the plant leaves. I immediately contacted the company and was shocked when they responded by questioning my honesty. I sent pictures of the plants which resulted in anther response that they never ship defective merchandise but would send me replacements, which arrived in fine shape.
So earlier this spring I submitted another order to them for other kinds of plants. I was dismayed to receive a notice that my order could not be filled. I wrote to the company several times asking for more a detailed explanation given that their Website showed all items in stock. I never received a detailed answer. The last answer I received simply said "the owner says your order can not be filled."
I advised Top Tropicals I intended to post a negative review on the forum and to also submit a report to the BBB. As before, Top Tropicals did not respond.
I can only surmise I was black-listed because I complained about the defective Datura order.
The BBB has advised me all their inquiries to the company have been ignored, so here is my input to all readers of Dave's Garden: Do not use use Top Tropicals, thet have little regard for customers. C Robinson

First 3 orders went smooth. They say they take long to ship because they have to wait till Mondays to ship to California so it will get here by Friday, but some Mondays they are busy. I'm completely cool with this as I'd rather wait to guarantee the health of the plant when it arrives.

On the 4th order they shipped a sapodilla, according to tracking number, on a Tuesday(said they'd ship on Monday, also said the same on listing)so it sat on a hot truck or warehouse in southern California all weekend and didn't get here til the following Monday. I told them immediately of the condition of the tree when it got here. They said to plant it and wait and see if it survived. Well it didn't so they offered 50% off on our next transaction. I know I could have pushed for a full refund with Ebay but since the first 3 transactions went well, I decided to let it go and just accept their offer.

Anyways on my next order a few months later, I requested the 50% off offer on one of the 2 trees. I sent screenshots of their offer and everything. They just completely ignored that part of the conversation, like I never mentioned it, they didn't address a single word to it. This happened several times. Since I needed the trees, and was committed to buy by Ebay, I just chalked it up as a learning experience.

Customer service can be determined, not always on how the company handles things when everything goes well, but on how they handle problems that arise. I have since decided to get all my trees at nursery 2 hours away.

They lied to me and ignored multiple attempts at communication regarding a problem. Their professionalism leaves a lot to be desired.

So I've been ordering trees online for some time now .. I have to let everyone know how great Top Tropicals is ! I have almost 50 fruit trees ! And let's say I wish I would have found Top Tropicals sooner! I love the quality they send me ! And there selection WOW (: There customer service is excellent! Thank you Zoe ! If your interested in any tropical trees I strongly suggest TOP TROPICALS! (:

I'm so happy with my baby Annona trees. I have had 100% germination from all seeds that I've ordered from Top Tropicals. I wish that I could include pictures with this review. Annona will flower and fruit in less than three years. I'm very much looking forward to fruit from all of these beautiful little trees.

Ordered 16 seeds for 4 different Desert Rose varieties for 16 dollars. I had no germination in greenhouse conditions for a month and a half so far. Their policy states that they have no responsibility for seeds germinating and that their seeds are fresh. Internet information seems to agree with this following statement,
"It may seem obvious but firstly and most importantly successful germination rates depends highly on obtaining the freshest seeds possible."

Horrible quality Tres Bon and C'Est Bon Hibiscus. Literally twigs with a few dying leaves. They also did not include the seed I ordered in the package. We sent reports, emails, called and paid extra to have the seed sent. Disclaimer that seeds may not germinate. Kristi was VERY rude on the phone. We went in town and bought replacements for the same expense. The leaves all fell off the plants and we are hoping they live. Our response from Top Tropicals? Thank you for your feedback.
NEVER AGAIN
BUYER BEWARE!

After reading the negative reviews of TopTropicals.com, I reluctantly ordered a Euphorbia punicae from them in April 2015, because they were the only vendor I could find with large plants of this slow growing species.

When the plant arrived there was significant healed damage about 1/3 of the way through each stem. I photographed the scars, emailed TopTropicals and was a bit surprised that they replied within a few hours.

TopTropicals customer service (Kristi) was very pleasant, and replaced the plant, with a high quality specimen.

Posted on June 24, 2015, updated June 25, 2015
Order 2 plants from TopTropicals.com. I am in Florida and they arrived overnight but the plants were wilted and waterlogged. The larger 3g plant was the worst, it arrived severely wilted and the root ball was waterlogged in a thick muck based soil. I planted into a small pot with quality soil and watered it in once. Now 5 plus weeks later the plant is still barely alive, leaves welted and falling off. It looks like a picture of death -- TopTropicals.com .

TopTropicals.com -- When the plants arrived they were not in a growing state. They were already exhibiting signs of root rot and shipping stress in less than 24 hours shipping time. Other Florida nurseries have shipped to me this year in 2015 and provided very healthy and growing plants. Shame on TopTropicals.com

Shipping costs too expensive; did not complete order

Posted on September 5, 2010, updated February 25, 2015
BUYER BEWARE - TOPTROPICALS OF PUNTA GORDA!!!
Ordered one plant received a similar but different latin named plant. Plant ordered very expensive, substituted plant inexpensive.
Wrong plant confirmed by tissue sample from U of Florida.
Multiple emails go unanswered.
I believe they knew they were offering a rare plant, substituting a common plant and hoping no one would know the difference.

i ordered two seed packets from this company. the order came with a disclaimer stating that their seeds are not guaranteed to sprout. in fact, not a single seed from either packet did. i purchased the same two seed packets from another company, Tradewinds, and did the same thing (heat mat, light, good humidity). both types of seeds sprouted. one good thing i can say about Top Tropicals though, is that their website is informative...

I ordered a 3-gallon grafted Eugenia uniflora, and there was an issue that occurred with the shipping of this plant. I contacted customer service, and while it took some time for this particular plant to again be available in their inventory, they sent a replacement. It's in beautiful shape, and already sending out new growths a week later. I am very pleased.

There are so few sources for many of the tropicals this nursery carries, I would hope that other hobbyists who have order problems contact customer service before using harsh words here. I, for one, would certainly like to see this nursery continue offering the tremendous selection of hard-to-find plants!

F RATING -- BBB West Florida. Google it for yourself.

I received DISEASED PLANTS from this company which I returned.

IF YOU PLANT DISEASED PLANTS from a sloppy nursery you risk SPREADING THESE DISEASES to other plants--yours and your neighbors.

I bought 10 trees and 3 small jasmine plants from Top Tropicals. They missed sending one of the trees but after I called them (e-mail doesn't seem to get a response) they promptly sent me the missing item.
Out of the 11 trees, so far 3 have lost all leaves (well, one of them only had 2 leaves to begin with) and are not showing any signs of new growth. It has been a month since I got these plants and I am hoping for the best.
If not for these 3 trees I would have given very positive review. I may change my rating yet if the trees recover.
I would recommend this seller for jasmines though. All of the jasmine plants I received are of impressive size and health compared to some I bought from other sellers.

I ordered a jatropha berlandieri. I was expecting it to arrive as a bare caudex with no roots or foliage. I was surprised when it arrived in a plastic pot with a rootball, foliage and flowers! It was also larger than I expected. They put forth a lot of effort to pack the plant for shipment. The pot and soil were clear wrapped to contain the plants roots and soil. The foliage was barely wilted. I was really impressed with their detailed information sheet that was included. It clearly explained how to repot the plant as well as things to do and not to do to insure the plant thrived. I would not hesitate to purchase from them in the future.

Ordered over $800 of tropical fruit trees last year and had many issues from the start. First, the avocados arrived in rough shape and died within a few days to a week. They had many of the items back ordered and once they arrived they were smaller than advertised and purchased. Fast forward a few months and the 2 of the mangoes were diseased. I had to cut back the entire tree to the root and let it grow again. They had a fungus on them. The avocados have/had a separate fungus. The palms were covered in scale. I could go on and on about how poorly cared for these trees were. Both cacaos have died as well. We have a greenhouse and the plants we received from FGT and Fourwinds around the same time are in great condition. I would stay far away from these growers. They do not grow their items from seed and are merely a reseller on some items. They are disorganized and understaffed. I know this because we called/emailed them so many times. To their credit they did send out new avocados that died but it was simply another vendor's tree. Over half of the trees ordered from them either died or have been cut back to their roots to save them. What a waste of money and life of the plants. If you do take the risk and order from them, inspect every specimen extremely thoroughly, including the roots as I would personally guarantee that you have a 50% chance of buying a problem.

I live in Kendall Florida on 1/2 acre and I have about 200 fruit trees. Every tree is 100% perfect and that includes about 50 citrus trees.
I have bought around 25 mango and avocado and citrus trees from TT. I just recieved 3 Mango trees yesterday from TT. So I have planted 200 fruit trees over 8 years from many sources both locally and as far away as the panhandle. Nobody preps their trees like TT for shipping and this makes it so easy to get into the ground it's insanely fantastic. I'll explain this in a minute. Every tree I have ever recieved from TT has almost always been higher quality than for example Pine Island Nursery just a few miles from here. Better than any local nursery around here or anywhere else in this country of ours. (I did get a few avocado trees from CA.) And speaking of avocado trees, the ones from CA came with 2-3 days shipping. The ones from TT get to my house in a day. The difference on Avocados is huge because avocado trees do not do well in shipping and all a nursery can do is pack it well and send it very fast or you lose lots of leaves and possible death. So if you are not one day away pay more and get your trees alive.
So TT removes some of the soil at the rootball and packs the existing soil very tight and puts a plastic tie around the trunk to hold the saran wrap that they wrap tight around the rootball. They don't bareroot it and they maintain the integrity of the rootball. This is so much better and then they have a bamboo support inside the ball ready to tap into the ground and the truck and bamboo are covered with a sleak sleeve.
OK the tree arrives and you don't have to dig such a big hole like if it came in the pot this is good. Then you place the tree in the hole and push or tap the bamboo deep and this 100% stabilizes the tree perfectly straight and this makes it so easy. When you remove the sleave you see your beautiful healthy tree. Then you fill in your soil and the fact that the tree is super stable makes the rest so easy when you press down on the sides to firm up the surrounding soil.
It is such a pleasure to recieve and plant trees from TT. Every time I got one I've been super pleased.

Although almost 28% of customers have recorded their dissatisfaction with Top tropical LLC, I still was desperate enough to find a source for a fruit trees I had set my eyes on and took the risk of ordering them. Their response was rather prompt and when they shipped the items during a risky cold weather spell in the region, I inspected them carefully upon arrival to find that their packaging was impeccably proficient, using several different materials including cellophane tape, LDPE, tie-wraps, bamboo stakes, reinforced scotch tape and a liberal dose of Styrofoam peanuts! Indeed, their prices are on the higher side but if the quality of their merchandize deserves those prices, I'd be a happy camper. Only time will tell when the plants begin to bear the awaited fruits. In the meantime, I tend to think that they have delivered on my expectations.

Posted on November 13, 2012, updated March 6, 2014
Posted on October 7, 2012, updated November 13, 2012
I actually went there guys, right to the nursery itself!
Here's how it went down....
Day before yesterday they emailed me with a bauhinia I have wanted forever, it was finally in stock. Since I am merely
about 20 miles from them, I paid for the plant online in advance, lest they run out of this hard to find species.
This morning I drove down to the actual nursery, for the first time.
Pitifully cared for plants and trees. Although they have moved twice in the last year (first move from Punta Gorda to
off of Daniels prkwy in Ft Myers, and now north again to N. Ft Myers. I could tell they were still setting up, as the
guy who does irrigation was checking in with one of the owners as I waited for her to look up my prepaid order.
But even with the move, you could see the plants were cared for only minimally. The divaricata I chose was the tallest of all 6,
and had been ravaged by time and lack of care, fertilizer. But I took it anyway, as you just can't find them.
The other 5 were no more than 2 feet tall, and all 6 were stunted. I grow several species of bauhinia, and they usually flower
the first year or at least in 18 months, seed grown. This plant appeared to be several years old, and was clearly too weak to have borne flowers.
What should have been a trunk of over an inch in diameter, was instead about 1/4 inch.
I repotted within an hour of getting it home. It did have brand new root growth, but no thick, strong roots that bauhinia always have at this height. The leaves are not even half the size they should be, very small. stunted and in need of micronutrients.
They are very resilient, and I know mine will be fine, even if it is stunted, but I suggest my friends here beware when looking for plants
from them. I looked across the fields at all they had growing, and none of their holdings were what I considered loved. They were neglected.
The lovely photos on their website must be taken when they first get them in from mass nurseries in Homestead, and wait for them to flower and
take snapshots quickly.

The nursery is close to me so I went there in person. I was looking for Dichorisandra thyrsiflora Blue Ginger. Their website had three on Friday and on Monday just one plant was left. There are two or three shade houses full of plants. I went to the office and Kristi looked up my plant on their computer and then talked to a man with an ATV who took off to find my plant. In the meantime Kristi took me over to a shade house where my wife had a few plants to ask questions about. Kristi wrote the names down and ran back to the office. She came back with the information about the plants and the prices. In the meantime the ATV came back with two different dichorisandras, the one I wanted thyrsiflora,and the pendula variety. I decided to buy both, plus my wife found a brugmansia sanguinea 'red angels trumpet' and a 3 gallon pot stuffed with neomarica caerulea iris. I also picked out a Eucalyptus deglupta. The shadehouse we were in was well organised with pictures above most of the plant sections identifying what they had. For the most part it looked like a normal nursery. Kristi was helpful and friendly and if she didn't know an answer about a plant she looked it up on the computer. Another person in the office named Tiffany was also very friendly. For the life of me I don't know why this nursery has all the bad reviews? Yes, the prices are a little high, but the pot of iris we got has at least 10 plants in it if we divided it. Not over stuffed or potbound, just full. The plants are all as good looking as plants we've purchased at one of the many Fairchild Tropical Garden's plant show and sales. Before you think I'm a relative or something, this is the only time I have been there. I will be going back to shop when I am looking for plants no one else has. I've never ordered from them through the mail, but from what I saw, I wouldn't hesitate to do so.

I recently ordered a(1) rainbow eucalyptus that arrived in excellent condition, extremely well packed, that i subsequently exported to Jamaica( within two weeks of arrival) in its original packaging. This plant has thrived in Jamaica, springing from 24" to over 6ft. in three months. This company has excellent customer support and professionalism. Regret the negative comments, give them a try again people, lets keep planting!!

i ordered one tree about a week ago....3 gallon size.
it came today, well packed, looking very healthy and a VERY good size, 4' at least.
i'm completely happy with my purchase.
sorry to see all the negative comments here but mine is a positive.

Not a Good Idea to Order from this company. None of the seeds came up that I ordered. Customer service, Lynn, says that seeds are not guaranteed.

I purchased a Dwarf Ylang-Ylang and it arrived looking NOTHING like their "actual plant" photo linked to the product on their online store.
I was a 12" tall 1/4" diameter trunk with 6 - 8 leaves all less than 1/2" long. Half of them where brown/black. I was optimistic that I could follow the instructions and bring it back to life.
I misunderstood some of the instruction and the plant died from over-watering 4 weeks after purchase.
So, I take responsibility for that. They offered to replace at half the list price (not half the sale price which I originally paid)...and with full shipping. I would pay $43 for the replacement of a plant for which I originally paid $53.
I'm sure if they sent me the plant that they show on their sites as "actual plant" it would have survived my initial misunderstanding of the instructions.