I am new to tropicals myself and I sympathize with you. I started my tropicals last year and had similar problems with too much sun. My nurseryman suggested that we put up a temporary shade cloth awning during the hot months until the canopy has time to develop. I have heavy clay soil so I ammended it heavily and also added in a product called Bumper Crop which seems to make everything grow like crazy. What type of soil do you have? That might account for the slow growth.

Dulcie, where did you get the Bumper Crop stuff? I'm also in Riverside.

I get my Bumper Crop from Parkview Nursery in Riverside. I use it everywhere it works so well. Good Luck!