Seasons in north and central Florida: Spring, First Dry Summer, Wet Summer, Second Dry Summer. "Soil": consists of 99% fine white beach sand, 1% root knot nematodes.
I really enjoyed your video! I'm 73, been gardening outside Gainesville for about 40 years, and before that in the heavy red clay near Athens Georgia, so I know a bit about extremes. Up there I was able to grow Brussels sprouts right through hard freezes, but had a horrible time with anything that wanted lime or excellent drainage. I have turned clay you probably could have used for pottery into rich friable soil by basically bombing it with the grass clippings from my parents' (unsprayed) lawn in 3 months. Down here I had instant culture shock. Organic matter be damned; I watched 1" and bigger chunks of oak wood disappear from a raised bed in a single growing season, oxidized into dust. Many years later, I'm still learning. I notice there were a few vegetables you didn't mention that I've had great luck with here. First is the so-called "yard-long-bean", a relative of our popular Southern pea. They are trained on trellises and take up relatively little ground for the amount of food produced. Most if not all of the many varieties originate from southern China and Southeast Asia, so they are no strangers to humidity or insect pressure, and they will produce right through the heat of summer, when other green vegetables really suffer. Another is Allium fistulosum, called "Welsh onion" for some unknown reason (since they do not come from Wales or even Europe). Where the common bulb-forming onions of the deep south are winter crops here and usually don't keep well long after harvest, some varieties of A. fistulosun are true perennials in our climate and can be harvested all year at any time of year for flavoring soups, salads and stir-fries. Most varieties are typical of grocery store green onions, but there are varieties that stay much thinner and one (Shimonita negi) that grows to almost leek-size. Two of my favorites, Nebuka and Heshiko, can be used to form more-or-less permanent beds. Both will spread slowly by sending up new shoots from the bases of the old, and can be harvested any time they're not flowering or making seed. I've had a patch in a "self-watering" planter that has been left on a concrete pad in the sun for going on 10 years, that I only occasionally care for by replacing broken-down organic media and adding a little fertilizer containing nitrogen. I harvest using a sharp blade to cut between the bases of the stalks, always leaving the remaining ones as undisturbed as I can, and the gaps are quickly filled in. I have to add, I purchase both yard-long-bean and bunching onion seeds from Kitazawa. They are a Japanese company and they are very knowledgeable about vegetables originating from East and southeast Asia, which shares a LOT of climate similarities to our own East Coast, from frigid north to subtropical south. Their web page is worth the time to browse just for the information they offer. I'm just a customer, not paid by them, but I enjoy sharing things that have brought me success.
This exact video was the catalyst for me to actually understand the true gardening seasons here in Florida. I was still thinking "midwest" type gardening techniques before seeing this. It finally makes sense! Thank you for featuring Josh and his revelational info!
@@larellesdiyhomestead Not really any recipe. We just add them as is into green papaya chicken soup or steam them together with other vegetables (broccoli, asparagus, carrots,cauliflower,green beans, etc). We have a microwave steamer. Steaming, instead of cooking in water, keeps most of the nutrients. We eat all al dente.
@@marvinhueske3203 all the work you do for health and then use the microwave??? That defeats all of your hard work and goals. Microwaves destroy all the nutrients in the food you put in it. And make sure you don’t stand in front of it. It will nuke you too.
Dude! This video is super helpful! Man I wish I would’ve found this earlier but I guess I had to learn some lessons along the way. I live in Pensacola and my garden is full sun all day so I’ve had to come up with creative ways to have some shade during the summer. So I plant okra in the summer and underneath them have other type of crops which could use the shade. I don’t believe in ever having bare soil but it’s really a challenge to do that here in Florida and I’m so glad I found your video and your channel! Subscribed and following!
Great info. I'm a first time gardener and newer to Central Florida. I'm not allowed to plant in ground around my home so I am using 5 gallon buckets. I look forward to more videos.
I'm in west Pasco about a mile from the Gulf and this winter I kept my tomatoes, peppers and eggplants growing only wrapping them during two really cold nights. Suffered some leaf loss on the peppers but they have come back nicely.
@@bjbrown6884 ooh ok kind of like felt? Or fake grass? Thank you for responding! I'm starting my own journey on my channel feel free to check out our and leave ideas! Glory2glory
@@glory2glory679 my mom gave me some white blanket stuff, she didn't remember what it was and the item from Home Depot looked very much like the stuff used to keep weeds out. It's green and came on a roll. Around December or January (by me) they have it. I think it may be called Frost Proof or something like that. I usually don't get frost but last winter we had two cold nights where it was 34 or 35 degrees and unprotected tender plants either died or barely made it. This is a long term thing for me, clean it well and store it for the future. Happy gardening!
I’m in the outskirts of Orlando and now getting into gardening as a hobby. I didn’t really look into what’s cold weather or warm weather plants, unfortunately, I planted mostly cold weather vegetables 😂 I decided to plant all the vegetables I like, which are things like carrots, broccoli, mustards and lettuce amongst other things lol wish me luck!
It’s So cool - I’m in Central Florida. I just so happened to type in Florida Gardner‘s, and I’m glad I did 👏🏼👏🏼 #new #subscriber #here !!! I look forward to learning new things / better ways of gardenIng 😊
I have been here in central Florida all my life 5th generation native been growing things since I was 11 years old 70years now we have not had a real rainy season for a while now it's more like growing in a desert. Hoping to get some rain next week it's a pain to keep up with watering but I am glad I have been using earth boxs but I'm getting ready to put some stuff in the ground and praying for rain
I’ve been gardening in Florida’s Great Northwest, aka The Panhandle, for 50 years. The best growing season for me is fall, winter and very early spring. In terms of direct seeding or starts, I write off summer, from June to August. While there are things that will germinate and grow, the heat, humidity and pests, cause disease and fruit does not set. This is my time to renourish my beds and work on my compost. I start my tomatoes and peppers in January and try to have them in the ground by February. There is a chance of frost until about March but generally that doesn’t happen. By mid-June, I’ve gotten all the tomatoes I’m going to get, and the tomato plants are succumbing to disease. The peppers quit setting fruit until the weather cools, but then will have a nice second harvest. Toward the end of August, I start my winter vegetables - brassicas, lettuce, peas, etc. Our first freeze usually isn’t until December and by then, I’m harvesting my fall crops. Most of my brassicas will go right through a freeze with no problem. In December after the first freeze, I plant garlic bulbs. Putting them in the ground before that just doesn’t work. Up until December, we have days in 60s and occasionally 70s, which is too warm for garlic, but everything else loves it.
Yes!!! This is exactlyyyyy what I’ve been looking for! It’s so crazy how Florida is so big and the climate changes soo much from the north to the south. Living in zone 9b, central florida, is a sweet spot where you can plant a little bit of both things that grow north and south. But it’s a double edged sword cause sometimes they don’t do as well as they would in the other zones. Either way, this video was super comprehensive and i’ll definitely be adding some of the things you mentioned to my garden this season! Keep up the great work!
I'm in Pasco County, someone here told me when they say full sun for tomatoes, they don't mean Florida sun, lol. First time gardener. Having success with cherry tomatoes. Cucumbers were doing fantastic until pickle worms took them out. What do you use for sweet potatoes? Does anyone know where to get slips locally?
Definitely not April-December in my opinion. In FL, smaller tomatoes are much more productive than larger beef steak varieties. A productive variety for the warmer months would be the Florida Everglades & other locally adapted varieties. I’ve seen cucumbers year round here in Florida, grown in high tunnels & with the correct care they can do very well. You can purchase local sweet potato slips here: codycovefarm.com/product/tainung-64-sweet-potato-cuttings/
Would be interested to hear the thoughts on peanut growing in place of/or alongside the sweet potatoes. Coastal zone 8 south corner of nc and I frequently use Peanuts for nitrogen and cover when traditional vegetables slow down in June. Usually plant the Peanuts densely in may beside Tom's, cucs, squash and just cut back the veg plants when they slow down and let the Peanuts take over and grow til september-october.
I stink at gardening here in Florida. I keep trying though. Did not get one in this year. So sub to your channel. I live in Auburndale. Thank you for posting.
Moved to Port Charlotte from Colorado in August and immediately started tearing out the backyard lawn to get a garden and fruit trees going as well as planting bee and butterfly friendly flowers and shrubs.. Certainly learning about the heat and humidity as well as sterile sandy soil. Anyway, finally, the humidity and heat temps have reached a point where tomatoes, peppers, cukes, beans and zukes are starting to take off. I even have sweet potatoes going. How about melons for summer?
Welcome to Florida Gerry 😁. Another great resource to follow is David the Good. I found this video very helpful. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-qAymx7dMwj4.html I have lots of native plants. Let me know if you need seeds. Life, Love & Peace, 👩🌾
@@glory2glory679 Late Autumn, all Winter and early spring were wonderful with amazing tomato, pepper, zukes and cucumber harvests. However, as the dailly temperatures started heating up first I had army worms destroy the tomatoes. Next some kind of wilt disease wiped-out the peppers. Then some kind of yellow spot leaf disease killed off the cukes. I did get a bountiful harvest of Hanna variety sweet potatoes with no diseases hitting the vines. Right now I have covered the garden with clear plastic to solarize the soil until next Autumn. Meanwhile, I planted various nectar and host plants for butterflies and that's a whole 'nother learning experience about wasps and ants killing the butterfly caterpillars. But a more successful endeavor was planting nasturtiums and zinnias for the bees. The yard is loudly buzzing with various bees all day. And I planted sunflowers for the birds. I have a male and female Cardinal pair that loves to peck at the sunflowers for the seeds.
@@rexmonarch2 I'm in Punta Gorda, I harvest my tomatoes as they're starting to turn red and put in paper bags to ripen indoors. So sad to have beautiful tomatoes on the vine that wind up feeding pests instead of my family.
@@buckaroobonsaitree7488 When the temps were in the day time 80's I had the best tomato and pepper harvest ever. But then army worms wiped out the tomatoes. Next when the temps hit the 90's some kind of wilt disease hit the peppers one after another. The cukes got hit with some kind of yellow spot disease that killed them off. However, from just one Hanna variety sweet potato I purchased at Sarasota Whole Foods I got 40 pounds of big ol' sweet potatoes. Now I planted 20 slips from a Walmart purple sweet potato and 30 slips from the vines of the Hanna sweet potate. And after trial and error I have found that watermelons are the best melon for Port Charlotte and I have watermelon vines all over.the place. And this place is butterfly heaven. I can't even keep up with supplying the butterflies with host plants to lay they eggs on. I've got the Monarchs covered with milkweed but the black swallowtails just wiped out all the dill I planted. So now I am covering the dill plants until they get some maturity. I love it here in coastal southwest Florida.
I live in Tampa and I grow 2 kinds of asparagus, all kinds of tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, beans, and flowers all year round. My Lillie’s have been doing so good. Love your videos.
A portion of that Central Florida coastline (on both the west and east coast of Florida)that you have in the yellow , should really be in the pink. I mean I'm in St. Petersburg Fl. and we're zone 10a, which is a zone above places such as Fort Myers . During cold fronts, we're a degree or three above even Naples, and often times only a couple degrees or three lower than much of Miami.
Yes I agree. There are many microclimates in this area, especially on either coast. The map in the photo wasn’t designed by my or else it would include a higher zoning following the coastal lines.
@@sherrylingenfelter8991 , Here in Pinellas county, my Saint Petersburg garden has barely received a drop of rain all month long. All of the rain goes north, south, and even east of us!! But this doesn't seem too out of the norm. Even during the rainy season I tend to get rain less often than all of the counties sorrounding me . Maybe it has something to do with the insulating affect of the water that practically sorrounds st. Pete. Much like Cape Coral, St. Pete is practically surrounded by water so it makes sense that both places would have a similarly insulated micro-climate.
Hey bro, im also in Orange County, I am obsessed with plants and soil science, would love to come see your operation! Thanks for the tip on the orange county planting guide, I needed that!
This was such an informative video, I live in Pasco county and have all my kales and kohlrabi, lettuces planted some everglades tomatoes and lots of herbs, I also just cut back my Moringa trees and harvested the leaves to ground up for my moringa powder, look forward to more of your videos🌱🌱
@@Hannahsunshine- using it like a seasoning is an easy way to consume alittle bit, a lot of times. Especially if cooking, you can use quite a bit without a serious flavoring change.
Do vegetables not grow well in the city because there’s a fucking giant transformer next everybody’s house and power lines, everywhere and Wi-Fi everywhere and cell towers? Seems like everybody who is in a more remote location out of the city has all the success in growing.
Looks great from here,,im a florida gardener 35 years right down the road West Pasco,,it is a very hard hobby though heat can and will KILL U DEAD,,gotta be the HOTTEST place on earth easy with humidity we have huh?
Every single time in Florida zone 9A okra okra and then there's some okra. Is slimy and disgusting. It always tastes disgusting no matter how you treat it. It's like everything that grows here tastes like shit
Question: I live in Deland. I live real close to the St John’s River. What if I occasionally use some river water? Instead of constantly watering with Public bleach infested water.
City water will literally ruin your crops. Do not use it. If you absolutely have to, at least leave it out for a few days in an open container to evaporate SOME of the chemicals within.
Celery, cauliflower, onion, tomato, kohlrabi, collards, cucumber, egg plant, kale, parsley, cilantro (coolantro), basils, peppers, dill, chives, lettuces. Those are a few that come to mind. 😁
am from central florida (pasco county) and am trying to try my hand at gardening. Built a 2 level planter box a couple years back so I want to actually use it this time
My green onions and peppers (green, jalapeños, Serranos etc) have been growing like gangbusters this summer. Tomatoes and squash not so much. Just starting to garden in this region, a lot to learn.
There’s a sweet potato grown in South America/Caribbean that is a lot more delicious than regular sweet potato. The orange sweet potato to me is bland.
Hello and beautiful day to you. Your video is mighty helpful and I thank you so much for your wisdom. I myself has decided to begin growing carrots, cucumber, radish, basil and thyme here in Land O Lakes FL and was wondering what should I be concerned about regarding critters/squirrels any type of danger toward the growing carrots and other harvesting veggies. I really appreciate it.
Just a question. I read up that sweet potatoes grow as an perennial in parts of Florida I live in Sarasota. If grown all year around will matured potatoes rot if not harvested?
Please do a video about bugs and sun burned plants?I tried last year to plant about in March and their were so many bugs attacking at the end I had hundreds of caterpillars that ate my tomatoes plant and all. No matter if I picked them off more came. I thought about planting in a greenhouse but wondering if to hot? I used so many natural ways but nothing killed any of the bugs.
I had jalapeno, ichiban eggplant, tomatoes, and summer squash all summer, my table and all my counters were overflowing with vegetables but they were also planted in well drained soil in partial shade full sun in the morning and it caught shade from the house in the evening
@@rowenadinsmore1 I started mine inside in December and just made sure to put them outside in the sun on little tables and brought them inside when the temperature dropped to low. I've probably only brought them inside 6 times since transplanting them into 4" pots from the mini seed starting trays, my tomato plants are about 8" tall already so I'm going to throw them in the ground begining of February and hope for the best. It worked out really well last time I did it this way I had multiple varieties of tomatoes ripening at different times, summer squash from May through August, ichiban eggplant that produced so much I got sick of eating it from two plants. I was giving the neighbor full grocery bags of jalapeno peppers because I couldn't keep up and I had a small area. This year is going to be over 600sqft so I'm going to add some different stuff this year
Sleepy Lizard Farms. We bought plant last summer - now its hard to keep up with harvesting. Year round fruit. Best investment. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-qJG3-HygJRk.html
Did you find the seeds yet? 🤷♀️ I would like to find the everglade tomatoes as well. I have yard long if you can't find them, would be happy to share. Life, Love & Peace, 👩🌾