Pictures :
We have a enigma here .
In a keep abreast - up e - mail from D. L. , she write :
Any time you move to a raw growing realm , no matter how good you were in your previous localization , you ’re going to face challenges . When I went from garden in South Florida to garden in Tennessee , I was lost for a while . Eventually I score my stride , however .
( Interesting , the natives used to produce their Zea mays everta on shag carpeting before the white homo pulled it all up and put down laminate faux - wood tiles . True write up . )
Let ’s attack the craw problem one at a time . D. L. mentions first that she had a “ pretty dependable craw of bush beans . ”
That ’s not surprising . Manybush beansdo very well in Florida . Now – if you want to go from “ reasonably good ” to “ holy moly ” noodle yield , put up a great trellis and plantsnake beans .
Next crop : bell peppercorn . She writes that she only got three .
I would n’t care about that . You ’re golden to get any . I ’ve met the great unwashed that take they do great with bell peppers here in Florida ; however , my experience with them has been the opposite . They ’re needy , finicky , pain - in - the - neck plant . I would n’t bother . live peppers grow like weeds here ( in fact , I ’ve had them down up in my yard and grow without care ) . If you ca n’t take the warmth , essay plant some perfumed peppers that are n’t bell types and see if they do better . Even John fromGrowingYourGreens.comdoesn’t plant Alexander Graham Bell pepper any longer .
tomato : 8 from 6 plants ? There ’s another tale that surprise me not . Most enceinte tomato types conk out in Florida unless you plant them at just the good meter , under the correct conditions , when you see a racoon howling at a perfect supermoon . They can be grown well – I have a friend that does wonderfully – but I would skip all the giving eccentric and just plant cherry varieties . They ’re much better suited to our climate and rain . Yellow pears do well also , but the flavor is bland .
I ’m not sure what happened with your cantaloup and their deficiency of fruit . sound like a bee deficiency . Might be the same trouble with the watermelons . I ’d try watermelons again , but cantaloupes have n’t done the best for us here either .
Garlic is another crop that ’s not well - suited to Florida . We get some yields but they ’re poor . rule assortment is the Florida key : some eccentric are good for the Dixieland , others for the north . I would explore “ ail for hot climates ” . Also , flow planting piece of work : saltation does n’t .
Potatoes are n’t the good root crop for Florida , though you will have luck some year . Russet type have done the best for me but between the warmth and the fire ants … well …
Carrots and onions have performed much better for me as fall harvest than spring crops . The heat knocks them out quickly . They do n’t like to set stem .
Finally – sweet-flavored potatoes . That ’s a sad narration . obviously , if you keep pull up the vine and throw them back so they do n’t root as much along their node , they ’ll concentrate on the main root clump at their center . Also , they may have been too well fertilized . Since all of your theme crops have done badly , I ’d see add osseous tissue meal to your garden in the future and hear if that helps .
Without see your soil or how your spring up your craw , it ’s not light to nail just what ’s pop off wrong with everything , yet the most obvious failure seems to be in variety show chosen . Raised bed are also not helpful in our fast - draining soils .
Since we ’re subtropical , not temperate , it ’s a good melodic theme to see to the south for vegetables , not north .
You ’re going to have to get creative in your cooking but it ’s an risky venture !
Here are a few suggestions to supersede your give out craw :
ROOTS
chuck the potatoes and plant cassava , Xanthosoma atrovirens and true yams . They ’re all tasty and will fill the same niche in your cookery that potatoes fill . They ’ll also consistently succeed ! I ’d also render odoriferous potatoes again . alternatively of onions are garlic , guess about planting garlic chives and using those for cooking . The flavor is excellent and the plant are recurrent .
VEGETABLES
cherry tree tomatoes ( Everglades cherry tomato is one excellent case ) , Seminole pumpkin ( if you have blank ) , perennial cucumber ( Coccinia grandis ) if you could find it – ask around at Indian markets if anyone has a plant . In winter : mustard , collards , shekels , white turnip . Also plant serpent beans , edible hibiscus , Surinam purslane and other tropic metal money .
FRUITS
Florida , for the most part , require to be forest . Consider add together some tried - and - true tree diagram that will yield happily for you . Mulberries ( dwarf , if you ca n’t fit in a magnanimous one ) are the best Chuck Berry I ’ve ever grow . Nipponese persimmons are rich and pleasant-tasting . Japanese medlar are a very good fruit for canning and drying . figure do very well , and Raja Puri banana should prosper in your area . Ananas comosus are easy to produce with a lilliputian protection .
Good lot .
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