Sally Scalera

Brevard County Horticulture Extension Agent
3695 Lake Drive -- Cocoa FL 32926 -- 321-633-1702

Vegetable gardening guide available

June 14, 2008

For all of you who have grown vegetables up north it was very simple. When winter was over, all of the vegetables were planted in the spring and then harvested in the fall. Down here in Florida though, things are quite a bit more complicated because vegetables are divided into two groups; cool season and warm season and the main planting months are September through March.

The University of Florida has a bulletin titled “The Florida Vegetable Gardening Guide,” which lists the correct months to plant the different vegetables and this is a must have if you want to grow any vegetables here.

Now, don’t think that the planting times are the only difference between vegetable gardening in Florida versus all of the states north of us. Many of those other states have good soil to plant in which is not the case for us with our sandy soils. When it comes to figuring out when the right time to plant green peppers is, it is very easy to refer to the Florida Vegetable Gardening Guide for that information, but when it comes to improving the soil that takes time and effort.

For easy reading, here are the most important things to do for your vegetable plants.

  • Amend your soil with organic matter (on a continual basis) to build up a nice rich soil so that the plants can grow with the fewest insect and disease problems possible. You can add compost, aged manures, coffee grounds & filters, etc.
  • Plant at the correct time of the year. This is where you refer to the Florida Vegetable Gardening Guide so, just make sure that you file this somewhere that you can find it again when you need it next.
  • Mulch your garden! The mulch will not only suppress weeds and conserve water, but it will also prevent the soil from splashing up onto the leaves and introducing bacterial diseases to the plants.
  • Water early in the morning. As long as the leaves are not moist for more than a couple of hours there should be no fungal problems.
  • Use liquid seaweed as a foliar spray. Liquid seaweed, sprayed on both sides of the foliage until it drips, will provide all of the minor elements that the plants need. For vegetable plants, spray them weekly for the healthiest crop and the best look & tasting vegetables.
  • Check out heirloom vegetables. Just in case you have never heard of heirloom vegetables they are typically vegetables that have been brought over from other countries and have been grown here in the US for decades. The definition of an heirloom can differ between who you talk to, but generally they are any vegetable that have been grown by our grandparents and their ancestors. A neat characteristic of heirloom vegetables is that they are open-pollinated (OP) which means that the seeds can be saved and when planted, will come “true to type” which just means the plants look just like their parents.
  • There is also a CD available on Edible Landscaping. This CD contains information on vegetables as well as “additional vegetables” which are the tropical vegetables that we can grow in the summer months. Also on this CD are the following: Deciduous Fruits, Sub-tropical fruits; tropical fruits, herbs and edible flowers. There are also four power point programs. The CD contains bulletins for many of the plants listed plus some of them also have photos. This CD is only $5.00 and can be purchased at either of our offices in Cocoa or Palm Bay, but call first to reserve your copy.