Sally Scalera

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

November gardening plans

Oct. 31, 2009

If some of your annuals are doing poorly, replant with cool-season choices listed here. For other suggestions on gardening activities, read on.

  • As the days get shorter and the weather gets cooler, you may only need to mow every other week.
  • Water only as needed, which may be only once a week (or even less) because of the shorter days and cooler temperatures.
  • If you want to overseed with rye, wait until the end of the month. This is a great way to add organic matter to the soil.
  • Check vegetable plants daily to make sure they are healthy. Keep an eye out for caterpillars and pick them off as needed.
  • Give vegetable plants granular fertilizer monthly. In addition, spray a liquid seaweed product, like Maxicrop, on the foliage (both sides of the foliage with a fine mist sprayer) every week.
  • Do not prune deciduous fruit trees until winter when all of their leaves have fallen off.
  • Vegetables that can be planted in November include beets, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, Chinese cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, collards, kale, kohlrabi, leek, lettuce, mustard, onions (short-day varieties -- bulbing, bunching and multipliers), English peas, radish, spinach, strawberries and turnips.
  • Remember: Keep poinsettia and Christmas cactus in the dark all night to initiate blooms. A floodlight coming on for just a brief period is enough to delay flowering.
  • Prune any dead or diseased branches in trees and shrubs.
  • Hose out your bromeliads with fresh water once a week to keep the mosquitoes from breeding.
  • Some flowers that can be planted this month include alyssum, calendula, dianthus, flowering tobacco, pansy, petunia, phlox, snapdragon, stock, viola, nasturtium and flowering kale.
  • Start raking leaves and using them as mulch around trees and shrubs.
  • Bulbs that can be planted include; Agapanthus, African iris, amaryllis (these make great Christmas gifts), Aztec lily, calla, crinum, Kaffir lily, day lily, narcissus, Elephant ears, hurricane lily, society garlic, snowflake, shell ginger, Marcia (walking iris), Watsonia, iris (native or Louisiana iris and their hybrids, as German or Japanese iris usually do not grow well here), rain lily and spider lily.
  • Herbs for the November garden include chives, garlic chives, fennel, rosemary, sage, lemon grass, salad burnet, lavender, dill, oregano, parsley, lemon balm, lavenders (sweet, Spanish and French are your best bet), Mexican tarragon, chervil, cilantro and thyme.
  • Vegetables that can be sown now for transplanting in December include beets, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, lettuce (crisp, butter-head, leaf and romaine), Chinese cabbage, collards, English peas, kale, kohlrabi, leek, mustard, English peas and onions (bulbing, bunching and multipliers).

Here is a list of some of the fresh produce that could be available at producestands or farmer's markets in October: avocado, broccoli, cabbage, canistel, carambola, carrots, cauliflower, celery, Chinese cabbage, cucumbers, eggplant; endive/escarole, grapefruit, honeydew, oranges, passion fruit; peppers, pummelo, radishes, squash, strawberries, sweet corn, tangerines and tangelos and tomatoes.