Zone 9 Gardeners ~~ Anyone want to join?

[Annikate]

I'm getting inspired reading all the threads here!

Last year was my first real attempt at growing food. I did really well to start and then something happened to my green beans - they all turned woody after producing - is this normal?

Then my squash never flowered - too many males? Well, some *did* flower, but only a couple actually grew.

And my broccoli never did anything. I think the roots never came out of the seedling pots - the ones that you supposedly can plant right into the ground after the seedlings sprout.

My carrots - same thing. Although I did try placing seeds directly in teh ground too and the tops came up beautifully, but nothing happened underground.

My tomatoes were awesome - no problems there. And my blueberries and lemons too. sup: This year I want to seriously harvest some green beans squash and broccoli.

Tomorrow I"m going to our coop ext. office to bring some little red bugs to be identified. I have them EVERYwhere - not sure if they're harmful or helpful.

[goodygumdrops]

I live in Florida and I would love to get a thread going. I'm always lurking over here but it seems like no one is in this area...I even did a search and didn't get much.

So, I just moved here so this will be my first time gardening in this climate. I am going to do homemade earthboxes.
I want to grow beans, peas, carrots, lettuce, peppers, and tomatoes...oh, and zucchini and kale/swiss chard.

Wow, that's alot I have three 2 1/2 by 1 1/2 boxes so I think I can get two veggies per box. I will have another box that will be 4 by 2 in a few weeks or so.

Oh, I'm kinda trying to do a cross between square foot and container which from what I've read seem pretty similar.

Oh, I have heard that you should treat you soil for nematodes, which are super tiny organisms that can leech nutrients from plants. I would research it a bit....

[turtlewomyn]

N Florida Zone 8b

I am in N. Florida and really a novice gardener. I have been doing mostly tomatoes and peppers (but get some blossom end rot, ugh). I am on a pretty woodsy lot right now.

I do lasagna gardening and have 4x4 raised beds. I also do some container gardening on the back deck. I currently have kale, chard, and lettuce going. I am planning on starting potatoes and peas this weekend, and have been putting together two new beds.

I also have tomatoes, peppers, and basil seedlings going for containers (and two more raised beds that I want to do in April).

[Annikate]

I am a novice too. Let me know how the lettuce grows - I have heard that lettuce is difficult to grow here because of the heat. Maybe this time of year though, you'll have success. I tried last year in containers and it started beautifully but petered out. Most of my containers petered out, well, except my cherry tomatoes.

I have raised beds again and modifying them to make them larger. I want to really HARVEST this year!

HARVEST, HARVEST, HARVEST. That's my word of the year. :

[turtlewomyn]

Originally Posted by Annikate

I am a novice too. Let me know how the lettuce grows - I have heard that lettuce is difficult to grow here because of the heat. Maybe this time of year though, you'll have success. I tried last year in containers and it started beautifully but petered out. Most of my containers petered out, well, except my cherry tomatoes.

I have raised beds again and modifying them to make them larger. I want to really HARVEST this year!

HARVEST, HARVEST, HARVEST. That's my word of the year. :

I have a row of speckled lettuce that I planted in October as seeds, and it is looking pretty good. Yeah, now is the time for lettuce and greens, at least here in N. Florida. My entire CSA share this week was all greens (mizuna, lettuce, kale, tatsoi). I also have some oak leaf lettuce and frizee (sp?) in pots and have harvested some leaves to use in salads.

[sapientia]

years ago I grew lettuce and it fared fine-I had partial shade...now I'm back to gardening this year after a 6 year break.

Soooo I'm in central florida and getting ready to grow zuchinni, yellow squash, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, some cream zippers and black eyes. I may throw in a few rows of cantaloupe.

It's been a long while, I'm relearning all of it!

[Annikate]

What kind of lettuce have you guys successfully grown here? I grew purple kale last year and it was but I really want like red leaf or something much more delicate and less hardy than kale. (though I do love kale too!)

[DeansMama]

I am in North FL as well and this is the first year I am attempting to do an organic garden, so any tips would be helpful. Where are you gals getting your seeds at? I usually go to the feed store but was thinking of ordering this year.

[missgranger]

I'm lurking in here, too, to see what you all are having luck with. A couple years ago I had great luck with strawberries, tomatoes, basil, but I live in an apartment and haven't had space to really try to grow our food. (We live in a strict complex that limits how much of our patio space can be used).

[Coconut Chronicles]

Hi all... I'm in Central Florida. We just moved here so I have to start my garden from scratch. So far this year we plan on growing 5 different kinds of tomatoes, 4 different kinds of peppers, okra, sugar snap peas, kale and a number of herbs.

[turtlewomyn]

I just ordered some cheap seeds from Tomato Bobs (www.tomatobob.com) My coworker swears by him. However, I have been unable to find any information on if he is non GMO or not. He does heirlooms though, which is a good sign? Anyway, he has certain seeds on sale through February for only 25 cents a pack. I bought carrots, crook neck squash, collards, swiss chard, and oak leaf lettuce. I think I will save the lettuce, collards, and swiss chard for the fall (as I have plenty of greens going now). I think I might try sticking some of the carrot seeds in with my peas (and save the rest for fall) and then do the squash a little later. Shipping was five bucks though, for 1.25 worth of seeds, so I got my coworker to go in on the order with me and split the shipping.

Most of these are really new for me, I hope they do well.

[turtlewomyn]

Originally Posted by Annikate

What kind of lettuce have you guys successfully grown here? I grew purple kale last year and it was but I really want like red leaf or something much more delicate and less hardy than kale. (though I do love kale too!)

I have the speckled trout lettuce in a raised bed (frollenshunse or something, I dont remember the full name). I have oak leaf and frizee in some pots with some swiss chard. My CSA has been giving us deer tongue and some type of rossa (I think) lettuce. I have a great native nursery here that also sells some herbs and vegetables. They also have some workshops several times a year on gardening. They have experience gardeners on staff that always have good advice on the varieties that are great for your area.
I am planning on going to a tomato workshop in the next couple of weeks taught by a local organic farmer. Some of the topics will include the good varieties, so talk to the farmers at your local growers market, they might be happy to let you know what they have learned. My workshop will include worm castings and a tomato plant, and all the knowledge the farmer has, supposedly. I am really excited.

[morganlefay]

Hey, I'm in NW Florida. We do most of our gardening in our front yard (small suburban lot) and some on the land belonging to DH's employer. We've had pretty good luck with letuces in winter and spring, varieties such as red oak leaf, black seeded Simpson, and Parris Island romaine. The chard was doing great until frost got it. We've tried repeatedly with carrots and never done well at all. We finally got some good brocolli and cabbage this winter after planting a boatload of it at DH's work. We just planted tomatoes and peppers in trays; the tomatoes always seem to do better when we keep them in pots. I'm hoping we get enough this summer to can up a storm! We planted blueberries and blackberries last year; I want to put a fruit tree in, but I can't decide what kind. Any suggestions?

[turtlewomyn]

A pear tree? I have friends with pear trees in Lloyd (just E. of Tally where I am) and they had an abundance of pears in September last year. We canned some. I am hoping to get together with them to can some more and make pear sauce this year.

Oh, at a gardening talk the other night they said their ultimate goal was to have lettuce and tomatoes at the same time! They suggested that if people are hoping to have lettuce longer, and into the warmer weather they should try varieties that are "slow to bolt" and one suggestion was Jericho (a romaine lettuce).

[morganlefay]

Originally Posted by turtlewomyn

A pear tree? I have friends with pear trees in Lloyd (just E. of Tally where I am) and they had an abundance of pears in September last year. We canned some. I am hoping to get together with them to can some more and make pear sauce this year.

Oh, at a gardening talk the other night they said their ultimate goal was to have lettuce and tomatoes at the same time! They suggested that if people are hoping to have lettuce longer, and into the warmer weather they should try varieties that are "slow to bolt" and one suggestion was Jericho (a romaine lettuce).

I was thinking about possibly a pear tree. My parents have a couple and they do pretty well and are delicious (although we usually get pears from them, so I was thinking about maybe doing something different).

Jericho--I'll have to try that one. It would be cool to have a salad with both our own lettuce and tomatoes! We've been able to keep lettuce going until late May, I believe, before it gets bitter/bugridden, but last year we didn't have tomatoes until late June, I think.

[turtlewomyn]

Perhaps a peach tree? The problem with them is they are susceptible to frost, if they flower too early you don't get peaches. I also don't know if you need more than one to get fruit. There is a place called Just Fruits and Exotics in Medart: http://www.justfruitsandexotics.com/
That might be a good place to check with for recommendations. They were at the gardening forum/workshop I attended last week and they mentioned they even have an avocado tree. I didn't think you could grow those up here, at least not successfully.

[turtlewomyn]

Oh, satsumas seem to be popular here, as are persimmons. I made some jam with some persimmons that my coworker brought in. It has a unique taste, but some people just love it.

[Annikate]

Seedlings!

My yellow squash, zucchini and green beans have sprouted! :

Today I planted carrots, broccoli and onions.

Next is to get my bee attracting flowers planted.

[illumini]

Hi! I've lived in central fl for a while but this is first time I am able to have a garden. I have a huge balcony that is north facing, so I'm growing some lettuces and bok choy there. So far they are doing great. And I have some strawberries there as well, but I'm considering moving them. My herbs seem to be doing ok with kinda full shade, but I'm planning on getting a light for them. I moved my parsley (which didn't look like it was doing well) and a tomato plant inside next to a south facing window. I hope this will work till I can get a light rigged out here.

I do know that I have an infestation of what I think are fungus gnats. I'm looking for Bt? I guess. And next weekend I'm building a huge planter that is raised up on 2x4's that will be on the balcony as well. I'm not sure what I want to plant there yet. I think I need to go a nursery to pick some stuff up I'm thinking of going to Knox Nursery, I believe it is called. A bit of a drive for me, but they look very cool. Plus I haven't been able to find any nurserys around me other than the big box stores. :

[Annikate]

Lukas Nursery in Oviedo is nice - I haven't bought much there but they do have a very cool butterfly garden!

I'm getting ready to get some herbs from a local herb grower too. My herbs did not do well last year at all. I lost everything. Too much sun maybe? Not enough water too probably. I'm not sure.