All my veggies died

[bbrandonsmom]

I don't know what happened. All but 1 veggie plant is gone-like over the past few days. I had started, toms, cuke, zuke, bean, pea, and corn in small pots. When they got about 6 inches I put them in the ground. They did good for the past two weeks-it's been raining and cloudy for the most part. It stopped raining and so I watered daily. All but the zuke has now wilted and gone. So I planted seeds straight in the ground instead of small pots this time. I don't know if that will help.
Any idea what happened? Was it the water? Too much from the hose? Too much sun?
I'm in hot Florida, and this year I decided to plant in the ground instead of trying container garden, but a wondering if I should do container?

[catballou24]

it could be a number of things, but with all the rain you had you probably didn't need to water afterwards for a bit. what is your soil like? i'm so sorry, i hate it when i lose a ton right from the start... planting seeds should be alright, just don't over water. tomatoes like to be watered deeply and very infrequently...maybe once a week, or if it's hot then twice.

good luck!

[LizD]

I found gardening in Florida very, very difficult (sorry, just wanted to commiserate!). I would say it's simply that your season is half a year off. Growing veg in Florida should be done in the cooler months, especially if you are in the South. You're going to have too much heat and too much water for the summer. People I knew in Florida who grew successfully in the summer months grew in containers on roofed patios. Now I am back home in the North : where everything makes more sense to me, although I did lose all my seed-grown tomatoes with a frost on May 18! Good luck!

[Talula Fairie]

Squash varieties are generally better if you directly sow them. They grow roots super fast. I read once that if you don't direct sow they need to go into the ground within a week. Don't know if that's true or not, I read it on some gardening forum when I was googling.

It could also have been transplant shock. Did you harden them before transplanting? You probably didn't need to water daily either. Every other day is enough for my container garden in the hot central valley of CA...even every third or fourth day should be enough for an in the ground garden. What is your soil like? Did you amend it at all with compost, ect?

[Hibou]

I won't try to offer advice, since I'm in a completely different climate, but just wanted to give you a and send some :. We put so much attention and love into our gardens, it's hard when things go wrong.

[WannabeaFarmer]

Me too

I am going to go ahead and sympathize with the OP. I am in a totally different area of the country(Southern WI) and within a week of planting EVERYTHING but my peas and beans died. I went and replaced them all with store bought plants because I was afraid if I planted things like tomatoes by seed that I would not get a harvest in time.
I tested my soil after everything died and found my pH was over 8.0 and my NItrogen was non existant. I have no clue whats going on, but I lost 5 store bought plants now too....(
I am sooo upset. I had a great garden last year(minus the rot from TONS of rain and flooding) and the only reason I think is cause I made the bad decision of moving my garden to a higher spot to avoid the flooding this year. I prepped with mush compost and manure and then raked in the blood meal and sulfur to adjust after my testing, still nothing: Still lost 5 more plants....
Im thinking of just sticking seeds in the garden and see what happens?
I am so dissapointed cause I ordered special seeds for my DD and all her plants died...She was heartbroken when her pink cherry tomatoes died...

[mindymom]

op, it might be easier to tell what went wrong if you describe how your plants died, though i agree with what the pps have said. (i say might because i've never grown anything in florida but maybe there are some other brave souls like you out there!)

in general i think it is easier to grow from seed, if you prepare the garden well. give it a try! and maybe put a few things in containers just in case. i took sort of a "buckshot" approach with my garden this year. i figure if i plant enough things in enough places i am bound to eat well!

wannabeafarmer, that really stinks.