Florida Growers Thread - Page 20

flipt · January 20, 2009

Here's a pic of the last few day's harvest.

annecros · January 21, 2009

Nice haul Flip! Hasn't it been a dream of a season? The only thing that could have made it more perfect was a little more rain, but I have the irrigation setup pretty efficiently so no worries. Be sure to drop me a PM with your address, and I'll have some seeds for Albany Georgia straight to you. I have been eyeing your grow list by the way...

Yep, quite chilly this morning, but not too bad. Picked the vines as clean as possible and watered in yesterday, so should be no harm, no foul. The weather people says this is the coldest of the season, so we should be good for a few lates.

Cheryl, I didn't mean to say that I disliked Thai Pink Egg (I think Yellow Pear is the only tomato that I really hate, that and supermarket styrofoam), but hubby is really enamored of them. His taste in toms runs sweeter than mine, and they are very sweet indeed. He normally dislikes small fruited varieties as well, but he says these are perfect "two bites." He bites the "lid" off, sprinkles a little salt and goes to town!

01GTB · January 22, 2009

Ohhh, the helpless feeling of watching my plants freeze

I moved a few to a sheltered location, which was no easy task, but left the ones with few or no small fruit to the elements. They gave it their all. It was 32F according to both thermometers at 5:45 am, and dropped to 28F at sunrise yesterday morning. A few burned tips on a couple of them, but several appeared to make it. It's not the case tonight. Calm air and 29F...they're already gone.

gardenhappy · January 27, 2009

I lost 75% of my tomato seedlings in the hoop house

Just makes me sick

My egg plants in 5 gallon pails froze but still have some life in them so I'm cutting them back and feeding them fish emlusion

These were in friut so it just makes me sick,next year it will be heated hoop houses down here.
We were 82 yesterday going to be 80 today but then by the end of the week 50's days and down to 35 nights,hooking up heat just in case this time.
Luckily I have new seedings inside the house but still what a set back

zinnia11 · March 23, 2009

I have just recently started my tomato garden here in central Fl., for the first time. I am so glad to have found this website!

I am determined to make a success of it so I have been reading up on all of the great advice here at Tomatoville.

So far, I have started in pots, not from seeds the following:
Better Boy
Celebrity
Bush Goliath
Pink Brandywine
Beefsteak
Mr. Stripey

and there is one other variety that I forgot to label so it is going to be a mystery what comes out of it. Watch it be my favorite!

I also have some seeds comming in the mail but I am starting to worry that it will be too late to start them this season. It gets too hot here by June. The seeds are Livingston's Giant Oxheart, Black Beauty and Long Purple eggplant, Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce, and Dixie Queen watermellon.

I also have some string beans I started from seed, a couple of strawberry plants, some watermellon plants, two kinds of cucumber, japanese eggplant, a blueberry bush, and some carrots and beets I started from seed.

Pretty much everything I have in my garden is from one of the big box chain stores so I guess it isn't all that exciting to most of you seasoned growers. I also just made two earthtainers from the directions I found here. I also ordered a Topsy Turvy upside down tomato container that is on it's way.

My dr. told me to get out into the sunshine and play in the dirt because it works as well as an anti-depressant sometimes, so I took her up on it and I feel better already!

I will post pics of my successes (and failures) as they come.

dice · March 24, 2009

A lot of people in your climate grow fall crops. I do not know
exactly when they start seeds for them, but I would think
sometime in mid-summer. Given enough water, the midsummer
heat actually helps veggie plants that are not trying to set
fruit and that are not prone to bolting into flower when you don't
want them to (lettuce, broccoli, etc). Some kind of sun screen
mesh over them may be needed if they get direct sun all day.

When exactly to start seeds for a fall crop may vary with where
exactly one is in Florida. Your county agricultural extension
may have a guide that they will send you or that can be
downloaded that has general advice on when to plant what
in your part of Florida.

captnkirk · March 24, 2009

good luck with your tomatoes zinnia.Are you growing all of them in pots and earthtainers?I am using 2 of the upside down mater planters,what i found out last fall you want to make sure plants have a pretty strong stem before planting them in those planters.The ones i have growing in them now are doing great so far this spring.I had to get rid of some of the soil around the root ball to fit into the hole at the bottom because of the size of the plant but that worked out better than the smaller ones i tried last fall.When i get home il try to post a pic of the ones i have growing in them.heres a few pics of my other ones from a few days ago.

http://s213.photobucket.com/albums/c...w&t=1237698772

zinnia11 · March 25, 2009

Thanks, captnkirk! I have planted all of my tomatoes in pots of different shapes and sizes. I made two earthtainers with my dad's help, and I have one upside down container that i recently planted another tomato plant in. It is a patio type cherry tomato, and yes, it did have a strong stem. It was a little tricky planting it in the upside down thingy. It looks kinda cheap to me. I need to find a better place to hang it up. I'm going to post photos soon.

In another part of my yard, the front/side, I made two raised beds with wood planks and good mix of commercial garden soil and black cow manure. In these beds I planted watermellon, spring onions, carrots, beets, a slicing cucumber, a pickling cucumber, an eggplant, and a blueberry bush. I have probably overdone it big time. One thing that I am not looking forward to doing is thinning out the watermellon, carrots and beets. How do I in good concience, sacrifice some of my little seedlings to save the rest? I just hate to pull out anything that looks so healthy. But I guess I have too, or all of it will die.

To fellow Florida gardeners here- are you usually more successful in the spring or fall? And, when do you usually call it quit on your spring/summer garden?

captnkirk · March 25, 2009

For tomatoes where im at in zone 9 i think spring is better as i get a chance to grow some of the late season types.In the fall i have problems getting fruit set early on and then there is the whiteflys and TYLCV and the chance of a early frost.zinnia you might try this link also where there are alot of florida growers who are pretty active on the board.Im not sure where are the florida growers on this site went this spring.http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/flgard/?

captnkirk · April 2, 2009

Hi Wheres everybody at.Im having my best start yet this year with my plants.I have fruit now on just about every variety.Goose Creek is the one that is realy loading up,cant wait to see how these taste. Kirk

if any of you are intersted in garden chat i have a gardening chat room now. stop in say hi

http://client11.addonchat.com/sc.php?id=384166

jsvand5 · April 2, 2009

Where if FL are you? You sound a bit ahead of me. I am in Ocala (north central FL). I am getting a ton of blooms right now, but no tomatoes that I have noticed so far aside from my Sunsugar.

captnkirk · April 2, 2009

im about 35 miles north of tampa,i used the wallowaters this year .They allowed me to plant out feb 1st.Carmello and burbank are two other plants that are really doing good .Both are 1st timers for me.Solarfire is another that is loaded.

kirk

annecros · April 2, 2009

Hi captn,

Glad to know you are off to a great start this year! We are winding down here in the Southeast. This has been the best growing season for us that I can remember in a long time.

Cleaning out the beds, and putting in hot weather stuff (southern peas, beans) and not checking in as often.

I'll be around about the time you are harvesting, putting together my grow list.

Living in paradise!

gardenhappy · April 3, 2009

Hi everyone,
My gardens here in Lithia are off to a beautiful start.I got froze out in Feb,and then had to restart all over but the new seedling are doing wonderful in their garden beds,the 5 gallon bucket ones have been bearing friut,Thai pink egg,first lady,red current,and 1 unknowen but the others are just getting blossoms and will be soon.
My best gardens on new growing ground have been my fall gardens.
This will be my 3rd year gardening here now and the ground is just getting good after tons of leaves,composted dirt ,and ground cover crops.
I am organic so it takes a little while to build good dirt.
Our lemon's froze solid on our trees this spring and it stayed very cold 30's nights up thru March here.
My potato's are outstanding this year so far!!!!!Yea!!!!

I've been on other sites also because for some reason not many here anymore.

annecros · July 19, 2009

Time to sow the seeds. September will be here in eight weeks.

January 27, 2009	#289
gardenhappy Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: PLANT CITY Posts: 255	freeze I lost 75% of my tomato seedlings in the hoop house Just makes me sick My egg plants in 5 gallon pails froze but still have some life in them so I'm cutting them back and feeding them fish emlusion These were in friut so it just makes me sick,next year it will be heated hoop houses down here. We were 82 yesterday going to be 80 today but then by the end of the week 50's days and down to 35 nights,hooking up heat just in case this time. Luckily I have new seedings inside the house but still what a set back

March 23, 2009	#290
zinnia11 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Port Orange, Florida Posts: 20	Florida tomato newbie I have just recently started my tomato garden here in central Fl., for the first time. I am so glad to have found this website! I am determined to make a success of it so I have been reading up on all of the great advice here at Tomatoville. So far, I have started in pots, not from seeds the following: Better Boy Celebrity Bush Goliath Pink Brandywine Beefsteak Mr. Stripey and there is one other variety that I forgot to label so it is going to be a mystery what comes out of it. Watch it be my favorite! I also have some seeds comming in the mail but I am starting to worry that it will be too late to start them this season. It gets too hot here by June. The seeds are Livingston's Giant Oxheart, Black Beauty and Long Purple eggplant, Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce, and Dixie Queen watermellon. I also have some string beans I started from seed, a couple of strawberry plants, some watermellon plants, two kinds of cucumber, japanese eggplant, a blueberry bush, and some carrots and beets I started from seed. Pretty much everything I have in my garden is from one of the big box chain stores so I guess it isn't all that exciting to most of you seasoned growers. I also just made two earthtainers from the directions I found here. I also ordered a Topsy Turvy upside down tomato container that is on it's way. My dr. told me to get out into the sunshine and play in the dirt because it works as well as an anti-depressant sometimes, so I took her up on it and I feel better already! I will post pics of my successes (and failures) as they come.

March 24, 2009	#291
dice Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: PNW Posts: 4,743	A lot of people in your climate grow fall crops. I do not know exactly when they start seeds for them, but I would think sometime in mid-summer. Given enough water, the midsummer heat actually helps veggie plants that are not trying to set fruit and that are not prone to bolting into flower when you don't want them to (lettuce, broccoli, etc). Some kind of sun screen mesh over them may be needed if they get direct sun all day. When exactly to start seeds for a fall crop may vary with where exactly one is in Florida. Your county agricultural extension may have a guide that they will send you or that can be downloaded that has general advice on when to plant what in your part of Florida. __________________ -- alias Last edited by dice; March 24, 2009 at 08:02 AM. Reason: clarity

April 3, 2009	#299
gardenhappy Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: PLANT CITY Posts: 255	growing Hi everyone, My gardens here in Lithia are off to a beautiful start.I got froze out in Feb,and then had to restart all over but the new seedling are doing wonderful in their garden beds,the 5 gallon bucket ones have been bearing friut,Thai pink egg,first lady,red current,and 1 unknowen but the others are just getting blossoms and will be soon. My best gardens on new growing ground have been my fall gardens. This will be my 3rd year gardening here now and the ground is just getting good after tons of leaves,composted dirt ,and ground cover crops. I am organic so it takes a little while to build good dirt. Our lemon's froze solid on our trees this spring and it stayed very cold 30's nights up thru March here. My potato's are outstanding this year so far!!!!!Yea!!!! I've been on other sites also because for some reason not many here anymore.

January 21, 2009	#287
annecros Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2007 Location: West Park, FL Posts: 219	Nice haul Flip! Hasn't it been a dream of a season? The only thing that could have made it more perfect was a little more rain, but I have the irrigation setup pretty efficiently so no worries. Be sure to drop me a PM with your address, and I'll have some seeds for Albany Georgia straight to you. I have been eyeing your grow list by the way... Yep, quite chilly this morning, but not too bad. Picked the vines as clean as possible and watered in yesterday, so should be no harm, no foul. The weather people says this is the coldest of the season, so we should be good for a few lates. Cheryl, I didn't mean to say that I disliked Thai Pink Egg (I think Yellow Pear is the only tomato that I really hate, that and supermarket styrofoam), but hubby is really enamored of them. His taste in toms runs sweeter than mine, and they are very sweet indeed. He normally dislikes small fruited varieties as well, but he says these are perfect "two bites." He bites the "lid" off, sprinkles a little salt and goes to town!

January 22, 2009	#288
01GTB Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Central Florida 9A/9B Posts: 25	Ohhh, the helpless feeling of watching my plants freeze I moved a few to a sheltered location, which was no easy task, but left the ones with few or no small fruit to the elements. They gave it their all. It was 32F according to both thermometers at 5:45 am, and dropped to 28F at sunrise yesterday morning. A few burned tips on a couple of them, but several appeared to make it. It's not the case tonight. Calm air and 29F...they're already gone.

March 24, 2009	#292
captnkirk Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: florida Posts: 126	good luck with your tomatoes zinnia.Are you growing all of them in pots and earthtainers?I am using 2 of the upside down mater planters,what i found out last fall you want to make sure plants have a pretty strong stem before planting them in those planters.The ones i have growing in them now are doing great so far this spring.I had to get rid of some of the soil around the root ball to fit into the hole at the bottom because of the size of the plant but that worked out better than the smaller ones i tried last fall.When i get home il try to post a pic of the ones i have growing in them.heres a few pics of my other ones from a few days ago. http://s213.photobucket.com/albums/c...w&t=1237698772

March 25, 2009	#293
zinnia11 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Port Orange, Florida Posts: 20	Thanks, captnkirk! I have planted all of my tomatoes in pots of different shapes and sizes. I made two earthtainers with my dad's help, and I have one upside down container that i recently planted another tomato plant in. It is a patio type cherry tomato, and yes, it did have a strong stem. It was a little tricky planting it in the upside down thingy. It looks kinda cheap to me. I need to find a better place to hang it up. I'm going to post photos soon. In another part of my yard, the front/side, I made two raised beds with wood planks and good mix of commercial garden soil and black cow manure. In these beds I planted watermellon, spring onions, carrots, beets, a slicing cucumber, a pickling cucumber, an eggplant, and a blueberry bush. I have probably overdone it big time. One thing that I am not looking forward to doing is thinning out the watermellon, carrots and beets. How do I in good concience, sacrifice some of my little seedlings to save the rest? I just hate to pull out anything that looks so healthy. But I guess I have too, or all of it will die. To fellow Florida gardeners here- are you usually more successful in the spring or fall? And, when do you usually call it quit on your spring/summer garden?

March 25, 2009	#294
captnkirk Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: florida Posts: 126	For tomatoes where im at in zone 9 i think spring is better as i get a chance to grow some of the late season types.In the fall i have problems getting fruit set early on and then there is the whiteflys and TYLCV and the chance of a early frost.zinnia you might try this link also where there are alot of florida growers who are pretty active on the board.Im not sure where are the florida growers on this site went this spring.http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/flgard/?

April 2, 2009	#295
captnkirk Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: florida Posts: 126	Hi Wheres everybody at.Im having my best start yet this year with my plants.I have fruit now on just about every variety.Goose Creek is the one that is realy loading up,cant wait to see how these taste. Kirk if any of you are intersted in garden chat i have a gardening chat room now. stop in say hi http://client11.addonchat.com/sc.php?id=384166

April 2, 2009	#296
jsvand5 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: FL Posts: 47	Where if FL are you? You sound a bit ahead of me. I am in Ocala (north central FL). I am getting a ton of blooms right now, but no tomatoes that I have noticed so far aside from my Sunsugar.

April 2, 2009	#297
captnkirk Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: florida Posts: 126	im about 35 miles north of tampa,i used the wallowaters this year .They allowed me to plant out feb 1st.Carmello and burbank are two other plants that are really doing good .Both are 1st timers for me.Solarfire is another that is loaded. kirk

April 2, 2009	#298
annecros Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2007 Location: West Park, FL Posts: 219	Hi captn, Glad to know you are off to a great start this year! We are winding down here in the Southeast. This has been the best growing season for us that I can remember in a long time. Cleaning out the beds, and putting in hot weather stuff (southern peas, beans) and not checking in as often. I'll be around about the time you are harvesting, putting together my grow list. Living in paradise!

July 19, 2009	#300
annecros Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2007 Location: West Park, FL Posts: 219	Time to sow the seeds. September will be here in eight weeks.