Hey Fellow Floridians - Year 2

[Zone9b]

No not in a SWC but I did give Tomatillas a try last fall. They did very well as seedlings then I transferred each of them to a separate 6 gallon container with compost 2 years old and probably contained Early Blight in the compost. They did well for a bit but soon they were in trouble and in 20 days they died. Beyond EB the containers probably should have been 10 gallon as it looked like the plants were going to be quite large.
I had a friend that used to cook with them often and I ate them but I never took a bite from one of them uncooked. She used to barbecue Cactus Leaves and they were quite good. Have a bit of dill taste to them. They go real well with Corona.
If you find the secret for growing tomatillo let me know and I will give them a try again but with new compost.
Larry

[kayrobbins]

University of Florida has a new Florida Fresh app that lets you enter your zip code to find out what vegetables you can plant. I am going to download it today and try it out.
http://news.ifas.ufl.edu/2016/02/fin...ida-fresh-app/

[jpop]

Thank you Kay

[Zone9b]

Started harvesting from my 2nd crop of Premium Crop Broccoli 2 days ago. The raised bed I'm growing in is 4'6" x 13'8" and contains 5 rows of broccoli lengthwise which are 11" apart and within each row the plants are 11" apart. I planted 75 PC broccoli plants in the bed and currently there appears only 1 plant that isn't capable of producing a full head of broccoli.
The first day I picked 1 head and yesterday I picked 4. The average head diameter of the 5 is 7.25" and the average weight is 1.1290 lbs. The largest head was 8" diameter and was 1.675 lbs.
They are growing in 100% compost in the bed and of course native soil below the compost.
I have provided water and occasional feeding of 10-10-10 garden fertilizer and nothing else.
The taste of the broccoli raw is very good, sweet and no grainy dry feel in the mouth.
I hope to harvest them all in the next 2 weeks, so I can get my 3rd crop in by March 15th.
Finally, something other than Kale to eat out of my garden.
Larry

[Barb_FL]

Excellent on the broccoli; Do you have a large family to help eat all that broccoli. The other day I wrote that I had 4 broccoli plants per 4' square; but actually I only have 3; there is tons of wasted space.

When I first planted the broccoli, I amended the soil; then later added some dry feed like Garden Tone if I knew it was going to rain a lot. Fed them liquid fish blend here and there.

The last few times, I'm adding these fertilizer sticks:
http://www.amazon.com/Jobes-6028-50-...tilizer+spikes


What is your compost? That sounds better but I never know what people mean by compost. I have composting worms (red wigglers).

[Zone9b]

Barb,
Family of one (me). I do give some away but I try to freeze as much as possible. I eat a ton of veggies. I like them and out of the garden the price is right. I'm hoping (got my fingers crossed) that I get a lot of beans this spring. I have a lot planted. I would like to freeze a lot of beans. Who knows, I may try canning too.
The compost I use I get at the Orange County Land Fill. I believe the source is all the branches and yard clippings that they pick up. It is available for the scooping, no charge. It's not too bad of quality this spring. I've hauled approx 400 gallons this spring and I used every bit of it.
The Garden Fertilizer 10-10-10 npk 40 lb bags I use is available at either of the home improvement big box stores for a bit over 16 dollars.
Thanks for the reply and take care to all,
Larry

[ddsack]

Larry, that is great news on the broccoli spacing. Your head size is very impressive! Is there a way you could post some photos of your broccoli patch? I'm curious to see how those large leaves interact in the close spacing - like do they grow more vertically than normal.

Eight or ten plants is really enough for my use, so I probably don't need to plant that closely, but nice to prove it can be done!

[Zone9b]

Originally Posted by ddsack

Larry, that is great news on the broccoli spacing. Your head size is very impressive! Is there a way you could post some photos of your broccoli patch? I'm curious to see how those large leaves interact in the close spacing - like do they grow more vertically than normal.
Eight or ten plants is really enough for my use, so I probably don't need to plant that closely, but nice to prove it can be done!

ddsack,
I never really thought of it but as you can see in the first photo the leaves appear almost vertical. In the second photo it shows I am also fairly close to the bed sides. In the last photo I am attempting to show that you have to look down in to actually see the broccoli heads. Given space the leaves would have probably grown much more horizontal. I guess I'm somewhat doing square foot gardening minus and inch at 11 inches with my broccoli. However, (I'll repeat myself) it doesn't seem to have affected head quality and if head size was affected, it would appear to be minimal.

[Zone9b]

Another issue related to spacing of Broccoli in a limited space, such as a Raised Bed (RB) has came to mind. My 5 rows of Broccoli are spaced at 11" between rows leaving only 5" from the 2 outside rows and the sides of the Raised Bed; i.e. 5 inches from the rows closest to the side of the bed and the actual side of the bed, which in my case is are 2x10s.
By placing broccoli plants very close to the RB side boards and close to next row (in my case 11") it puts pressure on the plants closest to the side boards to grow to the side, i.e. outside the bed. Open checking the plants in rows closest to the side boards of my RB broccoli garden I observed that they are growing at approaching a 45 degree angle to the side. When I look at the heads on these plants some have grown with their head centers directly over the boards and in other cases almost all of the head is outside the RB. Once again these Broccoli heads do not seem to be negatively affected in either quality or size.
Conclusion: When trying to maximize Broccoli grown in an RB an overt strategy of planting rows closest to the RB side boards very close to the side boards can take advantage of space over and slightly outside the side boards of a RB. The result being another means of raising the broccoli yield inside a given RB without sacrificing quality or size of the broccoli heads grown.
Larry

[efisakov]

Larry, beautiful looking broccoli. Have you tried many varieties? Is it easy to grow?
I am growing tomatoes, peppers, okra, cucumbers, dill, parsley, scallion, lettuce and will try this year celery and zucchini. Eggplants I grew just did not produce good enough to keep growing. My space is limited. Thinking about growing broccoli and cauliflowers.
Actually I have some other un-successive trials: carrots were ugly looking, radishes were super tiny and then woody, strawberries small and too few.
I will grow few potatoes just for fun in containers. I remember digging first potatoes of the season somewhere in June in my grandma garden. The skin would pill off easily without a knife. They are so good. Creamy. I want my new potatoes. mmm

[Zone9b]

Originally Posted by efisakov

Larry, beautiful looking broccoli. Have you tried many varieties? Is it easy to grow?
I am growing tomatoes, peppers, okra, cucumbers, dill, parsley, scallion, lettuce and will try this year celery and zucchini. Eggplants I grew just did not produce good enough to keep growing. My space is limited. Thinking about growing broccoli and cauliflowers.
Actually I have some other un-successive trials: carrots were ugly looking, radishes were super tiny and then woody, strawberries small and too few.
I will grow few potatoes just for fun in containers. I remember digging first potatoes of the season somewhere in June in my grandma garden. The skin would pill off easily without a knife. They are so good. Creamy. I want my new potatoes. mmm

efisakov,
Coming from the Garden State known for great tomatoes, you definitely have an advantage over me.
One thing in your list I'd love to grow here is Parsley but it is not easy here, however,I hope try again one of these days. With Broccoli, if you use an early variety you probably will have an opportunity to grow 2 crops in zone 7. One in early spring and one in late summer. I have only tried 2 varieties in raised bed with compost. I started with Packman and it performed fairly well and was early but a couple of things I didn't like was; 1) it didn't hold well in the garden for me, it was quick to start to flower and 2) it didn't seem to take the heat in late May and early June. So then I tried Premium Crop variety and though it is a bit later, it seems to hold much better in the garden and seems to tolerate the hot temperatures as my 3rd crop heads in late season. However, I am going to try 2 new varieties in con★★★★★★★★ with Premium Crop.
I am preparing Castle Dome (50 dtm), Lieutenant (55 dtm) and Premium Crop (58 dtm) plants for transplant into my garden, hopefully no later than Mar 18th. I am currently harvesting 7 to 10 heads of Broccoli per day so I should be able to clear my raised bed in time to plant the 3rd crop. I have great hopes for Castle Dome because if it does well I should be able to grow 4 crops in succession between Sep and June. Time will tell.
My guess is if you get the right variety of Egg Plant for your area, you will be able to grow all you want and more.
I hear you on the potatoes. My mother, in the day, would cook new potatoes and peas together and they were oh so good. I tried to grow potatoes 1 season here but with little success. Maybe another day.
Best luck with your garden this season,
Larry

[Barb_FL]

Larry - Thanks for posting the broccoli pictures the other day. I think having the raised bed full keeps the plant upright reaching for the sun. Next summer, I am going to do this. I'm giving up on the asparagus so that will free up 2 more raised beds. Plus I have 3 raised beds that I used for bok choi, strawberries, this year they were place holders for tomato plants (elevated the tomato plants).

My raised beds are in a horseshoe and probably the best real estate for sun exposure. They use to be really productive. The open part has wooden pallets. I put a couple of tomato containers there; now even elevating them more from the wooden pallets.

Efisakov - If space is a premium, choose broccoli; I've grown both in prior years, and the purple cauliflower was fast but with any cauliflower you get 1 head and that's it. Takes the same amount of space as broccoli which keeps making side shoots. We can buy fresh cauliflower at the supermarket and it is decent. Larry is the broccoli guru.

[efisakov]

Originally Posted by Barb_FL

Efisakov - If space is a premium, choose broccoli; I've grown both in prior years, and the purple cauliflower was fast but with any cauliflower you get 1 head and that's it. Takes the same amount of space as broccoli which keeps making side shoots. We can buy fresh cauliflower at the supermarket and it is decent. Larry is the broccoli guru.

Barb, thanks. That is definitely an advantage. Plus, broccoli is better for you. We eat it fresh, dipping in Ranch with buttermilk dressing.

Larry, Castle Dome sounds interesting. Thanks for the review.

[JaxRmrJmr]

We also cut the leaves and use them like collards. Rip the leafy part off of the main vein of the leave and they turn out great. Very little difference between that a collard. Tastes very similar to a cabbage collard or Morris heading cabbage collard.

Nice stand of broccoli!

[maxjohnson]

I wonder if I will ever get the brocolli heads to sprout. I get big plants, but no heads. I started mine out in December, I wonder if that is too late for Florida or how many months it need to grow them before it get too warm by April. Also if the variety play a big part.