Winter Tomatoes in Fl. (Plus veggies and garden pics)

[Rajun Gardener]

Beautiful plants and garden, I'm jealous of your weather this time of year!

[MsCowpea]

Rob, I am jealous of everybody up north. Our summers are brutal (no tomatoes) and even Sept and Oct. are hotter than previous years. The winter is nice but It gets dark at 6 and the sun is very low in the sky. Right now I am in Rhode Island , came for the cold weather which is invigorating but even here it is 55 F. , too warm!

[Barb_FL]

We use to call September, the 2nd August (being the worst (hottest/humid) month of the year). I remember not too long ago on October 15th, there was a distinct change in temperatures and summer was done.

The past couple of years, October is the 3rd August. However, I did get a ton of tomato fruit set in October this year due to the huge amounts of orchid bees pollinating my plants. So I have been harvesting for quite a while so really can't complain.

Elaine - you bring up a good point - our 'season' is when the daylight hours are the shortest.

Well December started out beautiful the first 11 days but it has been rainy, rainy, rainy here.

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Do you have someone watering / watching your garden while you are away for an extended period of time?

[Barb_FL]

I forgot to mention ALL your pictures are right side up now.

[MsCowpea]

Karen, the thing is with the wood sides of a raised bed It allows DH to weed whack around big beds and keep the grass at bay. Where he can’t weed whack it is a constant battle to trim and edge despite using mulch. But a lot of the wood has deteriorated and I don’t plan on replacing it so will go the Charles Dowding ‘no sides’ method one of these days.
The black plastic round raised beds are ugly but I still like them because it is easy to try one thing or another and keep
the comparisons apart.

Barb, we did have someone water just the earthboxes. But we heard Fort Lauderdale had so much rain they closed the airport due to flooding so the rest of the garden is watered but probably smashed down and diseases encouraged.

[Ginger2778]

We got a lot of rain in Plantation, but not the kind of flooding that Fort Lauderdale got. And there's was a saving grace - it was windy, things dried out much faster. After heavy rains, or even morning dew, I go out and shake every plant to get it dry faster.
Disease is indeed inevitable, and swift!

[TheDante]

Karen, the thing is with the wood sides of a raised bed It allows DH to weed whack around big beds and keep the grass at bay. Where he can’t weed whack it is a constant battle to trim and edge despite using mulch. But a lot of the wood has deteriorated and I don’t plan on replacing it so will go the Charles Dowding ‘no sides’ method one of these days.
The black plastic round raised beds are ugly but I still like them because it is easy to try one thing or another and keep
the comparisons apart.

Hey Elaine, we share the exact same experience too, the hubby had to weed whack around the wooden sides but once we removed them it was also a lot more manageable now… hubby just mow along the edges of the beds

[goodloe]

Hey [mention]MsCowpea[/mention] , I love your garden! I'm also very jealous, as it'll be at least 3 months before I can plant out... ;/ I take it that you don't have nematode problems? I know Marsha has mentioned them as one of the reasons that she grows only in Earthboxes...

[MsCowpea]

I have those nematode buggers big time. They thrive in sandy soil. Conventional wisdom does advise growing in containers as a way to combat them and this is really sound advice.

As far as in-ground, Let’s say I ‘manage’ them with copious amounts of compost and sometimes a cover crop. I also started out with raised beds that contained 70/30 mix. (70% coarse sand, 30% muck/top soil). That is a lousy mix but it is just a base—you have to add compost. It is also readily available. I also don’t worry about the containers that sit straight on the ground and I have drilled even more holes in them. Most of my containers have compost as well. And my purchased potting mix has a big percentage of pine bark. Also use fertilizer like Black Hen or Other natural fert. (I took great organic/ composting classes at Miami Dade Community college about 25 years (?) ago. Got me started with the RBs)

My plants grow big, I get lots of tomatoes but at the end of the season the roots show nematode damage. I have grown in the same beds for 18 years but don’t recommend this.
I show the nematodes who’s boss but the DISEASES (bacterial spot, early blight) have me cowed and whimpering. Didn’t used to be so bad but lately it gets worse every year.
(COVER CROP)

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[AZGardener]

I battle nematodes too. It's a never ending battle. Your plants look great, very nice garden.

[pondgardener]

So do you think all the compost and an occasional cover crop gives nematodes something else to be interested in until the compost/cover crop breaks down?

[MsCowpea]

AZ-thank you

George, I consider compost the cornerstone of battling nematodes.
This is from the Univ of Florida: “ Nematode Management in the Vegetable Garden.”
Explains why it is important.


https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ng005

“Organic amendments can be added to soil as compost, manure, green manure, or other materials (http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/vh037). Organic matter can help prevent nematode damage in several ways. The organic matter increases the ability of the soil to hold water and nutrients, and it improves soil structure. This makes a better environment for most plants and can help the plants survive in spite of the nematodes. Organic amendments can also increase natural enemies of nematodes that suppress the nematode populations. Some organic amendments can release chemicals or gases that are toxic to the nematodes.”

P S : ‘ MeloCon WG ‘ is new to me. Haven’t tried it but will have to check it out. (See article)

[MsCowpea]

Really windy all day in the garden. Knocked over 6 big containers, lots of green tomatoes fell off
Several big branches broke off tomatoes—hate when that happens. Bean trellis fell over but luckily a ladder left next to it after picking beans kept one side semi attached so we were able to get it back up. The wind even flatted a bed a broccoli
but I guess they will pop up again. Supposed to be 80 degrees tomorrow , possible rain. Elaine

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[MissS]

I'm so very sorry to see that you had so much damage. Mother nature can sure be fierce. It is so frustrating when these things happen after doing so much work. So sad about losing all those little tomatoes. Thank goodness it looks like most of your plants will recover.

[MsCowpea]

Thank you, Luckily I have larger containers of tomatoes and they didn’t
tip. We should have pounded rebar next to the containers sitting on ground and tied them but it doesn’t frequently get so windy thank goodness.

[Barb_FL]

Elaine - I live with continuous wind and very high gusts on almost a daily bases. Several years ago, I started using T-Posts to attach the cages of my plants. I use 1 T-Post per plant or Earthbox. I was tying the cages to the T-Post with the long zip-ties, but this year started buying paracord to attach the cages thinking it will last multiple seasons. A great benefit though, is on my huge square cages with th 18" legs (even that did't hold the cages down), I don't bother pushing them into the ground, so may cages got new height.

I'm sorry to see the destruction.

[MsCowpea]

Barb, thanks for the suggestion. We used those to fence out peacocks . DH found one and did pound it in the ground right next to that bean trellis board that ripped away from base. Now that structure is upright. We need to get more to secure the pots as you suggested. What sort of cage do you use with 18 “ legs?

The earthboxes are on a defunct basketball court so nothing can be pounded in. Luckily they stayed upright.

In our old house we had a pool and the EarthBox set along its edge. Once I came out and the earth box was GONE.
Really dumbfounded as to who would take it until I saw the tip of my tomato plant waving in the deep end of the pool. When EB was blown in the bottom sunk first and it was oriented correctly in the pool and tomato was undamaged. Just had to drag it out.

[Ginger2778]

The wind has been KILLER this year, but I swear it's keeping the disease down for me.

[Barb_FL]

Elaine - I use to grow exclusively on my pool deck and was constantly battling the EB tipping. Only a few times the plant went in the pool but the EB did not. Having a filled EB in the pool would push my husband right over the edge.

Then I went off the pool deck entirely - the pool deck has the best morning sun. But as my husband went on his backpacking trips, I started again on the edge so I was able to pound in the T-Posts.

Cages with the 18" legs are from Burpee.com - They are called XL Pro Series. I bought some from Harris Seeds also. I get the extensions for all of the cages.

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Marsha - It also keeps the mockingbirds at bay too. That's great that the disease pressure is down for you. December was so dicey with all that rain, but no disease.

[Whwoz]

She posted them so that Whwoz could see them.

They are upside down for me as well.

Only just got around to going through the thread now, love the photos and they are right side up!