Glib, I was trying to find more info. about melon-growing in my area and found some similar information in a historical treatise... Only they were talking about keeping melons away from cucumbers. They (the current writers, not the historical ones) said that while these don't cross, sometimes they can with the Serpent (Snake?) melon and are said to give a cucumbery flavor to the melons. Don't know how true all that is, but I thought it was interesting! The relevant info. is in the 2nd paragraph under the section Melons. Sunni Here is a link that might be useful: Historic melons and cucumbers

Can you list the general types of crops you planted? The problems that you are having started this year? You said that you had problems with germination but could damping off be part of the problem? - I know that everything has worked fine before but there is a reason that so many precautions are taken to prevent it. - Everything can go swell for quite a while planting in whatever, but eventually it will happen. About the peat pots. - there is an understandable aversion toward using plastic in gardening but IMO that does not compensate for a lack of utility in alternate products. Peat pots dry far too quickly under normal watering, which is probably why the label on commercially available transplants in peat pots are plastic and cover about two thirds of the pot. I would clean everything and use a packaged seed starting mix in new or sterilized plastic cell packs and see how that works. Hope this helps, best of luck!

@ keraurduck For Northwest FL (zone 8ish) For tropical gardens I recommend making evergreen hedges (or a wall) on the north side, just to increase the protection from winter winds. I also recommend letting things get full and lush as that really enhances the tropical jungle sort of feel. All of the following are definitely hardy in your zone and I have personal experience with almost all of them Understory tree/large narrow shrubs: - Red Buckeye (one of my favorite natives, leaves are large and give it a tropical look+ has red flowers) - Florida Flame azalea - many bananas and relatives are hardy for zone 8 - Coral Bean Erythrina herbacea there is the native one listed or the hybrid Bidwell's Coral Bean which has a longer bloom season. bright red and unique flowers (these love sandy soil) Palms: - Cabbage palm of course - Sabal minor/Dwarf Palmetto (could function as a hedge/shrub "backbone" of a bed) - Needle palm - Butia/Pindo palm (edible golden fruit hardiest feather-type palm but silvery foliage might not match the theme) - Mule palm (hybrid of Pindo and Queen) MIGHT be hardy but I'm not sure, it is definitely the hardiest green feather palm there is Shrubs: - Winter Cassia can get tree-like but most likely a shrub for you - Hibiscus coccineus native Red swamp hibiscus - dwarf figs, various for foliage interest. 'Brown Turkey' and 'Celeste' both do well here for me - Red Florida Anise very cool plant, evergreen (not the edible star anise) - Small-flower Anise 'Florida Sunshine' another native star anise, this one has more chartreuse foliage that brightens up a shade garden (not the edible star anise) Perennials: - Coontie cycad (absolute must IMO, prefer native sandy soil I think, adaptable to a lot of different light conditions) - Red cardinal flower (needs a lot of moisture so good in a swampier spot) - Spigelia marilandica (another native shade-lover, very unique red flowers) - Salvia elegans, Pineapple sage. (edible red flowers in fall, lush and tall, benefits from some relief from sun during the day so dont put it in full exposure) - Salvia blepharophylla shorter red-colored shady sage - Salvia miniata another red-colored shorter shady sage - Cannas of course - Cuphea 'Vermillionaire', Cuphea 'David Verity', Cuphea micropetala - for ferns stick to native species as most others in cultivation are for northern zones or are invasive (like the tuberous sword fern). Christmas fern is evergreen -Hedychium coccineum (shade) Vines: - Manettia cordifolia, Firecracker vine - Red trumpet honeysuckle, Lonicera sempervirens a native evergreen vine. 'Magnifica' (orange) and 'Major Wheeler' are popular selections'. not aggressive - Carolina Jessamine, evergreen with very lush-looking foliage but a bit bigger than the other vines Two other plants I am unsure about for your zone but love are Firebush and Red Firespike, they might work if sheltered from north winds as I hear some people growing them in zone 8b. Lastly be careful about Elephant ears, many are very invasive. There is the clumping Hawaii series that is less invasive if you must have one. I really like 'Blue Hawaii'.

Sam, if these are raised beds (or just inground beds), then you do not want to add a potting soil. Potting soils are designed specifically for container growing and are unnecessarily expensive to add to a raised bed or inground garden plus add nothing beneficial to assist with the growth or productivity of plants grown in this manner. So no potting soil, no perlite :-) If the previous owners said the beds were ready to go, I might try them as-is before making any changes. Otherwise, just adding some good quality organic matter to the beds (compost) should provide all the supplementation required. As to what crops to start out with now, you might want to see what locals suggest - try posting that question on the California Gardening forum. In my area (a bit further north), fall planting is restricted to cool season crops - pretty much anything in the cabbage family, greens (the spinach should be fine), some root crops, late peas and onions and garlic. It just doesn't get hot enough this late in the season to encourage the proper development and fruiting of warm season crops like squashes, okra or green beans, which are normally summer (not fall) growing plants. But your climate might be more receptive to these types of crops so check with local growers to confirm.