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Florida Gardening

Tomato season very short lived in S FL

14 years ago

The night time lows are 75 degrees plus this week in St Lucie County so guess the few tomatoes that are on the vines are what we get! YUK and double yuk. Too hot for fall , too cold for spring , and now we are back to too hot during nights again.

bernie

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Comments (13)

jay-wpb
14 years ago
So true Bernie. I am pigging out on what I have because I know the end is near. There was much less fruit this year than in prior years. The other veggies seem to do fine except for the bell peppers - I could never grow those!!
saldut
14 years ago
I am getting loads of peppers, different kinds... and most of my tomatoes are Yellow Pear and Cherry and they keep setting in the summer the heat doesn't seem to bother them.... sally
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It certainly is subjective! I am fussy about my peppers and tomatoes producing early. I grow for sale so I don't have space to waste and I cut out varieties that do not perform well enough and laud the ones that do! The Siling Haba is a wonderful mild hot pepper, less than jalapeno and very prolific. Despite being from Philippines they are very early. The Laotian one is very hot and small. 1 pepper heats a full wok of food. Bulgarian Carrot and Gourmet are the ones I would strike off, and maybe the Mulato pepper. Paprika peppers do well. Frank's and Odessa Market are as early as banana peppers. For mild hot peppers the earliest I get are Hungarian Wax/ Banana, Siling Haba, and Laotian. The earliest sweet peppers are Odessa market and Sweet banana and Cal Wonder is next. But this is my first year with Frank's as it was sold out last year.
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Annette- It has been a very strange summer. We got a lot of rain and cool weather in June (which is unusual for us) so it was more like two months of summer weather. Xantippe- That's so sad about your perennials. I hope the weather is a little more predicatable this year. Did you lose a lot of plants? Lilyfinch- It is sad to see summer winding down, but also nice to look forward to the leaves turning color and the fair...we have a very cute county fair, here. The kind that's small enough you can take the kids and let them run around and all the food is provided by schools and charities to raise money. I think what shocks people the most is that the admission is free! People tease us that our fair is like going back to the '50s. LOL As for planning for next year, it's funny you should ask. I've been doing that for the last few weeks and I'm making some changes to the kitchen garden and starting a new vegetable garden. The vegetable garden will be more for kids 10 and over (and me, of course) but I'm planning some fun things to do, as well as veggies to grow :)
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Comments (8)
I think it probably wouldn't hurt and might help in her climate. I probably wouldn't use one here because we have so much sunlight, even on cold days, that plants inside these little plastic houses tend to roast on sunny days. Since she lives in a sunlight-challenged area, I doubt her plants will roast on the occasional sunny day. However, to ensure they don't roast, if I were using one and were leaving for the day, I'd unzip the door to vent the little growhouse/greenhouse in order to avoid a heat buildup if the sun amazingly comes out from behind the clouds. The great issue in Seattle isn't the length of the growing season, as you've noticed, but rather the lack of heat units or heating degree days. They stay above freezing a long time but don't have a lot of real heat, and tomatoes need a steady supply of heat in order to produce well and in order to produce tomatoes with good flavor. Beefsteak might not have been the best variety for her to pick. It can take a very long time to fruit and flower. If I were in Seattle, I'd likely choose something with a shorter DTM. Dr. James Baggett and other plant breeders at Oregon State University have bred tomatoes specifically for that climate that she might like to try in some future year. Bell peppers are more tolerant of cooler temperatures and won't suffer from the heat there the way they can here. If I were trying to grow tomatoes and peppers there, I'd have them in containers and place them on a concrete slab, if possible as they might pick up a little more heat that way. A concrete slab with a south-facing or west-facing wall would be even better as there likely would be more heat gain from sunlight (when they have it) reflecting from the wall and the slab up onto the plant. Also, the slab would heat up during the day and release the heat at night when might keep her plants a few degrees warmer. That's important in terms of fertilization. Territorial Seed Company is based in Oregon and specializes in plants for the kind of conditions they have there in the Pacific Northwest. I'm going to link their website below. Dawn Here is a link that might be useful: Territorial Seed Company
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Comments (7)
You should be able to do most even in early June. My father never bothered until Memorial day. That 5a zone up north is the same for us. Determinants go typically shorter but if you have 3-4" seedlings in mid-June that is 85 days or so till the end of August. I consider all September solid tomato season. With season extension October as well. I caught last years November Indian summer. I don't know if finding plants will be the issue. Starting from seed in June is probably a bit more narrow but it could be done but I would certainly want plants because you will lose much of the productive season. For short you could try early girl for a cherry Tom and Oregon Spring for a mid sized. For big and early try Black Krim. The Russian tomatoes certainly know about short season and like the black skin on a polar bear the black Russian types grab the heat better in fall.
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whgille
14 years ago
Hi Bernie

You are right first we got the cold and from then went to hot. However, don't be disappointed, gardeners are optimistic and keep on trying.:)

This is true with this tomato Indian Stripe, I planted one season after Tom shared some seeds with me and it was not very productive. Then this season, someone gave me again this tomato saying it was his best! I decided to try them again and lo and behold he was right it is a great tomato! and I am glad that I tried again.

Indian Stripe now growing in the garden, very productive and tasty!

Silvia
giants_2007
14 years ago
Hi Bernie I'm in PSL and I sure hope these darn hot nights go away My tomato plants look great with fruit set and so many flowers I was hopping for a bumper crop so I could can here is a few pics I took a few days ago

Silvia Can you guess what those are in the jar

Sal
whgille
14 years ago
Sal

WOW!!! You have to tell us your secrets, you can not keep them all to yourself. lol

Your plants look fantastic! What are you feeding them? I am sooo jealous! those beans, cucumbers and zucchini are to die for. And those big jar of pickles, you have been very busy my friend.

Figs are looking good, very healthy. Keep up with the good work!

Silvia
msmarion
14 years ago
Hey Sal, can I be your new best friend. LOL Great looking plants. You have to share your secrets with us.
tomncath
14 years ago
Hey Bernie,

Where you been? This was definitely and bad fall and spring but I have to tell you I chalk some of my problems up to the white buckets, both SCW and top-watering wicking to a dryer soil mix...I'm going back to the black nursery containers with the pot-in-pot system. I even started a few peppers in the buckets vs. black nursery containers two months ago and guess which are doing better? Perhaps even a double-bucket system allows just too much light into the soil such that fungus is a problem, who knows. I'm not sure what the problem is but I know that what I previously did worked well.

Tom
sharbear50
14 years ago
My tomatoes are full but nothing ripe yet. :( Pole beans are doing great, Bernie thanks for delivering the cattle panels. Why can't I grow cucumbers? They flower like crazy, same with cantaloupe, but no fruit...? Too darn hot maybe? Oh, one more question, when onions flower should I just dig all of them up? They are purple onions and I already dug up most of them. Sorry about all the questions, I guess I should have started my own post.
tomncath
14 years ago
Are you seeing bees? If not get a pack of artist paint brushes from HD or use Q-tips and transfer pollen from the male flowers to the female flowers of your cukes and cantaloupe.

Tom
annafl
14 years ago
Wow, Sal, please share. Us garden web buddies want to know ALL your secrets. Your plants and veggies look exceptional. Thanks for posting the lovely pics.

Anna
stuartdave
14 years ago
I've been getting tomatoes for a couple months. That is the only vegetable I grow and they are in a 2' by 10' box that I was able to cover during the cold.I too believe that I am near the end of the season as it is becoming too hot but then the mangoes, starfruit ,bananas,longans will soon be ripening. Where are you in PSL?"
flyingfish2
Original Author
14 years ago
Hi Everyone,

Sorry to post and then disappear.

Have had a terrible cold after getting back from NC wedding of newphew.

Tom, interesting report on white buckets. I did good in them last year though.. Would post some pics of my current crop, but can't locate my camera charger.

Sal, wow, good looking garden.

Stuartdave, I am out on highway 609 about 2 miles north of Martin county line at Treasure Coast Airpark.

bernie
katkin_gw
14 years ago
Yes, my tomatoes already have red spider mites. :o( What I have now is all I'll get this year. Sad amount.

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