welcome, crystabel. you've picked a good place to ask your questions. you CAN grow GREAT tomatoes here, tho there are some tricks and accumulated wisdom required...

it would be helpful we had a better idea of the growing conditions: are you coastal? in a urban area? out in the middle of nowhere? zone 9 covers a large expanse of quite different growing conditions.

what kind of exposure (sun?) does your raised bed have? what sort of medium are you using (compost? a mix?) how many plants

good gardening is ALL about the details.

let's start from there.

Thanks!
Let's see, I'm in central FL but more inland, not on the coast, the closest big city would be Tampa. Typical suburb with house crammed next to house LOL.
My garden area is a southern exposure and the spot I have for tomatoes gets sun from about 7AM to 2:30PM.
The medium I am using is a mixture of compost(4 kinds), vermiculite and peat. And I was thinking about 3 vining plants.

Yes you can put your tomato seeds directly in the garden bed BUT it is more reliable to start them in a small pot so you can keep an eye on them as far as water, etc. After they get bigger then you can transplant them to your beds in the spacing you want.

Of course if you drop any tomatoes that get buried in your soil you'll get tomato plants too eventually.

I start some seeds in August and start them in September too. It's fun starting tomato seeds any old time, it's so rewarding to see them grow. (Then have to find homes for the extras that I don't have room to grow big.)

Welcome to garden forum where you will be able to ask all questions and someone will know the answers. I see you've started out with the raised bed and a mixture that is sure to please tomato seeds. You should look for seeds that have all sorts of initials after the name because they will be the most disease resistant. In Florida you have to worry about nematodes in the soil.

Hi Crystabel,
Nice to meet you.
Yes vegetables grow from the ground, but they may need a little attention from us if we want to eat them. LOL
Sounds like you know that already, with nice raised beds.
You certainly can plant tomato seeds in the soil and they will grow. But Naplesgardener is right that it's better to start seeds in little pots to nurture them til they are big and strong enough to survive better.
This is not the time to start them though. Tomatoes do not like summer here. Start your seeds in August and they will be ready to transplant by late September, and hopefully perfect growing conditions. You'll have fresh tomatoes on your Christmas table! And lots more til May, if you're lucky. And then there are the little wild ones that will give you tastes of tomatoes all summer.
Stake up your vines so the fruits don't sit on the ground.
Fertilize once or twice.
If this is your first year growing tomatoes you shouldn't have problems with nematodes.
Sounds like you have perfect sunlight conditions too.
I'm sure you'll do well.
Keep us informed.
And grow lots more stuff!
Hang around this Florida forum and you'll soon be growing the most unheard of stuff, or you'll have fun learning as I have.

Treefrog

for stakes, i have found that nothing works so well as conduit, which is cheap and readily available in @ lowes or home depot. look in the electric aisle. there are many sizes (all 10' lengths) to choose from. you can even very easily build a u-shaped trellis and grow them up twine (my favorite way -- see the link below).

some tried-and-true favorites include sungold, matt's wild (prolific but very invasive), better boy (i've had mixed results), goose creek (excellent!) and tiffany. you can get all of those at tomato growers supply. i would definitely avoid tomatoes from the box stores -- they are typically not appropriate varieties, and they cost too darn much. in the end, pick any tomato from tgs that has lots of letters after it -- any homegrown tomato is delish.

start the seeds a few weeks (4-6) before you plan to plant them. i like to start them inside, and then move them out to shade when they germinate, then into the sun when they get a bit bigger. i use 3oz plastic cups (for kids). poke holes through the bottom for drainage. for medium, i like coir, but any seedling mix will work. transplant them when they get too big for the cup. fertilize regularly (i do so twice a month with a very weak solution of miracle-gro and compost).

tomatoes get REALLY BIG here. last year, my sungold reached 10 feet and would have grown bigger if i let it. use strips of ripped up cloth to tie the tomato every foot or so, as it grows. pull the suckers off to control some of the growth.

enjoy!

Here is a link that might be useful: tomato trellis

Thank you all for the good advice and the details of when to start and when to plant. I will start my seeds ahead of time to be ready for September. :)

Here is a link that might be useful: Crystabel's Garden

Nice blog crystabel. square foot gardening is exactly how I got started gardening 25 years ago, it was fun to have a plan to follow.
I grew some awesome tomatoes and herbs, failed with radishes and carrots and so-so with other stuff.
Since then I have opted for a more casual approach but I learned a lot from my SFG and so will you.

Denise

Hi. Some great tomato growing advice above. One more thing, if you don't want to contend with nematodes, just transplant your small tomato plants into large 5 gallon containers filled with good, healthy bagged soil. You can purchase it or make your own. Place tomato cages around them. If worms attack your plants, use Dipel dust or thuricide which is toxic to the bugs (after they ingest it) but not to humans or pets. Happy gardening! :-)

Welcome Crystabel and I hope you get bit hard by the garden bug! LOL, if you stick around here you will learn lots. I have been gardening in Florida for over thirty years and I learn so much here every day.

There is a Florida gardening magazine that might be helpful for you, it is called, um, "Florida Gardening". :O) You can usually find it for sale at most garden centers.