Just as people in freezing areas need to start seed 2 months in advance of last frost, we need to start seed at least 2 months before conditions will allow planting out. You need a protected area to start seed. That's where I have trouble. I don't have a protected area and I lost most of my starts.

Hi Junglegal

I will try to advice you the best that I can, I also was a newbie to Florida 3 years ago and had to learn, the planting dates anywhere are only used as a guideline, later on you will learn what works better for you.

The beds that you have can be used for some veggies and what you can not fit in them will have to find other spaces, either in the garden or containers. I have been planting around my bananas and the vegetables are doing fine.

You already have the tomatoes in pots, good! Peppers bought at the store should do fine and can be put in pots also. Green beans can be direct sow in one bed, I space them about 5-6" apart, don't pay attention to the package, they are for people that grows in rows, not us with small spaces.

The other bed you can direct sow carrots and maybe small crops like lettuce, beets, swiss chard, kale? if you like them.

Brussels sprouts and cauliflower get big and take a long time to grow you can get the transplants. Zucchini can be direct sow and needs space but can be successfully grow in a container, except the larger varieties. Watermelon you can direct sow, and need to give space to this one, it will take over, vines can be arranged to grow anywhere that you want them to grow.

If you like the taste of Malabar spinach give it room because it will take over, last time I grew it in Arizona.

Perhaps somebody that grows veggies in your area, can come up with better advice, in the meantime feel free to ask any questions, that is the only way to learn. And I wish you the best veggie gardening adventures! After you taste your own homegrown produce, you will be happy that you gave it a try.

Silvia

junglegal,

The first thing I have to say is do not be discouraged by garden failures. We did not walk the first day we tried, we did not ride our bicycle the first time we tried, gardening also takes practice and learning.

I believe your raised bed is tiered by your explanation, the taller raised bed end is for your root crops like carrots, beets, potatoes, etc. because they need the deeper soil.

I suggest you plant all your vine crops like watermelon, squash, cucumbers, etc. near the edges of your raised bed so you can train the vines to hang over the edges of the raised bed and run on the ground outside the raised bed so the big fat leaves don't cover your other veggies inside the raised bed.

Some veggies do very well in pots, you will learn which ones do well in your area. I cannot advise you on what to plant now because you are zone 10, very different than my zone 9. The best way to learn is to plant a few seeds every two weeks, mark the date planted, and see which does best. If you keep a notebook that will be a big help to you in later years.

Lou

Here's the best reference I know for planting dates, etc. in FL - from the University of FL - & be sure to familiarise yourself w/ your location, since the planting dates vary between North, Central & South....

Here is a link that might be useful: FL veggie gardening guide @ UF/IFAS

Sorry, I just realised that you might've meant UF, rather than USF in your original message.

Those are seed starting dates, I believe - unless otherwise specified.....

Thanks to everyone for their input! Yes, I meant UF. Oops.
Well if that is the seed starting dates, perhaps it's not too late for me on some of the veggies. I'll be sowing this weekend. Trial and error. Took me years to figure out the tropicals and even that's a crap shoot from time to time.

gal, they show both dates.
Seed to harvest first, and transplant to harvest in parentheses.

I've never been able to go by their dates at all.

Corrie

I attempted to plant my first test this fall using the UF guide. Then I look at my just now barely eating size plants and compare them to Tom's, Silvia's and Lou's and scratch my head. Or pull my hair out.

Recently, I'm thinking I need to ask more questions about how to start seeds. And, while I was looking around in the seed starting forum, I found an interesting FAQ about Byron's World Famous Tea Recipe (linked below).

I've been working on my early spring planting plan, and I've got what I think are my seed start dates figured out. But, just how do you experts start your seed? I found that starting in garden mix in cell trays didn't work so wonderful. Starting in seed mix in cups works really well, but then they need to be planted out to keep growing. Right now, I'm thinking of starting the winter seed in cups then transplanting to garden mix in cell trays.

Once the plants are in cell trays; I was going to line the bottom of my cart with black plastic; put the cell trays on top. Then roll the cart out to the driveway each morning, and back into the garage each night. During the winter that is. Then I read about somebody putting an old window up on blocks and putting their seed trays on black plastic underneath and just leaving it in place.

Presuming we have growing babies, how often do you fertilize and with what? I'm not going to have my worm factory crawling around under my babies to help if they are getting carted in and out of the garage, so I'm guessing I'll need to give them a bit more personal TLC.

So, starting seeds and growing edible baby plants? WTB tips, tricks and hints!

~dianne

Here is a link that might be useful: Byron's World Famous Tea Recipe

Hi Brenda, some of your questions I can answer, and some I can't.

Is that seed sowing dates or set dates of plants?

Depends on the veggie, from your list that would be set dates for the cauliflower, Brussels sprouts and peppers I think, but I don't grow the first two, I'm just guessing based on broccoli, and it's way to early for sweet peppers now. Sow dates for the rest....

What veggie flats can I buy and plant out now that will produce?

Cauliflower? Malabar spinach, carrots, sow seed, brussel sprouts I'm not sure about. If you like broccoli it's not too late to set flats of it now, or any of the other cole crops.

Additional thoughts for our area that will increase your chances of success:

- Plant pole beans instead of bush beans, vertical growth means much more production in less space. Drop me a line or call me and I'll give you more beans than you'll know what to do with, BUT don't plant now, they're not a short-day producer. You'll need to wait until mid-January to plant the seed when the days start to gain more sunlight. You can start sugar snap peas now and I have plenty of them if you'd like to try them, good short-day producer.

Watermelon - again, too late. You have to start these in September for fall, now you'd have to wait until mid-January at the earliest, probably better to wait til February for more sunlight....And, they need a LOT of room for growth, if you're going to do this in a small space I'd recommend Sugar Baby's to save space.

Zucchini - sow seeds mid-January

Bell Peppers - start seed now indoors for a mid-January set

Tom

Gardengimp,

You have lots of questions but we'll need more info to help you initially. We all have different ways of doing things here based on in-ground vs. container plantings, and on differences in geographic and micro-climate environments. For starting seeds I fear you'll burn your babies up if you stick them in the sun all day, even in 9B.

I'm a container gardener in Zone 10 right off Tampa Bay with no frost, usually. For seed I use 3oz solo cups with Burpee grow cubes inside under grow lights for three weeks, then pot up to 16oz drinking cups in Al's mix and outside they go on the east side of my house with morning sun and afternoon shade until they are ready to set, but what I do may not work for you, get my drift? We need more info on your growing habits to improve your chances of success and diminish your potential for failures, until you figure out what you're doing.

Tom

Hi Bren.

You can put out cauliflower now. I put out broccoli and cauliflower every couple weeks for months starting in october most years. This year is an exceptions due to my health.

Sprinkle carrot seads around your tomato plants they are good companion plants. Just make sure you thin them or they will look pathetic.

This is my first year growing beans. I bought a pack of seeds and then I got sick and time went by and I figured I wasn't going to get it done right I might as well just stick them in the ground and to my surprise they all came up but I dont really dont know how to care for them now. This will be intersting as I didn't prep the soil or anything.

If you start your peppers in the late winter/early spring and put them where they will get a little bit of shade in the afternoon summer you should be able to carry it over till next spring when your new peppers are starting.

I dont grow watermelons, malabar spinich, or brussel sprouts as they are not to my liking and just didn't have luck with zuchini. good luck.

When I've planted pole beans I've noticed the lower part of the pole beans were not very productive and had open 'vine' spaces in the lower foot or two, so now in between each pole bean plant I also plant a bush bean which makes the whole trellis productive from bottom to top. This is just a hint at what I do to get maximum bean production from an area and a full trellis of beans. A little extra feeding and watering yeah, but a nice crop of beans!

Lou

Thanks for the kind words Tom!

I'm afraid I don't have any full sun around here. When I first started veggie seeds; I treated them like cuttings and stuck them in all day part shade. That didn't work so good. Now I have moved them over to the end of the driveway; they get dappled east sun and a few hours (maybe?) of direct morning sun. I can adjust the amount of sun they get by moving them closer to the tree.

With the exception of spinach, I don't seem to be having a problem getting seeds to germinate and grow to the baby seedling stage. I can get them easily to the first set of true leaves; but then they just seem to fail to thrive.

I've been starting seeds in 3oz paper cups, sitting in a tray. I'll usually plant them out to the garden when they get their first set of true leaves, or I'll upsize the container they are growing in and move them out of the bottom water trays.

This is a view of my seed starting area.

A wide angle view.

~dianne

Hi Dianne,

Well, with all that shade I can see why you wouldn't have a problem growing seedlings, sure won't burn up out there. Doubt I'll be much help though, I have no idea about growing veggies in all-day shade. I would think you could still do it if you can keep your soil dry enough, but again, you'll need to hear from folks in the same growing situation.

Tom