Wish I’d known more about growing cucumbers in summer here in Florida BEFORE I decided to try to grow them during summer.
Apparently the pickleworm moth moves northward from South Florida and shows up around June / July – here in Central Florida. The moths lay eggs during the night, and worms hatch that eat the heck out of cucumbers and other veggies. (See this extensive article about the pickleworm.)
Bumblebee Morning Visitor
So I’m covering my plants. Each morning I get out to the garden early to uncover the cucumber plants. I know that the bumblebee will be along shortly to visit the flowers. Within a few minutes after the plant is uncovered, this little bee shows up.
Morning bee on cucumber flower
Bee on cuke flower
Now, it’s Fall and I have ripped out my cucumber plants (all three of them) as they only gave me a couple of edible cukes. I was spending too much time, for too little yield, for growing them to be worthwhile.
Garden cuke
Suyo Long cucumber
Homemade bread
Cucumber sandwich
I hand picked the little worms and threw them onto the mulch walkway for the lizards. The cucumbers didn’t grow very well either so I’ll be planting in early spring next time.
Three cheers – it’s October! I’ve been waiting, and not so patiently. The extreme heat is mostly gone and temperatures have gone down to the 80’s. Then, today it was 67 when I went outside at 7:00am and I put on a flannel shirt! Yes, it is finally time to tackle that long list of outdoor chores that has been building over the long, hot summer.
Planning
Now is the time to get planting for the cooler season. Our Fall is more like a normal, northern summer so the plants will be happy.
I’ve been planning where to plant the seeds and seedlings. We must have a garden plan – and I did.
My garden planning area
The grow boxes were dug and amended with some good stuff, like bone meal and compost, in September. Seed packets laid out to take stock, notebook scribbles about what I did, plant names written on markers, and everything ready to go.
Water Problems and Compacted Soil
At the end of September a little pocket of moisture hovered over my area of Florida. We got days and days of rain. I measured 9 inches in two days alone, and it rained for about a week. Florida can handle lots of rain, but my grow boxes were super soggy. They do have drainage, but I realized that I needed to add something to aerate the soil. It had become very compacted.
I bought Vermiculite (link to the organic brand I purchased at Amazon) and Perlite. I liked the Vermiculite better, and bought some more. Once again, I went through the grow boxes and added bunches of vermiculite for drainage.
Animal Pests
Finally I was able to put seeds into the boxes. Once the lettuce, arugula, chijimisai, Brussel sprouts, and cauliflower were in the boxes I had another problem to deal with. Raccoons are walking through my low grow boxes, and sometimes digging.
Chijimisai seedlings
Cauliflower and onions
Brussel sprouts
Bell peppers
Arugula from saved seeds
Raccoons and armadillos are always around, and especially pesky raccoons. Each morning when I check the (in the ground) garden, there are big holes and some plants pulled up. I’ve lost some pepper and tomato plants, which has made me change my plans a bit.
Instead of having my tomatoes all in the ground, I have to put a few up in the larger, white barrels that are off the ground. This means that I don’t have all the space I had hoped to have for planting.
This white barrel, where I planted the Eva tomato seedlings, was being used as a composting area. So I’ve lost the compost space, but the tomatoes should grow great!
Eva tomato plants
Worm Problems on Rosita Eggplant
The two Rosita eggplants growing in my backyard were begun from seed. They were planted on August 4th and have had worms on the leaves off and on since they were planted. I have only 2 plants, so it’s easy to pull the worms off and throw them onto the ground for the lizards.
I don’t have this worm problem on my other type of eggplant. I do have some more Rosita seedlings growing in clay pots, but if this type of eggplant is prone to worms, I will not continue to grow them.
Worm problem on the eggplant
Worm on eggplant leaf.
Rosita eggplant seedlings
Bell Pepper
Another plant that I had hoped to have in the ground is the Bell Pepper. The seedlings I put into the garden were pulled up by animals. So, I planted more seeds in one of the tall grow beds. This bed will now be the nursery for pepper plants, which means I can’t use it for something else. (I have a pineapple growing in the corner.)
Bell pepper seedlings in raised barrel bed
Keep Gardening Notes
I have a small notebook where I write things down. These notes keep track of what I buy and when. I keep dates for when seeds are planted in pots and / or in the garden. I also make entries about the weather, bug infestations, and information about certain types of vegetables. That is very important because I am beginning to grow things I have never grown before. Some of these things – the Chijimisai, for instance – are very new to me.
I also keep all the seed packets, and make notes on them. They have good information about when to harvest (pumpkin and watermelon) and contain the date packaged. Seeds only last about a year, so they need to be used up before they get old. I rarely use all seeds at once because my garden areas are so small.
Hoping to Grow
This fall I am hoping to grow lots of greens. Kale, lettuce, arugula, and parsley, to name a few, like cool weather. All I have had over the summer is some sweet potato leaves.
I am hoping the tomatoes will grow and produce. Peppers like the heat, but they are so slow growing that I don’t expect peppers until Spring. I might have to do something to keep them warm enough through winter.
Carrots have been planted in the deep raised bed, and I have yet to find a place for the kale and snap beans. Today I planted the remaining Borage seeds and will soon find a pot for the Nasturtiums. They did not like the heat, so I’ve been waiting for cooler days.
I’ve never done much vegetable growing in Florida and this is the first time I am planting in Fall. I feel like my research has prepared me, and I could be successful. The gardens are not as big and ready as I’d like, but it’s a process.
How to save fresh garden basil, by freezing the leaves, to use later.
I should have picked my fresh basil for freezing a few weeks ago. It does not look as good now, but I found a great video (link below) about how to freeze fresh basil, so I went into the garden and picked some.
I didn’t have as much basil to freeze as the woman in the video, and I put it into a gallon size freezer bag, instead of quart. But, now I can add more to the bag as I pick it.
The leftover stems went into my compost bin.
I love to have frozen veggies to add to my beef and chicken broth when I make it.
The Seminole pumpkin is perfect for us Florida gardeners as they are native. This is my first year growing them.
I had high hopes for growing the Seminole pumpkin. After all, it’s a Florida native. I had watched videos where people told of their bounty of pumpkins. The vines filled their yards and pumpkins were everywhere. For me, this was not the case.
My yard is small and the garden area is even smaller so I planted the seeds in one little section near the side of an empty, overgrown lot.
I had pumpkin vines trailing down the entire side of my yard, but only one pumpkin growing. Others began, but then dropped off the vine. It was disappointing. Maybe I planted too late in the season.
This new vine was headed off into the wilderness and it had two little pumpkins growing. Sadly, one of them did not make it. The other one is doing well.
New baby pumpkins
Of the two pumpkins shown above, only the one on the left continued to grow. So now I will have two pumpkins total by the end of summer.
New little Seminole pumpkin
Planting and Growing
I planted my pumpkin seeds – purchased from The Urban Harvest – in pots, then transplanted two plants to the garden. I could have planted sooner, but my garden was not ready.
Later I transplanted Seminole pumpkin plants, started from seeds in pots, into the ground, and they did not grow well. So, next time I’ll put seeds directly into the ground.
From my limited experience I have noticed: All the leaves near the place the seeds came up have turned yellow and dropped off.
The vines are easy to direct. I have all my vines coming down the edge of the yard. The vines will root into the ground along the way!
Seminole Pumpkin on the vine
I’m watching this pumpkin grow and was wondering when I should cut it off the vine. Apparently the stem will turn brown and begin to die, then cut the pumpkin leaving a long stem (see more info in the link below). This type of pumpkin can be stored for months – even up to a year – if conditions are right.
On August 25th I cut the pumpkin from the vine. It has been growing for months and I figured it must be ready. I left a nice long stem, as was suggested by someone doing a video.
Picked the pumpkin
I was hoping to have numerous pumpkins from these two plants, but it looks like I will have only two.
If you have a small yard, like I do, maybe consider planting near the edge of the property and direct the vines along the perimeter. I’ll definitely plant more Seminole Pumpkins in Spring.
From a barren yard to gardens being dug, I’m learning to be a successful Florida gardener.
In 2016 my son and I bought a house in Florida near the east coast. It is a modest home with a small yard. At the time, on both sides we had natural habitats in uncleared lots.
Here’s a photo of the backyard that was posted on the listing, and then nearly 7 years later.
House backyard in 2016
Our backyard, August 2023
Our house sits lengthwise with the garage at the front, so this “backyard” area in the photos is really on the southern side of the house.
This photo from 2018 shows the big banana trees and elephant ear plants in the back corner. Also the yard is mostly grass and not weeds. You can see the hibiscus planted near the house.
Our back corner of the yard looks a bit more open thanks to the numerous hurricanes that have come through since we moved in. The tall pine was taken down when a new house was built.
Yard 2018Yard 2023
In 2023 I decided to create some gardens and began digging up the grass. I’d been container gardening, but I’ve always believed that plants do better in the ground.
I bought a rototiller and had my son till up a patch of ground. I removed the grass and some pieces of cement that were buried and began to get the dirt ready for growing vegetables.
I have a Hot Frog tumbling composter which I’d been using for about a year to make compost.
2023 -Changing from grass to garden area
When my watermelon, peppers, okra, pumpkin, and eggplant began growing so well, I expanded to another smaller garden next to the shed. Because it was June, and summer is tough for growing vegetables in Florida, I planted cucumbers (Suyo Long), one tomato plant, and more okra (the rest of the seeds from the packet).
This is also where I planted the blueberry bush I bought at the Farmer’s Market on a whim.
June garden extension
Gardening is an ongoing experiment. There is always something to do and / or see while walking through the garden. Each morning I pull weeds until the mosquitoes find me.
I’m keeping track of what grows well in this summer heat, and am already thinking about Fall planting.
It’s July and gardening in Florida has slowed, but some things are obvious wins and some are fails.
My first time seriously trying to grow vegetables and annuals through a Florida summer. I’ve purchase plants and seeds, and transplanted seedlings. A lot of work has gone into my garden area. Some things have done very well, and others are fails and best to be forgotten!
Some things I am still up in the air about.
First, The Wins
Watermelon is at the top of my list for wins. I have harvested three, edible melons. They grew from direct planting and I would have had four, except that the raccoons got one. The vines had no problems, even though I wished I’d had more space for them. These were Strawberry Watermelons which are good for growing in southern locations.
Watermelon
I picked the melons the end of June, and now, mid-July, I have another tiny melon on one of the old vines. Also, new vines are sprouting from the original, so I’ll see what happens.
Garden watermelon
Eggplant
I’ve grown eggplant for a few years now. I had one plant that grew and grew and seldom ever gave me eggplants to eat! Eventually I cut it down. Now I have about five plants growing in various locations and have been eating eggplant regularly.
The small, Japanese eggplants are eaten fried in a pan. The larger eggplants are usually baked. *By the end of July, eggplants have pretty much stopped producing.
Eggplants
Okra and eggplant
Shade for the eggplant
Layering the casserole
Spikes on eggplant flower
Lady Bug on Eggplant Flower
My eggplant!
Eggplant
Okra
I planted okra seeds into the garden and then thinned them once they began to grow. They grew fast, have had no problems, and are hardy. The flowers are very pretty, but don’t seem to attract butterflies or bees. The problem is, I’ve discovered I don’t really like okra!
I was picking a few okras a day and slicing them to fry and eat with lunch. But the slimy, sticky okra just turns me off.🤮. I want to grow food I like, and I don’t like okra. I’ve begun cutting the plants down to add to the composter. But, I’m letting a few okra pods get big and dry out for seeds. A friend wants them.
Okra plants
Okra flower
Okra and eggplant
Moringa Trees Looking Good
Two Moringa trees grown from seed are planted in the back corner of the garden and look good. I love their lacy leaves.
The Moringa is growing well
Flowering plants – Good and Bad
Zinnia
New cosmos from original yellow
New to the yard this year are the yellow cosmos, zinnias, Rudbeckia, Gaillardia, seashell cosmos, nasturtiums, and Amaranth. Marigolds also grew again, and they are always dependable, but *did begin to fall over and split by July.
Melapodium
A delightful reader of this blog was kind enough to tell me the name of the yellow-flowering plant above. It is a Melapodium, and it grows well in hot climates.
Of all of these flowers, the Zinnias are an absolute win.
Rudbeckia did great for a while, but the heat brought bugs and I had to cut the plant way down.
The yellow cosmos, which has very different leaves from the frilly leaved cosmos, didn’t do well, but the seeds I collected from it, and threw into other gardens, grew great! So, maybe the original plant was not in a good spot. Now I have lots of new little plants growing. One of them is producing orange flowers. This flower has a remnant of its original yellow as a stripe on one petal. See the original plant in the slide show below.
Orange flower, from yellow plant seeds
Borage hates the sun and heat, so I have covered it. Nasturtiums did horrible. Amaranth has done nothing, so I’m not sure yet if it’s a win or fail.
Rudbeckia began great, then had to be cut back
Zinnia
Zinnia
Yellow cosmos – original plant
Seed from yellow cosmos
Marigolds doing great
Borage is not happy
Unknown
Now For the Fails
My vegetable fails for summer were tomatoes and Swiss chard. I had grown a bunch of cherry tomatoes, but really wanted big tomatoes. I KNOW they don’t like the extreme heat. But, I had one plant already growing so I planted it. The plant is looking great, but no fruit is forming. I’m going to let it grow and maybe it will get tomatoes in a couple of months.
Here’s the tomato plant behind a couple of sunflowers. Tomatoes are suppose to be planted in February here, I believe. That way they are all done by the time the real heat arrives.
Volunteer sunflowers
swiss chard
Fordhook chard
I planted Swiss Chard twice, in two different varieties and they fall over and don’t grow.
Hydrangeas Blue 