Two Moringa trees are growing in my backyard. I’m in Central Florida and the trees grow great all summer, but slow down the remainder of the year. Hurricanes, or strong wind, will knock these trees over. I had to cut mine last year because it fell over the garden. New stalks have grown and I just noticed my first “bean” or drumstick.
The Moringa is a special tree because it is a source of vitamins while providing food in the form of leaves and beans. Even the roots are edible – according to this article. I most often use only the leaves to make tea.
I let this “bean” grow and eventually when I touched it the thing pretty much fell off. It was full of seeds, and lots of ants! So, I tossed it into the yard.
Another bean is growing on the smaller Moringa tree. I do not plan to save seeds or anything. My yard is pretty full. Both Moringa trees are doing well. I love the lacy leaves that provide minimal shade. Bees, butterflies and birds have been seed at the white flowers. Even hummingbirds visit this awesome tree.
Thanks for reading. Please view some of my other garden stories in the links below.
I managed to grow three watermelons in my Florida backyard this year. Here is how they turned out, and how I figured out when to pick them.
On April 8th I planted watermelon seeds. On June 30th I pick three watermelon from my backyard garden.
As I do every morning, I walked the yard and inspected the vegetable garden. Usually I have a couple of okra to cut (yuk), but my main inspection goes to the beautiful watermelons growing. I’ve never in my long life be able to grow watermelon. This year I had four beautiful melons growing.
As I came to the garden I saw that one of the watermelon vines was pulled back from its usual spot, and then I saw the chewed melon. It was the smallest of the four melons, and probably the easiest for the raccoons to get into.
Watermelon disaster
I had three more watermelons which were still okay, but they did show signs of claw marks.
I’d been wondering if I would be able to tell when the watermelons were ready to be picked. The seed packet mentioned a browning of the tendril closest to the melon. I wasn’t sure what that meant, so I watched a video and then realized it was the little, curly thing coming off the vine. Sure enough, the ones nearest all my watermelons were brown. So they were all ready to be picked.
Brown tendril – a sign the melon is ready
Watermelon, From Baby to Being Picked
It took nearly three months, but was worth the wait to have delicious fruit right from the garden! It’s what we gardeners live for.
Baby watermelon
June 14th garden photo
Raccoon markings
June 30th, picked my three watermelon
Cutting and Eating
I decided to cut the watermelon outside on the patio table. This mainly comes from my fear of slush pouring out instead of the inside being solid.
Many years ago I worked in the produce section of a grocery store. My job one day was to slice watermelon and package it. As I cut into a big melon, all the insides gushed out all over me and the floor! I never forgot it, and always worry whenever I cut a watermelon.
So I did my cutting outdoors, and I was so happy to see the red inside when I first opened the big melon. Then I tasted it, and yum! I’d grown my very first edible watermelons!
Perfect!
Yum!
I’ve only cut the largest watermelon, but it is delicious. Even if the other two are not good, I am so happy to have had one that is perfect.
I saved a bunch of those big, white seeds. I may try to grow more before Fall because we have months of heat still ahead of us.
This type is the Strawberry Watermelon and I bought the seeds from Southern Exposure Seed Exchange (the link goes there).
Planting new types of seeds purchased from Eden Brothers online.
Finally my seed packet order from Eden Brothers arrived. It took ten days, and I’d actually forgotten about the order because they sent no information updates at all! I’m not too happy with the company for that reason. I chose them because they had the Mimosa seeds.
Now I need to figure out what to do with these seeds, which include Nasturtium, Amaranthus, Powderpuff Mimosa, and Borage.
Nasturtium
I had loads of lovely nasturtium growing in my northern summer garden. I’ve never tried growing them in Florida. For that reason I will plant some seeds into the garden dirt, and the others will go into pots.
The seeds went into the ground around my pumpkins plants and watermelon. Two clay pots also hold seeds. They are the Alaska variety which is pictured below. The leaves and flowers are edible.
This is one of my favorite photos of my cat Skittle sitting amongst the nasturtiums and marigolds in my New Hampshire garden.
Nasturtiums and Marigolds (and Skittle the Cat) in my NH gardenThe full packet of seeds from Eden Bros.Alaska Nasturtiums grown from seeds in NH
Mimosa Seeds (Powderpuff)
I know nothing at all about the mimosa ground cover except that it has fluffy pink flowers. Most sites talk about growing it indoors, but here in Florida it should grow easily outside in the sun. Because I don’t care if it covers the grass, I’ll plant the seeds at the edge of my hibiscus garden.
This one is also called the Sensitive Plant because the leaves close / move when touched. And, I found it listed at the UF gardening site under Powderpuff Mimosa. I will put a few seeds in a pot and the remainder into the ground.
Amaranthus – Molton Fire (Edible)
Here is a page at UF, Gardening Solutions in the “food” section, all about the Amaranth. I guess it needs to go straight into the garden. Since I don’t have a lot of space left, some have been put into pots.
Borage (officinalis) – Edible
Borage is a herb that grows tall and is listed on this page at the IFAS site as a cool season crop. My Eden Brothers packet says that planting time is Spring, but shelter from “hot afternoons”. I think I will put some seeds into pots for now.
Borage has pretty blue flowers and it is edible. It also attracts bees. It grew wild near my house in New Hampshire, but I’ve never seen it here.
Using coconut coir for the first time to grow seeds.
For the first time ever, I purchased a block (well two) of Coconut coir. I’ve heard about this stuff for gardening and for some reason never tried it. What a mistake to overlook this wonderful planting material!
I chose the Burpee brand, which claims to be organic. The package comes with two bricks of coco coir.
This link goes to Amazon, where I am an affiliate. This is the brand I bought and used.
Is the coir only used for seedlings? Apparently not. It can be used to grow plants, or mixed with soil in a pot to increase aeration. It works like peat moss, if you’ve ever used that, but is more environmentally friendly. The idea is to break up the soil and provide an easier growing environment for roots. The coir also holds water well even though it is quite loose. When watering, the water will pour right out, but the coir retains moisture enough to nourish the roots. This way, the roots will not become waterlogged, but have the moisture needed to thrive.
Coir for Starting Seeds
My basil died over winter and I’ve been trying to grow more from seeds in pots this spring. The new plantings in dirt finally sprouted and are still pretty small. So I used the remaining seeds by putting them into the coir.
Three days later…. seedlings already showing! I am amazed by this quick sprouting action in the coir.
Basil is sprouting in Coconut Coir – after 3 days
Basil seeds sprouting after 3 days in the coconut coir
The first seedlings below were planted weeks ago in a dirt, compost mix and are still very small. I’m betting that the basil in the coir will surpass the dirt-growing plants!
Basil seeds planted in soil- weeks ago
By May 1, the basil in the coir has nearly caught up with the basil in the dirt.
May first – a comparison of the basil seeds
The coir does not contain any good nutrients for the little seedlings. Once they begin to grow be sure to give them something… I water with a fish fertilizer. When my seedlings are a little bigger I will put them into a combination of coir, compost and soil….. BUT, better yet, do not start seeds in Coir only.
In fact, the next time I made up pots with “soil” I used the coir in the bottom for good drainage, then a layer of coir mixed with compost, dirt and bone meal.
My basil seeds are Genovese Basil from Seeds of Change. I bought them at the local Home Depot last year and they (Seeds of Change) were not available this year. My local store did not carry any of this brand for some reason. Now I am looking for someplace to buy organic, non GMO seeds. I did buy seeds from the Urban Harvest (which is a local Florida company), but many varieties of veggies were sold out.
From Coconut Blocks to Growing Medium
If you are wondering how the bricks become fluffy medium for planting, it couldn’t be easier. Just add water. It does get a little messy. I added too much water and the stuff became soggy, but it doesn’t really matter. It was easy to pull out the coir and add it to pots and then strain out the excess water. All this was done outdoors.
Coconut coir in bucket
I suggest you don’t add lots of water all at once as the directions say.
Certain flowering plants may do better when planted in the coir. It is also a good idea to mix the coir into a planting bed to loosen the soil. Research according to what you are planting and then decide how much you want to spend to add this fine “soil” to your gardening plans.
Use as a Rooting Medium For Cuttings
I’ve had some cuttings from the Elderberry and Beautyberry trees / shrubs that are growing wild in my yard. The cuttings have been sitting in water for a few days now, but don’t seem to be doing well.
I took more fresh cuttings and stuck them straight into the coir in pots.
Here they are: Beautyberry on the left, and Elderberry on the right. I keep the pots outside tucked up under the cherry tomato for shade.
The Beautyberry is difficult. I’ve tried to root this one before without success.
May in my Florida vegetable and flower gardens. See what is growing well and what is not. Also advice on beginning plants from seeds.
Because there are no farm stands to buy Spring seedlings, I started my vegetables from seeds this year.
This page is an update on how my vegetables, and some flowers are growing. The hydrangea that I planted in the yard a few years ago is still doing well – surprisingly. See photos down the page.
Zucchini, Beans, Tomato, and Eggplant
Zucchini seeds were planted directly into a grow box. One plant is hanging on, the other two died. It is not growing well.
The beans are newly planted and doing very well. More about the beans further down the page.
The Cherry Tomato plants are thriving, and the eggplant (not from seeds) is giving me little eggplants.
Most plants have been in the ground, or transplanted to pots, for a few weeks now. We have not had much rain, so I water every day.
ZucchiniBush beansCherry tomatoJapanese eggplant
The Cherry Tomato Plants
All of the cherry tomato plants were begun in eggshell pots. Depending on where they went when transplanted, it has really made a big difference in their growth.
tomato plant seedlingtwo tomato plants in garden box
the First Transplanting of the tomatoes
The little seedlings that went straight into the garden grow box are still quite small. In fact, one of them died.
The cherry tomato plants that were transplanted into small, individual pots began to thrive. I think I would plant seeds directly into these pots next time.
From the small pots they went into large patio pots where they will stay. Already they have flowers forming.
Transplanting into big pots in April
Bigger plants today
Tomato plant todayFlowering tomato plant
My suggestion
Planting the seeds in small pots (eggshells in my case) got the plants off to an early start in March, however… I would skip that next time and put the seeds straight into small 4-6” pots instead. Caring for the little eggshells was time consuming as they needed watering often.
But, it has made all the difference in the way I transplanted them. The plants in the garden box are not growing fast at all. The plants I transplanted twice – into good garden potting soil – are nearly ready to give me tomatoes.!
Jalepeño Pepper Plants
The pepper plants are doing nicely. It seems to be one thing that grows well in Florida, mainly because peppers like it hot. In New Hampshire it took way too long for the plants to grow to a size to begin producing – and by then the frosts came.
These jalepeño peppers are in small clay pots for now.
The Dirt Makes All The Difference
We set up new garden boxes in the yard this year. We mistakenly bought many bags of dirt at the local Home Depot that was not good soil. It was supposed to be added to already established beds. We dumped it into the grow boxes and raised beds. Nothing that has been planted in that soil has done well.
First plantings in April
All we can do is amend the soil with better dirt, so that is what I am doing. But it is too late for the seeds and seedlings struggling in those boxes.
The Black Gold brand is what I had good luck with – this is an Amazon affiliate link. But the Black Gold is expensive if you need to fill a large box or raised bed. I plan to make my own compost and amend the soil with that. Dirt can be improved, but it might take time. Here in Florida we can plant again in Fall.
Potatoes and Green Beans
The white raised beds had been planted with potatoes. They were doing well until the cutworms arrived.
Most every potato stalk has died, so I am filling those two beds with bean seeds. Beans and potatoes are companion plants.
These are bush beans and do not need staking, but I put the cages in to keep animals from digging around in the dirt. Something climbs up into the beds at night and digs. I’ve already lost a couple bean seedlings.
Beans do okay with heat, so I am hoping they will grow throughout the summer.
Eggplant
I’m having better luck with the Japanese eggplant than I did with the regular eggplant. The old one grew into a small tree and only gave me a few eggplants to eat.
At the end of last year I planted this Japanese eggplant plant. I bought it as a small plant.
It has consistently given me little eggplants to enjoy. It quit producing over winter, but now it is going strong. The eggplants are small but are the perfect size for me.
Japanese eggplant
No Luck With These
Carrots – they are simply not growing
Cucumber – small vines, curling cukes
Beets – leaves totally eaten by something
Older Garden Boxes
The eggplant is growing in one box, with peppers in the center box and a scraggly tomato plant in the third. I’m waiting for all the tomatoes to turn red and then the plant will be ripped out. It doesn’t have many leaves and is not doing well. All these plants had to be covered at night all winter, and they did not like those colder temps.
Growing Cosmos From Seeds
Plant the cosmos seeds in good dirt in a larger size pot. I began a few cosmos plants in eggshells, but they didn’t do well at all.
Directly sow seeds into big pots and they will create a pretty display.
In my photo here I have two pots and one is doing a lot better. It’s the dirt. The smaller plant was recently transplanted into good dirt and now I’m hopeful it will flourish.
The raccoons got into the other pot and dug up part of the seedlings. The ones left are blooming and look good.
The Hydrangea Plant in May
New leaves have grown on my one hydrangea plant and today I noticed there are about five tiny buds. The plant looks nice and healthy.
While using my local, fresh, free range chicken eggs one day, I looked at the beautiful shell color and remembered something. I had read, at one time, about using eggshells as pots to start seedlings for the garden.
The shells were so pretty that I hated to just throw them out, so I began rinsing the broken shells to save.
Getting Ready to Plant Seeds in Eggshells
Here in central Florida frosts and freezes tend to happen in January and February, if they happen at all. By March the weather seldom gets all that cold, but can be chilly overnight. March is the month to plant in Florida.
However, seeds can be started indoors in February, or sooner, to have little seedlings ready to go into the ground by March. I planted mine in the middle of February.
With my organic bags of dirt – Black Gold by Sungro (Amazon affiliate link)- is what I used, and organic seeds purchased, I filled each eggshell and then stuck seeds down into the soil. Keep the egg cartons to use as the plant tray.
Duck EggsI began planting my seeds in eggshells in February
When the weather got nice enough, I put all the cartons outside in the sun for the day. I brought them inside each evening. And checked them often to add water.
Difficulties and Challenges to Eggshell Gardening
Unlike little pots, the eggshells are delicate. One online site said to put a pin hole in the bottom of the shell for drainage. I did not do that because I tried and failed to make a little hole. It is not really necessary as long as you don’t overwater. Also, with a hole in the bottom, the cardboard containers would be wet.
Watering can be challenging. The eggshell pots are very small. They will dry out quickly when outside in the Florida sun. I water the seedlings twice a day, and this is March. Because the pots are so small and I don’t want to overwater and have them sitting in a puddle, I use my pour-over tea pot which has a small thin spout. Alternatively you could use a paper cup or anything that allows you to easily add small amounts of water.
Get the Seedlings Outside During the Day
Each day I put the seedlings – or soil with seeds – outside into the sun. Once the plants begin to grow they will need lots of direct sunlight and also some moving air. When plants grow in slightly windy conditions, it causes the stems to become strong. Or so I’ve heard.
Seedlings are about a month old
I’m lucky enough to be home all day and can easily do this. Even if the plants can sit in front of a sunny window it will be helpful.
All in all, be ready to spend some time caring for the little pots. You can’t just plant and forget.
Choosing Seeds to Grow in Starter Pots
It is tempting to go overboard when picking out seed packets! I’m picturing the bounty of fresh veggies – arms loaded as I come in from the back yard. Realistically, I certainly don’t have space for many plants and seeds are generally good for one year only.
I love almost all vegetables, but must be picky about which ones I will grow. Fresh herbs are one thing I would use often. My basil and parsley has diminished over the years so I wanted to grow those two things again. I also have had difficulty finding dill plants here in Florida, so I am trying to grow that. Dill and fennel plants have flowers that attract the Swallowtail Butterfly.
Flat leaf Italian parsley seedlings – lookin good!
Getting to start plants from seeds gives me the chance to learn what’s what in newly sprouted form.
The basil did pretty well, but something did eat some of my basil. I planted as much as I could, filling all the saved eggshells. I knew that some things would do better than others.
Little basil plants
My yard needs more flowering plants. Some of these eggshells contain marigolds and cosmos. I plan to plant more of those flower seeds in larger containers as well. Flowers don’t have to be planted in the garden – especially when your garden is made up of a few grow boxes. They can be in containers to save on garden space.
Flowering plants in pots can be moved around the yard as needed to keep bad bugs away and hopefully draw in the beneficials.
Larger seeds such as zucchini and cucumber can go directly into the ground. Let’s face it, I would need a lot more egg shells to get everything started. Also, I don’t know how well transplanting will go. More to come on that!
Hydrangeas Blue 