Why does vegetable gardening not work in the summer?

To begin with this is my first go at vegetable gardening - and have found myself loving it! Not to mention all sorts of obsessive compulsive traits I never knew I had.... Lol. But, I can't help wonder why are veggie gardens not successful here in the summer? As I read through these postings it seems many zones get just as hot if not more so than we do (I'm located in zone 10b). Is it the humidity? Bugs? I'm curious if anyone has continued to garden with success in the summer and if so what veggies were you growing?

I only grow tomatoes, with very little success. I would guess the salt air does them in. I might get two tomatoes during the season. I still plant them, though.

Minnesota people go to Florida in winter to escape the snow & cold. Florida people are supposed to come here in the summer to fish Walleyes.
We are good at growing gardens in summer, so you could have all you want by visiting one of our many Farmers Markets.

Alicia,
ask your local extension agent what is best to grow in your area.

I have had a summer garden here in central Fl. zone 9A for many years and as of late all that I have had problems with are regular tomatoes. I do fine with the little ones like sweet 100's. I'm a salad lover so I need tomatoes. Lettuce I can grow fine. I had a list of summer plants but can't find it right now. Usually our extension agent puts a list in newspaper when it is time to plant and what to plant. I also love yellow wax beans and few people grow them but I do.

Don't give up as I'm sure there is much you can plant that you would love fresh to eat.

Through my research of on line, extension office and other backyard growers, tomatoes especially have to have a break in the evening. So farther north cools down in the evening were we don't. very frustrating for sure. You just have to learn through trial and error what you can get to grow when. I've started my tomato seeds this week into next for some before the June heat does them in.

Jan

I live in zone 9B and grew tomatoes, carrots, peppers and onions successfully during the summer. I had corn growing as well, but lost it to bugs.

I am not close enough to the beach to have the salt air impact the crops.


Bonnie, you have been successful growing lettuce in the summer? Supposedly that needs to be a winter crop, because it gets too hot in the summer to grow lettuce. Do you grow that in full sun, or in shade?

Shauna

Lettuce grows under tree out back. I'm sure our summer sun would fry it. Wish I could remember the name of it. It was loose leaf and was ready to pick in 45 days.

I want to try growing some arugala as I love salads and its good in salads.

I grow Tomatoes all summer here but I grow them under a oak tree.
One thing you most remember about tomatoes is they do best in a very very rick soil.

I've thought of running some shade cloth over my garden area this summer. I wonder if that would help or would it stop them from getting enough sun?

Shauna

I'm planting tomorrow some tomato seeds in hopes of having better luck this spring... My mouth is so watering for some great home grown maters.... no should I not be so successful and you find yourself over run, I would be happy to come purchase some from ya. LOL

Jan

Tomatoes are heavy feeders. I planted my in composted cow manure. they also like a good bit of water

Sandy

LOL @ Jan...I seem to be having tomatoes popping up already. I re-potted my chaya tree and scooped out some of my compost to add to it and now I have 2 tiny tomato plants growing out of there.

Shauna not fair..... boo hoo, boo hoo....

Jan

Jan, I have some baby tomato plants coming up in a big flower pot - volunteers from last year. I doubt they will do anything - they didn't do squat last year, but they are growing.

Kay, why do you torture me????

Jan, because I love you!

Kay, I love you too kid.....

Jan, take a look at this site - it's a list of tomatoes that grow well in your area:

http://www.tomatodirt.com/tomatoes-for-the-south.html

Thanks Kay for sharing, will look into it. I'm so happy to see sweet million, all time one of my favorites.

Jan

This message was edited Jan 13, 2014 1:11 PM

Yep - I grow them every year, from Bonnie Plants - they have never failed me, either here in Florida, nor when I lived in Missouri.

The biggest problem I run into with tomatoes is that the plants get too big and grow out of control (not trying to brag or torture u Kay).

I either need to find some that don't grow to 10 ft tall...or find a better way to support them.

Shauna

Shauna, you did fine. I support mine with cattle wire, made into a cylinder, tie them up with old nylon hose.

I've got a several varieties that I'm giving another go at that grow more compact. they are being breed for smaller growing areas that some folks are moving to now. So hopefully without the chemical sprays no more I will have some wonderful ones this spring. I've got everything ready to be planted, but this blasted asthma just won't give up the go. Today is better, but just trying to bend over a breath with a coughing fit that wears ya out, isn't fun to garden with.

Jan

Jan, let's move to Las Vegas!

Every time I look for sweet 100 plants here they are sold out so this y ear I'll order seeds and try that. They can take summer heat and do grow very high and have to be staked but oh they are worth it. Regular tomato cages aren't high enough for them so will try another system this year also. Some put a pipe up high and strings running down to ea. plant and that seems to be strong enough. I haven't had a summer garden for 2 years cause I go tired of fighting rabbits so will also have to fence it all if I ever want to have a vegie garden out back again. Spent a small fortune on that drip irrigation as husb. insisted we have it so should have a garden again besides I love eating fresh vegies.

Good luck all with your seed starting.
Bonnie

I can never find the sweet 100 plants, I prefer to start with a plant than seeds. But I did buy some seeds this time. I also bought some Celebrity and Better bush seeds also. I've never planted from seeds before. But will give it a go this year.

This is the first year I tried a fall tomatoes, one is sweet baby girl, which I picked up from a local nursery, and was looking really good, but is in a pot and this hauling it in and out is now causing the blossoms to drop, it only has two little tomatoes on it so far, but had lots of blossoms and grew quite a bit. Maybe it will bounce back once the weather warms back up again, the plant still looks good.

The other tomato plant was a Bonnie patio cherry tomato I bought at HDepot. It grew very tall and did give me a good amount of delicious tomatoes. However started a mildew on the leaves, which I couldn't get under control. I could only cover it since it was too tall to move, and now most the leaves have fallen off, but it still has a lot of tomatoes, but looks like it is finished after these ripen. I started both in early October.

I'm coming more to the conclusion that the smaller tomatoes will be ones that I can grow with success through the year here in FL. I have one plant still hanging on a patio tomato with lots of maters on it.... but like you this hauling in and out don't know it will make it as they have stopped growing.

Jan

Hot peppers due great in Florida summers, just keep them watered!!

donbo7011, I wish I like hot peppers, but not got a taste for them at all...LOL I used to work for some scientist back in the 70's in CA and they would eat those things and cheese all day long in the lab.....

Years ago we used to have good results with big boy and other heirloom tomatoes but in the past few years we can't keep them alive so I switched to the little ones. They are great in sauces and salads.

Hoping to have another summer garden if I can get a boat and car moved out of the way and get the garden fenced against rabbits. Rabbits made me give up 2 years ago.

Bonnie I hear ya on the rabbits, gosh what is that old saying about gardening, plant so much for yourself, so much for weather and so much for the critters....LOL

Jan

Yesterday Wal-Mart in Casselberry has Super Sweet 100 cherry tomato plants. They already had one tray emptied and there was a tray and half left. No one was buying the larger tomatoes, but they were the cherry tomatoes. So seems others are sticking to the cherry tomatoes.

Also Jalapenos and other pepper plants. The jalapenos and gypsy peppers (a sweet pepper) were the only ones being bought. I've never had the gypsy but decided to try it, I have no luck with bell peppers.

I had a bunny in my garden this summer, I think it is what ate my Okinawa Spinach plant to the ground in one night.

oh sunkissed, wish I was closer to get some of the super sweet.... guess I go out and check at my local one today to see if anything came in here.... thanks for the heads up.

Also important for summer gardening is to give your plants room for air circulation around them. The humid conditions promote fungus.

My plants slow down during the summer then start producing again in Fall. I was picking peppers till the freeze 2 weeks ago.

If you buy good quality plants from a reputable grower in your locale, they will prob do better than other varieties. And the back of seed packs will tell you of it is a hot or cool variety.

I had a jalapeno pepper plant that thrived all summer and had some nice hot peppers. I personally do not like them, but mixed with vinegar; made a nice pepper sauce for greens.

Something got to the plant this past winter and it died, but I do want to find another hot one. I especially loved feeding them to people who claimed to love hot peppers. I usually made them cry or get sick! (evil laugh) LOL

I am 1/2 Italian but don't eat ANYTHING hot. A friend told me hot peppers are good for your stomach. Not mine. I've seen people with sweat just pouring down their face eating them and if that's pleasure I don't need any of it.

Geez Shauna now I know how you get your kicks.

Sure wish I could grow some yellow bell peppers. Those I love. I've never picked a pepper from my garden yet that was worth eating. Always loose them.

Too hot for bell peppers in our summer, I've heard they are better as a fall crop in FL. I've tried them enough in the summer, even in the shade and still never got any really big ones. Also the squirrels were chewing holes in them to get to the seeds. So, I just pass the bell pepper plants now, gave up.

I like jalapenos, but the older I get the more I prefer the milder ones. My boys will pick them off the plant and eat them, crazy kids.

Jan, check now before they sell out...last year I was too late and they were all gone.

Yes, I can be a little evil at times when people talk about how they like hot peppers and I feed them the ones I have growing (usually my husband and his intoxicated friends). I never fed a pepper to an unsuspecting victim and always warned that they were hot. Once I got the plant, I did research online for ways to make them hotter and strived to get the hottest peppers I could. From what I read online, the less water the plant got, the hotter the pepper. I watered my infrequently, and only when the leaves started to wilt from lack of water. The first batch of peppers I got were not that spicy...but as the plant grew and developed, the peppers seemed to get hotter and hotter.

I didn't realize they got hotter with less water. I do know the longer you leave the pepper on the plant the hotter they get.

I bought some larger TAM jalapenos and they were nice and mild, and big for stuffing with cheese for poppers. I haven't seen them anywhere as of yet.

That was something I read online and tried it with my peppers. Regardless if they were picked and eaten green or red, they always came out HOT!