What grows in the blistering Fla heat?
- Thread starter Muckyai
- Start date
depends on the time of year, and slightly what part of fl you are in. Some parts do get frost....
all year: Dinosaur kale (I've had the same dino kale plant growing for about 4 years now), thai basil, regular basil, rosemary, mint, mustard (tastes better in winter), collards (taste better in winter), everglades cherry tomato (if you can find them, they're great and literally can grow in sand, lots of tiny micro tomatoes all year long), okra, pigeon peas, purslane (often seen as a weed, but high in omega fatty acids and very succulent), callaloo, ground peanuts, moringa, katook, peppers
winter: i tend to have better luck with the smaller cherry and pear tomatoes, they're higher yield and take less time to ripen, i.e. less time for pests to get to them, lettuces, beans/peas, arugula, chard, other kales, (watermelon, scallop squash, seminole pumpkin, zucchini, yellow squash- all can be grown, but are highly susceptible to pests and diseases), cilantro, parsley, japanese eggplant do better than italian, chives, broccoli/cauliflower (variegated is fun)
depending on space and what part of florida you're in, you can also grow a huge variety of fruit trees. I personally have: sugar apple, pomegranate, passion fruit (vine), orange, key lime, kaffir lime (great for cooking with leaves, not so much the lime besides lime rind), mangos, starfruit, papaya, jackfruit, everbearing mulberry, guava, jaboticaba
here's a more extensive list: http://www.tropicalfruitnursery.com/plant-catalog
this is what comes to mind and stuff i've grown. can grow nearly all varieties of peppers, some like manzanos are a little more challenging, but i've seen some success
all year: Dinosaur kale (I've had the same dino kale plant growing for about 4 years now), thai basil, regular basil, rosemary, mint, mustard (tastes better in winter), collards (taste better in winter), everglades cherry tomato (if you can find them, they're great and literally can grow in sand, lots of tiny micro tomatoes all year long), okra, pigeon peas, purslane (often seen as a weed, but high in omega fatty acids and very succulent), callaloo, ground peanuts, moringa, katook, peppers
winter: i tend to have better luck with the smaller cherry and pear tomatoes, they're higher yield and take less time to ripen, i.e. less time for pests to get to them, lettuces, beans/peas, arugula, chard, other kales, (watermelon, scallop squash, seminole pumpkin, zucchini, yellow squash- all can be grown, but are highly susceptible to pests and diseases), cilantro, parsley, japanese eggplant do better than italian, chives, broccoli/cauliflower (variegated is fun)
depending on space and what part of florida you're in, you can also grow a huge variety of fruit trees. I personally have: sugar apple, pomegranate, passion fruit (vine), orange, key lime, kaffir lime (great for cooking with leaves, not so much the lime besides lime rind), mangos, starfruit, papaya, jackfruit, everbearing mulberry, guava, jaboticaba
here's a more extensive list: http://www.tropicalfruitnursery.com/plant-catalog
this is what comes to mind and stuff i've grown. can grow nearly all varieties of peppers, some like manzanos are a little more challenging, but i've seen some success
happy belated birthday btw. i almost forgot, tomatillos in the winter, and their sweet cousin husk cherries aka ground cherries. those are delicious. also, cilantro tends to be a pain in the ass and bolt very quickly. Culantro is a great substitute to grow here, it tastes just like cilantro except more flavorful or concentrated i suppose
Nice list and thank you for the birthday wish. Impressive about your 4 year old kale. Have you tried growing mangosteen? Most delicious fruit on the planet!
I'm still on a learning curve- it seems to me though that successful gardening is, as with most things, dependent upon desire and elbow grease.
I'm still on a learning curve- it seems to me though that successful gardening is, as with most things, dependent upon desire and elbow grease.
Muckyai said:
i haven't grown it, but i've seen it at the redlands fruit and spice park.
Learning curve yes, a lot is a matter of trial and error and what works best for you. I had a ficus and gumbo limbo, so white flies were a big problem for me. Between natural sprays and lady bugs, i've been able to handle them very well, but learned that i have to start plants indoors and get them to a certain size before putting them outside so the white flies don't kill them. everyone has their own problems....then the tomato horn worms come lol
Irma put a hurtin on my plants, BUT underneath the soil there be sweet taters!
This one is a Murasaki, reddish skinned with creamy flesh. Yum!
Oops... edited to say this isn't a murasaki.. after baking, went to go tuck into it.. and it's purple!! An Okinawan sweet potato. Delicious.
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This one is a Murasaki, reddish skinned with creamy flesh. Yum!
Oops... edited to say this isn't a murasaki.. after baking, went to go tuck into it.. and it's purple!! An Okinawan sweet potato. Delicious.
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Those sweet potatoes look awesome!
I grew up a block away from the Redland fruit and spice park (I love that place!), and those smaller, rounder bitter melons grew wild. I had completely forgotten about them until I was browsing seeds online! I had no idea what they were, back then. Our neighborhood was filled with so many groves and fields that no one minded us picking stuff here and there, as well as what we grew maintenance-free on our own property, it has ruined our idea of store-bought produce, both in flavor and cost. I wish I had the "grow-stuff" bug when I lived down there, as there were probably 5 nurseries in walking distance.
I grew up a block away from the Redland fruit and spice park (I love that place!), and those smaller, rounder bitter melons grew wild. I had completely forgotten about them until I was browsing seeds online! I had no idea what they were, back then. Our neighborhood was filled with so many groves and fields that no one minded us picking stuff here and there, as well as what we grew maintenance-free on our own property, it has ruined our idea of store-bought produce, both in flavor and cost. I wish I had the "grow-stuff" bug when I lived down there, as there were probably 5 nurseries in walking distance.
Had jack-fruit ice cream, nice stuff, very creamy 
I wouldn't say that, I cant remember the exact flavour just that it was very rich when eating it raw.
mangoes, strawberry papaya, brazilian papaya, sunset/sunrise papaya, bananas, most tropical fruit, green oranges (same as orange orange but the heat makes the color stay green. still juices fine. needs cold to turn orange.)
passion fruit, dragon fruit, annona squamosa x cherimola, sugar apple, soursop, avocados, and muscadines. maybe strawberries. I have hope for rambutan, longan, lychee, durian, and rarer tropicals. I want to try barberries sometime.
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i'd steer clear of peppers and virtually any fruiting garden plant outside unless you are heavy into pesticides or have a lot of patience. there's a bug for every plant and south Florida is not the place to grow them in my opinion.
if you can make it work indoors hydroponically as I am trying, you might fare better.
but short of some Imidacloprid... not sure what to tell you. go tropical. you'll be more pleased with the results. But if you are growing long term, bear in mind that you'll probably run into a strong hurricane every 5-10 years or so which will probably knock down any small plants you have. Large established trees depending on type can fare better if properly trimmed. But people here have a tendency to slack off on their tree trimming when they know well that air holes are necessary for making hurricane resistant trees (coconut palms are the exception.. now there's an idea.)
passion fruit, dragon fruit, annona squamosa x cherimola, sugar apple, soursop, avocados, and muscadines. maybe strawberries. I have hope for rambutan, longan, lychee, durian, and rarer tropicals. I want to try barberries sometime.
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i'd steer clear of peppers and virtually any fruiting garden plant outside unless you are heavy into pesticides or have a lot of patience. there's a bug for every plant and south Florida is not the place to grow them in my opinion.
if you can make it work indoors hydroponically as I am trying, you might fare better.
but short of some Imidacloprid... not sure what to tell you. go tropical. you'll be more pleased with the results. But if you are growing long term, bear in mind that you'll probably run into a strong hurricane every 5-10 years or so which will probably knock down any small plants you have. Large established trees depending on type can fare better if properly trimmed. But people here have a tendency to slack off on their tree trimming when they know well that air holes are necessary for making hurricane resistant trees (coconut palms are the exception.. now there's an idea.)
Liver spots
AJ Drew said:
Have you tested msm suppliment+lemon water in the morning for your diabetes, started taking 1 teaspoon msm powder+ half litres of lemon water for my join health two years ago in every morning and noticed that it really had some impressive suppression ability for my sweet tooth too among other really nice benefits like losing weight and keeping it from coming back. Also i always had nice hair and nails, but now my nails are hard as steel and also hair become even better looking.
First you should start taking like 0,5 teaspoon of msm suppliment in the beginning to let the body get used to it and drink plenty of water during the day, you may notice that you need to run to the toilet very often to take a leak, because the stuff makes your body remove the toxins in your body and you leak like a horse.
Really the only thing left of my sweet tooth is the crave for bananas and other fruits.
Lots of latex in the sap when we cut them down. Gotta vegetable oil the knife before making the cut! The fruit was super sweet and juicy.BigB said:
I've got some Matt's Wild Cherry tomatoes growing... it looks to be similar to the Everglades cherry? Once you plant one they reseed and reseed, sweet treat too when working in the garden.
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