Florida Growing Guides

Step-by-step guides written for Florida's real seasons, not flipped from a national template. When to plant in your region, the varieties that handle the heat and humidity, and how to stay ahead of Florida's pests. Based on UF/IFAS guidance.

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Florida's Growing Seasons
Why fall is the main season and summer is the break

Problem solving

Why Tomato Leaves Curl
Heat stress, herbicide damage or virus, and how to tell which

Why Tomatoes Split and Crack
It is a watering story, and how to stop losing fruit

Why Cucumbers Turn Bitter
A stress signal from heat and uneven water

Why Lettuce Bolts
How to delay it and the best slow-bolt varieties

Peppers Not Setting Fruit
Lots of flowers, no fruit usually means heat or cold nights

Why Leaves Turn Yellow
Read the pattern to tell overwatering from hunger

Fixing Leggy Seedlings
Tall thin seedlings are reaching for light

Why Tomato Flowers Drop
Blossom drop is heat or pollination, and how to fix it

Why Fruit Trees Don't Fruit
Pollination partners, chill, nitrogen or just youth

Why Onions Bolt
How to time and grow onions that bulb instead of flower

Why Carrots Grow Forked
It is about the soil. How to grow long, straight carrots

Why Broccoli Heads Stay Tiny
Buttoning is a stress response. How to grow big heads

Why Basil Flowers
How to pinch and time it for months of tender leaves

Why Seeds Won't Germinate
Too deep, too wet, too cold or too old. The checklist

Blossom Drop in Hot Weather
Heat sterilises pollen. How to keep fruit setting

Sunscald on Vegetables
Pale papery patches are sunburn after leaf loss

Why Potatoes Go Hollow
Hollow heart comes from growth surges

Why Lettuce Turns Bitter
The first sign of bolting, and how to keep leaves sweet

Why Pumpkins Rot on the Vine
Pollination, blossom end rot or wet ground. Tell them apart

Why Pea Pods Are Empty
Flat pods usually need more time, and the real fixes

Growing in pots & small spaces

Potatoes in Containers
A clean crop of spuds in a bag or tub

Tomatoes in Pots
A balcony tomato crops as well as one in the ground

Strawberries in Pots & Baskets
Cleaner fruit, fewer slugs and easy picking

Carrots in Containers
A deep tub of loose mix grows straighter carrots

Herbs on a Balcony
The highest-value crop for a small space

Salad Greens in Containers
The quickest payoff. Cut-and-come-again leaves

Chili Peppers in Pots
Compact, productive and able to overwinter

Garlic in Containers
A deep pot over winter for homegrown garlic

Ginger & Turmeric in Pots
Tropical rhizomes that grow well in a warm pot

Beans in Pots
Fast and generous, with bush types needing no support

Cucumbers in a Pot
A big pot, a trellis and plenty of water

Green Onions in Pots
Fast, foolproof and almost endless, they regrow

Mint in Pots
Brilliant in a pot, a menace in a bed

Eggplant in Pots
A heat-lover that thrives in a warm pot

Start a Balcony Vegetable Garden
Turn a balcony into a productive food garden

Vertical Gardening
When you run out of floor, grow up the walls

Dwarf Fruit Trees for Small Spaces
Grow apples, citrus and peaches in pots

Peas in Pots
A cool-season treat that climbs up out of a trough

Growing Food in Small Spaces
The starting point for pots, balconies and tiny yards

Vegetables & fruit

How to Grow Tomatoes
Heat-set varieties, the cool-season window, nematodes

How to Grow Peppers
Bell and chili, seed timing, warm soil

How to Grow Okra
The crop that loves a Florida summer

How to Grow Strawberries
Fall planting, the right varieties, netting

How to Grow Lettuce
The cool-season window and bolt-resistant types

How to Grow Beans
Fast spring and fall bush and pole beans

How to Grow Cucumbers
Trellising, disease-resistant types, pickleworm

How to Grow Sweet Potatoes
A top Florida summer crop, from slip to cure

How to Grow Blueberries
Low-chill Florida varieties and acidic soil

How to Grow Squash & Zucchini
Fast crops, and beating the vine borer

How to Grow Melons
Watermelon & cantaloupe for a Florida summer

How to Grow Carrots
Sweet roots in sandy soil, cool season

How to Grow Onions
Short-day types and the cool-season window

How to Grow Broccoli
Cool-season heads, and beating the heat

How to Grow Kale
Heat-tolerant greens for a long harvest

How to Grow Garlic
Softneck types and fall planting in the South

Unusual and Exotic Fruit
Lesser-known fruit that thrives in Florida heat

Chilli heat scale (Scoville)
From mild to ghost: ranking peppers by heat

Microgreens at home
Fast greens on a windowsill, no garden needed

Cherokee Purple Tomato
A rich, smoky heirloom beefsteak from seed

Paste Tomatoes
The best tomatoes for sauce and canning

Cherry Tomatoes
The easiest, most prolific tomato to grow

Growing Tomatoes from Seed
Raise your own seedlings for a fraction of the cost

Growing Hot Peppers
From jalapeno to habanero, ripened to full heat

Herbs

How to Grow Basil
Heat-loving and fast, all summer long

How to Grow Cilantro
A cool-season herb that bolts in the heat

Techniques

Build a Raised Garden Bed
Beat sandy soil and nematodes with a raised bed

Composting for Beginners
Turn scraps into free soil, step by step

Composting in Florida
Fast compost in the heat; the fix for sandy soil

Companion Planting
What to plant together, and what to keep apart

Pest Management
Stop Florida's pests the gentle way first

Companion Planting
What to plant together, plus an interactive picker

Getting Rid of Fungus Gnats
Break the cycle on seedlings and houseplants

Aphids
Identify and control them, plus the predators that help

Tomato and Potato Blight
Spot early and late blight before it spreads

Cabbage White and Cabbage Moth
Stop caterpillars shredding your brassicas

Fruit Fly
Traps, baits and netting to protect your fruit

Powdery Mildew
The white dust on squash and cucumber leaves

Slugs and Snails
Save seedlings from overnight raids

Codling Moth
The grub in your apples and pears, and how to beat it

Blossom End Rot
The sunken base on tomatoes, and how to fix it

Trellis and Support by Crop
The right support for climbers and sprawlers

Preserving the Harvest
Ferment, dry, freeze and can a garden glut

Saving Your Own Seed
Open-pollinated vs hybrid, plus a can-I-save-it picker

Herbs in containers
Grow a kitchen herb garden in pots

Homemade feeds and sprays
Make your own organic feeds and pest sprays

Sourdough starter
Catch wild yeast and keep a starter alive

Passata and bottling tomatoes
Turn a tomato glut into shelf-stable passata

Pickling
Quick pickles and vinegar preserves for any glut

Sauerkraut and fermenting
Lacto-ferment cabbage and other vegetables

Jam and jelly
Set jam and jelly from homegrown fruit

Homemade hot sauce
Bottle your chili harvest, fermented or vinegar

Dehydrating
Dry fruit, vegetables and herbs for long storage

Apple cider vinegar
Make raw vinegar from apple scraps

Freezing the harvest
Blanch, pack and freeze a garden glut

Kombucha and kefir
Brew fizzy kombucha and creamy kefir at home

Composting chicken manure
Turn hot manure into safe garden compost

Beekeeping for beginners
Start your first hive, gear to first harvest

Bee friendly planting
Plant a garden that feeds bees year-round

Guides are added regularly. Want one next? Pick your region to see everything you can plant this month.

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