6 Reasons Why Gardening in Florida is The Worst and How To Make It Better
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Published 2024-05-31
The heat and humidity make it challenging to garden outdoors from mid-May to mid-October. High temperatures make being outside for extended periods dangerous for some people with health conditions. Most of your garden variety vegetables are not used to Florida heat and will suffer in the summer. Good thing about the Sunshine State is that you can grow food year round! To make the most of your sub-tropical garden, grow annuals during the cooler months and in summer focus on cultivating tropical perennials like bananas, papaya, mangoes, avocados, and more.
“Full sun” does not mean “full sun” when growing in the Sunshine State. The noon sun is more intense here and will damage the delicate foliage of your plants unless they are specifically bred for this climate. Your plants will thrive in partial sun especially if they receive morning sun and protection from the sun during the hottest part of the day. If you can’t find partial shade, consider using a shade cloth.
Another reason your garden is looking sad is because of fungus. The rain and humidity create the perfect environment for Mold, Mildew and Fungus to thrive. It’s hard to get rid of because they live in the damp soil. One natural way to get rid of pathogenic fungus is to cultivate beneficial fungi by making your own compost. Thanks to our environment you can make a batch of really nutritious and biologically active compost in about 3-4 months over the summer.
Floods make gardening in Florida a real pain. Most of the state is at sea level and when it rains- it floods. Most plants can not handle living in standing water for long periods of time so by growing in raised beds your plants have a higher chance of survival. It’s not a stylistic choice. It’s a necessity. Also, invest in metal garden beds, because due to mold, termites and humidity wood ones will rot in 18 months.
Florida native soil is sand, if you can even call that soil. Nutrients leach out of the sandy soil when it rains and the soil has a hard time retaining water during periods of drought during cooler months. A way to improve Florida soil naturally is to add lots of organic matter in the form of compost, leaf mold, seaweed, and topping soil with woodchips. You can also use hugelkultur style of gardening or banana circle.
And who can forget about bugs! We have swarms of mosquitoes, caterpillars, grasshoppers, moths, termites, cicadas just to name a few and they make being outside unbearable. One way to keep bugs from eating your plants naturally is to grow your garden outside of the bugs swarming season. For us that means during the cooler months when the bugs are “asleep”. Starting seeds in April/May is a bad idea because that’s when most insects hatch and are hungry. Also keeping your plants healthy will deter bugs as healthy plants do not taste as good to them as sick and stressed ones.
Gardening in Florida isn’t hard - it’s just different. And if you know how to adjust you’ll be reaping harvests of swamp cabbage and bananas in no time!
All Comments (21)
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Thank you for speaking to habitat loss. Developers here do everything fast and cheap, keeping no trees and protecting no habitats. Then they plant a scant few species of young trees that aren't native and don't get cared for, therefore many don't make it or just remain vulnerable to problems. Florida is an empty promise for folks who think it's a great place to escape problems that are really just part of our entire cultural and economic systems. Florida is sold as a (sub)tropical destination for consumers and unsustainable lifestyles, when in reality it's a cultural and ecological responsibility. Stand up to representatives and councilpersons who don't put our ecosystems (and water table) above the clamoring demands of development companies investment buyers. We don't need any of the strip malls and overpriced neighborhoods being put up at breakneck speed, here. We need shade and root systems to hold soil and water at bay.
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As a natural born Florida Man there are tears in my heart for how true this is about habitat loss, hopefully we will all wake up and start protecting our natural magic before we help it disappear.Thanks for a good video.
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I'm in S. Florida inland. I have 2 growing seasons. In September I start planting out tomatoes and green beans, in October I plant out leafy greens like lettuce, kale, spinach etc, in late October I plant out cabbage, cauliflower & broccoli. In early November I plant out bulbing oinions.All these grow through winter and into spring. In March & April I plant out cherry tomatoes, sweet potatoes, okra, black-eyed peas lima beans, yardlong or noodle beans, eggplant, peppers, tropical greens like Lagos spinach, amaranth, Malabar spinach.
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North East Florida here. You are spot on. Thanks for making this video❤
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Pat needs an entire video LOL
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I like Pat. The tip to have your garden in morning sun and afternoon shade is definitely HUGE when it comes to vegetables in Florida. I am over in Pinellas County myself. I need to get back to posting vids. Great job!
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Love Florida. Its such a versatile place, if you can learn to think outside the box. I'm working on permaculture and Florida native annuals like Seminole Pumpkin, Roselle and Cassava. Going great thus far!
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One thing to note about developments in Florida is how they affect rain. As someone who used to live east of The Villages, I would rarely see summer rains unless they came from the south because the heated air over The Villages would cause storms coming from Tampa/Inverness to dump all the water there. By the time the systems moved into cooler areas east of the Villages the clouds would be mostly spent. And this isn't just some anecdotal observation. If you have a radar app, you can watch the storms on a daily basis. All highly developed areas (Tampa, Orlando, Gainesville, The Villages) will get heavy rains starting around 1 pm. Undeveloped areas will get little rain comparatively speaking.
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I love your guest star Pat Wylde! She should return in the next episode if she's not floating down the river with a cold one. Get them skeeters Pat!
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I grew up down south! And that Florida Mam is right up my alley!😂
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I love the raccoon just frolicking on by
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Thank you for talking about habitats/ environments. ❤❤ Florida is growing so fast and too many new buildings everywhere. Sadly ! I remembered 30 yrs ago travelling thro the KEYS. We can see ocean on right side and left side. The beauty was unbelievable untouched. Now, you can drive but you wont see a darn thing until you reach to the last KEYS. 😢
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I laughed so hard at Pat but her info was spot on!! I've had to add tons of leaf mulch to retain moisture and put in makeshift shading as the only way to save my garden from the extreme heat this year. Gardening in Florida is hard but can be done. Thanks!!
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I like to sprout tropical fruit seeds after I eat the fruit. I just love that I can grow mamey, sapodilla and soursop seedlings on my patio. I haven't been doing it long enough to see the trees will last, but here's hoping! 🤞
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More Florida specific garden advice would be great.
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I need another video. I like your videos. They are light and informative.
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I grew up in Miami...you are sooo right!❤
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Some good thoughts. I was born and raised here, but I feel like I'm still figuring it out.
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One thing I just found out (the hard way). You can easily get 2 dormant seasons. One in the winter, one whenever theres even a short drought in summer heat.
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Loved this video! The fart in a fan factory joke is still the reason I'm a subscriber.
