Plants to beat the heat

[TCLynx]

Florida can sometimes be real intense and many of the Northern Summertime crops can't take our dead of summer. How bout listing the crops you have been successful with through the heat of summer and what, if any special tricks you used to get them through (like mid day shade or whatever.)

The natural ones to come to mind for me are....
Basil
Okra
Sweet potato
Cow Peas (southern peas, blackeye peas, etc)
Peanuts (though I've never tried them in AP since I'm not sure they could peg. Perhaps I need to try.)

And of course the tropicals
Papaya
Banana
Jicama

[David Hart]

I posted this elsewhere in the AG forum. Seeing as how it applies to 'FL only' and it's plant related, I thought I'd re-post.....

"IF' you live in FL....... I recomend a book called MONTH BY MONTH GARDENING IN FL by Tom MacCubbin. I'm consatntly going back to mine, to check on different info. If you 'only use' the chapter on veggies, it's well worth it.
Mine is dog eared, wrinkled and has a coffee stain or two.....lol... I can't give it a better recomendation then that.

The chapter on veggies recomends which ones to plant in our 'cool' season' and which ones for our 'hot' season...herbs too. They have a chart, breaking FL into 3 sections, which tells you ' what and when ' to plant in your area.
Lots of good tips through out the book. It covers more then just veggies...grass (no not the kind they smoke...lol)...citrus, roses, flowers, palms, bog plants, house plants,vines, perennials, ect.

[Ron Thompson]

I've always had trouble with Cilantro burning out, but switched to Culantro and had no issues. Culantro tastes very much like cilantro except much stronger. While this is my first year sans dirt, there is no reason it should be different in this case and my culantro is growing marvelously since going in two weeks ago.

[M Cosmo]

I bought the book and it does look very informative. I will let you know what it has helped me with.
Thanks for the recommendation.

David Hart said:

I posted this elsewhere in the AG forum. Seeing as how it applies to 'FL only' and it's plant related, I thought I'd re-post.....

"IF' you live in FL....... I recomend a book called MONTH BY MONTH GARDENING IN FL by Tom MacCubbin. I'm consatntly going back to mine, to check on different info. If you 'only use' the chapter on veggies, it's well worth it.
Mine is dog eared, wrinkled and has a coffee stain or two.....lol... I can't give it a better recomendation then that.

The chapter on veggies recomends which ones to plant in our 'cool' season' and which ones for our 'hot' season...herbs too. They have a chart, breaking FL into 3 sections, which tells you ' what and when ' to plant in your area.
Lots of good tips through out the book. It covers more then just veggies...grass (no not the kind they smoke...lol)...citrus, roses, flowers, palms, bog plants, house plants,vines, perennials, ect.

[M Cosmo]

Growing vegetables for fun and profit in Hell.
Now seriously what is growing in your "system" right now. IN THIS 100 inferno.
I am now growing or should I say torturing
I have a few tomato plants with some fruit left on. They gave up growing during my cycling period. There are also some smaller 1 foot high or so New plants growing.
Pepper plants have some real nice now turning red bell peppers coming to maturity. No new flowers or substantial growth.
I germinated some Beans and transplanted them two weeks ago. Some flowers no beans yet still only a foot or two long-big.
Several Herbs are doing great.
Some Red chard is still producing.
I also germinated some Lettuce. (last year I had them all summer) The plants are a few weeks old - transplanted 2 weeks ago. Growing slowly?
I will be changing some of the Vertigro pots to Hydroton and some Hydroton mix (perlite - Coir)
Oh yea that gang of voracious Tilapia fingerlings.

[TCLynx]

In my system. Doing well in the heat
Bananas
Bamboo
Basil
Purslane
Rosemary
Papaya
Swiss Chard (left from cool season)
Carrots (left from cool season)
Kohlrabi (left from cool season)
Stevia
Sun Flowers
Lots of peppers of all sorts
Aloe where there is partial shade
Barbados cherry plants but they are quite small still
Pineapple tops

Starting to come on are some annual flowers
Marigolds
Zinnias
Black eye suzan vines

And struggling,
All the tomato plants have been struggling with the heat but they did do better for me this past spring than ever before
And cucumbers, they are not struggling from the heat though, they seem to be struggling mostly because of the squash bugs and the high pH locking up the iron on them. Hopefully with my new 300 gallon system I can do cucumbers easier as I've not filled that one with shells.

In the dirt garden I've had cucumbers thriving along with green beans (though they are kinda played out) Coming on now are the yardlong beans and of course the tropical stuff likes this time of year. The moringa needs to be cut back again.

[Ron Thompson]

GROWING FINE
Rosemary, Culantro, Mint and Italian Parsley is all doing fine.
Green peppers came in late but are now doing okay. I just pollinated some blossoms today.
A nice bushy hot pepper plant
I have some mixture of young Okra, Summer Squash and straight beans (not exactly sure which are which)



STRUGGLING
a few tomatoes going (like 3-4 left) plus a large number of grape tomatoes.
Red Chard (just one still going)

BURNED OUT
Cilantro
Cayote Squash



I have some empty spots and will be putting in some Basil tomorrow and whatever else I can con Michael out of in the near future :)

[TCLynx]

Oh yea, I forgot about Okra. Yea that is growing well in the system.

[zero power]

should i put the tomatoes inside or outside of the green house?


Michael Cosmo said:

Growing vegetables for fun and profit in Hell.
Now seriously what is growing in your "system" right now. IN THIS 100 inferno.
I am now growing or should I say torturing
I have a few tomato plants with some fruit left on. They gave up growing during my cycling period. There are also some smaller 1 foot high or so New plants growing.
Pepper plants have some real nice now turning red bell peppers coming to maturity. No new flowers or substantial growth.
I germinated some Beans and transplanted them two weeks ago. Some flowers no beans yet still only a foot or two long-big.
Several Herbs are doing great.
Some Red chard is still producing.
I also germinated some Lettuce. (last year I had them all summer) The plants are a few weeks old - transplanted 2 weeks ago. Growing slowly?
I will be changing some of the Vertigro pots to Hydroton and some Hydroton mix (perlite - Coir)
Oh yea that gang of voracious Tilapia fingerlings.

[Ron Thompson]

If you green house is shaded to cut heat I'd put them inside. If it isn't shaded I'd put some aluminet over it to cut the heat during summer and get a couple box fans to get airflow and cool it as well.

[M Cosmo]

If you aren't familiar with ECHO, I suggest you check them our. I asked "I live in Inverness Fl 34450 Central Florida. I have an Aquaponics greenhouse. I would like to buy some seed from you. Can you recommend some Vegetables that will grow in the Summer. NOW. Thanks."
This is the reply I got.
"Michael,



My expertise is not in gardening, however I have attached a copy of a pamplet Dr. Martin Price wrote. It is called "Vegetables for SW Florida in the Summer Months." Beyond that, you might either check with our seedbank (email: [e-mail]) or Larry Yarger (email: [e-mail]). If either are unable, they will at least put you in touch with the correct person!
Blessings,
Cindy Beatty"

[Ron Thompson]

Great pamphlet

Let's get together before you order and combine for better variety. I'll also have my wife (who grew up in Central America) look over the list and see if she recognizes any of the plants.

[M Cosmo]

I got another reply from the folks at ECHO. I have just copied it below. Just an FYI... This is the question I asked. "I would like to plant some tomatoes, Peppers Eggplant and any suggestions that we could grow in the summer. No root crops as we are Aquaponic in Vertigro stacks."


"For the summer months, plant small tomatoes. The larger-fruited ones struggle with the heat. Peppers (especially chile peppers) and eggplant should give you no problems in the vertigro system. If you like lettuce, try some of the Queensland. It should thrive in the vertigro system and is quite tolerant of the summer heat.

Long bean and cowpea (crowder) do well in the summer, but they might upset the vertigro columns. Garlic chives would do wonderfully, and you can keep them growing year-round. You might try cranberry hibiscus, but you'd have to keep it trimmed back for the columns. New Zealand spinach would do well, as would amaranth greens (merah or tigerleaf). Ethiopian kale would do well, although the plant may get to be too tall for the columns. Talinum or Philippino spinach is another green that you could keep growing year-round in a column. And, most herbs that you find in the garden centers right now would have no problems in the vertigro system.

Say, Michael, do you know where in the Fort Myers or LaBelle areas one could purchase a couple of columns to experiment with?

Any more questions, let me know!

Larry Yarger
Agricultural Consultant/Consultor Agrícola
ECHO (Educational Concern for Hunger Organization)
www.echonet.org "