We are fortunate to have two growing seasons here; spring (February) for warm season vegetables, and fall (September) for cool season vegetables. Warm season vegetables are beans, sweet corn, eggplants, peas, peppers, sweet potatoes and tomatoes while cool season vegetables are beets, broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, turnips etc.

Important things to consider include:

• Site selection – at least six hours of direct sunlight, convenient location, good drainage, irrigation.
• Planning – what to plant, where and when
• Soil Preparation – pH testing, amending soil – should be done at least 3-6 weeks before actual planting.

Vegetable gardening in central Florida can be very successful but it does demand adjustments to successes experienced in other climates. Most of what you learned up north does not apply in Florida, especially planting dates and varieties of vegetables to grow.Please refer to the Florida Vegetable Gardening Guide for this specific information.

Additional Resources

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/TOPIC_Vegetable_Gardening

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/VH036