Well, yeah except I grow something different every year, just because I love to experiment. There's a thread specifically for Tomatoes on the Veggie forum, I think. (although some of those people are really convinced of the heirloom's superiority)

Another factor you have to allow for is growing tomatoes into the shorter days of winter. They simply have less sunny time in the days to make sugar so the tomatoes you get in December and January aren't quite as sweet as the ones that come along in April and May. I've seriously considered using lights in the dead of winter to give my tomatoes a couple of hours more light.

But they all taste a LOT better than any tomato you can buy in a store. I really haven't had too many without a really good flavor.

I've got blueberries coming along, and have grown quite a few herbs in my raised bed (that has been there for 7 years so it undoubtedly has nematodes in it). Peppers are susceptible to nematodes, but so far the herbs have been fine, and so have most of the salad greens, cabbage-y stuff and carrots. I had great carrots from there last spring!

Elaine - Are your blueberries in the ground? Mine are currently in pots and really need to go into the ground.

Actually, I heavily amended the back half of my big raised bed with a lot of acidic stuff for them, so they are "more or less" in the ground, but raised up out of the alkaline pure sand that the rest of the yard is full of.

That's the key for blueberries, keeping the soil pH low enough for them. I'm sifting my compost and mixing it with peat moss for amendment every spring.

Well then once you get them producing, it's a whole new set of keys - how to keep from sharing all your berries with mice, rats, squirrels, bunnies, birds, other people, bugs . . . will cross that bridge if I ever get there. I got about a handful of berries this year, and they were yummy! Only one bush out of 6 actually set fruit. Next year!!

Both of my bushes set fruit. And both are in nursery pots. I was wondering how to keep that going. Hmmmm .... I already have a rat problem but I think because they were raised up off the ground that maybe the rats didn't find them this past Spring. Who knows. I also thought of planting one in my front garden, but you mentioning the soil ph, maybe that is NOT a good idea as my front yard is sand. I do have amended raised beds and am planning to add another one to my front yard. Maybe that will be the place to add them. Though the racoons would probably LOVE that! Yeah ... it's a challenge to grow edibles in Florida.

I actually prefer the more tart or acidic tomatoes over the sweet ones. I, too, will be experimenting, but it's good to know some varieties that someone has had success with here in FL. I don't know if I can find Early Girl here, but that was one hybrid that I grew regularly in Indiana. It'll be interesting to see how different the taste is here.

The only problem I had with my peppers was the aphids. I never had a problem with any insect previously so I wasn't watching for anything and the aphids got a good foothold before I found them. But I was able to get rid of them and the peppers flourished after that. Again, in earthboxes, so no nematodes anyway.

The cucumbers did get powdery mildew but I got a few before it progressed too far. I may even try those again and try to control the mildew with the baking soda/water mixture. Zucchini is another matter ... absolutely no hope with that, but maybe in the cooler weather. Green beans did OK and I planted more this past week. I'm trying the pole Blue Lake. I think it was Tenderette beans that I grew first this year. The did OK, just not the best beans I've ever had. Then I planted Rattlesnake .. I thought they were OK, but no one else liked them. They're a pole bean and weren't completely stringless. The okra I planted did really well in the hot weather, but again, no one eats it besides me so I'm not sure if I'll grow that again next year or not. Definitely not this winter.

Becky, I thought about blueberries too in a big container, but then thinking about the birds, squirrels and who knows what else, I decided to pass on that.

Good luck with yours. Same for you, Elaine. Always something when we try to have a garden, isn't there?

Mary, I do see Early Girl transplants all the time at Home Depot. They've been good for me, often starting to bear in November if I get them going in September.

Thanks, Elaine. I'll look for them. I guess I'll be going to Home Depot tomorrow.

Me, too!

If you didn't get some yet, I saw Early Girl transplants at Lowe's today.

Elaine - Have you grown Early Girl tomato plants?

I used to grow them, but now I've 'graduated' to wanting to try more exotic varieties. They don't mature all that much sooner for me anyway, so I try different shapes, sizes and colors of tomatoes each year. I bought transplants of Yellow Pear and a red grape called Juliet at Lowe's today. On top of that I have seedlings coming along of my favorite Momotaro, and another cherry called 'Sugary'.

The last two (warmish) winters I've been able to keep my tomatoes bearing right through winter anyway, so the earliness became not so important.

I did find Early Girls at Home Depot ... I got one of those plus a Celebrity, Big Boy and a BHN 602. Got them all into earthboxes and all were looking good. I went out Thursday to water everything and the Big Boy was just dead! No sign of insect or pest damage ... just wilted over and dark. The other tomato in the same earthbox still looks great ... no sign of anything wrong. I plant to get out tomorrow or the next day and get something to replace that one. I'll drench the potting mix in that earthbox with hydrogen peroxide/water mixture before putting the new plant in. Hopefully that will take care of any disease that might be lurking in there.

Mary - That is weird. Maybe too much water or something? Sounds like root rot perhaps.

Arlene - I have grown yellow pear miniature tomatoes. They grew fine for me but the texture was rather slimy. I didn't care for them. I had grown some red cherry tomatoes in the past and I sure wish I could remember what they were. They had a really good flavor to them and produced a lot of little tomatoes. I've always had better success with the cherry tomatoes vs. the larger slicing tomatoes.

I want to grow sweet peppers, too. Any cultivar suggestions? Do California sweet peppers grow well here in Florida or do they need a cooler climate?

I grow bell peppers in a pot and have always had good luck with those. I have no idea what the cultivar is. I think I bought it originally from Home Depot and then let some of the peppers fall and rot in the container which helped to sprout more pepper plants. I never bought any new plants, just let the seeds germinate and am probably on the 3rd or 4th generation of the original plant.

I also had success growing the black beauty egg plant in a container as well. But I don't particularly like the taste of those egg plants. Need a better tasting variety to grow.

I should try carrots and brocolli. Can you grow them in the ground or do the root knot nematodes get them?

I don't care for radishes.

With the greening disease, I decided against growing a citrus tree here. Wished there was some other fruit to grow instead. I would love to grow grapes. But any varieties that can grow in Florida? Plums? Apples? I don't know.

I would love to grow watermelon and cantaloupe, but I've tried for 4 years and no success.

I grow my herbs in the vertical garden and they grow well that way. I haven't had any problems growing herbs. I have a large Rosemary bush in the front garden bed that is in the ground. It's a happy camper.

I can grow all kinds of non-edible plants, but veggies and fruit elude me.

I grow my carrots in the raised bed, and the nematodes don't seem to bother them. Broccoli, I grew in the raised bed the first year, but it grows a lot better in my Earth Boxes so that's where it's growing now.

My favorite sweet pepper is a little orange one I got at Home Depot called "Yummy Snacking" but there are a whole series of small orange ones with "Snacking" in the name. They're so good I eat them out of hand like tomatoes.

Thanks! I will look for Snacking cultivars.

I'll try carrots in one of my raised bed. Perhaps I could grow them with other plants. I know the caterpillars like the foliage on carrots! (Eastern Black Swallowtail butterflies.) I do share with the wildlife!

beckygardener said:Mary - That is weird. Maybe too much water or something? Sounds like root rot perhaps.



With the greening disease, I decided against growing a citrus tree here. Wished there was some other fruit to grow instead. I would love to grow grapes. But any varieties that can grow in Florida? Plums? Apples? I don't know.

I have no idea what happened, Becky. I just find it strange that there are 2 plants in the same earthbox and 1 died like that and the other one still looks great. I wonder if perhaps it was just bad stock. Regardless, I'm moving on ... I've spent too much time already fretting about things going wrong this past summer. I'm ready for some success this fall.

As for the fruit trees, have you looked at Stark Brothers website? Evidently there is 1 variety of apple that will grow here ... Cinnamon Spice. I was surprised to see that since I thought all apples needed the cold/freeze to do well. Same with peaches and pears ... I didn't see any that will grow in our climate. And, I haven't seen any fruit trees like that at Lowe's or Home Depot.

I too have had good success with broccoli in the earthboxes. I got started too late last spring to start my own seeds but bought some Packman plants at Home Depot and they did very well. Same with the cauliflower.

I grew California Wonder and Fat 'n Sassy peppers in an earthbox last spring/summer. Once I got rid of the aphids, they did very well.

I also tried cantaloupe in an earthbox .... as Elaine as pointed out and both our efforts have supported that, evidently vining crops aren't the best choices here in FL. The cukes did OK until powdery mildew hit. Two tries at zucchini were not successful, so I'm trying one last time on that with a new (for me) hybrid variety this fall.

I bought the replacement plant yesterday for that Big Boy that died ... Biltmore. Has anyone grown that here? I sort of like the idea of ripening all at once ... if I can get a decent crop, perhaps I could make up some tomato sauce to use later. I was really looking for Amelia ... I had seen them before both at Lowe's and Home Depot, but no one had them yesterday ... 2 Lowes, Home Depot and Wal-Mart.

Mary, I wouldn't just plunge the new plant in where the old plant died without maybe removing some of the soil and replacing it with new. Whatever killed the other plant might still be 'lurking'.

That's the beauty, but also a hazard of using Earth Boxes - they protect from a lot of stuff, but if you do introduce a pathogen inadvertently you need to make sure to get rid of it before re-planting or it's going to haunt you for a long time.

I totally agree about replanting in the same soil as the previous doomed plant.

Elaine - I tried to borrow "The Edible Landscape" by Tom McCubbin from my local library. They don't lend it out .... it is considered a reference book!!!! Who knew?!!! Must be a good book to be considered a reference book at the library!

So .... I bought a used copy from Amazon.com. It is the revised version, but still written in 1989. I got it quickly because the seller lives in Florida. The book is in very good condition. It will be something I will be reading at work during my lunch break and at home at night. Thanks for that book suggestion!