I tilled a bed and put the usual tomatoes and peppers but I am experimenting
with cantaloupe and watermelon. Any experiences with how these two grow in
N. Fl? How much watering do they need etc...

Thanks

On Sun, 27 Apr 2003 16:40:08 GMT, "jbull232"
wrote:

I tilled a bed and put the usual tomatoes and peppers but I am experimenting
with cantaloupe and watermelon. Any experiences with how these two grow in
N. Fl? How much watering do they need etc...

Thanks


They do quite well, check out around the Hastings and Palatka Areas if
you are in North East Florida. There are numerous farms for those very
items. Strawberries also do well.

Consistent watering is the key, North Florida has often got sandy fast
draining soil with little water retention capability. (My Former yard
on top of an old sand dune being an extreme example, there wasn't
enough water in the Floridan Aquifer to keep it watered!) Also they
are heavy feeders so keep an eye on nutrients. Again the soil there
doesn't hold much..

Happy Gardening!

Dave Fouchey
Now in South Eastern Michigan

I'm in NW FL, and I've had very good experiences with watermelons and
cantaloupe. They love the heat.

Try to get mildew-resistant or mildew-tolerant varieties of cantaloupe. In
the humidity of the summer, mildew can be a problem. I've never had it kill
a melon plant, but it does weaken them and really reduce their yield.

However, if you have sandy soil like mine, and the soil is bare (no mulch,
plastic, or fabric) you'll need to water melons copiously and often. You'll
probably have to water every day until the seeds germinate and the plants
are well established. Even after the plants are established, when it's
really hot you'll probably have to water at least every other day if you
want good fruit.

But I don't recommend growing melons over bare soil for another reason: my
first year growing melons the weeds drove me nuts. It's *really* hard to
weed around and within a rambling, tangled mass of vines.

Last year I tried covering the growing area with a landscape fabric.
Although it greatly helped, some of the tougher weeds grew *through* it.
Although it was convenient to water (I had placed soaker hoses under it),
the fabric didn't retain water as effectively as I'd hoped (sure beats bare
soil, though). The moles thought it was the best place in the yard to
burrow, and the neighborhood cats kept tearing it up trying to get to the
moles. The resulting holes in the fabric quickly became home to more weeds.

This year I have *thickly* mulched a growing area with shredded newspapers
and placed soaker hoses under the mulch. When the vines reach the edges of
the area, I will gently turn them back into it. I used the newspaper method
with my tomatoes and peppers last year with great success - almost no weeds
and at least a 75% reduction in watering needs. (Unfortunately it did not
prevent the stink bugs from wiping out my tomato crop.) Hopefully it will
work for the melons. I'll know in a few months!

One other problem you may have with melons is that the sandy Florida soils
are very low in nutrients. You'll need to work *a lot* of organic matter
into the soil and/or fertilize regularly.

Other veggies that do well in Florida:

Late Spring/Summer: Almost any heat loving vegetable will do well. In
addition to tomatoes, peppers, and melons, I suggest:

Summer squash (yellow squash and zucchini; plant only one plant of each
or you'll be constantly trying to give them away)
Most winter squash
However, pumpkins don't do very well. You can grow them, but they are
very susceptible to heat/moisture stress and diseases in our climate.
Gourds (I know, not really a veggie, but lots of people like to grow
them in their veggie garden)Eggplant
Corn (needs regular water and heavy feeding to produce)
Bush beans (succession plantings)
Pole beans (need something to climb, such as a fence, pole, or trellis)
Okra - Almost unkillable. :- ) But for best production, give it regular
water. You *must* pick every couple of days.
Cowpeas (also known as southern field peas, or field peas; example:
black-eyed peas, "White Acre" peas)
Cucumbers (watch for mildew diseases; may want to plant a second crop in
midsummer just in case the first crop succumbs)

For those wanting something more exotic:
Tomatillos (for great salsa!)
Pineapple tomatillos (great for eating fresh; reseeds and grows
vigorously)
Sunflowers (OK, not a veggie, but you can harvest the seeds after you
enjoy the flowers)

Herbs:
Basil (loves heat and sandy soil; re-seeds itself; grows like mad - my
sweet basil regularly gets 4' tall; pinch off blooms for more tasty leaves!)
Dill (needs no care after initial sowing; re-seeds itself)
Oregano (nearly unkillable; spreads and re-seeds; evergreen in milder
winters in N FL)
Sage (lovely purple blossoms in 2nd or 3rd year, leaves great in sausage
or stuffing)
Coriander/Cilantro (best leaves in spring and fall; bolts fast and
doesn't germinate well in midsummer heat)
Thyme (very tough plant; evergreen in N FL - it's so much better fresh
than dried that you won't believe the difference)


Fall/Winter/Early Spring: The neat thing about N FL is that you can garden
year-round. Except as noted, these will survive all winter in N FL. However,
most of them won't grow much between late November and late January; plant
them in September or October so they will be close to harvest size before
they slow down for the winter. I suggest:

Lettuces, especially leaf, romaine, and bibb (succession plantings
Aug-early April; will bolt when it gets really hot)
Greens (various salad greens, collards, mustard, kale, etc.)
Turnips
Carrots (need deep, very loose soil; avoid cow manure; best flavor if
harvested after a frost)
Peas (most will produce all winter if kept picked)
Broccoli
Cabbage
Onions (plant in fall for harvest in spring)
Green onions (Succession planting if you want to pull them and eat them
whole; If you just want tops, plant once and let them grow, clipping leaves
as needed)
Garlic (plant in fall for larvest in late spring/early summer)

Herbs:
Mint (usually dies back in winter; will come back in spring; best in
spring and fall; plant in container or otherwise keep it from spreadding -
trust me!)
Parsley (may die back in hard freeze; will come back in spring; best in
spring and fall; just hangs on in the heat of summer)


In a perennial planting: For fruits each year, set aside some permanent
space for:
Strawberries (or you can grow them as annuals if you can get the plants
early enough)
Blackberries (you can get thornless and erect/no staking varieties now)
Blueberries (southern highbush or rabbit-eye varieties, at least two
different varieties for fruit production)
Muscadine grapes (on a *strong* trellis, fence, arbor, or pergola)

There are lots more edibles you can grow; these are some I've tried with
success.

Enjoy!

Laura
USDA Zone 8b, NW FL


"jbull232" wrote in message
...
I tilled a bed and put the usual tomatoes and peppers but I am
experimenting
with cantaloupe and watermelon. Any experiences with how these two grow in
N. Fl? How much watering do they need etc...

Thanks