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Aug 5, 2023 1:19 PM CST
Thread OP
Name: Sam Ridder
NW FL (Zone 9a)
Hello everyone. I want to begin above ground gardening and need some advice. I live in the city and don't have much space for my garden. I have attached a picture of the space I will be using.

Where to begin? I want to grow tomatoes, corn and green beans.

Please send me some recommendations based on experience and knowledge.


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Happy Gardening,
Sam
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Aug 5, 2023 1:57 PM CST
Name: Lori Thomas
Dawsonville, GA (Zone 8a)
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Hi Sam, welcome to Garden.org!
I garden in north Georgia, so I can't help with the unique garden challenges of Florida, but I can give you some general insight. I grow both my vegetables and herbaceous borders in raised beds of about 6-inches deep because our native clay soil here in north Georgia is terrible to try to grow in. Raised beds are a good way to incorporate organic material and top soil into sandy or clay soil.

Raised beds could work well for the tomatoes and beans that you want to grow, but corn is a different story. Corn needs to be grown in a square block of rows to maximize the pollination. I used to like to grow corn until I discovered that all the critters used to like to eat my corn. The raccoons in particular would pick the corn ear by ear the night before it was ripe enough for me to pick it. There is also the little matter of the corn worms, which eat the ears of corn. Not only are they disgusting, but they produce a dangerous toxin. I just decided corn was not worth the effort.

Good luck with your gardening! Continue to reach out to this community with your questions. We love to talk about gardening!
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Aug 6, 2023 5:53 AM CST
Name: Sherri
Central Florida (Zone 9b)
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@smridder2
Looks like you already have some raised beds there, good place to start. NW FL has much different climate than we do in Central FL. I find the University of FL has some of the most informative information gardening information. Here's the link for the NW of FL https://nwdistrict.ifas.ufl.ed...
Best wishes to you on your new garden adventure, hopefully some of the N. FL gardeners can give you some advice on the best types of vegetables to grow up there.
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Aug 6, 2023 11:50 AM CST
Thread OP
Name: Sam Ridder
NW FL (Zone 9a)
LoriMT and Sunkissed, thanks for the advice and website assistance. I attempted some vegetables as the COVID restrictions set in 3 years ago without much success. This time will be different.
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Aug 6, 2023 1:05 PM CST
Name: Elaine
Sarasota, Fl
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Welcome, Sam. Looks like you already have a few nice raised beds in place there. They'll need clearing out, and heavy amendment with organic materials to loosen and enrich the soil so it will hold moisture and nutrients. This is an ongoing process in Florida because the intense sun, heavy rains and humidity break down the organic content of the soil very quickly and the plants use it up or it is washed away by rain and irrigation. Plan to add new amendments every fall before you start the new garden. Gardening season for veggies is mainly October through May here. Summer is for cleanup, resting, planning and collecting new materials.

Do not buy anything labeled "Garden Soil" or "Top soil". They will be mostly sand and not worth paying for - you probably already have lots of sand. Buy 100% organic material to amend your beds - mushroom compost is excellent, not expensive and available at most good nurseries. Otherwise, a raised bed mix can be good as well if it says it's all organic stuff.
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Another wonderful amendment I've used is alfalfa pellets - they are horse food available at any feed store in 40lb. bags. They enrich the soil, give a very mild, slow-release nitrogen boost that is great for seedlings and new transplants, and break down to boost the micro-biome.
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Tomatoes can be planted starting mid-September to mid-October and if you will plan to protect them from the occasional cold fronts we get in Dec and January, you can harvest tomatoes from November to June. Choose different varieties - a quick, short season one, a cherry or grape type, and a long-season slicer. Tomatoes pretty much don't set fruit here in the summer, the flowers just drop, and it's hard to keep the plants healthy through the hot weather with disease and insect problems ramping up tremendously once the nights are warm.

Green beans are great, but be prepared to spray with BT to keep caterpillars at bay. It is an organic-approved, targeted solution that doesn't kill anything except the caterpillars that eat the leaves of your plants. Good for squash, cucumber and melons as well.

I'd advise you not to go for growing corn. It is a tremendous space hog - plants a foot apart, rows 2ft. apart - and needs good soil, a ton of water, fertilizer and does not bear much for the space and resources it needs. You must plant a large section of it (not a row) because it is pollinated by wind, and if you only plant a few plants it's unlikely you'll get any cobs. The area of lawn in your picture is about the size of a corn patch you'd need to get a decent harvest.

Peppers, either sweet or hot, give a much better return on your small space and resources. They can be planted in fall as well, (need protection through winter) but better to start them in February for a spring into summer harvest. They, along with basil, eggplant, okra and a few other tropical veggies will go through the summer heat quite well, if you can keep them healthy.

This book has been my go-to reference for growing edibles in Florida ever since I moved here. (it's dog-eared and taped together) Highly recommend you get a copy (there are a couple of newer editions) and you'll have some good info for just about anything you want to grow in Florida.
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Elaine

"Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm." –Winston Churchill
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Aug 12, 2023 6:59 PM CST
Thread OP
Name: Sam Ridder
NW FL (Zone 9a)
@dyzzypyxxy Thanks for the recommendations. The photos are especially important. Can't wait to find the book.
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Mar 1, 2024 8:15 AM CST
Fort Walton Beach, FL (Zone 8b)
Definitely looks like you have some beds to work with already! Where are you located? I'm in Fort Walton Beach and in my backyard this year I've built some beds using Landscape Timbers. I built them about 20" high and layered them with small sticks and some dead vines I cleaned up off a fence line and then put a layer of leaves before putting in ground garden soil on top. In time the layers below will decay and feed the plants growing on top. I'll post some pics once I get them off my phone!
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