How do you grow tomatoes in South Florida?
To grow tomatoes in South Florida soils, first amend your soil at least 50/50 with organic matter. The easiest way is to layer it. For a tomato plant, dig a hole at least 18 inches wide and at least 12 inches deep, to accomodate root growth. Why so wide? Because of nematodes. When growing tomatoes in South Florida, nematodes are a tomato plant's worst enemy. Nematodes hate organic matter, so the more organic matter added, the better the nematode control.
A fantastic article by Deborah Aldridge can be found here:
-- Florida Gardening 101: How do you grow tomatoes in South Florida?
It's about:
Growing tomatoes in our subtropical climate
Type of soil, pH, soil amendments, and a fantastic technique for battling nemotodes that I'm using this year myself!
As she says: "Following these instructions will make growing tomatoes in South Florida a pleasant experience, and when you taste that first vine ripe tomato, you'll be glad you tried.."
I give this article a rating of five tomatoes!
1 rate -- Florida Gardening 101: How do you grow tomatoes in South Florida?
It's about:


As she says: "Following these instructions will make growing tomatoes in South Florida a pleasant experience, and when you taste that first vine ripe tomato, you'll be glad you tried.."
I give this article a rating of five tomatoes!
Comments
Udut, Kenneth![]() from Golden Gate Estates, Naples, FL Associate, 3508 posts | More Naples gardening tomatoes notes: Tomatoes won't blossom when it's 85 degrees out or higher. For my tomatoes, my problems have been in past years: nematodes aphids catipillers and other leaf chewers. Sevin dust never worked for me. This year, I will try mathalon (but I need to make sure it's safe first). I am also going to try gardening under where our pool WAS this summer, while meanwhile preparing the soil in the old garden area by: 1) mowing it down 2)rototilling and raking out old weeds + roots (where the nematodes live 3) putting down lots and lots of cheap bags of composted manure 4) setting down plastic to kill the nematodes for two months. If I could bake the dirt, I would. |
Links
- Florida Gardening 101: How do you grow tomatoes in South Florida? - (79 clicks) The most frequently asked question by gardeners after moving to South Florida is "how do you grow tomatoes?" The answer is, homegrown tomatoes are easy in the subtropical climate of South Florida once you know how.
Edited by Udut, Kenneth on Oct. 24 2009