Fall Tomato Plants?

[djlnc]

I've read that tomatoes can be planted here in September and harvested in a couple months. Anybody have experience with that? And where might plants be sold around here now?
Thanks!

[Stu from NYC]

Interesting but think best off with cherry tomatoes for quicker harvest.

[Bogie Shooter]

Growing fall tomatoes in centra Florida.
Growing Tomatoes in Central Florida (https://www.flgardening.com/growing-tomatoes-in-central-florida/)

[ThirdOfFive]

I've read that tomatoes can be planted here in September and harvested in a couple months. Anybody have experience with that? And where might plants be sold around here now?
Thanks!
You can buy set plants at Lowe's Garden Center (I imagine Home Depot as well). They have a good variety of plants.

My "success" with them has been off and on. Do well with springtime planting (harvesting in May) but not as well with the fall ones. I think my problem the last two years was that I waited until October to plant. This year I started my own seedlings, which I transplanted outside a couple of weeks ago and are now about 4" - 5" high and doing well. I'm trying one I never tried before; "Abe Lincoln" which is an inteterminate heirloom variety.

Peppers seem to do well whenever. Cucumbers and zucchini, not so much.

Good luck.

[djlnc]

Thank you! I had looked online at Lowes and they didn't show any available. I'll do some shopping and do a trial run this year to see how it goes.

[asianthree]

No matter what tomato I plant it just doesn’t taste really good. Kind of reminds me of hot house tomatoes. I am bringing down my heirloom tomato seeds along with garden dirt, in the spring. Plant seeds have been in our family for over 100 years. Hope I can duplicate taste of the many years of great tomatoes, you could pick off the vine and just eat them

[ScottGo]

I planted beefstakes mid-august and doing great. Got asparagus 3 yrs now still growing, jalenapinos more than I need 3 yrs same plant, bell peppers, corn, onions, squash, and pineapples. Cukes grow best in cooler months and radishes also. Beans the birds eat them. I've been starting them in planters in the launi. I use the filtered house water, the tomatoes are usually small for a beefstake but taste better. Spring planting Apr on up, it's to hot.

[CFrance]

There is a nursery in Leesburg on a street kind of parallel to the main drag. I think this is it, though the name doesn't ring a bell: Central Florida Gardener: Simon Seed Farm & Garden Center (https://centralfloridagardener.blogspot.com/2014/01/simon-seed-farm-garden-center.html) I bought tomato plants there one year and grew them in the fall. I used a raised planter they sold and the soil they recommended. I agree that Florida tomatoes lack the je-ne-sais-quoi of those in the north.

[Jima72]

Problem with fall tomatoes is the nighttime temperature for them needs to be in the mid to high 70’s.

[mikreb]

Do you have pest problems with tomatoes, peppers, zucchini,...etc?

[MidWestIA]

Tried tomatoes in the southern heat no taste Iowa tomatoes were awesome but take 70-80 days to mature without the big heat

[Bogie Shooter]

There is a nursery in Leesburg on a street kind of parallel to the main drag. I think this is it, though the name doesn't ring a bell: Central Florida Gardener: Simon Seed Farm & Garden Center (https://centralfloridagardener.blogspot.com/2014/01/simon-seed-farm-garden-center.html) I bought tomato plants there one year and grew them in the fall. I used a raised planter they sold and the soil they recommended. I agree that Florida tomatoes lack the je-ne-sais-quoi of those in the north.

Simon Seed went out of business.

[Santiagogirl]

I planted cherry tomatoes in the spring & picked a handful of tomatoes every day through most of the summer. In late summer I started new plants by cutting off tops & suckers from the old plants (they root very easily in a little moist potting soil). I just removed the old original plants & cages and repotted the new ones in large pots. Going to see how they do in the fall. As an aside, I used a fertilizer product called Mater Magic from Lowes this year, which gave good results.

[nn0wheremann]

Growing fall tomatoes in centra Florida.
Growing Tomatoes in Central Florida (https://www.flgardening.com/growing-tomatoes-in-central-florida/)
One other observation. On your next trip north, dig up a couple of buckets of decent topsoil. I recommend southern or central Illinois or eastern Missouri dirt. Florida topsoil isn’t worth dirt.

[RuthA]

I have tried growing tomatoes here and have had NO success. I got plants at the Farmers Market in Brownwood on Saturdays. The plant grew and grew (5' stems) and NO tomatoes! The soil and weather just does not grow good tomatoes here.

[happehart]

Do you have pest problems with tomatoes, peppers, zucchini,...etc?
I got rid of most pest bugs by planting Marigolds among the tomatoes.

[jimjamuser]

Problem with fall tomatoes is the nighttime temperature for them needs to be in the mid to high 70’s.
Temperatures in Florida and the entire world are predicted by climate scientists to increase for at least the next 8 years. This is due to population increase and corresponding CO2 in the upper atmosphere.

[ThirdOfFive]

Do you have pest problems with tomatoes, peppers, zucchini,...etc?
One thing Florida doesn't seem to lack are pests. Bug larva, fungus, mites...no time of year seems to be without them. I've been using Neem Oil which seems to do a pretty good job of controlling them but in order to work you pretty much have to get the leaves wet top and bottom and the stuff is pricy: about $12 for a 32 oz. spray bottle from Amazon. Lowe's carries something called Fungicide3 that claims to kill pretty much any critter that might be plaguing your plants; "fungicide-insecticide-miticide", that I'm going to try when the neem oil runs out.

[Stu from NYC]

One thing Florida doesn't seem to lack are pests. Bug larva, fungus, mites...no time of year seems to be without them. I've been using Neem Oil which seems to do a pretty good job of controlling them but in order to work you pretty much have to get the leaves wet top and bottom and the stuff is pricy: about $12 for a 32 oz. spray bottle from Amazon. Lowe's carries something called Fungicide3 that claims to kill pretty much any critter that might be plaguing your plants; "fungicide-insecticide-miticide", that I'm going to try when the neem oil runs out.

Hate to use these pesticides when trying to grow food we will eat.

[vintageogauge]

Not enough hours of sun in the fall and too cool at night, you'll get fruit but they won't ripen well and they will be small. I planted spring tomatoes for several years with good success, I started seeds indoors and put them out in April. I used a lot of miracle grow as even if you use garden soil in the ground the sand around it seems to pull the nutrients out the miracle grow did wonders for them. I did not use pots, plant them directly in the ground.

[Jima72]

One other observation. On your next trip north, dig up a couple of buckets of decent topsoil. I recommend southern or central Illinois or eastern Missouri dirt. Florida topsoil isn’t worth dirt.

Thta is why Iam. Lifelong Florida composter.

[DAVES]

I have tried growing tomatoes here and have had NO success. I got plants at the Farmers Market in Brownwood on Saturdays. The plant grew and grew (5' stems) and NO tomatoes! The soil and weather just does not grow good tomatoes here.

Sounds like too much nitrogen-large plants with no fruit. Perhaps, being hit with lawn fertilizer.

[DAVES]

One other observation. On your next trip north, dig up a couple of buckets of decent topsoil. I recommend southern or central Illinois or eastern Missouri dirt. Florida topsoil isn’t worth dirt.

Our soil is high PH-loaded with lime. Typical PH is 7 or 8. Adding sulfur and organic matter will work but it is not an instant process. Now is a good time to build soil to be planted next year. A soil test is inexpensive and a good idea to know what to do.

[matandch]

There is a nursery in Leesburg on a street kind of parallel to the main drag. I think this is it, though the name doesn't ring a bell: Central Florida Gardener: Simon Seed Farm & Garden Center (https://centralfloridagardener.blogspot.com/2014/01/simon-seed-farm-garden-center.html) I bought tomato plants there one year and grew them in the fall. I used a raised planter they sold and the soil they recommended. I agree that Florida tomatoes lack the je-ne-sais-quoi of those in the north.

Simon Seed was an excellent source for vegetable plants. Unfortunately they folded when the pandemic hit and never came back.

[ohioshooter]

Here’s a picture of my wife’s grow tower. We got over 100 tomatoes from one plant. Setting it up now for this season.