Growing tomatoes in Florida and Lower Alabama isn’t easy. Yesterday, I posted this video explaining why it took us a $10,000 greenhouse to finally grow a good crop of tomatoes.
Beneath that video, we received some good comments, along with some people who wondered how it could be so hard to grow tomatoes in our climate.
jeil5676 comments:
Being from the north, I still cant fully comprehend how its hard to grow tomatoes in the south. You theoretically just need 3-4 months of moderate temps to do so. I think all my local grocery stores stock tomatoes from mexico which should be hotter in my mind. The green house doesnt make sense to me either. To me, green houses are hot. They extend a season but even in canada when its over 30c mid summer, it would get up to 50 in a green house. I dont see how that helps you in a very hot climate. Have you ever thought of just putting shade cloth suspended over a row? That would make sense to me. Water never seems to be a problem unless theres too much. But if thats the case, mounds above grade or raised beds with very well drained soil would be great. Tomatoes are like a edge of the rainforest or even a cloud forrest plant, originally. I’m not doubting you know better than me. I just dont get it. It seems to me its always great tomato weather there except maybe july, aug. Just put some shade cloth over top.
Yes, at first glance at the USDA zone it seems like we have a moderately mild climate for some of the year, and tomatoes should do okay. Yet that isn’t the case.
I replied:
Disease will take them randomly. One day, a plant is rich and green, the next day it wilts completely without recovery. Stink bugs and leaf-footed bugs puncture and tear the fruit, causing it to rot. It will be dry for three weeks, followed by 10″ of rain in a couple of days, causing the fruit to swell and split open. Weather hits the 90s in May, after a last frost that usually happens at the end of March/beginning of April. Tomatoes often start to ripen, but as they turn red, something will chew them and you’ll reach down to pick what looks like a nice fruit, only to discover the back half of it is all rotten mush. The sun gets so hot that it can burn the plants. Hornworms take entire plants in a day or two. Up North they are so easy to grow… down here, they just suffer. It seems like it would work, but it takes high effort. It’s like trying to play King of the Hill against a professional NFL team.
The greenhouse has really made a difference. Now I’m wondering what else might thrive in there that isn’t thriving in the main gardens!
Cabbages in winter, perhaps? Pineapples? Artichokes?
It’s a whole new world for us to explore.