Fall Plants for the Florida Tower Garden

Remember: the Tower Garden keeps the roots of the plants cooler, so you have wiggle room with what you can plant and when! This list is appropriate for north, central, and south Florida.

If you get a frost or a freeze, add an aquarium heater overnight and throw a frost cloth over the Tower Garden. Set the aquarium heater to 70F. Everything will be toasty and warm!

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Leah's list of heat-tolerant varieties to plant in the Tower Garden in the FALL in ALL zones of Florida.

TOMATOES

• A collection

• Black Cherry Tomato

• Celebrity Tomato

  
  

PEPPERS

• Sweet Peppers:

• Lunchbox pepper:

• Italian Bullhorn Sweet Peppers:

• Sweet Banana Peppers

• Jalapeno Peppers

  
  

CUCUMBERS

• Marketmore

• Summer Dance (excellent for South Florida!)

• Calypso Pickling Cucumber

If you are growing your Tower Garden in a spot where you don't have pollinators, then choose:

• Diva

• Mini Me

SQUASH

• Desert Zucchini

• Squash-Aehobak Korean

STRAWBERRIES

In Florida, we grow 2-3 year old bare root strawberry plants. Competition for these plants is fierce, and you'll want to be aware of the following:

• Whitwam Organics takes pre-orders in July

• Nick's Edibles takes pre-orders in July/August/September - you'll have to message him for the order form

• Hoss Tools has Chandler Strawberries, which are perfect for North Florida

Call your local nursery and ask about their pre-orders Good varieties for FL include:

• Festival

• Sweet Charlie

• Florida Brilliance

• Chandler (North Florida)

• Albion

If you miss the pre-orders, don't worry! You can:

• Buy pre-planted strawberries ready for the Tower Garden at Living Towers

• Buy strawberry plants from a local nursery annse the roots, and follow the planting directions in this video below: Growing strawberries on the Tower

Garden

Don't start strawberries from seed. Please

watch this video.

SPINACH

Spinach loves cold and can be planted Oct. through late February. I recommend Kolibri as the best 'all weather' spinach I have grown. It is the least likely to bolt in the heat.

CELERY

• Tall Utah

• Tango

BEANS AND PEAS (NOTE: I plant beans in spring and fall, and peas in winter)

• Bush green beans

• Burgundy beans

• Green English Peas

• Snow Peas

LETTUCE

• Romaine

• Starstruck Lettuce Mix

• Tomato Growers

• Whitwam Organics

GOOSEBERRIES

• Poha berries

BROCCOLI

• Piracicaba broccoli is a heat-tolerant sprouting (similar to Chinese) broccoli from Brazil.

• Green Magic Broccoli

GREENS

• Tokyo Bekana

• Arugula

• Pak Choi

• Mizuna:

• Mustard

• Kale and Kale

HERBS

• Cilantro (Plant in Oct/Nov)

• Basil (this is the best disease-resistant variety I have found)

• Chives

• Dill

• Lemon Basil, Thai Basil

• Mint (remove the mint plant every month and trim the roots)

• Sage

• Oregano

EGGPLANTS

• Florida Market

• Japanese, Chinese Bride

FLOWERS (for attracting pollinators and preventing pests)

• Red Gem Marigolds

• Calendula

• Coreopsis

• Marigold

Use code BROOKS10 to get 10% off your first order of $25 or more from Whitwam Organics - excluding bulk items www.whitwamorganics.com

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Happy gardening!

Feel free to contact me here with any questions.

~ Leah Brooks