Can you grow tomatoes during the summer heat in Florida?
Choose the right variety of tomato to grow in summer in Florida. Everglades, Sweet 100 and Heat Wave II are Florida summer-friendly tomatoes. The summer brings challenges like heavy rains and pests. Certain tomato varieties will grow in summer in Florida, but they will grow easier during the early Fall and Spring.
These heat-tolerant tomatoes produce small, dime sized fruit. This is another reason that this plant can survive our summer. Tomatoes that produce larger fruit are more susceptible to diseases when warm weather and downpours roll in.
The University of Florida recommends the Heat Wave II and Sweet 100 varieties although I’ve had no experience with these I have had great success growing everglades tomatoes in the summer.
How do you care for tomatoes in the Florida summer?
Most tomatoes are sensitive souls. They don’t like to be fussed with, especially when they are wet.
Avoid touching your plants if at all possible after a rain or early in the morning when the dew is still hanging around.
The everglades tomato, Heatwave II and Sweet 100 are more resilient than most tomatoes but I still try to follow this general rule of thumb.
The everglades tomato loves to be in a soil that is moderately watered, not too wet but not too dry.
It will still grow in less-than-ideal soil conditions.
I’ve always had good luck with this soil mixture:
- 40% peat moss or coco coir
- 40% Compost
- 20% Perlite
- Worm Castings
- Mykos (Fungi)
You have to watch out for common pests like the tomato hornworm, stinkbugs and aphids.
It’s best practice to play the prevention game instead of waiting to see the bugs and then attacking.
The best way to stop these pests is to grow a healthy plant in a diverse garden.
Learn more about growing a diverse garden in Florida
Make sure your plant is fertilized on time and I’ve found it helpful to keep it on a weekly spraying regime.
I spray with neem oil and B.t. on a weekly bases. These two sprays take care of caterpillars and soft-bodied insects that love our Florida summers.
I space the spraying out a few days, for instance, I spray neem on Mondays and then B.t. on Wednesdays. When it rains will affect my spraying schedule. Spraying before it rains is pointless and harmful. The rain will wash away everything I just sprayed on my plant and leech into the soil and eventually the water.
It pays to be mindful of the weather before spraying.
I also plant pollinator plants like basil and marigolds which attract predator bugs of many of the common tomato pests.
When Should you plant tomatoes in Florida?
The best times to plant tomatoes in Florida are during the early fall and spring.
| North Florida | Feb |
| Central Florida | Feb & Sep |
| South Florida | Aug – Mar |
Tomatoes are a warm-weather plant, however, that doesn’t mean that you can plant all tomatoes in the summer heat of Florida.
Most of the people who offer that advice are growers from up north who have not experienced gardening in a Florida summer.
For most tomatoes in Florida the best times to plant are early spring and early fall. This provides a climate that is favorable to most tomatoes.
Florida summers are something that most Tomatoes don’t like, just like me.
However, the everglades tomato, Heatwave II and Sweet 100 varieties are different.
Everglades tomatoes are the easiest tomato I have ever grown. I planted some a little later in the season than I should have (April, I’m in central Florida) and discovered that they love the summer heat.
It’s 98 degrees out right now(feels like 104).
A week ago it pours for 5 days straight and look at this thing.
It’s literally taking over my garden.
So you can definitely plant these from seeds in mid-spring and let them thrive in the summer.
you’ll just have to fight the summer bugs.
The
Where do you get seeds from?
We have a seed store! It’s FLgardening.store We also sell a tomato pack that offers Everglades, and supersweet 100 tomatoes in it. Ideal for growing through the summer.
How to start Tomato seeds?
There is a lot of advice to start your tomatoes indoors under grow lights but I’ve had no problems starting my seeds right in the garden.
Some people have even asked their friends with a plant for a few tomato fruits and planted the whole tomato right into the ground.
However, if you do want to grow little tomatoes that you can transplant into the garden you can build a grow light pretty easy out of UV lights from home depot or just buy one off of amazon.
Another piece of garden knowledge when it comes to transplants is that they must be hardened off.
This means acclimating them to the outside environment.
You can do this by slowly increasing their exposure outside by increments of around an hour until your little guy can withstand a full day in the sun without looking all sad.
This can be a pain in the ass I think, that’s why I choose to just start them outside, right in the garden.
Where to plant tomatoes in Florida?
Tomatoes, including the everglades tomato love full sun. This means at least 8 hours of sun. Really the more the better. If your tomatoes don’t get enough sun they will stretch in search of the energy producing sun.
Also, you want to make sure that you have plenty of room for this thing to sprawl out.
These are an indeterminate variety, which means that they will just keep growing and growing.
Mine is probably 7 feet wide and 6 feet tall.
I’ve read that they can reach heights of up to almost 12 feet tall.
So be prepared for a wild one, make sure you’ve got plenty of room.
The Heatwave II variety can grow up to 5 feet tall and almost two feet wide.The Heatwave is a determinate variety meaning it will grow to a set height.
Sweet 100 is an indeterminate plant, like the everglades tomato and is a wild one. The plant can grow to be 12 feet tall, giving it a trellis to grow on is a good idea.
Wherever you plant goes make sure it gets good sun and plenty of space to grow.
How to fertilize tomatoes
There are tons of tomato fertilizers on the market. You can use a granular fertilize that you mix or sprinkle on to the soil. If using this method make sure that the roots don’t come into direct contact with the fertilizer because this can cause root burn.
Also when sprinkling fertilizer on the ground leave at least 6 inches from the base of the plant, fertilizer will also burn the stems of your plant.
You can use a water soluble fertilizer and add it to your watering can before watering.
It’s best if your fertilizer is something like a 5-10-5 or a 5-10-10.
Tomatoes don’t need as much nitrogen as they do phosphorus or potassium.
Nitrogen helps with green leafy growth and the other two help more with fruit production.
Fertilize once when your plant is established in the garden with a few sets of true leaves.
Start fertilizing again once every 2 weeks once you notice fruit beginning to set.
Growing Tomatoes In Summer In Florida
Some Tomatoes can be grown in the Florida summer’s heat but most tomatoes can not. Varieties like everglades, sweet 100 and Heat wave II can tolerate our climate. I’ve only had personal experience with the everglades variety and it has been the easiest tomato growing experience I have had.
Most tomatoes that can stand the heat will grow small and sweet grape-sized tomatoes.
Seeds are easily found online and starting them right in the garden is easy as pie.
So if you’ve got the willingness to sweat your ass off in the middle of summer and grow some tomatoes you can definitely do that with the right variety. however, I think it’s better if you just wait until the fall or springtime to grow your tomatoes.
You won’t melt in the blazing heat and you’ll fight fewer bugs and heavy rains. Which for me makes a more enjoyable gardening experience.
I think the summer garden is better for cover crops.