Do tomatoes grow well in Florida?
Tomatoes can grow extremely well in Florida. The best tomato I have ever grown has been the Florida everglades tomato. The everglades tomato is an indeterminate variety and it produces small, dime-sized tomatoes. If left to grow, Everglade tomatoes will reach up to 10 feet in width.
There are many other varieties of tomato that will grow in Florida and we will discuss them down below as well as the best planting times and general care instructions. Keep reading for more info on the best tomatoes to grow in Florida.
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The Best Tomatoes To Grow In Florida
| Indeterminate Tomatoes That Grow In Florida | Amish Paste, Beefmaster, Better Boy, Black Cherry, Bonnies Best, Cherokee, Everglades, Floradade, Green Zebra, Husky Cherry, Mortgage lifter, Juliet, SuperSweet 100, Sweet Chelsea, Solid Gold, Sun Gold |
| Determinate Tomatoes That Grow In Florida | Heatwave II, Floragold, Tasti-lee |
There are several types of tomatoes that will grow in Florida. Through my gardening experience, I have never grown an easier tomato than the Florida everglades tomato. This type of tomato seriously grows like a weed. It took over one of my garden beds one year, take a look!
This is a good example of an indeterminate tomato. Indeterminate means that the tomato plant will not grow to a set, or determined, size. Determinate tomatoes are good for smaller spaces because they will grow to a predetermined size.
Best Time To Plant Tomatoes In Florida
| North Florida | Feb – Apr & Jul – Aug |
| Central Florida | Jan – Mar & Aug – Sep |
| South Florida | Aug – Feb |
North and Central Florida have two times in a year in which we can plant tomatoes. South Florida has one long planting season.
The best time to plant tomatoes in Florida is in the early springtime as well as the early fall. Tomatoes are damaged by frosts and freezes that roll through and they also don’t really do well in the Florida summer, that is except for the everglades tomato.
Tomatoes usually take about 90 -110 days in order to produce fruit so you need to ensure that your plants have that many days of ideal weather. Avoid planting too late in the season or too early in the season. Timing is very important!
How Much Sun Do Tomatoes Need In Florida
Tomatoes need full sun. This means at least 8 hours. The more sun the better. I know the Florida sun can seem pretty intense sometimes but your tomato plants need all the sunlight they can get.
Planting Tomatoes
As mentioned above when planting tomatoes be sure to choose a spot that gets at least 8 hours of sun. Depending on the type of tomato you are planting (read your packet for specific instructions on this) you should allow for anywhere from 12-36″ of room for your plants to spread.
tomatoes do very well as transplants so if you would like you can start your plant undercover a little early. This way you can get a head start on the growing season and still protect your young seedlings from any cold weather that may roll through.
Tippers: Cut tomato suckers from last season’s plants as starters for next seasons. This will give you a huge head start!
Tomatoes do not do well when planted directly into our Florida sand. It’s a good idea to plant them into a large container or raised bed. You can just use a standard garden soil mix from your local hardware store and that will be fine but if you want to go above and beyond it’s nice to build your own soil.
I’ve always had good luck with a mix that looks like this:
- 40% Peat moss or Coco Coir
- 40% Compost
- 10% Top Soil
- 10% perlite
- Mykos
- Worm Castings
Everything except the mykos and worm castings is easily found at any home improvement store. The Mykos can be found online and is relatively cheap. Mykos is a fungi that helps build your soil and creates an internet that allows your plants to more easily absorb nutrients. Worm casting is worm poop and is a nice boost of nutrients.
Other gardeners have raved about amending their soil with Azomite. I’ve never used it before but apparently, it’s a nice nutrient boost and also helps retain nutrients in your soil.
Fertilizing Tomatoes
When tomatoes are young little seedlings you should hold back on the fertilizer until the plants have 2-4 sets of true leaves.
At this point, I like to really promote green leafy growth to encourage a large and healthy tomato plant I fertilize with a nitrogen focused fertilizer. I like to use a liquid Kelp fertilizer(check price).
I like to apply it once a week for a month, and then switch to a fertilizer the is more phosphorus focused in order to help promote healthy flowering and fruiting. I use something like this Jobe’s Organic fertilizer, It’s a 2-5-3.
Common Pest and Tomato Diseases
Some tomatoes are labeled as TSWV, this means that that particular tomato is resistant to Tomato spotted wilt virus, a common problem with growing tomatoes in Florida. Check your seed packet or seed supply for this info.
The most common problems you will see when growing tomatoes are hornworms, aphids, Stinkbugs, and tomato spot diseases. These are things that I have run into frequently when growing tomatoes.
The best way I have found to deal with Tomato hornworms is to spray your plant with B.t. This will kill any caterpillar that eats part of your plant that has been sprayed. Be mindful that even though this is an organic product, it will still harm good bugs so be sure to spray in the late afternoon when fewer bugs are active.
Aphids and stink bugs re managed with neem oil. This is again an organic option that has the potential to hurt good bugs as well, so just be mindful of that.
Pruning Tomatoes
Indeterminate tomatoes need to be pruned in order to keep them in check. If you do not prune them they will grow out of control, kind of like that everglades tomato pictured earlier in this post. In order to prune your tomato plants, you need to identify the “suckers” on your plant.
Suckers are basically a whole new tomato plant. I mentioned using these parts of your plant to give you a good head start for next season’s growth. Instead of discarding a trimmed tomato sucker, plant it in dirt or a plant cloner (check out my DiY cloner build here) to give you a jump for next year.
The main thing to pay attention to when pruning your tomato plant is to not trim the leading vine. It’s a good practice to remove all the lower branches and to support your tomato with a large trellis or tomato cage (check price).
Best Tomatoes To Grow In Florida
In my experience, the Florida everglades tomato has been the easiest tomato to grow in Florida, without a doubt. These are indeterminate plants that produce a ton of dime-sized tomatoes.
There are a ton of other varieties of tomato that you can plant that will grow well in Florida.
The best time to plant in North and Central Florida is the early spring and early fall. If you are in south Florida you can plant from August to February.
Allow 90 – 110 days of ideal conditions to produce tomatoes.
Fertilize with a nitrogen-focused fertilizer when young and switch to a phosphorus-focused fertilizer before flowers and fruits begin to form.
Prune tomato suckers on your plant in order to keep it in check.
Check every day for pest and disease damage, that stuff can sneak up on your quickly.
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