From our Miami Food Garden Tour in July 2009, veggies that can take the heat! For experienced growers and serious beginners. Written by Danny Ackell of South Beach Victory Garden (please excuse the "note-taking" style of writing, but this is Danny's style, and we did not want to edit it. If you have questions, or something is not clear, please contact Danny at address listed at bottom of this page, or contact us.) Seeds and Seedlings: You want to first get some seeds, the varieties that I use in the Summer ( July thru Sep ) Asian Veggies: White Pak Choy VGj020; AgroHatitai Ltd- good germination %85, vigorous growth, plant with centers 5 inches, pull out middles after two weeks in the ground These will grow 30 cm high. They are very water retentive and grow upright and loose. You want this for tight Pak Choy can rot when we have too much water. Your germination in 200 cell count tray will be 5 days, and the seedling will be ready in 2 weeks. From this point the centers are ready two weeks after, then the full plant should be taken after 5 weeks. Do not let grow big, all plant material should stay on the smaller side. Big plants need more water and have more stress with the heat. Joi Choi P122; Kitazawa Seed Co. , Johnnys …. – moderate germination %70, these are mini Pak Choi, plant on 20 cm centers. They are mini, designed to be picked after 5 weeks. The plants are flat on ground level, aprox. 15 cm wide, three of these make a sweet appetizer. This is a very gourmet item. Small, special and very sweet to the taste. They are more difficult than the White Pak Choy, but worth the effort. Put these in small little rows, put them aside from your normal spacing. Komatsuna Summerfest F1 Johnnyseeds; 323.24- This is aggressive and very easy to grow. Germination is %100. Plant with 40 cm spacing. One can pick and eat these both small and large. This is an must for any Miami garden in the heat of the Summer. Do not get red, it just does not perform. Tall luscious greens, this is a primary green for the summer, as well as Winter Months. It seems to love it here. They say this is mustard green, it is not. I compare it more to a large spinach, Miami meets Thailand style. Mustard Greens; these are as they say, just like Mustard. If you like them, then plant them. They grow easily, and love the summer heat. They can tolerate poor soils, where most other Asian veggies need good light weight soils. You can let these grow large, mustard is mustard, it is already harsh. Germination in plug trays is about 60%. At times more. You don’t need lots of this, just a few small rows. Mustard Ho Mi z; Johnnys 2667g.10 Mustard Osaka Purple; Johnnys 374g.10- medium leaf, rich purple Mustard Garnet Giant; Johnnys 2797.10 Lettuces; in the winter I started with 50 varieties of, after trail and error found 10 or so that work well in South Beach, I am now down to two. Yes, 2, from 50. Plant these and pick when small, so quickly they can become bitter. But, yes..you can have lettuce in the Summer. %95 germination on the two I recommend. Tropicana Pelleted; Johnnys 2485p.11- good year round also. Does better in June than July. Green Oak leaf; Johnnys 117.11- does not do as well as Tropicana, but it is better tasting. Arugula; Astro; Johnnys 2015g.10- pick small 20 cm, do not let grow large, it will be bitter to inedible. This arugula is the most mild ( less pepper ) of all of them. It grows like a weed in the heat. %100 germination. Herbs Basil, Basil, Basil. The stuff loves it here. I buy the seed packets anywhere they are cheap, used the Burpee 50% off sale in the Spring to load up, on .50 cent packs. You have aprox %70 germination. Grow to aprox 50 cm, then re plant. Get a food processor and add pine nuts, some olive oil, and komatso, and flavor with the different Basils, fresh Peso for the Summer!!!. I plant 6 varieties, or more. Sweet Basil; Burpee- grows like a small bush Lettuce Leaf Basil; Ferry Morse, this is the best for the summer, big yummy leafs Dwarf Greek; Ferry Morse Black/ Purple Basil; Ferry Morse- great healthy plants, all summer Genovese; Burpee- this does not do as well in the summer, more of a winter Basil Lemon Basil; Burpee- this is one of the best in the summer I also grow as Perennials that act as year round producing annuals in South Beach Garlic Chives Chives Spearmint Mojito Mint Tarragon Parsley; but this is not so easy in the heat %40 germination, do as seedlings Sage Thyme, lemon Asian Melons (Bitter Melons); for gardeners with space, these grow well. In Homestead, there are acres of these in production. Kitazawa Seed is the best source for these. I do not have space in my garden. Next: plant your seeds, get some trays, put ONE seed in each cell. Germination is even according to above discussion. Will take aprox. 2 weeks to get a good 200 cell seedling, 3 weeks for a 128 tray (larger seedlings). Water 2 x a day, or put on mist irrigation. Soil: I find the Seed Starting Mix at Home Depot, Scotts is the best. Its high in Phosphorus and refined enough for small seeds. Cost is $4.49. One bag will do aprox 800 seedlings. ( 4 trays ) Plan: Plan how many seedlings you will need, and subtract for above germination rates, and your experience in gardening. Plant more, to compensate for your errors, there always are. And, again plant tight centers, taking out the middles to compensate for poor irrigation, or comfort level with soil quality. Example: a 3 foot bed, wide, will take aprox 12 plants for a row, if the germination is %70, then add on %30 more to plant, i.e.; 17 plants to make seedlings, so plant 20. This will give you enough. If your on 8 inch row middles, in a 3 foot bed this would be 5 rows. Therefore, you need 17 plants x 5 rows. Or, 100 seedlings, this is %50 of a 200 cell count tray. Make tags, and label each row. Get out your calculator, and plan. Don’t waste seeds, nor finished seedlings. Good planning, equals better results. 200 cell tray; 9187 Johnnys, buy 5 ( $15 ) 128 cell tray; 9494 Johnnnys Soil; In the summer I like to use a fluffy soil, rich in pearlite ( Styrofoam ), some sand, but heavy to the Peat. Be careful, too much peat will crash your PH Ph Tester Greentouch 722145. I use Pro Mix 3.8, with some sand ( Miami Dade= plenty of sand in the gardens ). You don’t want to heavy a mixture, for with an inch of rain you will never drain. Compaction is a problem, after every few inches of rain, I un-compact, with ONE tool. #9187 Hand Hoe; Johnnys. Do not let your garden get compacted, this will squash the root zone and create a no growth situation. Cultivate; more for compaction, but also for weeds. Plant in rows so you can cultivate and count your plants. Deep cultivation, 10-16 inches every once and a while to break up the bed pan. I find that the 21 to 27 inches of soil is ideal. Most all of these Asian veggies in the Summer are shallow rooted plants. Less soil, equals more stress. You cannot do this in shallow soil systems. Feed; Feed; Feed- I am organic %100, and as a result use a 6-4-4 formulation. This is very weak for plants on hyper-drive..feed me. I feed daily, foliar as well as root zone. Grow Big- #718505, Greentouch Hydroponics- it is made of bat guano and worm castings. Any food will work, just realize that these plants are a 6 SIX week crop, from seed to finish. The plants are in hyper grow mode, therefore. hyper feed them. I also use a microbial tea. This is complicated, see me for more info. The Dance; your garden is a ballet in the summer. Many things going on at once, rain, heat, incredible growth rates. You will get in tune with your garden after a while, it takes time. You should re-plant in the 4th week more seedlings, for indeed you will be picking in the 6th week ( or earlier ). Bugs: with 6 week crops, I find the bugs trouble to even find the plants. If I find some, I use Chrysanthemum sprays and Neem Oils. Aphids are the main culprit. Evening beetles and snails are a minor issue, plant some for them too. Rest your soil- I use Johnnys New Zealand White Clover 979.30 in between crops. This will give you nitrogen and other minor elements, plus create a cover of green that will induce less heat on your soil. You don’t want to roast your soil, green is better than black. Again, this requires water and care. Plan for The Fall: August 20th – I am replanting seeds, for my Fall crops, Peppers, Lettuces, Tomatoes, Asian Veggies, beets, greens….and the list goes on. You want to have seedlings ready for October 20th, and have some good foliar growth before the first cold front. Peppers take 60 to 70 days to germinate; I use a 72 count tray. Tomatoes less, but I use 3.5 inch pots. Sources: Agrohaitai Ltd. Box 78051 Hamilton On l9c7n5, Canada Johnnys Selected Seeds 955 Benton Ave. Winslow, Maine, 04901 www.johnnyseeds.com Greentouch Hydroponics 5011 s. state Rd. #7 Davie, Fl , 33314 www.familyhydroponics.com Kitazawa Seed Co. P.O Box #13220 Oakland, CA 94661-3220 510-595-1188 www.kitazawaseed.com Ferry-Morse Seed. Co. P.O Box 1620 Fulton, KY 42041 www.ferry-morse.com Burpee 300 Park Ave Warminsister, Pa 18974 www.burpee.com Books I recommend: The Truth about Organic Gardening; Jeff Gillman Teaming with Microbes; A gardeners Guide to the Soil Food Web; Jeff Lowenfels and Wayne Lewis Any questions, e-mail. dannyacke@hotmail.com Good luck, Danny |
Tropical Summer Veggie Growing |