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Tomatoes are on the decline right now
Photo: Tom MacCubbin
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by Tom MacCubbin
Tom MacCubbin is the Extension Agent Emeritus for Orange County and the University of Florida. For more gardening tips and articles visit BetterLawns.com.
Even if the tomato plants are cheap, right now, they are probably not a good buy.
Why? Well, tomatoes, many peppers and eggplants stop setting their fruits when the temperatures go consistently above 85 degrees. Some cherry tomatoes may set a few fruits but for even these plantings good production time is over.
Do keep what plants are in the ground growing and maturing the last of the spring harvests. Then you probably want to remove them and get the soil ready for late summer plantings. Tomatoes are added to the sites around mid August to have good production for fall.
One vegetable you can be growing now is the sweet potato. I know many of you are way ahead of me and will be harvesting this crop in a month or two. You can still plant sweet potatoes into July so my crop is still on time. It then takes between 100 and 120 to get a crop to dig. The plants do need lots of room so give them a large enough space. You can keep them to a spot about 6 foot wide with periodic pruning.
All crops you might grow during the summer need regular feedings. Use a vegetable garden type fertilizer or one of the new slow release products like Miracle-Gro Shake?n Feed or Osmocote. Just follow the label and you won?t have to worry about feedings for 3 or more months.
There are lots of vegetables to grow during the summer season but you have to like them and learn how to use many of the tropical types. Starts for many of these can be found in the produce department of the grocery store. Check out what to plant in the July Plantings
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