Fall Planting Tomato and Peppers

A lot of spring vegetables can be planted in the fall in North Florida, including beans and cucumbers, but I personally just like to plant peppers and the hot set type of tomatoes, Large Red Cherry, Arkansas Traveler, and Homestead tomatoes, because I think they do well in our environment.

Peppers and tomatoes both germinate best when the temperature is between 70 and 85 degrees. We recommend you germinate and grow your seeds inside while the daily average temperature outside is above 85 degrees. Start your seeds indoors 4 to 6 weeks before you plan on transplanting them outside.

Peppers and tomatoes grow well here and are easy to grow in containers. Minimum 5 gallons of soil for each plant. As a bonus, peppers are perennials and if you can keep them from freezing, you can grow them for several years. I usually keep mine for about three years, and just move them inside the garage when it's freezing.

Other vegetables that you can plant in the fall are lettuce and onions. Lettuce grows well whenever it's below 80 degrees, but you must protect it from freezing. In the spring when daytime temperatures start to creep past 85 degrees, they will bolt and produce seeds. Any leaves you can harvest past this time will be bitter, either collect the seeds or pull your lettuce plants up.

Onions can be planted in the fall but take care to not to let them dry out. They are very tender when they are young but once they develop a small bulb, they will have some stored energy for backup. You can let them grow to maturity, or take cuttings to eat in your salad.