Tag: vegetable gardening

photo of bee on pink flower

Florida Heat Isn’t Just Hard on Your Plants—It’s Hard on You, Too


July 21, 2026

As Florida Master Gardeners, we know summer gardening isn't for the faint of heart. We carefully watch our plants for signs of heat stress, adjust our watering schedules, and look for ways to help our gardens survive another hot, humid day. But ... READ MORE

Category: Agribusiness, Agriculture, Crops, Farm Management, Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Forests, Fruits & Vegetables, Health & Nutrition, Home Landscapes, Horticulture, Lawn, Natural Resources, Recreation, UF/IFAS Extension, Water, Wildlife, Work & Life
Tags: Community Wellness, Fall Gardening, Florida Heat, Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Gardening, Heat Illness Prevention, Heat Safety, Hydration, Master Gardener Volunteer, Mental Health, Mental Health First Aid, Mental Wellness, Outdoor Safety, Self Care, Spring Gardening Summer Gardening, Stay Cool, Summer Gardening, UF/IFAS Extension, Vegetable Gardening, Winter Gardening

The Landscape Order of Operations: Water. Test. Fertilize—if needed.


July 15, 2026

A simple guide to diagnosing landscape problems before reaching for fertilizer. When plants start looking unhealthy, it's tempting to reach for a bag of fertilizer. Yellowing leaves, stunted growth, or poor flowering often seem like obvious ... READ MORE

Category: Agriculture, , Conservation, Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Fruits & Vegetables, Home Landscapes, Horticulture, Lawn, Natural Resources, UF/IFAS, UF/IFAS Extension, UF/IFAS Teaching, Water
Tags: Central Florida, Fertilizer, Fertilizer Ordinances, Florida, Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Fruit, Garden, Gardening, Hillsborough, Hillsborough County, Home Landscapes, Irrigation, Landscape, Master Gardener, Soil PH, Soil Test, UF/IFAS Extension, Vegetable, Vegetable Gardening, Watering Efficiently
a mixture of grass, grain and legume plants growing together in a field

Summer Cover Crops for the Home Vegetable Garden


June 30, 2026

By early summer, many of us have pulled up our spent spring crops.  No disrespect to okra or lima beans, but sometimes we just don't want to actively garden in the intense heat.  So what can we do with our garden beds instead?  We can grow ... READ MORE

Category: Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Fruits & Vegetables, Home Landscapes, Horticulture, UF/IFAS Extension
Tags: Cover Crops, Duval, Gardening, IFAS, Marlowe, Vegetable Gardening, Vegetables
photo of a blooming garden with a watering can and gloves in the foreground

Heat-Tolerant Edibles for the Summer: Roselle


June 11, 2026

Growing plants at home can help supplement your diet and stretch a household food budget. Luckily, there are some warm-season, heat-tolerant edibles that can thrive in a summer garden and produce year after year with the proper care. Heat Tolerant ... READ MORE

Category: Horticulture
Tags: Fresh Fruit And Vegetables, Fruit Gardening, Full Sun, Gardening, Heat-Tolerant Edibles, Heat-Tolerant Edibles For The Summer Home Garden, Home Garden, IPM, Seasonal, Summer Garden, Summer Plants, Vegetable Gardening, Warm Season
Spent tomato leaves add mulch underneath a Seminole pumpkin vine.

Chop and Drop Gardening: Turning Plant Waste into Healthy Soil


May 29, 2026

Nature doesn’t waste nutrients, and your garden doesn’t have to either! What is ‘chop and drop’ gardening? Chop and drop gardening involves ‘chopping’ plant material, and then ‘dropping’ it in place, where it decomposes naturally ... READ MORE

Category: Agriculture, , Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Fruits & Vegetables, Home Landscapes, Horticulture, Lawn, UF/IFAS Extension
Tags: Central Florida, Chop And Drop, Compost, Florida, Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Garden, Gardening, Home Landscapes, Mulch, UF/IFAS Extension, Vegetable Gardening
Everglades tomato fruits

Growing Everglades Tomato


May 26, 2026

Everglades tomato is a wild type of current tomato that thrives in Florida's hot humid summers. The small red fruits, about the size of a dime, are abundant and tasty. This is an indeterminate type of tomato and can easily grow 6 to 10 feet ... READ MORE

Category: , Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Fruits & Vegetables, Home Landscapes, Horticulture, UF/IFAS Extension
Tags: Central Florida, Edible Landscaping, Everglades Tomato, Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Fruit And Vegetables, Home Landscapes, Tomato, Vegetable Gardening, Video
Seminole pumpkin

Growing Seminole Pumpkin in Florida: From Seed to Harvest to Table


May 19, 2026

Growing Seminole Pumpkin in Florida pumpkin is a great vegetable to grow in Florida's summer heat because it is heat tolerant. It's an heirloom vegetable that dates back to the native American times you can save the seeds from year to year. ... READ MORE

Category: , Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Fruits & Vegetables, Health & Nutrition, Home Landscapes, Horticulture, Pests & Disease, UF/IFAS Extension
Tags: Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Home Landscapes, Pumpkin, Roasting Pumpkin, Seed Saving, Vegetable, Vegetable Gardening
row of collard greens

Growing Collard Greens in the Florida Vegetable Garden


April 25, 2026

Growing Collards Collard greens are an easy to grow long lasting vegetable. Plant from seed or transplant in the spring and they will grow into the heat of summer. You can continually harvest the lower leaves and have fresh greens to add ... READ MORE

Category: , Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Fruits & Vegetables, Home Landscapes, Horticulture, UF/IFAS Extension
Tags: Collard, Florida Friendly, Greens, Home Landscapes, Vegetable Gardening

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