January is one of the best months for gardening in Central Florida. Cooler temperatures, lower pest pressure, and mild days create ideal conditions for growing a wide range of cold-hardy vegetables. If you planted earlier in the fall, many crops are thriving now—and if you’re just getting started, it’s not too late to plant!
If you are lucky enough to have a greenhouse or protected growing area now is the time to plant seeds for your warm season vegetables such as tomatoes, pepper and eggplant. Cucumbers sprout quickly so start them 10 days before you are ready to plant them out after the last date of potential frost, which is around February 15th in Central Florida.
Leafy greens such as kale, collards, lettuce, spinach, arugula, and Swiss chard tolerate cool weather and often taste sweeter after light cold exposure. These crops grow quickly and can be continuously harvested by picking outer leaves. Kale and collard are especially long lived, often surviving until or even through the summer.
January is also ideal for root vegetables. If you don’t already have them planted do so now. Plant carrots, beets, radishes, and turnips in loose, well‑drained soil. These seeds are small and it’s difficult not to plant too many seeds. Be sure to thin so your root vegetables have plenty of room to grow.
Don’t forget about cool season herbs cilantro, parsley, dill, rosemary and fennel can be planted now and will thrive before summer heat causes them to bolt. Now is a great time for cool season flowers too such as nasturtium, calendula, coreopsis and black eyed Susan.
To keep your winter garden healthy, provide full sun (6–8 hours a day), water consistently but avoid overwatering, and mulch to help regulate soil temperature. Cover plants if a hard freeze is predicted, especially young transplants. With a little care, January can be one of the most productive and enjoyable times to garden in Central Florida.
For more on vegetable gardening in Florida view our Florida Vegetable Gardening Guide and our one-page What to Plant When checklist.
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