Starting seeds for fall garden

[LilMissPrepper]

Around when should I start my tomato seeds for a Florida fall garden? I'm zone 9a. Growing San Marzano, Bonnie's Best and Cour Di Bue varieties, all from Baker Creek, so they're not GMO!

[ginger2778]

I usually start mine in late August or early September so that they are well established by the time it cools off. That's when I am starting them for this year's plant swap. ( see the Florida TAG on the homepage for details)

Marsha

[LilMissPrepper]

Originally Posted by ginger2778

I usually start mine in late August or early September so that they are well established by the time it cools off. That's when I am starting them for this year's plant swap. ( see the Florida TAG on the homepage for details)

Marsha

I'm up in Brooksville, so should I start them earlier? I'm afraid they won't be producing by the time it gets gold up here if I start that late... I just don't want to start them too EARLY and have the heat kill them.

[ginger2778]

My cousin lives in St Pete, and starts hers then. Heat won't kill them, they just wont produce much fruit until it cools off a little. They will grow very nicely in the heat as it isn't in the 90s anymore in September, and by the time they get to blossom size it will be cooling off.

Marsha

[kurt]

http://www.weather.com/weather/wxcli...ly/graph/34601

This might give you a guideline of some temp.ranges and months.Keep in mind varietys and maturity of each.Easy enough to stagger as per maturity of each variety.Maybe thats why Ponce Deleon didn't realize our climate is the real"Fountain of Youth".

[Fiishergurl]

Originally Posted by LilMissPrepper

I'm up in Brooksville, so should I start them earlier? I'm afraid they won't be producing by the time it gets gold up here if I start that late... I just don't want to start them too EARLY and have the heat kill them.

Im starting mine now and I'm just a few minutes south of New Smyrna Beach. Im more concerned about the leaf diseases than the heat. I had a batch of seedlings that I just lost to grey mold within a couple of weeks of setting them outside (in small pots that I moved around to harden them off). They each had only 4 leaves.

Its so humid and wet it doesnt take much for them to catch something. Im planning to start more every couple of weeks and see which ones make it the best. Im thinking probably the later ones will fare better when the humidity dies down some but I will update as it happens... :-) also have to come up with a plan for disinfecting the area when I remove the rest of the spring plants (I grow in pots only) as best I can.

Ginny