[faithfulFrank]

Ok, i hope this is not a dumb question, but my wife and I enjoy doing alot of canning and making freezer jam. We never buy the store stuff....my boys are so spoiled!

Anyway, we make strawberry, peach, plum, cherry, and a few other kinds of freezer jam. Today I just picked plums, pears and apples from my small orchard, and am actually right now making plum freezer jam.

So, this has got me thinking. What fruit trees can I plant down there in central Florida? We are zone 9 , I believe.

What fruits can I easily buy down there ? What fruits and veggies can I plant, buy, can, etc? I'm guessing I can get peaches because of being close to Georgia...but what can I actually plant down there? I'm guessing apples are out....but i already do have a nice valencia orange tree and a small lemon tree. I'm thinking about a banana tree even.

I did not want to post this in the gardening section because I want to have this Florida specific.

Frank D.

[TANaples]

Originally Posted by faithfulFrank

Ok, i hope this is not a dumb question, but my wife and I enjoy doing alot of canning and making freezer jam. We never buy the store stuff....my boys are so spoiled!

Anyway, we make strawberry, peach, plum, cherry, and a few other kinds of freezer jam. Today I just picked plums, pears and apples from my small orchard, and am actually right now making plum freezer jam.

So, this has got me thinking. What fruit trees can I plant down there in central Florida? We are zone 9 , I believe.

What fruits can I easily buy down there ? What fruits and veggies can I plant, buy, can, etc? I'm guessing I can get peaches because of being close to Georgia...but what can I actually plant down there? I'm guessing apples are out....but i already do have a nice valencia orange tree and a small lemon tree. I'm thinking about a banana tree even.

I did not want to post this in the gardening section because I want to have this Florida specific.

Frank D.

She had so many mangos she gave some away to a farm stand. She also canned a lot of them. My husband has been trying to grow tomatoes without much success. The plant has gotten very tall, gets flowers, but no tomatoes. He planted it about a month ago. Maybe it was too late? Is there a season here to planting even with the warmth year round? I don't know. We are in Zone 10 and I did hear it was too warm in this part for certain plants. You probably could do better in Zone 9 with more.

[faithfulFrank]

At our Florida home, we had to cut down a Loquat tree last May because it was too big and too close to the house.

I'm asking because we will be down there again for the month of October, and I'd like to plant some more trees the first week we are there, then water them well for the month.....hopefully they will "take" over the winter months while we are gone.

My snowbird renters can water, etc, as needed until we return again in May. I do not like planting too much down there in May, due to the hot summer months when no one is usually there.

Frank D.

[TANaples]

Originally Posted by faithfulFrank

At our Florida home, we had to cut down a Loquat tree last May because it was too big and too close to the house.

I'm asking because we will be down there again for the month of October, and I'd like to plant some more trees the first week we are there, then water them well for the month.....hopefully they will "take" over the winter months while we are gone.

My snowbird renters can water, etc, as needed until we return again in May. I do not like planting too much down there in May, due to the hot summer months when no one is usually there.

Frank D.

my sister-in-law. She wanted to plant tangelos just before she left. Since it was still the dry season, she was told unless she had someone around to water the young newly planted trees, it was not a good idea to get them just yet. I would assume if they were planted during the rainy season, she could have just left them to nature, so to speak.

[Alphaman]

You can grow strawberries, bananas, mango's, blackberries.

for veggies you can grow tomatoes, peppers, corn, cucumbers and most of the well known veggies. Can`t think of any off hand that you can`t but tomatoes are best grown in the cooler months.

[TANaples]

Originally Posted by Alphaman

You can grow strawberries, bananas, mango's, blackberries.

for veggies you can grow tomatoes, peppers, corn, cucumbers and most of the well known veggies. Can`t think of any off hand that you can`t but tomatoes are best grown in the cooler months.

about the tomatoes. They never seem to get beyond the flower stage. They are certainly getting enough water. So you think it would be better to start over again the winter?

[Alphaman]

Originally Posted by TANaples

about the tomatoes. They never seem to get beyond the flower stage. They are certainly getting enough water. So you think it would be better to start over again the winter?

Yes, tomatoes unless you buy the heat resistant varieties will drop it`s flowers in heat 90 and over. Best to start them in October or February

[TANaples]

Originally Posted by Alphaman

Yes, tomatoes unless you buy the heat resistant varieties will drop it`s flowers in heat 90 and over. Best to start them in October or February

We will try again.

[tallrick]

Tomatoes will grown just about anywhere in Florida, but the bugs hop right on them and destroy them. Insecticide is your friend and will allow the tomatoes to grow. I have seen it time and time again. A tomato seed dropped somewhere grows into a fine plant. The fruit develops and bugs move in and the plant is destroyed. Fat green hornworms, and leaf hoppers compete with scale insects and leaf miners to reduce your plants to mulch.

[TriMT7]

Tomatoes thrive in Florida. Immokalee, Florida, is renown as a tomato growing region.