What To Plant In Your Florida Vegetable Garden In May

May is planting time for summer vegetable crops. These are primarily tropical crops and cover crops that can withstand the high heat and humidity, and heavy rainfall of our Florida summers.

The insect populations are steadily increasing as the weather keeps getting hotter. As I said in the April video, it's a good idea to start monitoring your plants for insect damage and hand pick damaging pests whenever possible. For major pest infestations the following can be used:
Organic Pest Control Methods I use:
1) Spray Insecticidal Soap directly on the the bugs (I do this late in the day and rinse off the next morning so the sun doesn't burn the plants). Do repeated treatments every few weeks until they are gone. For a homemade soapy water spray, I mix up some castile soap with water and neem oil (I do 1 tsp of Dr. Bronner Soap + 1 tsp Neem Oil to a quart of water in a spray bottle, per the instructions on the neem oil bottle, but there are many recipes online for homemade insecticidal soap that would probably work just as well). Alternately, you could buy a pre-mixed Insecticidal Soap. These are the brands I have used, but I'm sure there are plenty of other good ones:
2) For Caterpillars I use "Bt" (Bacillus Thuringiensis) and/or Spinosad. I only use them for severe infestations that can't be controlled by routine hand picking. I spray it in the evening when bees are not active and only spray it on the affected plants. These are the ones I have used, but there are other brands that would also work (Note that these are concentrates, meant to be mixed with water following the instructions on the label):

Here are links for many of the products I use in my vegetable garden. Note that a lot of these items, like the fertilizers and the trays/saucers, have gotten much more expensive lately (like everything else). I shop around to find the best prices on the items and if I can't find something at a reasonable price then I will just do without or find a substitute):

or
or

In addition to the above fertilizers I occasionally use these seaweed and fish fertilizers to give my plants a boost of nutrients. I also use some of the seaweed fertilizer (half-strength) on my seedlings right after I transplant them (Note: I don’t use fertilizers with fish in them for seedlings as I explained in the video):

The Following Organic Soil Amendments Add Trace Minerals To The Soil.

Self-Watering Grow Boxes:
or

[YourLove]

Finally I found a channel from someone who lives in Florida. We live in central FL and I am trying to grow my own plants, veggies etc. But I never found someone from this specific are until today. So I will subscribe and watch your videos. Thank you for doing what you do, it is very helpful and appreciated.

[tomaitoe]

I visit these videos every month. They are still very helpful.

[hippychickshannong]

So glad I found this channel . I am a fairly new to gardening only done a couple of seasons and this is the first summer I will try to grow anything😃 help tips

[raqueldominguez]

Thank you for your videos, Central Florida here Kissimmee/Orlando…How about Sugar baby watermelon? I transplanted a few plants recently.

[eastcoastnews]

I’m in Haines city and I love your Chanel I sub right away and my garden it’s well on its way. I have bananas peppers cane beans tomatoes lettuce and papaya. And still working on more . How can I get Melborne spinach?? The one that grows wild and crazy because I line to eat green in ea meal .

[FizzyliciousASMR]

Thx so much for sharing this! I love these brief guides helping me to know what to plant when. 🥰❤️

[tammywinters]

I didn't know about all those we could plant! Thank you so much! I just don't know where to get this.

[grams]

Excellent and super informative vid. Thank you 😊

[honeybee]

How did your Sunn Hemp work for the nematodes?

[dreamvoyagermedia]

Hi, I heard that there is lot of sulfur in Florida water, and soil. Is this a problem for the garden or plants? Any tips please.

[YourLove]

May I ask you what is the lettuce to grow now in central Florida? I´m a beginner. Thank you so much.

[juliegreen]

Have you tried growing eggplants in the summer? Thank you