lots of people do intensive gardening here in fla... but it's been my experience that the very intensive sq-ft gardening does not work quite as well here in fla, with our high temps and strong sun and no winter kill for pathogens and insects... the latest iteration of sq-ft garden (raised, closed beds) would be quite difficult to pull of in z10.

I dont intentionally do square ft gardening BUT it seems to end up looking that way. Seedlings pop up in and around the main plant and they all look so happy and cozy that it is difficult to remove the extra plants. I dont thin the plants either so I end up what looks like square inch gardens.

Try it and see. Sometimes I find the shade that is produced by the extra plants actually helps adjacent plants during the heat of the day.

Let us know how your garden turns out, we can tell you want to try it!

Thanks for the info. I looked up Fla vegs to see what varieties grow down here and what time of year to plant. I'm really looking forward to those multicolored bell peppers that are selling for $3.00 EACH at Publix!!!!!!!!!

I did square-foot for a couple of years. In the beginning it worked okay, but soon I began having all the problems Ill mentions--and then some. A raised bed tightly packed with veggies will dry out VERY fast here and it's almost impossible to keep the soil healthy. The constant watering required washes away organic matter and nutrients, and aggravates the nematode problems. And then every blight, wilt, and fungus known to man will build up to lethal levels, even if you rotate.Really the only way I can see it working long term is if you completely replace the soil in the raised beds every year or so.

Now I've gone to the exact opposite approach. I'm giving most of my veggies more space than recommended. We'll see how it works. So far they certainly need much less water.

Bill

Thanks Bill. I'll learn from your experience!!

hmmmm, I wonder if my plan to grow veggies in pots is perhaps on the right track? I was planning to dump and spread the pots of used soil onto the lawn at the end of the growing season. My sandy lawn could certainly use a boost. Does this sound like a plan or a fantasy? cora

And the nematodes always attack the intensively-grown veggies, IME.

I was a veggie newbie (still am?) and did a SFG. I built a 4'x4' with a marine plywood bottom with holes for drainage. Located it within my pool cage area on casters. Have and still harvesting tomatoes, bush beans, herbs, & carrots in a sep. deeper container. It all worked well, but intend to relocate outside pool cage on a raised platform. Since it's higher up, no trouble weeding & easy on my back...never have to kneel. Good luck!

Still doing well...collard greens, mustard greens. tomatoes, Chinese cabbage, daikon radish, parsley and basil, all in my nematode infested garden plot.
Compost has helped immensely.
That's about all I'm growing right now.
Not square foot, but quite intensive. LOL
My advise after many years is give em room, feed em well, mulch between em, and pay attention as they grow!
Your garden will feed you.
Pots are a bit more labor intensive, but do work for herbs, lettuce, some tomatoes, peppers and eggplants, if you have the time to water, fertilize and watch them daily.
Relax and enjoy.

Bill, I'm going that way too.

Peggy, have you read Steve Solomon's "Gardening When it Counts"? He talks a lot about the benefits of generous spacings--4' x 4' for a single indeterminate tomato, for example. He claims the extra room for root development will improve plant health/productivity. I'm giving his spacing recommendations a shot this season, just to see whawt happens. It seems a bit crazy to give ONE cucumber a 2' X 4' area though.

Bill

We've been gardening in raised beds for the past few years and have had great luck! I think two things are key to a raised bed garden: good soil (don't use any existing soil, but bring in lots of compost and top soil), and a drip system to prevent the top from drying out. We've literally been able to drop the seeds in and watch the plants pop up just a few days later!

Of course there are caveats to gardening in zone 10: because we don't chemically treat we haven't had luck with zucchini (suggestions, anyone??) and the lettuce needs to be cut when it's on the smaller side before it bolts on you.
So if you like baby greens you're in luck.

Still we've had good luck with the following: Chinese eggplant, regular eggplant, tomatoes, hot peppers, green peppers, Granex onions (similar to Vidalia), lettuce, pole beans, peas, and lots of herbs. These keep us plenty happy... though I'd still like those zucchini!

Oh! As far as space for planting goes, I found that at least the lettuce did very well when planted closely. The plants shaded each other, I think, and since I picked them on the smaller side they didn't need much room anyways.

Happy gardening!
Jane

Cucurbit in general seems to be one of the most trouble-prone crops in florida. I've heard that there are some carribean squashes that do reliably well in florida. Also I know that the east Indian immigrants seem to have good luck with their native squashes, but none of these are similar to the typical summer or winter squashes of NA.

Wert9wert here is a link that I find extremely helpful.
I've been SF gaardening for a few years and have had pretty good luck, except with cukes and squash. I use 4x4 pt boxes that DH made for me.
I replace the soil yearly. I go to HD and buy broken bags very early on Sunday morning. A cart full of various potting soils and sometimes blackcow costs about $10.

Here is a link that might be useful: Check it out!

I considered sqft gardening over the last week. I think I'm going to have to put it off because we're about to attempt to build an arbor (!) and there will be traipsing across the plot next to our concrete slab, where I already have radishes, snap peas, 2 tomato plants, and a few other things sprouting.

If you do take it on, please let me know. I was under the impression that you can do it as a raised bed that has no plywood bottom-- on top of existing soil-- correct me if I am wrong-- and that would keep it from drying out the way my containers do. (I usually have a few small containers of greens or something!)

--Shelbey

Marvelous information ... thanks.