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October in Florida is time to plant strawberries and overcome difficult germination
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Finally, the relentless, Florida heat has subsided somewhat. The prime time for germination is here. It will be easier for many seeds to germinate now since it is almost November, and its time to plant those bare rooted strawberry plants to ensure an awesome spring crop just in time for Easter.
This year, up until mid October, the weather has been unusually hot in Florida. The first week of October was seeing early morning temps of 80F at 3am, I checked! Many vegetable seeds such as lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, find it too hot to even sprout. Those days should be over so go ahead and plant seed for cooler temp loving vegetables now. Keep them moist and they should sprout within 10 days. If they don’t sprout, its time to double check the date on the seeds packet and make sure you use fresh seed. Most seed should be viable for one to three years and that depends on if you have kept your seeds in a cool and dry area. Humidity will ruin vegetable seeds. According to David King, gardener in Los Angeles, who has published a germination table, parsnips, parsley, and onion seeds are only good for one year and corn, okra, and peppers are good for two years. A germination test will determine what percentage of your seeds are viable. Place ten seeds on a moist paper towel, dampen with water and place in plastic bag. The number that germinates is your germination rate. Germination rate of seven out of ten seeds is a good rate.
We are definitely heading into the most comfortable time to be in Florida for plants and for humans. All of the cooler weather loving veggies such as beets, onion, broccoli, cauliflour, parsley, celery, potatoes, swiss chard, lettuce, English peas, sugar snap peas, corn, carrots, mustard, kale, collards, spinach, and herbs of all kinds, will grow now. Plant, plant, plant! Plant anything edible you can get your hands on!
October is also the time to plant your strawberry patch. According to the Florida Gardener, it is a good idea to plant 100 plants to be able to pick between a pint and a quart of berries per day during the growing season. Wow, imagine eating your own sweet strawberries every day! Be sure to select a variety that grows well in Florida. The berries should be available at your local garden center or nursery or check out online sources.
October is almost gone and a cooler November is almost here. Days are getting shorter and temps are cooling so that a wide variety of veggie plants are germinating. Set yourself up for a fantastic bounty from your very own backyard garden. It takes only a moment to tuck a seed into a new cozy blanket of compost. Florida is a prime place to grow strawberries! Plant now and your harvest will be sure to follow.
