I am very excited to share this post on fruit and vegetable varieties for Central Florida. One of the most important things you can do to have a successful garden is to select the right varieties for the zone you live in. Central Florida is growing zone 9b.
If you’re not sure what zone you live in, you can check out the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map. You can go to their website and type in your zip code for confirmation of your zone. The picture below is from their site. This helps to show what plants are most likely to thrive in an area.
As you may already know, my garden is organic. That means there are some varieties I avoid, and I gravitate more towards heirloom varieties. I’ve found that tomatoes are especially sensitive to heat. Using recommended varieties that are more heat tolerant is definitely something to be aware of. Below is the list of vegetable varieties for Central Florida that I would recommend, but you should not feel limited to these varieties. Dates to plant these fruit and vegetable varieties for Central Florida are listed below. Also included is if they can be started indoors.
If they can be started indoors, check out How to Start Seeds Indoors. This will help you get a jump start on your season. This is especially good to do for our spring season since it goes from pleasant to super hot really fast here in Florida.
If you’re interested in purchasing organic seeds, try out Botanical Interests. They have such a wide selection of vegetables, flowers, and herbs. And they’re continually getting new seeds.
Do you have a favorite variety you grow in Florida that isn’t mentioned below? Share it with us and we’ll add it to the list!
Happy Gardening!
Vegetable Varieties for Central Florida
| Crop | Recommended Varieties | Indoors | Planting Dates for Zone 9b |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beans, bush | Snap: Royal Burgandy, Contender, Provider Dry: Pinto, Red Kidney, Black Bean, Navy | Feb-Apr Sep | |
| Beets | Detroit Dark Red | Oct-Mar | |
| Broccoli | De Cicco, Waltham | 1.5 Months | Aug-Jan |
| Brussel Sprouts | Long Island Improved | 2 months | Oct-Dec |
| Cabbage | Copenhagen Market | 1.5 months | Sep-Jan |
| Cantaloupe | Athena, Ambrosia | Feb-Apr | |
| Carrots | Nantes, Danvers | Oct-Mar | |
| Cauliflower | Snowball | 1 month | Oct-Jan |
| Celery | Tall Utah Celery | Aug-Feb | |
| Chinese cabbage | Pak-choi | 1 month | Oct-Jan |
| Collards | Georgia Southern | 1.5 months | Aug-Mar |
| Corn, sweet | Country Gentleman, Stowell's Evergreen, Fisher’s Earliest, Golden Bantam | Feb-Mar Aug-Sep | |
| Cucumbers | MarketMore | Feb-Mar Sep | |
| Eggplant | Black Beauty | 2 months | Jan-Mar Aug-Sep |
| Endive/Escarole | Batavian Broadleaf | 1 month | Jan-Feb Sep |
| Garlic | Thermadrone, Lorz Italian | Sep-Dec | |
| Kale | Dwarf Blue Curled Scotch Kale | 1 month | Sep-Jan |
| Kohlrabi | Early White Vienna, Purple Vienna | 1 month | Oct-Mar |
| Lettuce | Crisphead: Great Lakes Butterhead: Bibb, Tom Thumb, Buttercrunch Loose Leaf: Salad Bowl, Red Sails Romaine: Parris Island Cos | 1 month | Sep-Mar |
| Mustard | Green Wave | Sep-Mar | |
| Okra | Clemson Spineless | Mar-Aug | |
| Onions, Bulbing | Granex yellow, Texas Grano, Tropicana Red | Sep-Dec | |
| Onions, Bunching | Evergreen Bunching | Aug-Mar | |
| Peas | Sugar Snap, Oregon Sugarpod II | Sep-Mar | |
| Peppers | California Wonder, Hungarian Hot Wax, | 2 months | Jan-Mar Aug-Sep |
| Potatoes | Yukon Gold, Red | Jan-Feb | |
| Potatoes, sweet | White | Feb-Jun | |
| Pumpkin | Jack O Lantern | Feb-Mar Aug | |
| Quinoa | Brightest Brilliant Rainbow | October | |
| Radish | Cherry Belle | Sep-Mar | |
| Spinach | Bloomsdale Longstanding | Oct-Nov | |
| Squash, Summer | Early Prolific Straightneck, Black Beauty | Feb-Mar Aug-Sep | |
| Squash, Winter | Spaghetti, Table Queen Acorn, Waltham Butternut | Feb-Mar Aug | |
| Swiss Chard | Rainbow Blend Chard | October | |
| Tomatoes | Brandy Wine, Cherokee purple, San Marzano, Black Cherry | 2 months | Jan-Mar Sep |
| Turnips | Purple Top White Globe | Jan-Mar Sep-Nov | |
| Watermelon | Crimson Sweet | Jan-Mar Aug |
In your Varieties List, you have a column “indoor”. For instance, for Broccoli, it says “1.5 months.” Does this mean if I start from seed I should plant 1.5 months ahead of my intended planting date (say, start in mid-June for an early Aug planting date)?
Bill, you’re correct. If you wanted to get a little bit ahead, that would be the max amount of time I’d recommend prior to the actual planting date outside.