What to Plant in September in Central Florida

September might be my favorite month for gardening. It’s one of the best months for growing. While springtime tends to get a lot of attention when it comes to gardening, I find that fall is the best time of year to grow here in Florida. Here in Florida, fall is a time when you can grow both warm-season and cool-season crops. The majority (but not all) of cool-season crops can be planted like cabbage and broccoli. Right beside these cool-season crops, you can also plant warm-season vegetables like beans and tomatoes. Keep on reading to learn what to plant in September in Central Florida – Zone 9b.

Florida Vegetables You Can Grow In September

Here’s a quick list of what can be grown in September this month. A more detailed list is outlined below, but I know you’re eager to start planning! Here’s the lineup for September in Central Florida (Zone 9b):

Warm Season: Bush Beans, Cucumbers, Summer Squash, Eggplant, Peppers, and Tomatoes.

Cool Season: Beets, Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, Cabbage, Carrots, Cauliflower, Celery, Chinese Cabbage, Kale, Lettuce, Mustard Greens, Bunching Onions, Radishes, Spinach, Winter Squash, Swiss Chard, and Turnips.

September is typically the month when I transplant my eggplant, pepper, and tomato seedlings. I start seedlings indoors to get a head start on the growing season. This helps me to get a longer growing season before and hard frosts. But you can also plant these seeds outdoors during September if you’d like.

Gardening Recommendations and Tips For September

This is an active website where every week a new article is added. For the month of September, I’ve collected the links to articles that I feel would be the most helpful to you during this time of the year. Feel free to check out any topics you’d like to read more about.

If you’re just starting to plan your garden and get ready I recommend checking out How To Prepare Your Vegetable Garden For the Fall and Using a Garden Planner. I use a garden planner every season and it has helped me a ton with keeping track of what works and what doesn’t and planning for the future.

If you’re still designing your garden layout this month I also recommend checking out Companion Planting and Crop Rotation. These help to give your garden an organic advantage to preventing your soil from being depleted and decreasing the number of pests in your garden.

For the month of September, I also recommend using Shade Cloths. These help keep your plants cool before our days start getting shorter. I find they especially help for tomatoes and peppers. To learn more check out Beat the Heat: Using Shade Cloths in the Garden.

To ensure your plants are growing in the best environment, you can also get a pH tester to check the soil, and use the guide above to see what range your vegetables should be grown in. Don’t worry if you’re not at this step yet. The first couple of years of growing my garden I didn’t check my soil.

And if you’re looking for seeds I recommend Botanical Interests. The majority of the seeds I buy come from here and I absolutely love them.

What to Plant in September in Central Florida Vegetable Guide

So without further ado, below is the September Vegetable Planting Guide for Central Florida that you can print out for your convenience! I hope this makes your planning a little bit easier. 🙂

Planting dates here are based on the University of Florida IFAS Extension, and you can find more information on that here: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/vh021

And if you’re not sure what zone you’re in, you can check out the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map. If you go to their website you can type in your zip code for confirmation of your location. The picture below is from their site:

Because I have raised garden beds, I do my planting based on square feet. Square foot planting is included in the chart. For example – if you’re growing cabbage you only want to plant one seed per square foot. For carrots, you can plant 16 per square foot.

Days to harvest depend on the quality of your soil, so keep that in mind when waiting for your vegetables to ripen – they can take longer than the time stated above. Days to harvest are also based on when your seed germinates, and not when you plant your seed.

I hope this September Vegetable Planting Guide for Central Florida helps you with your garden!

Interested in getting a head start for next month? Check out the October Planting Guide.

Happy Planting! 🙂