Gardening Tips for The Summer Heat | River City Live

Summer heat can be too much for many vegetables and for us. Beth Marlowe, the Urban Garden Coordinator with the Duval County Extension Officehow joined us to discuss how improve your vegetable garden soil over our hottest months and get ready for fall gardening.

She reminded us that Florida soils tend to be sandy with little organic matter or nutrients, both of which help us grow healthy vegetable crops. If you don’t want to garden during the heat of summer, or if you are going to be on vacation and unable to care for veggies, you can use that time to improve the health of your soil. One way is to solarize your soil. This means heating it up to kill soil pests and weeds. Another way is to plant a cover crop that will stabilize your soil, keep down weeds and provide nutrients for the next vegetable crop in the fall.

For more information visit https://sfyl.ifas.ufl.edu/duval/