What to Grow in a Tower Garden in Florida: Fall & Winter Planting Guide

First: Florida Doesn't Have One Growing Season

If you've moved to Florida from another state, our planting calendar can feel completely backward. In much of the country, spring and summer are the main vegetable-growing seasons. Here, fall and winter can be some of the best months to grow.

Even within Florida, though, there's a big difference between North, Central and South Florida.

These regions follow the divisions used by the University of Florida's UF/IFAS Florida planting calendar. They're a very useful starting point, but they're still only a starting point. Your exact weather, microclimate and growing setup matter too.

Tower Garden Gives You a Little More Control Over the Season

Here's where growing in a Tower Garden gets interesting.

Traditional Florida planting calendars are based largely around outdoor growing conditions. They're extremely useful for understanding when different crops naturally perform well, but planting dates don't have to be hard stop dates when you're growing in a Tower Garden.

A Tower Garden is much easier to protect and modify than an entire in-ground vegetable garden.

• Cover the Tower during a cold snap. A frost cover can protect plants when a frost is forecast.
• Warm the reservoir. A properly rated submersible heater can help keep the nutrient solution and root zone warmer during cold weather. Works even better when paired with a cover or greenhouse.
• Use a greenhouse. A greenhouse or pop-up greenhouse can extend warm-season production much farther into winter.
• Start spring crops earlier. The same protection can help you get tomatoes, peppers and other warm-season crops going before outdoor conditions would normally allow.
• Move a FLEX Tower to a protected location. Depending on your setup, simply moving it closer to the house or out of cold wind can make a difference.

The same idea works in the opposite direction during hot Florida weather. Afternoon shade, a cooler reservoir and adjustments to nutrient strength can sometimes help us grow crops beyond their traditional cool-season window.

What to Grow in a Tower Garden in North Florida

By fall, North Florida is moving decisively into cool-season growing. This is the time to take advantage of crops that don't appreciate Florida's summer heat.

Great Fall & Winter Choices

• Lettuce
• Arugula
• Kale
• Swiss chard
• Collard greens
• Mustard greens
• Broccoli
• Cauliflower
• Cabbage
• Celery
• Spinach
• Parsley, cilantro, dill, thyme and other cool-season herbs
• Strawberries

October is an especially strong month for transplanting many cool-season crops in North Florida. As November and December arrive, those crops continue to dominate the planting calendar.

What About Tomatoes and Peppers?

Cold becomes the limiting factor. If you're growing outdoors without protection, tender fruiting crops become much harder to maintain as temperatures fall.

But this is where a protected Tower Garden can stretch the season. If you have a greenhouse or can protect the Tower and keep the reservoir from becoming too cold, you may be able to keep established warm-season crops producing longer than you could in an exposed garden.

What to Grow in a Tower Garden in Central Florida

Central Florida gets a long cool-season growing window, making fall and winter a fantastic time for leafy greens, herbs and brassicas.

Great Fall & Winter Choices

• Lettuce
• Arugula
• Kale
• Swiss chard
• Collards
• Mustard greens
• Broccoli
• Cauliflower
• Cabbage
• Celery
• Spinach
• Parsley, cilantro, dill and other herbs
• Strawberries

By October, Central Florida's recommended planting list is dominated by cool-season vegetables. November and December continue that trend, with lettuce, kale, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, chard and other cool-loving crops all fitting naturally into the season.

Central Florida can still get cold enough to damage tender plants, though. Keep an eye on overnight temperatures rather than assuming a warm afternoon means your tomatoes or peppers are safe.

What to Grow in a Tower Garden in South Florida

This is where the Florida growing calendar gets really fun.

Here in the Florida Keys, fall doesn't mean we're wrapping up the garden. It means we're finally moving out of the most difficult heat of summer and into some of our best growing weather.

And we're not limited to cool-season crops.

Cool-Season Crops

• Lettuce
• Arugula
• Kale
• Swiss chard
• Collards
• Mustard greens
• Broccoli
• Cauliflower
• Cabbage
• Spinach
• Parsley
• Cilantro and dill
• Strawberries

Warm-Season Crops Can Come Back Too

As temperatures moderate, South Florida growers can also grow many of the fruiting crops that struggle through the hottest part of summer.

• Tomatoes
• Peppers
• Cucumbers
• Eggplant
• Beans
• Squash and zucchini

What Should I Plant in My Florida Tower Garden Right Now?

If you don't want to study planting charts, here's a simpler way to think about the progression from early fall into winter.

Don't Forget About Florida Cold Fronts

Florida winter weather can change quickly. A stretch of beautiful 70-degree days can be followed by a sudden cold front, especially in North and Central Florida.

Even South Florida isn't completely immune. Here in the Keys, a true freeze is unusual, but cooler temperatures and strong north winds can still stress warm-season plants.

The advantage of a Tower Garden is that you can prepare for those short-lived events without giving up on the entire growing season.

• Watch the overnight forecast.
• Protect tender crops before temperatures fall.
• Use frost cloth or another appropriate cover when needed.
• Keep the reservoir adequately filled.
• Consider a properly rated submersible heater during colder conditions.
• Use a greenhouse or protected location when available.

For step-by-step cold-weather protection, read our Florida Freeze Alert: How to Protect Your Tower Garden When Temperatures Drop.

Fall & Winter Tower Garden Care in Florida

Your crop choices aren't the only thing that changes as temperatures cool.

Water

Your Tower Garden generally won't use water as quickly in cooler weather as it does during a hot Florida summer. Keep checking the reservoir regularly rather than assuming it needs the same amount of topping off year-round.

Nutrients

If you've been running reduced nutrient strength during extreme summer heat, cooler weather is generally the time to return toward normal strength. Our standard Tower Garden Mineral Blend rate is 20 mL of A and 20 mL of B per gallon of water. New seedlings are normally started at half strength.

Light

Fall and winter days are shorter, so pay attention to where the sun actually reaches your Tower. A location that received plenty of light during summer may become shaded as the sun angle changes.

Pests

Cooler weather doesn't mean pests disappear. Aphids, caterpillars and other pests can still find your Tower, especially on leafy greens and brassicas. Catching them early is much easier than dealing with a major infestation later.

So, What's the Best Florida Fall Tower Garden?

There isn't one perfect combination, but if you want to keep things simple, start with crops that naturally fit your region and current temperatures.

For North and Central Florida, fall is a great time to build a Tower around lettuce, arugula, kale, chard, herbs and cool-season vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage.

In South Florida, you can mix those cool-season favorites with tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, eggplant and other fruiting crops once the worst of the summer heat has passed.

Most importantly, don't let a planting calendar convince you that you missed your chance by a week or two. Watch your weather. Know what your plants prefer. And remember that one of the biggest advantages of a Tower Garden is how much easier it is to protect and modify the growing environment.

Keep Growing

Planting-date reference: Regional and monthly planting recommendations in this guide are based on the University of Florida IFAS Extension Florida planting calendar and adapted for crops commonly grown in Tower Garden systems.