Heat Tolerant Vegetables For Tropical Climates – Survival Gardener

 

 

Since 2006, I’ve had the blessing to spend my time living in both Florida and Costa Rica.  In each location, I had gardens.  Tropical gardening is not much different than any other types of gardening. Plants still share the same basic needs—healthy soil, water, and nutrients.  When I first started, (coming from Illinois), it seemed that every standard supermarket veggie I tried to plant……..failed.  Then , after trial and error I found that it wasn’t my methods that were wrong, it was my ignorance of what crops to plant.  Seasonal rainfall, wet summers, and sandy soils make gardening in tropical areas a challenge.  Choosing the right crop and the right variety can make a difference.

In tropical rainy summers, mold and fungus are a long-standing problem.  I’ve found this especially in the the southern parts of Florida and our gardens in Costa Rica.   Promoting crops that are resistant to diseases or fungi can have an impact.  Many tropical perennials have these protective traits as well as plants native to the area you live.  However, some crops are not suitable for tropical gardening at all.  I’ve tried to grow carrots, cabbage, beets and radishes and they simply cannot stand the summer heat in Florida.  We’ve also tried to grow horseradish in Costa Rica. Fail!  It grows like a weed in the Midwest US, but failed miserably in the Costa Rican heat.

But, don’t fret.  While you may not be able to grow some of the traditional temperate climate crops, your doors are open to a new world of tropical options.  And don’t forget the amazing benefit of being able to produce fresh vegetables year round.

Here are some of the best crops for hot tropical climates. 

Cassava (Manihot esculenta)

 

Root Crops

In the northern USA or they may be staples in the June veggie patch, but here they’re winter crops. For some summer alternatives, consider sweet potato, boniato, and cassava.

Boniato(also known as Camote) is a relative of sweet potato and very popular in South Flori, the Caibiean and throughout Central America.  It can be used as a sweet potato substitute in recipes. The main differences are color and texture. Boniato’s flesh is white and fluffier than sweet potatoes. It’s also excellent dual purpose crop. You get a starchy tuber along with the sweet potato greens that can be eaten like spinach and constantly regrow.   They’re great raw in salads or tossed into soups and stews.

Cassava, also called yuca or manioc, produces edible starchy, tuberous roots. They’re prepared after boiling and then baked, mashed, or fried, like potatoes. Yuca is the third most important source of calories in the tropics, after rice and maize.   It’s a pest free, calorie rich starchy staple crop that thrives in hot climates with minimal watering.  Yuca root has more than double the carbohydrates per gram compared to potatoes.

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Red Malabar Spinach (Basela Rubra)

Leafy Greens

When temperatures climb, moringa, amaranth and tropical spinaches are at their best. These greens are good substitutes for cool-weather collards and spinach.

Moringa is a highly valued plant, distributed in many countries of the tropics and subtropics. It has an impressive range of medicinal uses with high nutritional value.  It’s called a supermarket on a tree and yields at least three different edibles: pods, leaves, and seeds. The roots are used in various medicinal and ayurvedic traditions. The different parts of this plant contain a profile of important minerals, and are a good source of protein, vitamins, β-carotene, phytochemicals and the full chain of essential amino acids.   It’s also drought resistant and thrive in poor soil.

Amaranth greens, also called callaloo (A. gangeticus) are commonly eaten as boiled greens. The striking tricolor variety deserves a place alongside your ornamentals, too.  Amaranth is also hated by farmers across the midwest and named “pigweed”.

Tropical spinaches are cold sensitive but in South Florida they may be grown as perennials. Species include Malabar spinach (Basella alba and B. rubra), Sissoo Spinach, Okinawa spinach (Gynura crepioides), longevity spinach (Gynura Procumbens), and more. While these are not true spinaches (that would be Spinacia oleracea) they can keep you harvesting leafy greens all summer long.

Squashes

Despite its name, “summer squash” doesn’t thrive in Florida during the summer. But long after it’s too hot to plant zucchini, tropical squashes thrive.

Calabaza, Seminole pumpkin, long squash, chayote, and luffa could be the stars of your summer garden instead.  Most people only think of luff as a sponge.  If you eat them young, they’re like a tasty zucchini and if you let them grow to full size, you can dry them, peel them and have bath sponges.

Various heirloom tomatoes

 

Tomatoes

This popular vegetable is another crop that doesn’t perform well in our steamy summer months. Wilts, pests, and the relentless summer heat all contribute to gardeners’ struggles growing tomatoes. Instead of traditional varieties, try tomatillo, cherry tomatoes, or Everglades tomato. For a more traditional tomato crop, ‘Heat Wave II’ and other heat-tolerant varieties are good options.

 

Pigeon Peas (Cajanus cajan)

Beans and Peas

Beans and peas are among the easiest plants to grow and saving seeds is a breeze. Pigeon peas, winged beans, long beans, and tropical pole beans are good choices for summer gardens. Heat-tolerant varieties of pole and bush beans are also available.

Pigeon pea is fast growing, hardy, widely adaptable, and drought resistant.  Pigeon pea is the 4th most consumed bean in the world.   It’s a perennial woody shrub that can grow up to 3.5 meters and will produce “peas” for up to 5 years. The pigeon pea serves as good nutrition for humans as well as excellent feed for cattle, pigs and chickens.

As legumes, these beans and peas also fix nitrogen in the soil. They make good summer cover crops, enriching the soil for your cool-weather plantings. Climbing beans like those above are also a component of the classic indigenous American planting technique, “The Three Sisters”.  Maize(corn), beans, and squash are planted close together. The maize is planted in a dirt mound.  After it’s about 6-12 inches tall, the beans are planted on the edge of the mounds.  Then, the squash are plants in-between the mounds to cover the ground, hold in moisture, and prevent weeds.  For a more detailed explanation check out the University of Florida’s instructional page here.

 

Where can I find seeds For SOme Of the Odd Tropical Varieties?

In Florida, seeds and live plants are sold all over.  But keep in mind, just because it’s sold in your local walmart, doesn’t mean it’ll do well in your back yard with full sun exposure.   In Central America, I suggest checking out the local “veterinaria” or “tienda agricola”.     Below are some Amazon picks for some of the more difficult to find seeds and cuttings.