Off-season Vegetable Success Stories 2023

[Galatians522]

What vegetables grew well for you this summer/fall? Here in Central Florida I had great success with Thailand Long Beans From Cody Cove Farm and Nursery. They are a vigna unguiculata cultivar that can be used as a snap bean or southern (Blackeye) pea. The pods were particularly good in casserole type dishes (greenbean casserole, shepards pie, etc). We got so many, though, that I started letting the pods fill out for shelling peas. Although its a lot of work, they were tasty and go well in just about any recipes that calls for beans. We had them southern style, in tacos, soup, and hummus. They were supposed to be a bush type, but my soil is apparently very fertile and mine filled most of the 12x12 garden they were planted in and climbed up my tomato stakes. What grew well for you?

[roblack]

Need to do more, but these did well:
Urizun Japanese wing beans. These things rock! If picked early, the whole pod is soft and edible (cooked). Can be eaten raw too. Did well in a 3 gallon pot.
other beans, dragon fire tongue or something.
Everglades tomato
Various peppers
Pigeon pea
Various peanuts
Green papaya

Okras didn't do so great, but could be my fault

[Galatians522]

I grew the Urizun winged bean for the first time this year and was very impressed. I planted the fist set in February and they are still producing! They bloomed but didn't set many pods in the height of summer, but when August hit they started setting pods left and right. It looks like winged beans are immune to rust fungus but get hit hard by spidermites when the weather is dry.

I had limited success with okra, too. I think the biggest problem is nematodes. I think I have stumbled on a game changer, though. Okra is rediculously easy to graft. Below is a picture of an okra grafted to cranberry hibiscus (H. acetosella). Easiest thing I ever grafted and healed in only 3 days. I wish I would have grafted it at the beginning of summer instead of the end.

[roblack]

I grew the Urizun winged bean for the first time this year and was very impressed. I planted the fist set in February and they are still producing! They bloomed but didn't set many pods in the height of summer, but when August hit they started setting pods left and right. It looks like winged beans are immune to rust fungus but get hit hard by spidermites when the weather is dry.

I had limited success with okra, too. I think the biggest problem is nematodes. I think I have stumbled on a game changer, though. Okra is rediculously easy to graft. Below is a picture of an okra grafted to cranberry hibiscus (H. acetosella). Easiest thing I ever grafted and healed in only 3 days. I wish I would have grafted it at the beginning of summer instead of the end.

Thank you for sharing! Will definitely give this a try, had no idea was possible. =)

[Galatians522]

It also works great as a rootstock for Roselle.



I am playing around with some other combos, too. I'll report back on those after I've had some time to verify compatibility.

[JCorte]

I had limited success with okra, too. I think the biggest problem is nematodes. I think I have stumbled on a game changer, though. Okra is rediculously easy to graft. Below is a picture of an okra grafted to cranberry hibiscus (H. acetosella). Easiest thing I ever grafted and healed in only 3 days. I wish I would have grafted it at the beginning of summer instead of the end.

Thanks for this tip!  White velvet okra was one of my favorites when I trialed a few varieties, but nematodes have been a challenge for me.  https://trueloveseeds.com/products/white-velvet-okra

Do fava beans grow in Florida?  I plant these in fall/ winter during our rainy season and they're harvested late spring.  Aprovecho select is an excellent variety.
https://www.adaptiveseeds.com/product/vegetables/beans/fava-bean-aprovecho-select-organic/

Janet

[Xenon]

I think I have stumbled on a game changer, though. Okra is rediculously easy to graft. Below is a picture of an okra grafted to cranberry hibiscus (H. acetosella). Easiest thing I ever grafted and healed in only 3 days. I wish I would have grafted it at the beginning of summer instead of the end.

How is the growth of okra after a few weeks/long-term? Any delayed incompatibility? Thanks

[Galatians522]

The okra has been grafted for about 6 weeks now, has produced several pods, and has shown no delayed incompatibility in that time. In the research article that gave me the idea, they mentioned that the grafted plants were slightly dwarfed when compared to seed grown okra in nematode free soil but were much more vigorous when grown in nematode infested soil. However, even grafting okra onto okra will stunt it. I think the extra vigor could be restored by using multiple rootstock grafting techniques. I also seem to be noticing that the grafted plants are longer lived because they are better about re-sprouting from the base (more like the cranberry hibiscus), but I will need more time to confirm that.