Sub Tropical, SEQ planting this summer

DTK

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Hi fellow sub-tropicals.
Well, despite not being 01 Dec yet, the summer has well and truly "hatched" here. We are in an almost "rain-free" zone here. Have received nothing to speak of for months and grass is going from brown to opaque. Yet I would like to grow veg through the next few months, if I can.

What are fellow sub-tropicals growing this summer? Or, do you leave the garden to re-charge its batteries until March?

Either way, happy gardening.

Dan
 

Wedgetail

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Hi Dan I am still planting another crop of golden nugget pumpkins some more small watermellons just put in some capsicum and beetroot my tomato were looking a bit worn out so I pruned them back to about 150mm and now they have new growth up to 300mm high and flowering again unsure how they will finish up. I am going to put up a shade cloth cover on part of the garden and try some veg that don't like the sun as much and see how they go all the best Dave
 
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DTK

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Sounds good Dave. I need to put some seeds in . Just wondering what.
 

ClissAT

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Wedgetail thats a good idea to put up a shade sail over a garden bed.
It really pays dividends through summer.

Several years ago I broke into my grey water pipes so I could use the water on my garden.
Now I have a diverter valve from the upstairs pipes which sends water into a 44gal drum with a sump pump in it.
I run that daily to pump out shower and kitchen water via a hose to where needed.
I just need to be careful with types of cleaning products and soaps.
I also have the plumbing of the downstairs shower that I opened up and put a plastic flat pipe onto that currently runs across the back lawn.
That water goes onto a new banana mound that also has two pumpkins growing from it along with a few herbs etc.

Nearby is another new tree mound where the laundry water goes to. I've put some dwarfed fruit trees there along with the 7 blueberries.
I just need to water the blueberries separately with lucerne tea to keep that soil acidic because the laundry water is rather alkaline.

So there is water available. You just need to know where to find it!
 

Wedgetail

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Hi Dan a few plants that you can plant now.
Capsicum
Chilli
Cucumber
Eggplant
Okra
Pumpkin
Radish
Rockmelon
Squash
Corn
Sweet potato
Tomato
Watermelon
Zucchini

Cucumber's will need to be in a shady spot or they get lear scald hop this helps Regards Dave
 

Wedgetail

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Hi ClissAt I find a lot of veggies that will grow in full summer sun will grow a lot better under a bit of shade cloth. As for using your waste water waste not want not is certainly the way to go well done. Dave
 

Mark

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Chilli - yes
Cucumber - possibly in dappled shade but I start cucs in Mar/April as we go into winter
Eggplant - yes
Okra - yes
Pumpkin - see cucumber
Radish - In dappled shade or with shade cloth possibly
Rockmelon - Not easy with our humidity
Squash - see cucumber
Corn - yes
Sweet potato - yes
Tomato - possibly if you position them to avoid afternoon sun
Watermelon - the best time to plant in my opinion is Sept for harvest in Dec otherwise the humidity in summer is too much
Zucchini - see cucumber
=========================
Perpetual spinach - will suffer a subtropical heat to an ok standard
Kang kong
Egyptian spinach
Rosella
Gourds
Basil
Verbena
Ginger
Turmeric
Galangal - might grow this out of the patch it can get pretty big
Cardamom leaf
Lettuce - in the dappled shade loose-leaf types will grow ok-ish with lots of water
Carrots - will also grow in dappled shade or protected by shade cloth
Walking onion
Garlic chives
Taro
Jerusalem artichoke
Snake bean
Brazilian spinach
Madagascar bean (lima)

That's about all I can think of at the moment.
 

DTK

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Thanks Mark; excellent list!
 

HELP4BIS

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Thanks Mark,

I needed that list... as I am a beginner to all of this. Moving from being a "keyboard monkey" into Veggies.... LOL.
This will be my second season having a crack at it, I do harvest stuff atm... of al things I got a pumpkin yesterday.

Still trying to figure out the climate, and what to plant I am a bit SW from Caboolture.
 

GKW

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I came across this web site the other week.

https://www.gardenate.com/

Pick your region and it'll recommend what to plant when month by month. Sign up for the emails and get a start of month reminder email for that month. Found it quite helpful.

Cheers

upload_2020-1-6_12-4-12.png
 

RobinsSea

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Chilli - yes
Cucumber - possibly in dappled shade but I start cucs in Mar/April as we go into winter
Eggplant - yes
Okra - yes
Pumpkin - see cucumber
...
Perpetual spinach - will suffer a subtropical heat to an ok standard
Egyptian spinach
I so would love to source these spinaches in green... do you grow them from seed, Mark? I haven't seen them anywhere - perhaps I was having a "boy look"... :(
 

Chris4066

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Re: Perpetual Spinach; I bought a packet of these. The writing on the packet includes the scientific name, Beta Vulgaris. So they are not actually spinach, but rather a type of beet.

Mine are only seedlings at present, so I can't verify if they are exactly what Mark is talking about. Hope this helps.
 
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Chris4066

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I came across this web site the other week.

https://www.gardenate.com/

Pick your region and it'll recommend what to plant when month by month. Sign up for the emails and get a start of month reminder email for that month. Found it quite helpful.

Cheers

I've also been using this site and it hasn't steered me wrong so far...
 

RobinsSea

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Looks like we're finally looking at a bit more rain for the moment. I noticed during the last downpour, one corner (the lowest) of our back yard saw a fair bit of standing water for a while. Water being so precious, I was mulling over in my head how best to take advantage of it, and was contemplating first doing sort of a mega NoDig Garden with all sorts of organic matter stacked up: large area, but reasonably flat pile covered by torn up cardboard and stacks of sugar-cane mulch, with the ultimate goal of turning that spot into a banana patch.

Thoughts?
 
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Wedgetail

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Hi RobinSea sounds like the ideal spot to make a hugelkulter mound. We have a sloped area that I am going to make one on and build it in a banana shape so it catches the water running down the hill and it will soak into the hugelkulture mound and be stored in the branches and mulch for use by the fruit trees this is something I have just discovered and are looking forward to putting it into practice. Cheers Dave
 

GKW

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Looks like we're finally looking at a bit more rain for the moment. I noticed during the last downpour, one corner (the lowest) of our back yard saw a fair bit of standing water for a while. Water being so precious, I was mulling over in my head how best to take advantage of it, and was contemplating first doing sort of a mega NoDig Garden with all sorts of organic matter stacked up: large area, but reasonably flat pile covered by torn up cardboard and stacks of sugar-cane mulch, with the ultimate goal of turning that spot into a banana patch.

Thoughts?

Hi RobinSea sounds like the ideal spot to make a hugelkulter mound. We have a sloped area that I am going to make one on and build it in a banana shape so it catches the water running down the hill and it will soak into the hugelkulture mound and be stored in the branches and mulch for use by the fruit trees this is something I have just discovered and are looking forward to putting it into practice. Cheers Dave

I'm liking this idea...I've got a spot or two down the bottom the yard which gets the run off and is under trees so gets dappled light. Might chance my hand at using some of the yard waste, old logs to build a traditional mound and whack in some shade tolerant veg / fruit and see what happens. Got nothing to lose except for a few hours work.
 

GKW

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So post the discussion above, whilst in the yard today planting the fruit salad tree, I pulled the pin and constructed an ad-hoc hugelkulter mound from waste tree logs, branches with leaves, some soil, garden waste, compost and covered in cane mulch. Whacked in some lettuce seed, propagated strawberry runners, leaks and zucs.

Let's see what transpires.....if nothing, then it's only an hours labour and the contents of the mound can be recycled back into other parts of the garden.
 

Wedgetail

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Hi Greg I think the hugelkulture mound is a work in progress and takes time for the moister to soak into the timber and the soil and mulch to settle into all the air spaces around the logs but keep us posted how it goes. Dave
 
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GKW

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With thanks Dave. I tired to pack in / cover with in as much compost and water holding material as possible to assist with veg growth. At this stage, it's "hurry up and wait". It's part of the learning curve for an enthusiastic novice.
 
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