July Garden Guide - What To Plant In July

July Garden Guide

What To Plant In July - July Garden Planting Ideas

Get a free printable checklist PDF version of this guide to keep you on track, via email HERE.

Check out the video version of this guide:

July marks the very middle of summer. For many gardeners in zones 8 and up, you will experience extreme heat coupled with either very dry (west coast states) or very rainy weather (like in Florida). Only the toughest plants will survive and continue to produce. However, it is also time to start sowing seeds and planning the fall garden. As my summer crops start to die off after harvesting, I begin the process of cleaning out the garden and solarizing beds if needed. That way everything is ready in September when I start planting fall/winter crops. You can also start amending your soil so the nutrients have some time to break down before planting your fall garden. If you're in a rainy climate, I recommend you wait to amend your soil until the very end of September when the rains start to decline. The extra rains will wash out any nutrients/amendments. 

Mid-July is a very exciting time for me! I will start sowing seeds for my favorite crop to grow - tomatoes. I start the process of deciding on which cultivars I want to grow for a fall harvest and gather my seeds. I will also start seeds for any summer crops that I would like to harvest one more time before fall is in full swing. Therefore, July marks the beginning of a busy time for sowing seeds.

Since it is too hot outside and there are lots of pests that will eat up my tender seedlings, I sow seeds indoors. For an in-depth guide on my seed starting setup (which I bring in doors when sowing seeds in July, August, and September), check out my How to Sow Seeds Guide YouTube video HERE.

Squash/Pumpkin, Zucchini, Cucumbers, Melons, & Chayote - Direct sow seeds for these crops to get a fall harvest. 

• Squash cultivar recommendations: pick cultivars in the Cucurbita Moschata or Cucurbita Argyrosperma group. These groups boast thicker and harder stems that make it more difficult for pests such as squash bugs and vine borers to get into. Examples include Seminole Pumpkin, calabaza, Lunga di Napoli, and tromboncino rampicante. I'm not saying you wont get pests. It is just that these cultivars can handle a lot of pest damage before ultimately dying so it increases your chances of harvesting something. I use spinosad or BT sprays to control worms and other chewing insects. 
• Cucumber cultivar recommendations: Choose hybrids with a good disease resistance package or Asian types of cucumbers (basically any cucumber with an Asian name like China Jade, Sooyoow Nishiki, or Suyo Long). Another option is Indian Snake cucumbers which grow very well in hot tropical areas. It is technically a melon but is substituted for cucumbers.  
• Spray with BT or spinosad to treat for worm damage. Find spinosad and BT from Amazon HERE.
• Spray with 1 cup hydrogen peroxide per gallon of water to treat for leaf diseases like powdery mildew. 
• Start seeds indoors if you struggle to manage the pests and diseases.This will protect tender/small seedlings from the high pest and disease pressure situation that is present during the summer.
• Check out my How to Grow Squash and Zucchini From Seed YouTube video tutorial HERE.
• Check out my How to Grow Cucumbers from seed to harvest YouTube video HERE.

Yard long beans, cow peas, southern peas, long beans, dry/shelling beans, and winged beans - Direct sow seeds. Traditional bush and pole beans do not grow well in extreme heat. Try growing heat tolerant alternative green beans instead. They take the heat and rain like a champ. Not to mention, they are extremely productive. 

• For yard long beans I recommend Dark Green yard long beans. For cow peas or Southern peas, Pinkeye Purple Hull peas are my favorite for their buttery flavor and texture. For shelling beans, Puerto Rican black beans are amazing and produce a lot. Sow seeds for them now so they start producing in fall when the daylight hours decrease (this is a daylight sensitive crop). 
• Check out my how to grow yard long beans from seed to harvest YouTube video HERE.

Luffa aka Loofah - Zones 9-11 still have time to direct sow seeds for luffa. Soak seeds overnight before direct sowing. If you're not interested in growing luffa for the sponges, grow it to help the butterflies and bees. Luffa is actually a gourd, and when harvested young (no more than 7 inches) can be eaten just like zucchini. A lot of people say it tastes better than zucchini. 

• If growing luffa for the sponges, then grow the Giant Light Green variety. 
• If growing luffa to eat, then grow the standard dishcloth luffa or the extra long luffa. Harvest when they are small or thin. 
• Check out my How to Germinate Luffa Seeds YouTube video HERE.
• Check out my How To Peel Luffa Sponges tutorial HERE.
• Check out my recipe for exfoliating luffa sponge soap bars HERE.

Moringa -  Zones 9 and up can sow seeds in solo cups. Transplant once they get big enough. Moringa is hard to germinate. I sow the seeds in solo cups and place the cups in a box. Cover the box with plastic wrap, aluminum foil etc... anything that will lock in moisture and heat. Place the entire box over a heat mat. This is basically a mini greenhouse and will drastically help improve germination for these crops. Take the seedlings out of the box once they sprout and put them under grow lights. If temperatures are above 65F outside, they can start going outside to get direct sun. Just make sure you keep the soil moist. Bring back in doors if temperatures fall below 65F. 

• Check out my How to Germinate Moringa Seeds tutorial on YouTube HERE.
• Check out my tutorial on how to process Moringa to make a fine powder and also use it to make an all natural fertilizer HERE.

Okra - Direct sow seeds now for a late summer or fall harvest. I like to start okra seeds in solo cups. They are ready to transplant once the root systems are large enough to take over the solo cup. 

Flowers - Can direct sow seeds or start in containers/pots. These are my recommendations on flowers that handle the heat, pests, and diseases pretty well during the summer. Amaranth, zinnias, sunflowers, cosmos, moonflowers, celosia, blanket flower, lantana, salvia, sage, Thai Double Blue Butterfly Pea, calendula, tithonia aka Mexican sunflower, and marigolds. 

Herbs - Can direct sow seeds or start in containers/pots. Focus on tropical heat loving herbs like Ginger, Shampoo Ginger (Awapuhi), Turmeric, Galangal, Thai basil, Mint, Agastache (Korean Mint), Green Onions, Bay Leaf, Cuban Oregano, Thai Double Blue Butterfly Pea, Roselle, Lemongrass, Papalo, Tulsi or Holy basil, Garlic Chives. 

Heat tolerant greens - These are easily started from seed: Molokhia, Malabar Spinach, & New Zealand spinach. I like to sprinkle seeds in bare spots of my garden. Choose a spot that gets lots of morning sun with some afternoon shade. Mix in some blood meal (high in nitrogen for lush leafy growth) into the soil before you direct sow the seeds to give them a boost.  

Heat tolerant greens - These are typically grown from plants or cuttings instead of seeds. Transplant these into the garden in July: Longevity Spinach, Okinawan Spinach, Katuk, Yerba Mate, Chaya, Sissoo Spinach, Surinam spinach, sweet potato leaves, & South Sea Salad Tree.  

Corn - Seeds are easily direct sown. Choose maize, flint, dent, or popcorn varieties instead of sweet corn because they grow better during high heat situations. 

 

• If you have poor germination, try starting them in 72 cell seed trays. They must be transplanted at the 3 week mark. 

• Be prepared for the corn earworm. The worms that attack corn are a little bit tougher than the regular worms that attack the rest of my crops. I highly recommend the use of spinosad which also kills worms on contact. Spray at the first signs of worm damage on the leaves to prevent the worms from making their way into the ear of corn. If they get into the ear of corn, they are protected and spraying will no longer work. They will eat the ear of corn from the inside out.

• Corn grows best with lots of water and nitrogen. 

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  Check out my How to Grow Corn From Seed to Harvest Guide on my YouTube channel HERE.

Tomatoes, Peppers, & Eggplants - Sow seeds indoors if you're planting a fall crop.

• I sow 2 seeds in a solo cup. The solo cup is big enough to house the seedling for 2 months so I don't have to waste time potting up. I do not recommend planting these in something smaller because they will easily get root bound which will stunt growth.
• Sow indoors because it is too hot outside and this will stunt seedling growth.
• There are also a lot of pests and diseases outside which will easily infect seedlings. Sowing indoors helps protect them.
• These crops like full sun, as in 8 hours or more per day. I am sure the windows in your house do not give 8 hours or more of full sun so the seedlings grow optimally (and prevent leggy seedlings). I highly recommend adding supplemental light. Shop lights that are 5000K or higher are a cheap option and work ok. My tomatoes take 10-12 weeks to get to size when using shop lights. Grow lights work even better. My tomatoes are ready in 6-8 weeks when I use Mars Hydro grow lights (from Amazon HERE).
• ***Word of caution for areas that get hit by hurricanes*** The excessive rain and flooding brought by hurricanes will easily kill these crops. The excess water in the soil not only causes root rot but also facilitates rapid growth of soil diseases like tomato wilt, and helps them to spread across the area. This is not curable. These types of diseases are systemic, meaning they infect the inside of the plants. To help mitigate crop loss, try to grow in grow bags, containers, or raised beds that have better drainage. Choose cultivars with high disease resistance. Experiment with growing determinate types of tomatoes as they are known to have higher disease resistance, produce harvestable fruit earlier, and all at once so you can harvest quickly. Plus growing determinates during the fall is a smart choice so you can harvest before your first winter frost date. I prefer to grow indeterminates in spring and harvest everything before summer arrives. 
• Check out my how to grow tomatoes from seed tutorial HERE.
• Check out my how to grow peppers from seed tutorial HERE.
• Check out my how to grow eggplants from seed to harvest tutorial HERE.  

Onions & Leeks - If you're in a mild winter climate, barely any frost and no snow, then you grow onions and leeks during the fall, winter, and spring, like me. They take forever to germinate and get to transplant size. I like to give them 3 to 4 months time. My target date to transplant them into the garden is October and November, so I sow seeds now in July.

• I like to fill a 10 inch x 20 inch plastic tray with drainage holes, with some seed starting mix. Densely sprinkle onion and leek seeds. In 3-4 months, pull each transplant apart and plant into the garden. 
• Check out my how to grow onions from seed tutorial HERE.

Sweet Potatoes - If you have at least 3 months remaining before your first winter frost date, then its ok to continue planting more sweet potatoes from slips. 

• Fertilize well to get them to grow large tubers in 3 months time. 
• Many instructions say sweet potatoes are ready to harvest in 90 days but I disagree. You can harvest them at 90 days but they will be very small. I like to harvest anywhere between 150-180 days, when the potatoes are very big. 

Ginger, Shampoo Ginger (Awapuhi), Turmeric, & Galangal - If you're in zones +9, it is safe to plant these root crops outdoors.

• I have a tendency to grow them in containers or grow bags because they easily spread via underground rhizomes.
• Please note - these plants start going dormant in late fall. The above ground foliage will die back even in my zone 10A garden. What is important is that the rhizomes under the ground do not freeze. As long as the rhizomes survive, the plant will sprout again and grow the following spring. 
• Watch my How to Grow Shampoo Ginger YouTube video HERE.

Tropical root crops: Cassava (yuca), malanga, taro, boniato, yacon aka earth apple, true yams (Name), eddo, yautia, jicama - If your located in an area where your ground doesn't freeze for the winter, then its ok to plant these outside. If your ground does freeze, it will kill these plants.

• These crops take 9-12 months to be ready for harvest and they get very big. They will require space or the largest grow bags/containers you can find.
• True yams and jicama are a root crop but its a vining plant so it will require something to grow up on.

Fruit Trees & Plants: Pineapples, papayas, Barbados cherry, Grumichama, Jamaican strawberry tree, ice cream bean, bananas, plantains, passion fruit, blackberries, mysore raspberries, sugarcane, muscadine grapes, mangoes, avocados, peaches, nectarines, mulberries - These can be planted outdoors from crowns/transplants. Just keep them watered until they are established. If you're located in a rainy area, then just monitor these newly planted trees/plants to make sure they don't dry out. 

Ground Cherries aka Gooseberry aka Physalis - Seeds require light to germinate so I recommend you sow indoors under grow lights.

• Sow seeds in 4 inch pots with seed starting mix. Do not cover the seeds with soil. Instead gently press them down into the soil. Place under a strong light source. They are ready to transplant once the root system takes over the whole pot. 

Thai Double Blue Butterfly Pea - Start from seeds or use transplants.

• I start them from seed in 72 cell seed trays. They need 4-6 weeks before the root system takes over the cell and they are ready for transplant. 
• It will take 4-6 months for this perennial vining plant to start blooming.
• If you're in zones 9 and up, its safe to plant outside. If you're in zones 8 and below, it will require protection from the cold as this is a tropical plant. You can grow this in grow bags/containers, trim it down, and bring in doors during the winter if needed. 

Roselle - Transplant into the garden. It is getting too late to just get around to starting Roselle from seed. The goal is to plant early so they have many months of growing time to grow into large bushy plants. They are triggered to start flowering in the fall when the daylight hours decrease (daylight sensitive). The bigger the plant by the time this happens, the more flowers, and the bigger your harvest. 

Rice - Direct sow seeds. Rice thrives in high heat and lots of rain, which is perfect for rainy Florida summers. It is a great crop to plant in areas that flood where you otherwise wouldn't be able to grow anything edible.