I would love some gardening advice. I am going to spend 6 months on a small Caribbean island and am on a budget. It's a bit difficult to get to the island so food there is a bit expensive. The house I am staying at has a greenhouse - what plants could i grow from seed that would produce a crop within 6 months? I am particularly interested in growing herbs and lettuce - grown from seed would they produce a crop within 6 months? Also am open to suggestions. Thanks!
danchop,
Jan 23, 8:32pm
Gunja fits you're situation nicely
oh_hunnihunni,
Jan 23, 8:39pm
If you google your preferred edibles there'll be the growing conditions, germination time and time to maturity. Most of your salad veg will be edible well under six months - some a heck of a lot faster, including lettuce.
lythande1,
Jan 24, 8:50am
6 months? Hell, in Auckland we can grow most things faster than that, never mind the actual tropics. You won't need a greenhouse, it will likely cook them.
flier3,
Jan 24, 11:36am
Could you simply ask the home-owners what they grow?
luteba,
Jan 24, 12:26pm
The greenhouse does sound like overkill. I would suggest going to a local vegetable market as soon as possible and see what's growing. I don't think you'll have much luck with lettuce, it'll be too hot. There's a good list of some suggestions at http://www.tropicalpermaculture.com/tropical-vegetables.html Most vegetables will crop within the 6 months, there are only a few (asparagus springs to mind) that have a longer cycle. The fastest crop I know is radish, if you like them (I do), and they should grow in the climate. You can also plant out lots of seeds for other things (rocket, bok choy, broccoli), then thin them and use the thinnings as microgreens for salad and sandwiches. You should be able to harvest microgreens within about 10 days of planting.
frida6,
Jan 24, 12:42pm
Thanks all for the info!
wasgonna,
Jan 24, 1:12pm
If food is expensive take your fishing rod. Fish are free. I should imagine that fruit will be in abundance also.
tourer100,
Jan 24, 3:22pm
Greenhouse not glasshouse, very different, you would need a greenhouse there, to keep them out of direct sun while seedlings, works wonderful in west ak, covered in shade cloth
frida6,
Jan 24, 3:38pm
Yes fish is quite cheap there, and there's lots of lobster too. And apparently there is an abundance of mangos, bananas and coconuts. There is a garden at the house I am staying at and I am responsible for it's upkeep (although there is also a gardener but I get the impression his job is more general upkeep rather than looking after individual plants).
I was told I need to work 20 hours per month in the garden and "For this small work you can expect to harvest for your own use (and when in season), basil, okra, green beans, sweet pepper, chilies, ginger, lemongrass, sweet potato, plantain, bananas, papaya, pineapple, sugarcane, passionfruit, and three varieties of mango".
I was thinking it would be nice to grow a few plants from seed too .
tahnasha,
Jan 24, 6:40pm
Lettuce is really hard to grow in the tropics, I tried it once and they all bolted they grow so fast. Yes you would need shade for your edibles. I just won't garden in the tropics anymore, because hot weather equals big spiders!
sue72,
Jan 26, 9:23pm
maybe take a variety of seed packets of different veges and see what will grow.
coralsnake,
Jan 6, 12:14pm
Watch out as the humidity may be a killer! Coastal Texas where we had two growing seasons. Things like tomatoes, peppers, chilies, cukes were fine but had to be in real early before the hot weather came along.
I grew kumera which just loved the long hot summers. The only thing was in summer snakes tended to get under the leaves to cool off during the day so if we wanted to dig, we would have to bring the lawn tractor out, up the deck then make runs over the bed - with the OH standing by ready to kill!
Lettuces bolted very quickly but if you try Romaine [called Cos here] they are a little more heat tolerant.
Be careful about taking seeds as many countries will require an import permit even just for seeds. I declared one packet at Auckland of tomato seeds and had them confiscated as they didn't have a botanical name on the packet!
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