Everglades Tomatoes: Everything you NEED to Know

[@kevinmello9149]

I found my first Everglades plants growing in my lawn last year. I almost pulled them as weeds until I thought they looked like tomato plants. I transplanted them, and they took off. They are great for container growing as well. This year I found more in the yard near where last years plants had grown, and now I literally do have to treat them as weeds. They are extremely hardy (I had some growing in a pile of rocks) and survived transplanting very well. This years crop is five times what I had last year. Thanks for bringing up all the details on this fascinating and delicious variety!

[@stephenschwab6410]

Don't know if it's been said but FL Gardening has everglades seeds. That's where I got mine. Love those tiny matters!

[@WildFloridian]

Oh yes! I forgot about that! Thank you for reminding us! :D

[@heidilini494]

I was able to get them from Southern Exposure this year. Looking forward to my first tomatoes!

[@yhineidy131]

I think that where I first saw everglades tomatoes

[@amandamaria3922]

We love a plant that can handle a little neglect!! 😂 The definition of tiny by mighty.

[@howdyEB]

A Natural Farm, in Howey-In-The-Hills, sells everglades tomatoes.

[@WildFloridian]

Thanks for sharing! :D

[@WheatieJen]

Local gardening clubs are the way to go.

[@Swrqltr]

The best way to get one is to “steal” one from a friend. My late mother her sister’s and mother practiced this regularly and it works. They would go to each other’s house go through the garden and help themselves my cousins and I do this occasionally as well. We have permission from each other. I think it’s a deep southern thing

[@SouthernLatitudesFL]

Excellent pros/cons list. I do prefer the sprawl if I have space. I have had babies for over 12 years! We used to call them hurricane tomatoes because the wind will relocate them across the yard.

[@WildFloridian]

LOL! Thank you! I know I have a clear bias towards trellising... I tried to give a balanced representation. I never heard of them being called hurricane tomatoes! I learned something new today.

[@SouthernLatitudesFL]

@@WildFloridian My current ones are on trellis too. We just don't have the space like we used to in order to sprawl. Hurricane tomatoes was a name the lady, who gave them to us, called them. They just appeared in her yard after the 2004 hurricanes. It was years before we realized they were Everglades.

[@mollytrap]

I’m team sprawl!! When I trellised them, they died or just gave me a very sad amount of tomatoes. When I let them be, I started getting ZILLIONS of tomatoes. To make harvest easy, I hard prune the plant and then all the ripe tomatoes on the inside are now on the outside and easy to harvest and then I chop and drop the pruned vines all over my food forest where they produce volunteer tomatoes on the regular. 😅

[@braddoty55]

After all the struggles, finally something works. It's working too well & getting out of control. I'm just going to allow this. 😂 Just got my seeds. Game on!

[@robertreed7767]

Loved the advice and your great sense of humor!

[@libbysmithstudio]

I just got some from southern exposure. They should be here soon.

[@WildFloridian]

That's good to know! Thank you for letting me know. :D

[@almostoily7541]

I got mine from Daisy the Good on Etsy at Good Gardens. I can't wait for the first harvest to try them!

[@lindajohnson4204]

Now I know what "the Scarlet Pimpernel" is.

[@royfulk3255]

A friend of mine gave me some everglade tomatoes last fall. I dried some and planted some hole in starter pots. Nothing happened for a few months and then 3 sprouted. I placed those 3 small pots on a garden bed and left them there for a month. When I transplanted them they died a week later, however, where they rooted in the ground while in pots , they sprouted and took over that bed. This is in the winter in partial shade in central Florida Sarasota area. The most prolific tomatoes ever all winter long. Now in May they are dying back, but there are two volunteers that are 6' tall and looking wonderful!

[@lynnbukur7373]

I’m in Big Pine Key and they pop up everywhere in my yard! Love them!

[@russellpasternak2811]

Hi love your videos, we live up in Ocala, moved here last year from Ma. Learning how to garden in the south. Thanks for your advice,

[@steph6337]

Aww! I was mentioned 🥰 I hope all of you have great success with these amazing tomatoes!

[@WildFloridian]

Thank you for all your wonderful tips!

[@sophiawish9772]

What do you do to keep the tomato-loving lizards from eating them! Thank you! 🥀🌻

[@cherylj7460]

Offer them blueberries!😉

[@Joan-j1e]

I have planted these 4 times. Had them drop seeds etc. they never come back. They die every year. Not sure what I am doing wrong.

[@kaleighdavis5810]

I found seeds on urban harvest but just bought a plant from Wilcox in Largo FL. So I don’t have to wait for the seeds 😁

[@WildFloridian]

Smart!

[@bigrich6750]

That’s great information. Yours is the most comprehensive description of Everglades tomatoes I’ve ever heard. I have seeds, but have not grown them due to limited space, but they’ll be a part of my spring garden up here in Florida’s Great Northwest. I’m in the process of making tomato cages out of concrete reinforcing wire. It’s the very best thing one can use for trellises and cages, but you have to watch Marketplace to find it on the used market, otherwise it’s too expensive at $250 for a roll at the big box stores. I got all I could ever use for $50 on Marketplace. It’s comparable to cattle panels, but rolled up, which makes it very difficult to handle, as it’s like trying to unroll a strong spring, but worth the effort.

[@WhatAudryEats]

I just bought a packet of seeds from Jarra’s garden this week! I’m hoping it would be the first tomato variety to not die on me 😂

[@monicaeaton8860]

Jerras seeds have never disappointed!!!!

[@dianewomble527]

Cody Cove Farms in Babson Park FL have Everglades Tomato.

[@conniecrites5148]

Perfect timing. I was wondering why my seeds hadn't come up and now it makes sense. I think I'll try direct sowing them and I'm going to use my fence as a trellis.😊😊

[@WildFloridian]

I’m so glad! 😃

[@Kevzenn]

I got my Everglades tomato plant from Facebook marketplace 👍🏻

[@WildFloridian]

Good to know!

[@jasahfamily]

It grows fine in a pot. I bought a seedling from the Edison museum in Ft. Myers, and grew it in a pot in a screened patio for years. It grew big, reseeded itself, and had lots of little tomatoes. The stray seeds in the yard grew best, though.

[@Iouie_]

These tomatos are so sweet indeed! In the house I used to live in, a lady selling fruits sold us a bag of these, i wanted to grow them, so I did, although it didnt go well and my plants died, but a seed managed to jump onto the dirt in my garden and it grew, it was a small bush but it had pretty berries, i noticed it was there when i saw something bright red there. Then i rescued the seeds, got some nice plants now, and after that, I moved to the house I live in today, I transplanted them and i grew more plants with the seeds of those plants! now this next generation is already flowering and I have quite a bit of them, hopefully I'll make things right and get a great yield like you! that's kinda why I'm looking at this video anyway,, cheers !!

[@Christopher-xd5in]

Mark at self sufficient me in Australia grows tons of these. Then he made a ketchup. My neighbor gave me a few and good tasting so Im trying to grow them on a ledge on my lanai. I'm using a Florida weave between two posts. Looking forward to these little marvels.

[@Art-jl6pt]

14:33 (pruning section) Thank you for this channel and your video. This was just what I was looking for. I got two plants growing in a 10 gallon bag sitting on a broken lawn chair- looks groovy- isn’t rock sulfate wonderful? . I got the nutrients dialed in and they are about to pop. I cannot wait to try them in a couple of weeks.- I stopped counting at 35 green ones today-your not supposed to prune them-according to the company that sold me my seeds-they will dry out quick- have to water them 3 times a day- afternoon shade is working great-melting in zone 8

[@gabriellelee9358]

You can also go to your local water management they pull them out of runoff

[@MSgt_Boon]

Awesome, found some on Amazon that are coming tomorrow from Howie In the Hills which is only about 40 minutes away. I also have a perfect trellis that's actually a garden archway that a customer of mine was throwing away. So I know what I'm going to do with it. I will make a video and post it on my channel when I do. But I going to get these growing up it. Thank you for addressing my comment. I'll have to check into a local gardening club! Or become one 😂 Can I find those on Amazon too? Just kidding. But I don't know any.

[@Pernacular]

Hi - if they love the heat and humidity, is it feasible to start them around this time of year?

[@saltybildo9448]

9b Florida here, gonna give em a whirl soon thnx kid

[@WildFloridian]

Yay! 😁

[@glenchilada]

Wanting to grow a backyard permaculture in the Houston area and tomatoes are my son's favorite food. Thank you for this video!!!

[@WildFloridian]

That is awesome! Best wishes!

[@Nancy4133nope]

They are fantastic tomatoes perfect to pick and eat while you're working in the garden . They are fantastic love them like candy

[@FloridamanForager]

I was traded for a plant and am looking forward to it! i here the yellow variety taste quite nice!

[@maringirl5]

I’m in Lakeland and I grow these year round! I sell them on Facebook and I am almost always sold out!

[@nativeceltbirdog1527]

I grew my first and I only in a Lowe's blue bucket!! It went crazy!!

[@WildFloridian]

In a bucket!?! I love that!

[@tibbers1996]

I’m not able to eat red tomatoes but I found a yellow variety of the Everglade! I am going to plant them with another yellow cherry to see how they compare in low desert of Arizona, zone 10

[@user-hz7kv6js6l]

I started growing mine in October 2024 and its now April 2024 and I've had a bumper crop. I started my seeds indoors in my grow light system using seed starter. No heat mat and they all germinated in 3 days. I planted 5 seeds and they germinated. I grow mine on some ladder mesh and I uses twine to keep them under control and its easy to harvest the tomatoes. You don't need a big trellis I have 3 mesh ladder 6 inches wide trellised together in another bed I have 1 other trellis. Just keep them twined and trim off drying branches and you'll have more tomatoes than ever. I'm in zone 9b SW Florida. I have been havesting these tomatoes since November.

[@buckaroobonsaitree7488]

Are you from the future? What's the Tesla stock going to look like in October?

[@cudjoekey2334]

I grew mine in SOFL in an above ground potting bed with questionable soil. I also watered when it was dry or close to dry and they did fantastic. I didn’t use a trellis and they were wonderful.

[@Collington23]

Loved your plumeria at 23:53 Would love to see what the flowers look like when they bloom

[@cindykee3719]

I can't wait to start some of these! They sound amazing! I want to have 1 cherry tomato and 1 slicing tomato. Since this will be my cherry tomato, what do you recommend for a slicing tomato? I'm zone 10a (Lakewood Ranch/Bradenton). I have read that Floradade tomatoes were developed for our Florida heat and with disease resistance in mind. Do you like them? Oh, and I just found your channel a couple of days ago and I am so happy to have a source of information specifically designed for growing in Florida! So much so that I bought your book on Amazon! I love your writing style and the humor you bring to your videos!

[@hannahduh8371]

My aunt gave me four tomatos that had fallen off her plant. Now I have four little bunches 😂

[@legauxmc]

Great video Learn so much, going outside right now and will be moving a couple of plants to another location

[@iartorigocrazy]

I needed to see this! I started mine two months ago and they were taking so long to grow! Now that it is getting hotter they are starting to finally take off. They are about 4” tall now and are growing fast. I made a trellis out of bamboo in a raised made of cinder blocks. Looking forward to these. I am in zone 9a… Lake CityFl. Oh and I bought mine from Seed the Stars on Etsy.

[@Madrid5122]

Currently growing them from seeds thanks to you!!!

[@sovereignsoul]

In central FL I planted my first 6 seedlings in ground and all were killed by cutworms. Second attempt were grown in greenhouse until stems were too large for cutworms to decapitate, and all thrived in the greenhouse and after transplanting in ground. I haven't fertilized yet and the plants have grown and been producing lots of fruit. I am growing them in a forest covered by a 2-4 inch thick carpet of mycellium, which is covered with leaves, pine needles, and decaying tree branches. I added a little organic soil to the sand in the transplant hole to help the plant transition, and added 1-2 inches of wood chips as mulch where transplanting disturbed the mycellium (to help retain moisture, add nutrients, and encourage mycelium regrowth where transplanting disturbed the ground). I let the fruit fully ripen on the vine to a dark red. Thus far insects and animals have not eaten the fruit or the leaves. Catepillars were abundant this year, but stayed clear of the Everglades tomatoes. In my view the leaves are enjoyably fragrant, but the critters may disagree. When the fruit is fully ripe I use shears to snip it off with a bit of green left, to avoid damaging the fruit and improve storage. The green remnant twists off easily prior to eating. The fruit is very tasty and definitely worth growing.

[@elizabethcollard00]

The leaves on our plants are turning purple, and the plants aren't growing. They are producing tomatoes, but they're very small (like pea or bb size). Any suggestions?

[@1boortzfan]

I found my seeds on Amazon. A Fl seller west of Ft. Lauderdale was selling them. I started my seeds on 4/14. We'll see how it goes. Thank you.

[@kathleenm295]

These are hard to find seeds. I found a lady on Facebook with a gardening page and she gives away seeds. I have a bunch started: one in the ground and the others in pots to give away to family. Plus I sent some seeds to a friend of mine in Arizona. I'm curious to see how they do in hot and dry. I have noticed that they are drama queens! Miss a day of watering and they slump down, put a hand to their forehead and cry out, "Whoa, is me. I'm so thirsty." LOL

[@WildFloridian]

Oh that's good to know! Yes! It would be interesting to hear from your friend and our neighbors in arid climate what their experience is.

[@stingray427man]

9B, planted last year they were weak this spring they took off w little maintenance. I have mine on a Trellis set up now.

[@JonLoeffler62]

Good morning

[@WildFloridian]

Good morning Jon ☀️

[@nonyadamnbusiness9887]

This year when I started Everglades seeds, I put two dozen seeds in a pot in the greenhouse. I got two to come up in January, two to come up in February and all the rest in March when the greenhouse got hot enough to stay in the 60s overnight. They were on a heat mat the whole time. I've been growing them for years and in that time I've had exactly one attacked by hornworms. I definitely did not save seeds from that one.

[@BCBRENDA]

Also tulle is good to use.

[@Collington23]

I’m excited to try these for the first time this year! I’m in central FL and I grew some romas last year and I got a good two jars of sauce out of them but I’m looking for more.

[@MsAure]

Eustis,here trying hard to grow something!

[@loreleivitulli4673]

Thank you!

[@WildFloridian]

You're welcome!

[@vdove605]

Hey Ms Jackie, thk u for sharing this... where can we get? I've been trying to learn to grow cherry tomatoes like forever!

[@kimrutledge5897]

My plants are growing great and I regularly trim off the flowers but I'm not seeing any fruit.

[@yesidtac7863]

Excelente resultados

[@jaydenlee5477]

Does eggplant $ sugar pumpkin do go in south Florida

[@legauxmc]

I only have a partial shade area to plant them, so will try to see if they will grow Wish me luck. Zone 8B Pensacola

[@WildFloridian]

Good luck!

[@BCBRENDA]

Ha Pensacola, Tallahassee here. Where did you get your seeds from? I would love to get my hands on a package

[@francestutt3661]

Hi thanks for the video. I got everglades as a gift from hurricane Ian. Mine got spider mites. Any suggestions? My eggplant as well. Mine are in pots because we have iguanas.

[@lyndamello]

Can you grow Everglades Tomatoes in upside down containers (like a hanging basket)? I could have sworn my uncle did when I was a little girl.

[@allfruit]

Is it ok to cut the main stem/top it off when it gets about 5 to 6 ft tall? Will it continue to put out fruit if you top it?

[@phatfree151]

I'm super new to gardening and just getting started. I live in south Florida and my soil is super sandy. How can I fix this where I want to plant my garden? I'm in zone 9b and as you know its hot and the soil is not the best.

[@WildFloridian]

Add lots of wood mulch, not wood bark. You can use chip drop to get for free or cheap.

[@nativeceltbirdog1527]

I grew some but they were tiny!!😂😂😂 like bee~bee size!!

[@WildFloridian]

THAT IS TINY! Hopefully they are bigger second time around.

[@BCBRENDA]

Need fertilize n water

[@LaRa-youknowit]

I wonder if there are different strains because I grew them, and just ripped them out. Yes, they Grow! Hardly any blight, but not good for raised beds in a contained area. Super unruly vines, and the tomatoes were real small and thin skin. They would pop when I picked them. Plus they are not as sweet as my Sweet 100 cherry tomatoes. I’m in central Florida, I love your videos, but I’ll grow sweet 100 over Everglades. JMO

[@tbrewen5518]

I had the same problem mine came out tart tasting

[@karenwernert1744]

On the topic of birds, they will also attack themselves in your windows or mirrors. Putting feeders out helped stop this after I tried everything

[@Bob-w2b8j]

Ordered mine online from victory seed company, I think it was $3 for a packet. I'm trying to sprout them now in one of those little plastic seed-starting greenhouses then planning to plant into an earthbox, we'll see how it goes! UPDATE: the crummy burpee greenhouse tray that i got didn't work, thought the seeds were bad. Turns out that the tray warped in the heat and wasnt retaining water. Planted more seeds in a yogurt container just the other day in probably 85 degree weather and they're all sprouting. They do indeed like the heat it seems!

[@benlabarre8072]

I had zero germination rate with dried seeds, but I have big dumb hands and the seeds are tiny.

[@soniahofmann4969]

I cannot get my Everglade tomato seeds to germinate I plant everything from seed is there a trick to these seeds I don't know why they don't germinate thank you so much

[@WildFloridian]

Hopefully you got some tips from the video. :)

[@BCBRENDA]

Key word lots of heat

[@lorvin5673]

We have 10 acres. My wife wants to plant these, but I have serious concerns about them getting completely out of control. What if they wind up in a neighbors yard and take over there property? I don't know...kinda scary...

[@WildFloridian]

They do pop up but aren't an aggressive rooter. SO they are really easy to pull or mow. Having had to fight invasive plants in my yard and elsewhere... there is much scarier plants getting into neighbors properties. A good weed whacher will knock them back really quick.

[@petabread91]

I planted Matt's Wild Cherry tomato this winter. Growing like crazy now but perhaps a little too wild. It cant stay in the trellis. The tomatoes are so insanely good though and very sweet. Matt is my first tomato plant. :) Largo, FL here.

[@erikaerika7788]

I started everglades tomatoe last year ...took months to produce dry area 😢😢😢 until the animals ate the plants.. 😂😂 this year i placed it in an good area with compost ..GOT hUGE QUICKLY ...TOO MUCH . .😂😂😂😂

[@user-hz7kv6js6l]

And don't forget to save your own seeds.

[@dontbea7237]

I picked up mine from eBay planted them last year along with Seminole pumpkins and will never plant them again ask the pumpkins are popping up all over the yard and the Everglades tomatoes there were no longer edible went to the chickens therefore now my chicken s*** is preloaded with tomatoes anywhere I dump a wheelbarrow of this s***you can guarantee there's going to be at least four or five different tomato variety volunteer plants thanks to you and David the good

[@WildFloridian]

Thank you!!! :D

[@kyles3188]

I think my Everglades tomato has bacterial wilt! :-( Have you encountered this before?

[@libbysmithstudio]

No-see-ums: teeth with wings. No skin is safe. 😂

[@belkyhernandez8281]

Anything that grows so easily might be invasive. They aren't native. Should we be worried about that?

[@laeyein]

They are naturalized, which means they have been determined to integrate well with their nonnative environment and can actually benefit native pollinators. Nothing I have been able to find online says they are invasive or damaging to natural ecosystems.

[@joelowery7300]

Saw someone make traditional tomato sauce. Another ketchup.

[@IluLimnu]

I was gonna name my first born son Everglades Tomato, but my wife wouldn't let me

[@kaitlinbeste]

Ughhh!!! Raccoons plummeted my freshly composted soil bed that was ready to sew seeds I just got for the first time ever!!! Really disheartening I put lemons around the edge they still came. I was

[@vdove605]

Disregard q ☝️ I got ahead of myself 🥴

[@WildFloridian]

LOL! I got you 😉