Plants that grow as vines can add a cool look to the garden and they are a great way to maximize space.
There are lots of edible vines that grow well in Florida, some of the easiest to grow are:
- Cucumbers
- Chayote
- Grapes
- Green Beans
- Luffa
- Malabar Spinach
- Passion Flower
- Seminole squash
- Sweet Potato
- Tomatoes
Vines generally climb in three different way: Climbing, Twinning and sprawling.
Do you want to have your vines grow up something or do you want them to grow across the ground and act as a ground cover?
We will discuss in further detail how each of these vines grow as well as Florida friendly varieties when applicable and best care practices.
Edible Vines That Grow In Florida
If you are planning a Food Forest(Click here for more Florida friendly food forest plants), finding plants to fill up your vining layer is important. Vines maximize space in the garden and some of them act as a ground cover which helps maintain moisture in the overall system.
cucumbers
Cucumbers are a very common vegetable to grow in Florida, they are also a great vining plant that produces food as well as beauty in the garden. Cucumbers have nice yellow flowers that draw in lots of good bugs.
Cucumbers can also be grown as a bush variety but we want the kind that vines.
Florida friendly cucumbers that vine: Adam, Eureka,Cherokee, Dasher II, Sweet Success.
If you’re new to gardening in Florida, planting cucumber might be a tad confusing. Lots of sites on the internet claim that cucumbers are a warm season crop.
This is true, but they don’t Florida summers, not many plants do.
In north Florida and central Florida, we have two times during the year that we can plant cucumbers. Once in September and then once again in March.
In South Florida you can plant cucumbers anywhere from September up until January. Earlier is better though.
Cucumbers grow up a trellis by sending out little curly arms that grab on to things.
It’s best practice to grow your cucumbers up somethings instead of letting it grow accross the ground. cucumbers that are allowed to sprawl out on the ground will be at a higher risk for pest and disease problems.
Chayote
Chayote is a lesser known edible that is native to central America.
It’s actually related to the cucumber, Chayote grows the best in tropical to sub tropical enviornements, which is exactly what Florida has to offer.
If you’ve never heard of chayote before and are interested in what it tastes like. David the Good describes it as a mix between a pear, a cucumber and fresh green beans.
Sounds super refereshing.
Chayote can be grown as a perenial in some parts of Florida. Frost will knock it to the ground but it should sprout back up when the weather warms.
Most of the southern parts of Florida should have no problems growing this vegetable.
Chayote does take a while in order to mature. You will need 120-150 days of consistant warmth in order to get a harvest of chayote.
The best time to plant is as soon as the fear of cold weather is gone. In North Florida and Central Florida the best time would be in between February and March.
In south Florida the best time to plant would be February.
These are just estimates, the dates could change from year to year. Make your best judgment as to when you think fear of frost is gone.
The only weird thing about chayote is planting it.
Therer is one single seed encased in the fruit. The best way to plant it is to stick the whole fruit in the ground leaving the top of it exposed. It will grow a vine
You can get chayote seeds off of Amazon, but I always prefer to buy seeds locally. But if you can’t find any locally you do have options online.
The best way to grow chayote is to trellis it in some way. That can be a tree, a fence or a homemade trellis but it is not recommended to let your chayote grow on the ground.
Grapes
Florida has two specific types of grape that will grow well here. They are muscadine and Florida hybrid bunch grapes. Both of these types have more specific varieties that grow within them.
- Muscadine: fry, Nesbitt, Noble, Summit
- Florida Hybrid Bunch: Blanc duBois, Stover, Suwanee
Grapes are hardy through zone 10, this means that you will probably haver a hard time growing grapes in the southern most part of Florida. It’s just too warm and too humid.
The muscadine type of grape is better suited for Florida and therefore is easier to grow. Bunch type grapes can see more problems when fruiting because the fruit is produced in tight clusters. This doesn’t allow air to flow through and you may see issues with fungal growth causing the fruit to rot.
muscadine varieties are a little bit different than the grapes that you buy from the store. Their flesh is thicker and there is a large seed in the middle of it. However, the flavor is still sweet and juicy.
Grapes love to be planted in the early spring time in a spot that gets plenty of sun.
Grapes also need to be trellised in order to grow the best. Training grapes up a trellis when they are young is important to getting a good harvest.
Grapes do take a few seasons worth of growth in order to produce fruit.
The best way to train your grape vine up a trellis is to pick one shoot to be the main shoot while pruning off all of the rest. This main stem will grow up your trellis. Once it reaches the top of your structure and begins to spread out you can snip your main shoot right off at the top of your trellis.
This will signal to the plant that it should grow out more and begin to spread.
Grape vines will go dormant in our winter time. all of the leaves will fall off of your plant. specific pruning should be done at this time. the Florida Grape Growers Association has some really good info on this which can be found here.
Grapes are a little more complicated and take a long term commitment to grow.
Green Beans
Green beans are one of the more commonly known vegetables on this list. I’ve had great success growing green beans in Florida and I’m sure I’m not the only one that thinks that.
Florida Friendly Varieties: McCaslan, Kentucky Wonder, Blue Lake
All of the varieties listed above are the vining type of beans, otherwise known as pole beans. The bean that I always grow is the Blue Lake variety.
Beans are quick growing and pump nitrogen into the soil for other plants to use.
In north and central Florida plant beans around march and then again in August. In south Florida plant beans anytime between September and April.
Beans do not like to be transplanted so plant the seeds directly where you want them. And since green beans mature so quickly, it’s a good idea to space out your planting times.
If you plant a new row of green beans every two weeks you will have a constant supply of fresh green beans for the whole season.
This is another plant that is grown best when trellised and not left to vine across the ground.
Beans enjoy at least 8 hours of sun but will not mind getting more.
Luffa
Yes, the same thing that you wash your body with is actually edible!
They are part of the gourde family but actually look most like cucumbers when grown. And when picked young they can be cooked and eaten.
There are two commonly grown types of luffa in Florida: Angled Luffa and Smooth Luffa. Within those types there are varieties that are better for eating than sponging.
According to Cooksinfo, the best tasting luffas are:
- Edible Ace
- Smooth Beauty
- Hybrid Jupiter
- Hybrid Green Glory
- Hybrid Asian Pride
Luffa can grow up to 10 to 15 feet in length and you can train luffa to grow up a trellis or fence.
The plants make yellow or white flowers that are both male and female. The male flowers grow in a cluster while the female flowers are larger and grow
Loofa does not like the frost. Plant as soon as you can after the fear of last frost.
The early springtime is best. In north Florida and central Florida, we have two times during the year that we can plant cucumbers. Once in September and then once again in March.
When the “fruit” is fully ripe they can be anywhere between 1 and 3 feet in length. However, if you are picking them in order to eat them you will need to remove them when the fruits are only about 6 inches long.
If you wait too long to harvest the fruit inside will start to become more sponge like and tough to eat.
If you pick luffas when they are super young (under 4 inches long) you may not even have to cook them. Some people just eat them raw. As the fruit matures the skin may become more bitter.
Or you can skin your luffa and cook it in a dish like you would zucchini or squash.
Malabar Spinach
Malabar Spinach is actually not related to spinach at all, but the leaves so have a similar taste when eaten.
This is a vining plant that loves the warm weather and heavy rainfall. This plant can tolerate a Florida summer. It’s grown as a perenial in many tropical areas.
Malabar Spinach will not tolerate frost. This means that the best time to plant would be during the springtime. In north and central Florida this would be around March and in south Florida, you can plant anytime except November through January.
This vinning spinach can grow to about 8 feet in length and has deep green leaves that I think are attractive. It works well as a trellised plant and I also think it adds a nice look to the garden.
The leaves are best when harvested before flowering occurs. After flowering happens the leaves begin to taste bitter. You can begin harvesting at anytime after the main vine is established.
Passion Fruit
So, I feel like I’m kind of cheating, calling this an “edible vine” because while it does produce fruit many people do not enjoy its taste.
But I felt like i had to have it on this list because of how easy it is to grow and how beautiful the flowers are.
The best passion fruit variety for Florida is the purple passion fruit vine (Passiflora edulis).
One of these plants popped up behind my compost bin and I had no idea what it was at first until it started flowering.
It got plenty of sun there. The more sun the more flowering you will get.
The purple Passion fruit vine, like most varieties of passion fruit, don’t like the cold.
However, there is a Blue Passion flower vine that is an exception. It’s commonly called “maypop”.
Frosts and freezes will kill it back to the ground but when temperatures rise so will the plant.
These plants can grow up to 12 feet in length and they don’t mind dry conditions.
Seminole Pumpkin
This used to be a staple crop for a lot of Florida native Americans and for good reason.
They can withstand our intense heats, even in the summer time. This plant is also a heavy producer. It makes lots of fruit but also the flowers are edible and the tips of the vines are also edible.
Native Americans used to plant these at the bases of trees and the vines would climb them, using the tree as a trellis.But you don’t have to do that, you can grow them right along the ground and use this plant as a living mulch.
In north and central Florida, the best time to plant is early springtime. In south Florida, you can plant in the early springtime as well as the early fall.
Plant in full sun.
The vines can grow up to 25 feet in length. The mature fruits can weigh anywhere between 6 to 12 pounds. The fruits come in all sorts of different shapes. The same plant can make many differently sized fruits.
The fruits are usually orangish in color but again there is a little bit of variety.
About 2-3 months after planting you should expect a harvest. When picking from the plant make sure you leave a little bit of a stem on there. This will allow you to store the fruit for longer. In a dry, well ventilated place you can store these fruits for up to a year.
Sweet Potato
Sweet potatoes are another super easy, heat loving plant like just the Seminole Pumpkin.
I’ve had really good luck with growing sweet potatoes here in central Florida. They are a true summer plant. You can actually grow these things straight through our summer heat.
In all parts of the state, you can plant sweet potatoes from March through June. Be sure to pick a spot that gets at least 8 hours of sun.
The easiest way to start sweet potatoes is to buy rooted slips. I got mine from a local nursery, I bet one of the nurseries around you has them as the time for planting comes.
When planting sweet potatoes many people simply plant their slips into mounds of dirt and compost.
Some people grow potatoes in tall containers DIY Pallet planters.
I’ve grown sweet potatoes in my riased bed and had a fantastic harvest. I don’t think sweet potatoes really care what they are growing in.
Florida Friendly Sweet Potatoe Varieties: Centennial, Beauregard, Vardaman, Boniato
Sweet potatoes don’t need to be trellised, they can simply grow across the ground.
Tomatoes
The most popular vegetable to be grown in the home garden. Not all tomatoes are viners though.
There are two different types of tomatoes. Determinate and Indeterminate.
Determinate tomatoes will grow to a set height, on average about 4 feet tall. These are not the type of tomatoes that we want if we are looking for edible vines that grow in Florida.
We want indeterminate tomatoes. This means that they will just keep growing and growing as long as the conditions allow it.
If left to grow they will go wild, like this tomato pictured above. But with some proper pruning you can train your tomato to grow up a trellis.
Pruning tomatoes is a whole topic all on it’s own. If you want more on that topic, check out this video. It will give you all you need to know.
Florida Friendly Indeterminate Tomatoes:
- Indeterminate (Large Fruit): Better Boy, Bonnie’s Best, Striped Cavern
- Indeterminate (Small Fruit): Everglades(summer friendly), Husky Cherry, Sweet 100(Summer friendly)
In north and central Florida you should plant tomatoes once in February and then once again in August. In south Florida you have an extended planting time of August through February.
Tomato seeds can be planted directly into the garden or you can use transplants.
General Plant Care
All of these plants require a basic level of care in order to thrive.
They all thrive in full sun and soil that is enriched with compost. If planting straight into your Florida soil be sure to add plenty of compost into it. Your soil is most likely sand and lots of nothing.
Sand is nice for drainage but too much of it is not a good thing. At the very least you should add a bag of compost to your dirt. But building good soil is a long term thing.
If planting into a pot or raised bed I’ve always had good luck with a mix that looks like this:
- 40% Peat moss (Check price on Amazon)
- 40% Compost (You can get it on Amazon but I’ve found it way cheaper at local stores)
- 20% perlite (Check price on Amazon)
- Worm castings (Check price on Amazon)
- Mykos (Check price on Amazon)
Don’t forget the mulch. laying a thick layer of mulch is just as important as adding nutrients.
