Planting Help me decide what to plant.

I have some space in a 4ft x 8ft planter that I need help with. I live in south Louisiana (Zone 9). It's hot and very humid and water is usually plentiful. Forecast for the foreseeable few weeks is highs in the low 90s with high humidity, lows in the low 70s/upper 60s at night.

I have attached a pdf diagram that I hope comes through. Each square is 1 sq. ft. It is the red area on the diagram that I am trying to decide about. The green area is a producing row of bush lima beans, the 2 purple circles are large established, producing eggplant plants. The black rectangles are turmeric that is about 1 ft. high. The gray rectangle is a row of pole limas that has not yet germinated and that will climb a trellis on that side of the bed. The orange circles are marigolds and the orange rectangles are radish seedlings that have just started to pop up. So, any ideas on what I can plant in the red area? I have some but I just wanted to see what ideas y'all might have.

Okra, watermelon?

Strawberries or tomatoes?

Sweet potatoes, asparagus. Isn't it late to get started on planting? Maybe not in your location, I don't know.

Okra should grow like crazy down there.

I’ve already got like 20 okra plants growing. This is a spot that just opened up when I pulled out cilantro/coriander to harvest the seeds. We can grow here basically 12 months out of the year if careful.

I'd go with sweet potatoes. Where do you find your tumeric?

Experiment with different seeds to see what grows at this time of year. I have a lot of old seeds, that I don't know if they are viable. I'm going to start sprouting a bunch of different stuff, and maybe step them up to one gallon pots if they are looking good. I've never tried to grow all through the Summer down here in Southeast Texas.

Cantaloupe and Armenian cucumbers do pretty well this time of year in Arizona (Zone 9b), but we are a LOT drier than you are. I hereby bequeath to you my share of okra in the world; wish we liked it more. Maybe try some of the tropical "spinaches"--red malabar, green malabar, longevity, Egyptian, perpetual. Someone on another thread suggested New Zealand spinach.

Check Facebook and see if there's a gardening group in your area--lots of good, specific advice. YouTube is another good resource for local gardening tips.

Txkstew said:

Experiment with different seeds to see what grows at this time of year. I have a lot of old seeds, that I don't know if they are viable. I'm going to start sprouting a bunch of different stuff, and maybe step them up to one gallon pots if they are looking good. I've never tried to grow all through the Summer down here in Southeast Texas.

Click to expand...

Before you do, look up types of things you might plant and find the optimum and maximum soil temps for sprouting. If you don't have one, a soil thermometer is a really good investment. But lacking one, if the soil 4" down feels even slightly warm to the touch, it's above 100 degrees. While many warm season crops will do well, stuff like lettuce, carrots or beets woukd likely not even sprout...

Summerthyme

Check with your county extension office