7 Perfect Vegetables to Grow in Hot Climates

In the South, where heat and humidity are the problem and nighttime temps don’t drop below 80 until at least September, in my experience, the things that really thrive are peppers, eggplants, certain squashes (spaghetti squash grow like weeds), mouse melons, sweet potatoes, okra, pole beans, red noodle beans, and cowpeas. If you live in a particularly hot and humid place, I especially recommend noodle beans. I put mine on an 8 foot tall bamboo tipi trellis and they swallowed it. We had more beans than we knew what to do with! They produced 18 inch long pencil thin purple pods for three solid months! We even ended up freezing a couple gallon bags full of cut beans for later.

Sometimes I want to try these things in Scotland just to see how poorly they actually do here 😂

A suggestion for really hot climates, water the peppers(or any plant really) early in the morning. It gives them time to soak up the water before the heat sets in and it decreases the likelihood of cooking your plants

Love the growing tips you provide but I really like the history you give of the plants you are growing. Keep it up and thank you

Malabar Spinach grows very well with okra as its trellis. Sweet potato leaves are also a delicious spinach substitute. Cherokee Trail of Tears Bean is a super productive pole bean. If you live in an area where vine borers are a problem, look for moschata or argyrosperma type squashes.

I'm in Sweden. I tend to grow Chilli's in pots, stick them out on the balcony in the summer for them to get the all day and most of the night sun.. Then when it gets cooler, bring the pots in. To save them from the dark and frozen conditions. Trim them if they've got a bit dangley, and when it starts to warm up again straight back out on the balcony, and cut them into a better shape. As they're a few years old they recover really fast from being cut back and bush out really well. Have Habanero's, some finger chilli's and currently growing some Bhut Jolokia. Love growing all Chilli's for making hot sauce.

Malibar spinach drops seeds like mad! I've found it to become crazy invasive.

For some time I had been dreaming of growing eggplants but I thought I would need to be living somewhere more southern location than Finland to be able to do it. This spring I realized that what the heck, I have a glassed southern facing balcony that heats up during the summer for temperatures that aren’t comfortable for humans so it must be adequate for eggplants… And it was! I have already harvested two sizable fruits and more is coming. They aren’t patio varieties but just normal ones. One hybrid is a long narrow style and one is the black beauty. I am a pretty proud eggplant mama now🍆☺️

I feel a dopamine rush when I watch your videos. Keep them coming! I’ve always been into gardening but every time I watch your videos I get more and more stoked to expand my garden and try something new. Thank you!

Cow/field peas are another heat loving candidate for vegetable gardens

Another plant that I know that loves the heat and hot climates would be Strawberries. For all of the fall and winter they are dormant and in spring they grow leafs but nothing really else. But when it hits summer it gets very hot and they start growing multiple flowers and also branch out and make new Strawberry Plants.

I don’t have a space where I can garden but when I get the space, I will grow these plants!

If you are in a cooler climate and want to grow sweet potatoes, try to find a NZ "Kumera" as these varieties developed in NZ, initially by the Moari and later by the Pakeha, are the most cold tolerant sweet potatoes.

Peppers really are amazing for hot climates, and here in Portugal (10b equivalent I believe) they overwinter pretty easily without any care. My peri-peri has been producing continuously (even during winter) for the past 3 years and it keep growing larger!

You know, I'm something of a warmth-loving vegetable myself.

Topping peppers makes the plant bush out more, but also increases the time to harvest. In my opinion, don’t top at all if you’re in zone 8 or colder. It only makes sense for really warm zones. If you’re going to top, only do it to plants that typically grow tall and lanky. Typically capsicum annuum. Don’t do it to varieties that are already bushy, like Chinense and Baccatum. Especially don’t do it to super hots, because your fruit won’t ripen because your plant’s growth will be delayed.

Thank you for this. Living in the Az low desert, I really appreciate it. Would you consider doing a segment on sun scald? Identifying vs disease/pest, prevention, dealing with, etc.

Due to family needs I had to leave my garden for a month. The tomatoes had been given a string attachment to conduit 6 ft above. When I came back the raised bed was out of control. 2 weeks later the trellis went partially down in a windstorm. It took my full hanging weight to pull it upright again. There are probably a 1000 cherry tomatoes set on plants that are 11 or 12 ft in length. It is a jungle but no disease I attribute to starting in 32 inch tall raised beds and some early low area trimming.

Peppers in the HATCH family have done so well in our HOT DRY area. I love the Burgundy OKRA. Put it in gumbo or air fry it and it is such a good conversation starter.

I’m growing Alabama red and eagle pass okra 😅