Living on a Caribbean island?

Hi,

I just joined this morning. I'm presently living in Montreal, Canada (really cold in Winter). I will soon be moving to the island of St-Lucia in the Caribbean.

Naturally I will want to have my vegetable garden as well as all those beautiful tropical plants that cannot grow here. My problem is that I have absolutely no clue what can and cannot be grown in a hot and very humide climate

Our house will be close to the rain forest which has a whopping 150 inches of rainfall a year (a little less where the house will be). Temperatures are between 65/85 in Winter and 75/95 in Summer.

Anyone out there living and gardening in that type of climate?

ginbar - hello from upstate new york. glad you joined us. my sons friend is spending his honeymoon there right now. how did you come to move there??

someone will give you the answers you are looking for.

Hi welcome, caribbean --lucky..someone be long or try tropicals forum they can help..

Hope43 - thanks for the welcome. I've only just joined and have started looking at tropicals. So far I have not found just the right threads but I'm sure having fun looking.

As for "Fat Loui", he is really cute. One of my daughters is an assistant veterinary and specialized in canine and feline behvior. If you have questions regarding his health or behavior just ask.

What a wonderful opportunity. Hope your move is seamless and that you really enjoy yourself! Welcome to Dave's too!
PS...If you like wildlife and animals there are two wildlife forums and a pets forum too! I post a bunch on one of the wildlife forums because I love critters and birds.

Thanks Angele for your tips. The move is not scheduled until November 2007. We have 22,500 sq.ft of land so there's plenty of room for gardening. We will have to do a terracing type of garden as we are on the mountain side with a fairly steep slop (but we have the view of the ocean!). With all that rainfall I think I will have to grow certain edibles under a hoop dome. And I think there will always be a question of much needed ventilation to avoid mildew type deseases. Oh well, I'm sure I will be able to adapte.

Hey, if I make enough friends on DG, perhaps I could organize a week in St-Lucia for enthusiastic gardeners!

Hello Ginbar
Greetings from Key West, although we dont have the rainforest micro climate here we will probably be sharing the same weather patterns. Ill be happy to help you with any questions and let you know what works for me here. Believe me I've discovered and learned the hard way with tropicals , I'm originally from Dublin Ireland .

Some quick thoughts

Just always plant for summer heat. most of the tropicals can make it through the wet and dry times but its the intense summer sun that gets most of the tender ones. So you have to study your garden and figure out where the sun will shift to each season.

You also want to make the least amount of work for yourself so its best to dedicate small noticable areas that you want to tend to and plant the others to look after themselves. It takes a lot of water to keep the non natives alive in the winter, remember no rain from Late October to late April in the Tropics ( although maybe not true in the RAIN forest)

Its also good in the larger areas to look for your color in the tropical leaves rather than the flowers that way it looks good all year. Unlike up North things dont reappear in the spring they just keep growing so give everything lots of space to develop over the years.

Also check out one of my favorites thatt not everybody can grow above Zone 11 Vireyas ( tropical rhododendrons)

I have some great book names for you also if you are interested especially if you are planning from scratch.

Neil