By Mengyi Gu, Hung Xuan Bui and Johan Desaeger If you happen to travel around Wimauma, Florida, you will see many plastic tunnels and may wonder what they are. Asian farmers (mostly Vietnamese) are using those plastic tunnels to grow a wide variety of specialty Asian vegetable crops. There is a high demand for these vegetables from northern cities such …
Managing Root-Knot Nematodes in Vegetables
By Johan Desaeger Root-knot nematodes (Meloidogyne spp.) are one of the most rapidly spreading of all pests and pathogens. The southeastern United States (Florida, in particular) is a paradise for these parasites. Nematodes cause damage to vegetables all over the world, and anyone who has had to deal with root-knot nematodes knows how difficult they are to control. Root-knot nematode …
UF/IFAS Findings Show Less Need for Pesticide to Control Strawberry Pest
By: Brad Buck, 352-875-2641 (cell), bradbuck@ufl.edu It’s harvest season for Florida’s $300 million-per-year strawberry season, so those who grow this fruit need help to control pests such as the tiny (up to 2-millimeters long), destructive chilli thrips. Farmers often use pesticides to control thrips, but they would like to use minimal chemicals. University of Florida scientists may have found a …
New Disease Threatens Florida Strawberries
By Natalia A. Peres Pestalotiopsis is not necessarily new to strawberry. A strawberry fruit rot caused by Pestalotia longisetula (or Pestalotiopsis) was reported for the first timein Florida in 1972. However, the fungus has always been considered a secondary pathogen. But this was not the case during the past two strawberry seasons (2018–19 and 2019–20), when severe outbreaks were reported …
Florida Ag Expo Update
Organizers of the Florida Ag Expo, an annual trade show with educational seminars for vegetable and specialty crop growers, have decided to forego this year’s event amid COVID-19 concerns. “While we see businesses re-open and people are returning to a sense of normalcy, we know that has only been made possible by everyone doing their part. Therefore, we made the …
Florida Hops Show Potential
By Shinsuke Agehara Craft beer brewed with Florida hops sounds very attractive. But can hops be grown in Florida? Will the crop produce high yields? The most important question is: Will it be profitable? There are lots of rumors, myths and hype about growing hops in the Sunshine State. That’s probably because hops have never been grown commercially in Florida …
Sneak Peek: October 2020 VSCNews Magazine
By Ashley Robinson The October issue of VSCNews magazine covers a variety of topics, including establishing an olive industry in Florida, the potential for hops and a strawberry spotlight. Currently, Florida has approximately 800 acres of olives under production. Although olives grow well in Florida’s warm climate, little formal research on Florida olive cultivation is available to support industry development. …
Using Reflective Mulch Films to Optimize Strawberry Production
By Ashley Robinson Although a winter crop, strawberry production in Florida still falls victim to heat stress. With extreme heat during establishment, cool temperatures during the early and mid-harvests, and high temperatures during the late harvest, the crop is subject to dramatic seasonal temperature variations. Traditionally, the state’s strawberry growers have used black plastic mulch to achieve adequate wintertime soil …
Trialing and Developing Blackberries for Florida
By Zhanao Deng Blackberry has emerged as an alternative crop in Florida. More and more Florida growers are growing or trialing blackberries for commercial production. They have indicated a dire need for suitable blackberry cultivars that can yield well and produce berries of good quality. PAST CULTIVARS AND RESEARCH In the 1950s, University of Florida (UF) released two blackberry cultivars, …
World Outreach Helps UF Strawberry Breeding Program
By: Brad Buck, 813-757-2224, bradbuck@ufl.edu, 352-875-2641 (cell) BALM, Florida — UF/IFAS-bred strawberries are grown in over 70 countries across six continents. One of those countries, Egypt, ranks among the top strawberry-producing nations in the world. So, it seems fitting that an Egyptian-American scientist is leading an effort to facilitate the expansion of production of UF/IFAS-bred strawberries internationally. Behind the United …