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 …
New Blueberry Variety Honors Benefactor, UF Alumnus Alto Straughn
October 29, 2020 By: Brad Buck, bradbuck@ufl.edu When Patricio Muñoz developed the University of Florida’s newest blueberry variety, he wanted to name the fruit in honor of Alto Straughn, a longtime, strong supporter of UF’s blueberry breeding program. Muñoz decided to call the new variety the ‘Sentinel.’ “A ‘sentinel’ is a watcher or guardian,” said Muñoz, a UF/IFAS assistant professor …
Coming Soon: New University of Florida Strawberry Varieties
By Vance M. Whitaker Two new strawberry selections have been approved for release by the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) and are in the commercialization process. Trade names have not yet been finalized but should be chosen in the next six months. For both, larger-scale testing will be conducted this fall, and commercial quantities will …
Sneak Peek: November 2020 VSCNews Magazine
By Ashley Robinson The November issue of VSCNews magazine touches on a variety of topics, including an improved method to detect phytophthora in irrigation water, smart irrigation tools for blueberry growers and new findings on growing hemp in Florida. One of the most serious diseases in Georgia vegetable production is phytophthora blight, a water mold that attacks the roots, foliage …
University of Florida Awarded Key Federal Grants to Continue Fight Against Citrus Greening
By: Ruth Borger, 517-803-7631, rborger@ufl.edu LAKE ALFRED, Fla. — University of Florida (UF) researchers hope to discover new methods to help citrus growers fight the deadly citrus greening (or Huanglongbing) disease with cost effective, long-term sustainable treatments with the support of recently awarded federal grants. Three teams of scientists from UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences received nearly $4.5 …
Alabama Extension Economist Tries to Clear Up Misconception about Hemp
A misconception between hemp and marijuana has Adam Rabinowitz concerned about how consumers view an up-and-coming agricultural commodity in the Southeast. Rabinowitz worked as an Extension economist at the University of Georgia before he moved to Alabama this summer to become an Auburn University Assistant Professor and Extension economist. At UGA, Rabinowitz helped conduct a survey to gauge consumer knowledge …
Citrus Advisory System Alerts Growers So They can Stem Post-Bloom Fruit Drop
October 22, 2020 By: Brad Buck, bradbuck@ufl.edu Beep. Beep. Beep. That’s the sound of the alert, telling a citrus grower it’s time to spray fungicide to help prevent fruit from falling off the tree. When the new fruit fall off a citrus tree, post-bloom fruit drop (PFD) can cause major losses for citrus growers. Infection of flowering citrus by the …
Problematic Pests of Florida Strawberries
By Sriyanka Lahiri Several arthropod pests occur in strawberries in Florida during the various stages of the crop cycle. Cyclamen mites (Phytonemus pallidus), if present, originate from strawberry nurseries as hitchhikers on transplants. Thankfully, a very small percentage of growers reported a cyclamen mite infestation during the strawberry season of 2019–2020. Soon after planting, armyworms (Spodoptera spp.), twospotted spider mites …
UF Scientists Make Big Stride Toward Greening-Resistant Citrus Trees
By: Brad Buck, 813-757-2224, bradbuck@ufl.edu University of Florida scientists achieved a major milestone in their quest to develop a citrus greening-resistant tree by sequencing the genome of a fruit plant that’s a close cousin to citrus trees. You’d need to print 54,000 pages of copy paper to see the complete genome sequence. But within it, scientists believe they’ve found genes …
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 …