Category: Pests & Disease

Florida with magnifying glass and insect

January 2026 First Friday with Florida First Detector

by Morgan Pinkerton
January 5, 2026

Recap of January 2026 First Friday with Florida First Detector In this month, we explored the fascinating, and sometimes frustrating, world of plant pathogens. Simply put, a pathogen is any organism that causes disease. For plants, these culprits ... READ MORE

Category: Agriculture, Crops, Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Fruits & Vegetables, Home Landscapes, Horticulture, Invasive Species, Lawn, Natural Resources, Pests & Disease, Pests & Disease, Professional Development, Turf, UF/IFAS Extension
Tags: Bacteria, Early Detection, Eradication, FFD25-26, FloridaFirstDetector, Fungi, Invasive Species, SeminoleCountyAg, Virus
Tickseed

Grow more Keystone Plants? … Here is a pictorial list!

by Maria Quirico
December 27, 2025

Keystone Plants for Central Florida Planting native species is an excellent first step toward attracting beneficial insects. In his influential book Nature’s Best Hope, author, conservationist, and entomologist Douglas Tallamy explains ... READ MORE

Category: 4-H & Youth, Agriculture, Clubs & Volunteers, Coasts & Marine, Conservation, Curriculum, Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Forests, Home Landscapes, Horticulture, Natural Resources, Pests & Disease, UF/IFAS, UF/IFAS Extension, UF/IFAS Research, Wildlife
Tags: Discovery Gardens, Doug Tallamy, Keystone Plants, Native Florida Plants, Perennials, Shrubs, Trees
A row of cover crops grows in between two rows of citrus trees.

Cover Crops Can Get Young Citrus Trees Off To A Good Start

by Mike Loizzo
December 16, 2025

Florida citrus growers continue to battle declining yields, citrus greening disease, and increasingly nutrient-poor soils. As a result, they are taking a closer look at soil-building practices such as cover crops. But how and when the cover ... READ MORE

Category: Agriculture, Crops, Farm Management, Pests & Disease, UF/IFAS Research
Tags: Citrus, Gabriel Maltais-Landry, HLB, Huanglongbing, Sarah Strauss, Soil Fertility, Soil Health, Soil Water And Ecosystem Sciences, Yaslin Gonzalez

UF/IFAS Extension Orange County Commercial Horticulture Classes–2026

by Hannah Eason
December 11, 2025

Good things are growing in Orange County, Florida! Let’s keep our minds as sharp as our tools and learn together in 2026. The exciting line-up of classes is designed to build upon topics from the basics to specifics of commercial horticulture ... READ MORE

Category: Agriculture, Events, Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Horticulture, Lawn, Pests & Disease, Pests & Disease, Professional Development, Turf, UF/IFAS Extension, Water
Tags: BMP, CEU, CEUs, Cflandscapes, Fertilizer, FFL, Florida, Florida Friendly, Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Garden, Gardening, Horticulture, Hwooten, IPM, Landscape, Landscape Management, Orange County, Palm, Palm; Palms; Turf, Palms, Pest Control, Tree, Trees, Turfgrass; Best Practices; Bmp; Bmps, UF/IFAS Extension Orange County
Florida with magnifying glass and insect

December 2025 First Friday with Florida First Detector

by Morgan Pinkerton
December 8, 2025

Recap of December 2025 First Friday with Florida First Detector This month, we dove into the topic of invasive mites, specifically focusing on the ones that can damage plants. These tiny arachnids are everywhere: on plants, animals, humans, ... READ MORE

Category: Agriculture, Crops, Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Fruits & Vegetables, Home Landscapes, Horticulture, Invasive Species, Natural Resources, Pests & Disease, Pests & Disease, Professional Development, UF/IFAS Extension
Tags: Biosecurity, Early Detection, Eradication, FFD25-26, FloridaFirstDetector, Mites, SeminoleCountyAg

Garden Tool Care: Take Care of Your Tools and They’ll Take Care of You

by Susan Haddock
December 2, 2025

Having the right garden tool is important but keeping them in good condition is just as important. Garden tools often get used hard and put away dirty or wet, which causes rust and damage. With a little maintenance, your tools can work well ... READ MORE

Category: Agriculture, Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Home Landscapes, Home Management, Horticulture, Pests & Disease, Pests & Disease, UF/IFAS Extension
Tags: Cleaning Tools, Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Garden Tool Care, Gardening, Gardening Tools, Landscape, Landscape Tools, ProHort, Sharpening Tools, SW ProHort, Tool Care
A closeup of an iguana in South Florida

’Tis the season for courting iguanas: Ask IFAS unwraps bilingual guide with timely tips

by Lourdes Mederos
December 2, 2025

Just in time for the holiday season — and the start of the iguana mating period — the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) has unwrapped a bilingual resource for living with one of Florida’s most ... READ MORE

Category: , Home Landscapes, Home Management, Invasive Species, Pests & Disease, Pests & Disease, SFYL Hot Topic, UF/IFAS, UF/IFAS Research, Wildlife
Tags: Ask IFAS, Ask IFAS En Español, Bilingual, Damage, Florida Law, Fort Lauderdale Research And Education Center, Green Iguanas, Herbivores, Homeowners, Iguana, Invasive, Legal Considerations, Mating Period, News, Non Native, Personal Property, Plants, Resources, South Florida Landscape, Species, Spiny-tailed Iguanas, UF-IFAS, University Of Florida, Unprotected

2025 Master Gardener Volunteer Year in Review for Clay County

by Wayne Hobbs
November 26, 2025

The Master Gardener Volunteer year in Clay County runs from November to November and what an amazing year it has been. Throughout 2025, our 71 volunteers donated over 5000 hours back to community! This comes in a variety of ways including: ... READ MORE

Category: Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Fruits & Vegetables, Home Landscapes, Lawn, Pests & Disease, UF/IFAS Extension
Tags: Florida Friendly, Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Garden, Gardening, Horticulture, Landscape, Landscaping, Master Gardener, Master Gardener Volunteer

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