Category: SFYL Hot Topic

UF/IFAS Extension offers Spring Vegetable Gardening Class in Hybrid Format

by Tia Saracino
May 19, 2026

If you interested in growing your own food, then this class is for you! Join UF/IFAS Extension Hillsborough County on Thursday February 16th from 10am to 11:30am to learn what to plant when to get your spring vegetable garden started. This ... READ MORE

Category: , Fruits & Vegetables, Health & Nutrition, Home Landscapes, SFYL Hot Topic, UF/IFAS Extension
Tags: Central Florida, Class, Florida, Garden, Gardening, Master Gardener, Online Class, Seed, Spring, Tampa, Tampa Bay, Tia Silvasy, Transplants, Tsilvasy, Vegetable, Vegetable Gardening, Webinar

Tips for Starting a Vegetable Garden

by Tia Saracino
May 19, 2026

For a deep dive into Vegetable Gardening in Central Florida, watch our YouTube of the webinar recording. Vegetable Gardening in Florida If you are getting started with growing your own vegetables in Florida, start by reading the Florida ... READ MORE

Category: , Fruits & Vegetables, Home Landscapes, Horticulture, Pests & Disease, SFYL Hot Topic, UF/IFAS Extension
Tags: Central Florida, Compost, Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Garden, Hillsborough, Landscape, Seed, Silvasy, Soil, Tampa, Tampa Bay, Tsilvasy, Vegetable, Vegetable Gardening, Video, YouTube

Tips for Edible Landscaping

by Tia Saracino
May 19, 2026

View the recording of our Edible Landscaping webinar on YouTube here. The concept of edible landscaping primarily applies to growing vegetables, herbs and fruit trees in a way where it fits in with your home landscape. With proper plant ... READ MORE

Category: Agriculture, , Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Fruits & Vegetables, Health & Nutrition, Home Landscapes, Horticulture, Natural Resources, Pests & Disease, SFYL Hot Topic, UF/IFAS, UF/IFAS Extension
Tags: Central Florida, Edible Landscaping, Florida Friendly, Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Fruit, Herb, Hillsborough County, Home Landscapes, Master Gardener, Tampa, Tsilvasy, Vegetable

It’s Lubber Grasshopper Season!

by Tia Saracino
May 19, 2026

Eastern lubber grasshoppers are very interesting because in the early part of their lifecycle when they are nymphs, their colors are black with a red or yellow stripe, whereas adults are yellow with patterns of red and black. They can do significant ... READ MORE

Category: , Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Fruits & Vegetables, Home Landscapes, Lawn, Pests & Disease, SFYL Hot Topic, UF/IFAS Extension
Tags: Florida, Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Grasshopper, Hillsborough, Home Landscapes, Insect, Landscape, Pest, Tampa, Tsilvasy

Plant Status Change – Tropical Milkweed is Now Listed as a Category II Invasive

by Tia Saracino
May 19, 2026

Tropical Milkweed is now Invasive! Tropical milkweed (Asclepias curassavica) was once a go to larval host plant for monarch butterflies. As of June 2025 the plant status has changed. It is now listed as invasive in the entire state ... READ MORE

Category: , Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Home Landscapes, Horticulture, Invasive Species, Natural Resources, Pests & Disease, Pests & Disease, SFYL Hot Topic, UF/IFAS Extension
Tags: Asclepias, Butterfly, Invasive Species, Native Plants, Tropical Milkweed, Tsilvasy

How to Care for a Fresh Christmas Tree

by Susan Haddock
May 19, 2026

Nothing brings holiday spirit into your home quite like the scent and beauty of a fresh Christmas tree. After choosing the perfect one, it’s important to care for it properly so it stays healthy, fragrant, and safe throughout the season. Here ... READ MORE

Category: Agriculture, , Conservation, Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Home Landscapes, Home Management, Horticulture, Natural Resources, SFYL Hot Topic, UF/IFAS Extension
Tags: Christmas Tree, Christmas Tree Care, Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Fresh Tree, Holiday Tree, ProHort, SW ProHort

Pandemic eating among the food-secure: more comfort foods, but not a drastic increase

by Brad Buck
May 19, 2026

During the first three months of the pandemic, food-secure people did not change their eating habits very much, although some of them turned a bit more to comfort foods, new University of Florida research shows. The study also serves as a cautionary ... READ MORE

Category: Health & Nutrition, SFYL Hot Topic
Tags: Comfort Food, Covid-19, Eating, Food Science And Human Nutrition, Food-secure, Jeanette Andrade, Nutrition, Pandemic, Salt, Snacks, Stress, Sugar

UF/IFAS Industrial Hemp virtual workshop available Jan. 11

by Samantha Murray
May 19, 2026

The UF/IFAS Industrial Hemp Pilot Program is launching a virtual workshop with research and program updates, available online beginning January 11 for $40. The workshop consists of a collection of pre-recorded lectures and prepared documents ... READ MORE

Category: Agriculture, SFYL Hot Topic
Tags: Agronomy, Gulf Coast Research And Education Center, Hemp, Industrial Hemp, Industrial Hemp Research Project, Johan Desaeger, Luke Flory, Mid-Florida Research And Education Center, Tropical Research And Education Center, Virtual Workshop, Workshop, Zack Brym

Global gardeners help UF tomato breeding program; will send growth, flavor data to lab

by Samantha Murray
May 19, 2026

Normally, University of Florida scientists such as Harry Klee gauge the taste and aroma of their new tomatoes by letting volunteers test them at the UF Sensory Lab in Gainesville. But now, people from across the globe who grow tomatoes in their ... READ MORE

Category: Crops, SFYL Hot Topic
Tags: Amateur Plant Breeders, Citizen Science, Data, Gardeners, Harry Klee, Production, Seeds, Taste, Tomatoes, UF/IFAS Advancement, Varieties

Global group recognizes UF/IFAS engineer for strawberry spray app

by Brad Buck
May 19, 2026

Now that we’re knee-deep in strawberry season, many growers owe Clyde Fraisse and Natalia Peres a debt of gratitude. About a decade ago, Peres saw a need for a fungicide decision-support tool. Farmers sprayed about every week to control strawberry ... READ MORE

Category: Agriculture, Pests & Disease, SFYL Hot Topic
Tags: Agricultural And Biological Engineering, Alerts, App, Award, Clyde Fraisse, Decision-support Tool, Fungi, Fungicide, Gulf Coast Research And Education Center, Natalia Peres, Plant Pathology, Strawberries, Strawberry Advisory System, World Meteorological Organization

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