Tag: disease

Dead palm tree in an open field.

Innovative tool offers palm owners, growers new line of defense against trunk rot, protecting iconic trees

by Lourdes Mederos
November 13, 2025

Ever wonder why some palm varieties flourish while others suddenly bend at the trunk or topple over completely? From the iconic coconut palm to towering royal palms, these signature features of Florida’s landscapes are facing a silent ... READ MORE

Category: Agribusiness, Conservation, Crops, Home Landscapes, Horticulture, Pests & Disease, Pests & Disease, SFYL Hot Topic, UF/IFAS, UF/IFAS Research
Tags: Advancement, Biological Controls, Braham Dhillon, Canary Island Date Palms, Coconut Palm, Conservation, Date Palms, Disease, Disease Resistance, Entomology And Nematology, Fort Lauderdale Research And Education Center, Fronds, Fungicides, Germplasm Collection, Institute Of Food And Agricultural Sciences, Invasive, Leaflets, Lethal Fungus, Monica Elliott, News, Palm, Palm Landscape, Pathogens, Plant Pathology, Plant Pathology Department, Research, Resilient, Royal Palms, Thielaviopsis Trunk Rot, Trunk Rot, U.S. Department Of Agriculture Southern Sustainable Agriculture Research And Education (USDA-SSARE), UF-IFAS, University Of Florida, USDA, USDA-ARS, Wahingtonia Palms
A field of cogongrass - ubiquitous in a field.

Can invasive plants increase tick exposure risk? Scientists reveal a surprising link to human health

by Lourdes Mederos
November 12, 2025

An invasive grass found on almost every continent and considered a pest in 73 countries isn’t just weeding out native plants, it is creating a haven for disease-carrying ticks and raising public health risk concerns. A new University of ... READ MORE

Category: Agriculture, , Conservation, Crops, Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Health & Nutrition, Home Landscapes, Invasive Species, Lawn, Pests & Disease, Pests & Disease, SFYL Hot Topic, UF/IFAS Research, Wildlife
Tags: Agronomy Department, Ask IFAS, Cogongrass, Conservation Efforts, Disease, Drew Hiatt, Entomology And Nematology, Forest, Health, Human, Institute Of Food And Agricultural Sciences, Invasion Science, Invasion Science Institute, Invasive Species, Lakeland, Lime Disease, Luke Flory, Mosquito, News, Rick, Southeast United States, Tick-borne, U.S> Forestry Service, UF, UF-IFAS, University Of Florida
Avocado fruit showing characteristic avocado sunblotch viroid (ASBVd) symptoms. The fruit displays a distinct longitudinal yellow streak with sharply demarcated margins, typical of sunblotch infection. Symptoms can vary but often include irregular yellow or whitish streaks, discoloration, and deformed fruit.

Florida avocados face threat from Sunblotch Viroid

by Lourdes Mederos
October 2, 2025

Florida avocados, a signature staple in kitchens, a favored fruit tree in landscapes and a source of pride for the state’s growers, are facing a renewed threat from avocado sunblotch viroid (ASBVd). The disease can severely stunt avocado ... READ MORE

Category: UF/IFAS
Tags: Agriculture, ASBVd, Avocado, Avocado Germplasm, Avocado Growers, Avocado Industry, Avocado Sunblotch Viroid, Avocado Sunblotch Viroid Guide, Avocado Sunblotch Viroid Resource Website, Budwood, Deformed Fruit., Disease, Florida Avocado, Florida’s Avocado Growers, Fruit, Grafted Avocado Tree, Groves, Institute Of Food And Agricultural Sciences, News, Nurseries, Packinghouses, Romina Gazis, Sanitation Practices, Sunblotch Infection, Symptoms, Tropical Fruit, Tropical Research And Education Center, UF-IFAS, UF/IFAS Extension, UF/IFAS TREC Plant Diagnostic Clinic, University Of Florida

Hillsborough County Plant Clinic Offers Free Service to Answer Lawn and Landscape Questions

by Tia Silvasy
July 23, 2025

Plant Clinic Services UF/IFAS Extension Hillsborough County has trained Master Gardener Volunteers and staff to answer your questions about turfgrass, vegetables, fruit trees, ornamental plants, shrubs, trees and more. We offer insect and ... READ MORE

Category: , Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Fruits & Vegetables, Home Landscapes, Horticulture, Invasive Species, Lawn, Pests & Disease, UF/IFAS Extension
Tags: Disease, Free, Garden Help, Help Desk, Hillsborough County, Insect, Plant Clinic, Soil, Tampa Bay, UF/IFAS Extension
Common pruning tools

Clean Your Pruning Tools

by Duval MGV
July 14, 2025

There are diseases in the landscape that are spread by the very tools that we use to take care of them. When we prune out diseased limbs and branches we could be moving the disease from sick plants and spreading it to healthy plants. In this ... READ MORE

Category: Agriculture, Forests, Fruits & Vegetables, Home Landscapes, Lawn, Natural Resources, UF/IFAS Extension
Tags: Disease, Duval, Florida Gardening, Gardening, Landscape, Management, Pruning
chickens

Scientists seek to curtail bird flu’s spread through education, outreach efforts

by Megan Winslow
July 10, 2025

Though the current public health risk of H5N1 bird flu is low, the University of Florida (UF) is taking a proactive approach to education about the illness, which is responsible for one human death in the United States, as well as outbreaks ... READ MORE

Category: Agriculture, Health & Nutrition, Livestock, Pests & Disease, UF/IFAS Extension, Wildlife
Tags: Avian Flu, Backyard Chickens, Benjamin Anderson, Bird Flu, Center For Public Issues Education In Agriculture And Natural Resources, Chicken, Cindy Sanders, College Of Public Health & Health Professions, Department Of Environmental And Global Health, Disease, Education, Emerging Pathogens Institute, Extension, FDACS, Florida Department Of Agriculture And Consumer Services, Florida Department Of Health, Florida EDEN, Florida Extension Disaster Education Network, Guide, H5N1, H5N1 Coordination Group, Hen, IFAS, Illness, Infection, Influenza, Institute Of Food And Agricultural Sciences, Megan Winslow, Migratory, Outreach, Pathogen, PIE Center, Polutry, Response, Ricky Telg, Risk, SCCAHS, Science, Southeastern Coastal Center For Agricultural Health And Safety, Tips, Transmission, UF, UF-IFAS, University Of Florida, Virus
Pine tree canopy

Gone with the wind: Hurricane Helene helps researchers track pitch canker spread

by Megan Winslow
June 24, 2025

UF/IFAS researchers are mining Hurricane Helene data to better understand the spread of pitch canker and minimize the devastating disease’s impact on the timber industry, an important economic driver in the southeastern United States. (more…) READ MORE

Category: Agriculture, Forests, Pests & Disease, UF/IFAS, UF/IFAS Research
Tags: Agricultural, Agriculture, Boundary Layer Wind Tunnel, Disease, Ecophysiology, FBRC, Forest Biology Research Cooperative, Funded, Fungal, Fusarium Circinatum, Genetic, Grant, Hurricane Helene, IFAS, Industry, Institute Of Food And Agricultural Sciences, Lumber, Megan Winslow, National Institute Of Food And Agriculture, Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure, NHERI, Nifa, Pathology, Pine Tree, Pitch Canker, Rapid Response To Extreme Weather Events Across Food And Agriculture Systems, Research, School Of Forest, School Of Forest Fisheries And Geomatics Sciences, SFFGS, Tania Quesada, Timber, UF, UF-IFAS, University Of Florida, William Hammond, Wind

Subscribe For More Great Content

IFAS Blogs Categories