Tag: specialty crop

Vanilla orchid flowers

Growing Vanilla in the Home Garden

by Tia Saracino
September 3, 2026

Vanilla is one of the world's most valuable spices, second only to saffron, and many gardeners are surprised to learn that it comes from an orchid. In fact, vanilla is the only genus of orchid that produces an edible fruit. While more than ... READ MORE

Category: , Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Fruits & Vegetables, Home Landscapes, Horticulture, UF/IFAS Extension
Tags: Home Landscapes, Orchid, South Florida, Specialty Crop, Spices, Tsilvasy, Vanilla, Vanilla Extract
Ph.D. student Sameerika Mudiyanselage (left) and her advisor Samuel Martins (right) sampling mushrooms with bacterial blotch symptoms in a mushroom farm in the Southern United States. Photo credit: UF/IFAS Samuel Martins

DNA analyses uncover what is hiding under the cap plaguing the white button mushroom industry

by Lourdes Mederos
May 5, 2026

UF/IFAS researchers discovered that bacterial blotch in white button mushrooms is caused by a complex of multiple bacteria, not a single pathogen as previously believed. The disease significantly impacts mushroom growers by reducing ... READ MORE

Category: Agriculture, Blog Community, Crops, Farm Management, Fruits & Vegetables, Health & Nutrition, Pests & Disease, SFYL Hot Topic, UF/IFAS, UF/IFAS Research
Tags: Bacteria, Bacterial Blotch, Beneficial Microbes, Department Of Plant Pathology, Eco-friendly, Essential Oils, Farming, Food Is Medicine, Growers, Health Benefits, Institute Of Food And Agricultural Sciences, Kitchen Staple, Microbial Communities, Mushrooms, News, Nutrient-dense Foods, Pathogen, Plant‑based, Romina Gazis, Sameerika Mudiyanselage, Samuel Martins, Specialty Crop, Sustainable Farming, U.S. Department Of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service, UF-IFAS, University Of Florida, USDA-NIFA, Vegetables

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