Growers who saw historic cold weather and freezes this year are still recovering from disrupted production and widespread losses. The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services estimates the freeze caused approximately $3 billion in agricultural losses statewide. While the full impact is still being assessed, researchers at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) are working to better understand losses and recovery needs. Early insights are already pointing out both vulnerabilities and solutions.

Among those solutions is passion fruit. New research shows that simple frost protection systems can make production far more reliable, and opening the door for growers looking to diversify.

At the center of this work is Dr. Ali Sarkhosh, Associate Professor of Horticultural Sciences and UF Fruit Crops Lab lead. Passion fruit, an attractive tropical crop, can be challenging by its sensitivity to cold and narrow growing range. As temperature fluctuations become more common across the state, those variables have become more apparent – prompting the team to focus on practical sis are increasingly fluctuating throughout the state. Its sensitivity to cold and limitations of where and how it can be grown make it challenging. These real-world conditions helped the Fruit Crop team determine how to overcome those limitations through improved systems.

Laying the ground for developing a passion fruit industry in Florida

Through a USDA Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE)-funded project, Sarkhosh and his team have been working to expand passion fruit production beyond South Florida and into more temperate regions. The effort is part of a broader push to support crop diversification and provide growers with viable alternatives that can strengthen local and regional markets.

For passion fruit, the barrier has always been freeze risk. Their vines are highly sensitive to cold, with temperatures below freezing capable of causing severe damage to complete plant loss, making adoption difficult to justify for many growers.

The goal of the project was to find a practical solution that could be implemented during unpredictable winter events and offer consistent protection. This past winter offered a critical test.

To address this challenge, the team evaluated a tunnel-based production system paired with a timed misting approach designed to stabilize temperatures during freeze events. Rather than reacting to cold after it arrives, the system is triggered in advance, building a protective environment around the plants before temperatures drop.

“In the last eight years that I have been working at UF, I have never seen the temperature go down like this, but the tunnel worked very well,” Sarkhosh said. “The tunnel and the mist system kept the temperature above 32, and the plants have been very good…perfect in terms of growth and performance.”

The contrast between protected and unprotected plants was clear. While open-field vines experienced significant damage, those grown within the tunnel system survived the cold and continued developing normally.

Frost Protection Enables Greater Control Over Passion fruit Production

The benefits of the system extend beyond preventing loss. Because passion fruit produces on new growth, maintaining plant health through cold events allows production to continue rather than reset.

Under tunnel conditions, the research team has also observed a greater ability to manage growth and influence when fruit is produced. This introduces a level of control that is not typically possible under open-field conditions.

“With this tunnel production, we can manipulate it. That’s the good thing about the tunnel system. We can prune [the vines], we can manipulate the growth, and always fruit anytime you want,” Sarkhosh explained.

That flexibility could be just as valuable as frost protection itself. It provides a way to actively manage production timing and consistency outside of simply protecting crops.

Events like this year’s freeze are critical for researchers, offering high-stress conditions to assess system performance and refine recommendations based on field impacts faced by Florida farmers.

Researchers are continuing to refine this system and translate their findings into Extension recommendations. It is clear that what was once considered a high-risk crop may now have a pathway toward broader adoption supported by practical strategies, developed and tested under real conditions.

Were you impacted by the recent freeze? UF/IFAS is conducting a survey to document crop, livestock, and infrastructure losses. Your input helps improve statewide estimates and guide future research and response efforts.

For more information: https://ufl.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_e9h73AXBEyHNAUe
Access the survey: https://ufl.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_e9h73AXBEyHNAUe

1