We have previously addressed the grave threat to the avocado industry in Florida. Laurel Wilt Disease is being spread by an insect vector, and a cure has eluded plant scientists. But recently a ray of hope has surfaced, and CBS News sent a reporter to southern Florida to find out more about it. Here is…
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On November 14, 2014, Richard Lyons’ Nursery posted an article on its website entitled, “Why This Nursery Doesn’t Recommend Citrus or Avocado Trees.” It reported that citrus greening disease was primarily responsible last year for the state’s poor orange production, 104 million boxes. Unfortunately, new information shows that things are getting even worse. On January 12 the…
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Recently Florida’s Commissioner of Agriculture, Adam Putnam, distributed a story that had been reported on a Tampa-area television station. It quoted some fairly astonishing statistics regarding citrus production in Florida: The most recent growing season yielded 104 million boxes of oranges. Only 11 years ago, 243 million boxes were picked! Some of the difference was…
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Did you know that the flowers of Bougainvillea are small and inconspicuous? That’s because the features that produce the spectacular colors found in this genus are actually bracts, modified leaves located at the point from which flowers develop. Thus bracts are an integral part of the flowering process, though they are not flowers themselves. …
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Your earliest New Year’s resolution for 2014 should be to become more familiar with IFAS, The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. IFAS is a partnership of federal, state and county agencies charged with generating knowledge in several key areas — agriculture, the life sciences, and human and natural resources — and making that information accessible to the public. IFAS is…
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