Container Size Matters When Growing Veggies
Interested in growing vegetable crops but have limited space for a garden bed? Maybe you live in an apartment, have poor soil, or you can’t find a sunny enough location to start an in-ground garden. The good news is you can grow nearly any crop in a container! Even...
Some Camellias Won’t Flower Well in North Florida
Q. I have a camellia plant that is about 25 years old. It forms flower buds but the buds never fully open. The plant otherwise looks healthy. Is there something that I’m doing or not doing that causes this? A. I have seen this happen over the years. There are a...
Low Tunnel Gardening Extends the Growing Season
North Florida weather brings its ups and downs, and there are times during the winter season when the downs are low enough to trouble even cold-tolerant crops. Gardeners who wish to keep their plants growing as long as possible, or give them a head start in the...
Resurrection Ferns Making Their Appearance
This week, I received a call about identifying a plant growing on a pecan tree in someone’s yard. With the recent rain we’ve experienced after a rather dry period, I had a pretty good feeling it was a resurrection fern. A quick picture sent in to me by the homeowner...
Try These New Trouble-Free Crucifers: ‘Capture’ Cabbage and ‘Burgundy’ Broccoli
Cruciferous vegetables, mostly cool-season annuals in the Brassicaceae (formerly Cruciferae) family, are part of a healthy diet, prized for their high fiber content and unique sulfur-containing compounds known as glucosinolates. This vegetable family includes things...
Arbor Day 2020
Last week, we celebrated Florida’s Arbor Day. “What?” you may say—“Isn’t Arbor Day in the spring?” Well, yes and no. National Arbor Day is celebrated in the spring (April 24 this year), usually within a day or two of Earth Day. However, because of the wide range of...
Don’t Say Goodbye to the Poinsettia
Many of us enjoy potted poinsettias during the holiday season. However, we often give up on the poinsettia, once the season is over and the festive color has been lost. With some care, a poinsettia can be around for seasons to come, if planted in your home landscape....
Spider Mite Identification and Control
I was recently asked what kind of fungus was affecting a plant brought into the UF/IFAS Leon County Extension Office. Upon close inspection, it was not a fungus at all, but turned out to be damage from spider mites and the little critters were right there on the...
Opportunity for Professional Training
No previous experience or accreditation it required to be a landscaper in the state of Florida. So when homeowners are searching for service providers, it is important that they question potential companies about their skills. One good measure is completion of...
Time To Control Winter Scales
This week I was on a couple site visits to look on some cabbage palms (Sabal palmetto) and some banana shrubs (Michelia figo). The palms had a white, waxy substance on their frond petioles and the banana shrubs had white specs on the tops of their leaves. Upon...