This page provides information on commercial fruit production for Orange, Lake, and Marion Counties. If you do not see the information you are looking for, please contact Juanita Popenoe at jpopenoe@ufl.edu for more information.

As part of Lake County's commitment to public health and safety and to help prevent the spread of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) UF/IFAS Lake County Extension office (aka the Ag Center) will be open in a limited manner with only a few people allowed in the buidling at one time to allow for social distancing. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. We will not have any on-site classes until the restrictions are lifted. However, we will provide online training and respond to any questions via email or phone.

List of available classes and registration. We are not having classes on site because of COVID-19, but there are several online classes. These will be listed on Eventbrite links as usual.

Snout Scale Pest Alert (and photos of many other scale insects for comparison). A new pest to watch out for, especially on citrus.

• Blackberry

  Southeast Regional Caneberry Spray Guide

  Blackberry Pest Management

  The Blackberry (UF publication)

  Blackberry Diagnostic Tool

  Cane Blight of Blackberry

  Orange Felt or Orange Cane Blotch of Blackberry

  Virtual Field Day (Arkansas, primocane fruiting, kaolin to cool, interactive budgeting)

  Choosing the Right Blackberry Cultivar in Subtropical Florida

• Blueberry

  Calendar for Southern Highbush Blueberry Management in Florida (pdf)

  2019 UF/IFAS Blueberry IPM Guide

  Southeast Regional Blueberry Organic Pest Management Guide

  Southeast Regional Blueberry Horticulture and Growth Regulator Guide

  Blueberry Extension Blog (UF/IFAS resources and topics of interest)

  Blueberry Pests

  Root Weevil Identification and Control in Southern Highbush Blueberry

  2016 - Establishment and Production Costs for Southern Highbush Blueberry Orchards in Florida: Enterprise Budget and Profitability Analysis

  Commercial Industry in Florida

  Reproductive Growth and Development

  Weed Management

  Protecting from Freezes

  Bacterial Wilt

  Botrytis Blossom Blight

  Nutrition and Fertilization Practices for Southern Highbush Blueberry in Florida

  Pollination Best Practices in Southern Highbush Blueberry in Florida

• Citrus

  2020 Florida Citrus Expo presentations

  UF/IFAS extension information on citrus

  UF/IFAS Citrus Research

  Citrus BMP Guide

  2020-21 Florida Citrus Pest Management Guide

  Postbloom Fruit Drop Management

  Citrus Canker website

  Guidance for HLB Greening Management

  Greening Resources

  Abandoned Grove Abatement Initiative

  Abandoned Grove FAQs

  The Economics of Planting New Citrus Groves in Florida in the Era of HLB

  Citrus Leaf Sampling Procedure for Nutrient Analysis

  Brown Soft Scale

  Diaprepes Root Weevil

  Soil Sampling Procedures

• Elderberry

  Growing and Marketing Elderberries in Missouri

• Grapes

  The Muscadine Grape

  Grape Cultivars

  Southeast Regional Muscadine IPM Guide

• Olive

  Olives for your Florida Landscape

  Presentations at olive symposium 2012

• Peach

  Official UF/IFAS Stone Fruit Website

  Peach Blog

  Fungal Gummosis in Peach

  Peach Production Presentation Dr. Vashisth

  Training and Pruning

  Peach and Nectarine Varieties for Florida

  2020 SE Regional Pest Management and Culture Guide

  Peach Tree Short life Brannen

  Peach Disease Identification

  Peach Arthropod Pests

  Thinning Florida Peaches for Larger Fruit

  Alternative Opportunities for Small Farms: Peach and Nectarine Production Review

  Peach Brown Rot

  Video on pruning young peach trees

  Video on summer pruning peaches

• Persimmon

  Japanese Persimmon Varieties in Florida

  Diospyros kaki: Japanese Persimmon

  Diospyros virginiana: Common Persimmon 

• Pomegranate

  The Pomegranate factsheet

  More UF/IFAS information on pomegranates

• Strawberry

  Strawberry topics from cultural practices to diseases and irrigation are available at UF/IFAS Strawberry Resources

  Video on growing strawberries for homeowners

• Tea

  There is a research program on tea, Camellia sinensis, production in Florida.

  Florida Tea Website

  Florida Tea Facebook

Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP)

Designed to assist Ag producers impacted by COVID-19. Producers can apply for benefits under CFAP 2 beginning Sept. 21, 2020 to Dec. 11, 2020. CFACP 2 Announcement. CFAP 2 Eligible Specialty Crops.

Families First Coronavirus Response Act

New mandatory posters in Spanish and English regarding Employee Rights under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act are to be posted for workers immediately through 12/31/2020. Download poster pdf files:

Federal Employee Rights Poster Families First Coronavirus Response Act (English)

Federal Employee Rights Poster Families First Coronavirus Response Act (Spanish)

Safety Posters (not mandatory but really useful):

Agriculture Protection Under Coronavirus (English)

Protección Agrícola frente al Coronavirus (Spanish)

More information on disaster preparedness and resiliency from Southeast Coastal Center for Agricultural Health and Safety

Annual Stone Fruit Field Day

Program links - by year (canceled for 2020)

Annual Grape Field Day

Program links - by year

Hurricane Response