Hillsborough County Agriculture Pesticide Collection 10/21/26, 07:00-11:30

 

The Fall Agriculture Pesticide Collection will be held Wednesday Oct. 21^st at the SE County Landfill (15960 C.R. 672, Lithia). Outdated, suspended, or otherwise unusable liquid or solid agricultural pesticides will be accepted. No fertilizers, fumigants, or household hazardous waste will be accepted. The Ag Pesticide Collection is made possible with a grant from the Hillsborough County EPC, Pollution Recovery Fund.  This is a great way to clean up that pesticide shed of all those unused products. If you have any questions, please call Simon Bollin at 813-853-1086.

Grower Talks Insecticide, Miticide, and Fungicide Guide 2027

Grower Talks just released their Insecticide Miticide, and Fungicide Guide for 2027.  Here is the link.  IMF_2027_Guide.pdf  This is a great resource to have around the farm.  Not only are there good references to the chemicals to protect your plants but there are some good articles on dealing with weeds, mealybugs, and Two-spotted cotton leaf hoppers. There is also an interesting article on high root zone temperatures.  It is like they read our Extension mind.  We just received an FDACS BMP grant to demonstrate the use of white pots to minimize high root zone temperatures.  This demonstration work is a collaboration between Manatee, Miami-Dade, and Hillsborough Counties as soon as funding is released.  So stay tuned! 

Super El Niño and What to Expect for Plant Producers in Central Florida

 

This year climatologists are predicting a “Super” El Niño event in the Pacific.  So what does that matter to the nursery industry in Central Florida?  Well two very strong El Niño events occurred in 1982-83 and 1997-1998 and caused an estimated $4.1 and $5.7 trillion in global economic losses respectively, over five years (Callahan and Mankin, 2023).  But we can dive a little deeper into what happened in our area for some insight from previous events and maybe make some possible predictions for the coming few quarters ahead.

There were a couple of other strong El Niño events; 1997-1998 and 1982-83 that were very similar that we can learn from. During the months of November there was a much wetter weather pattern than our usually drier Fall month.  The succeeding months, there were frequent storm systems crossing the Gulf Coast and Florida, bringing increased cloud cover and rain.   There was also localized flooding and high-water levels in lakes and ponds.  Some areas experienced record rainfall including Tampa with 15 inches in the month of December.  In the month of February in 1998, we had our most deadly tornado outbreak in the history of the state and experienced the wettest periods of the El Nino events.  Usually in March the systems weaken and water levels in the ground and in local water bodies remain high.

As far as temperatures are concerned, in 1997 -1998 there were a few days with high 30’s and low 40’s but no freezes.  In 1982-1983 there were a handful of freeze events and a few frost days.  Generally, during El Niño the temperatures are cooler than normal but that is generated from more cloud cover than from arctic blasts.

So how can we use this information to make business decisions?  What comes to my mind is fertilizer and plant growth.  Fertilizer will release slower with cool weather but leach with high rainfall.  Another thing to think about is plant growth.  With cloudy, wet days, plant stretch; with rain more fungal pathogens and root rots can occur.  Maybe you add a bit more drainage or bark to the mix to help compensate.  You might get your fungicide program up to date.  You might make sure drainage ways and ditches are cleared and water levels in holding ponds are tolerable of heavy rains.

Another thing to think about is labor--yours and your customer’s in rainy weather.  Can you get into the field to do the work you need to do? Labor may move slower in wet weather. Depending on your sales channels it might mean customers may not be out shopping and doing landscaping projects.  Another thing is labor for pulling winter weeds, which might increase with a leaching of herbicides.

There are some benefits from this weather pattern.  Less irrigation and pumping costs and generally less freezes to worry about. As with any good manager, you can take this information and add it to your decision-making process. 

References

Callahan, C.; Mankin, J. S. (2023). "Persistent effect of El Niño on global economic growth". Science. 380 (6649): 1064–1069. Retrieved 09, Oct. 2026.

Photo Credit UF/IFAS Extension Tyler Jones

Regional Nursery Growers Meeting

On November 12, 2026, UF/IFAS Extension will be holding a regional nursery grower meeting at the UF/IFAS Gulf Coast Research and Education Center in Balm, FL.  The meeting starts at 08:30 and will end at 14:00.  Lunch and CEUs will be provided.  This is a great time to catch up with what UF researchers and extension agents have been doing, what is happening in the pesticide industry, and what other growers are doing. Here is a tentative schedule of events.   You can register here for $20.00 + fees.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/nursery-grower-update-tickets-2002221630796

Meeting Agenda

8:30–9:00 – Registration 
9:00–9:30 – Jeb Fields: Container Soil Stratification- How this improves plant growth 
9:30–10:00 – Chris Marble: Weeds/herbicides 
10:00–10:15 – Break 
10:15–10:45 – Three-location demonstration trial results, compost and stratification  
10:45–11:15 – Syngenta Chemical Pesticide Updates 
11:15–11:45 – BASF Pesticide Updates
11:45–12:30 – Lunch 
12:30–1:00 – Chemical rep 3 
1:00–1:30 – EPA's Bulletin Live 2- Mandatory web check before spraying  

1:30–2:00 – Discussion/wrap-up