Think you can’t grow avocados in the chilly winters of North Florida? Think again.
The significant cold snap of January 2026, which sent temperatures plunging across the Sunshine State, has become the optimal testing grounds for University of Florida scientists developing new cold-hardy avocados at the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS).
The chill underscored just how valuable this research is and demonstrated that several UF/IFAS-bred avocado types can withstand temperatures that would normally wipe out commercial varieties…