| Word | Description |
| Acidity | How acidic or “sour” a soil’s pH is. |
| Air handler | The indoor unit that moves the air through the heating/cooling system. |
| Air Leakage (AL) | a rating that expresses the amount of air infiltration through cracks in the whole window |
| Air Plants | A plant that does not root in soil. It derives moisture and nutrients from the air |
| Algae | White, red, pink or grey circular patches that look like they are painted on the trunk of trees and shrubs. These are harmless and add color and interest to your landscape. |
| Alkalinity | How alkaline or “sweet” a soil’s pH is. |
| Aluminum/foil tape | Specialty tape with an acrylic-based adhesive that performs consistently under extreme temperatures. |
| Aphids | are soft bodied pear-shaped insects that suck juices from plants. They generally are less than 1/8 inch long and usually green in color but many are black, brown, pink, yellow, blue, or white. |
| Asthma | Asthma attacks all age groups but often starts in childhood. It is a disease characterized by recurrent attacks of breathlessness and wheezing, which vary in severity and frequency from person to person. In an individual, they may occur from hour to hour and day to day. This condition is due to inflammation of the air passages in the lungs and affects the sensitivity of the nerve endings in the airways so they become easily irritated. In an attack, the lining of the passages swell causing the airways to narrow; reducing the flow of air in and out of the lungs. |
| Bacillus thuringiensis | Commonly called B.T., (Bt) occurs naturally in the soil and on plants. Different varieties of this bacterium produce a crystal protein that is toxic to specific groups of insects. Bt has been available in North America as a commercial microbial insecticide since the 1960s and is sold under various trade names. These products have an excellent safety record and can be used on crops until close to the day of harvest. Bt can be applied using conventional spray equipment but, because the bacteria must be eaten to be effective, good spray coverage is essential. |
| Baking powder | A leavening agent used in cookies, quick breads and other baked goods to produce expansion of a batter. It is made of baking soda and cream of tartar or another acid powder. It is almost always double action. This means it releases carbon dioxide when mixed with liquid, and releases it again when exposed to heat. Make sure, when following a recipe, that you don't confuse it with baking SODA, because your recipe will be ruined. You can make your own baking powder, which will be single action, by combining baking soda with cream of tartar. |
| Ballast | The device that stabilizes the electric current for stable operation of a bulb. Depending on the bulb it is either attached to the bulb (enerally as in compact florescent bulbs) of be part of the fixture (as in pin-based and fluorescent tubes). Units with seperate ballasts and bulbs re preferable because ballasts last much longer than bulbs |
| Bedding Plants | Plants that are seasonal, used for their colorful blooms or interesting foliage. |
| Blanching | To plunge foods into boiling water for a few seconds or a few minutes, then remove and place in ice water. |
| Blood Glucose | The main sugar (in the form of glucose) that the body makes from food. Cells cannot use glucose for fuel without the help of insulin. The blood sugar level in humans is normally 60 to 100 milligrams per 100 milliliters of blood; it rises after a meal to as much as 150 milligrams per 100 milliliter of blood, but this may vary. |
| Brown sugar | Brown sugar consists of sugar crystals coated in a molasses syrup with natural flavor and color. Many sugar refiners produce brown sugar by boiling a special molasses syrup until brown sugar crystals form. A centrifuge spins the crystals dry. Some of the syrup remains giving the sugar its brown color and molasses flavor. Other manufacturers produce brown sugar by blending a special molasses syrup with white sugar crystals. Dark brown sugar has more color and a stronger molasses flavor than light brown sugar. Lighter types are generally used in baking and making butterscotch, condiments and glazes. Dark brown sugar has a rich flavor that is good for gingerbread, mincemeat, baked beans, plum pudding and other full flavored foods. |
| Budded | A grafted tree where the scion is a small piece of bark or wood containing a single bud. |
| Butter | A soft yellowish or whitish emulsion of butterfat, water, air, and sometimes salt, churned from milk or cream and processed for use in cooking and as a food. |
| Calcium | a mineral that is abundant in water and all living organisms. |
| Calorie | A calorie is a unit of energy. Human beings need energy to survive -- to breathe, move, pump blood -- and we get this energy from food. The number of calories in a food is a measure of how much potential energy is in that food. A gram of carbohydrates has 4 calories, a gram of protein has 4 calories and a gram of fat has 9 calories. Foods are a combination of these three building blocks. So if you know how many carbohydrates, fats and proteins are in any given food, you know how many calories, or how much energy, that food contains. |
| Carbohydrate | Carbohydrates are a type of food that have the job of providing all the cells in the body with the energy they need. When carbohydrates are consumed, the body turns them into glucose, a simple sugar, which provides sufficient energy for everyday tasks and physical activity. There are two types of carbohydrates: Simple and complex. Simple carbohydrates are found in fruits and are easily digested by the body. They are also often found in processed foods and anything with refined sugar added. Complex carbohydrates are found in nearly all plant-based foods, and usually take longer for the body to digest. In other words, they remain in the stomach longer. They are most commonly found in bread products, cereals, pasta, rice, and certain vegetables. |
| Cardiovascular exercise | The ability of the body to sustain an activity for an extended period of time. Cardiovascular fitness is the ability of the lungs to provide oxygen to the blood and the heart to transport the oxygenated blood to the cells of the body. |
| CCT | Correlated Color Temperature, a measure of the color appearance of a light source; CCT is measured in degrees Kelvin (K) the absolute temperature scale; white light products comonly range from "warm white" (2700K) to "cool white" (5000K) |
| CEU | continuing education units |
| CFL | Compact Florescent Lamp (lamp is the lighting industry's term for bulb) |
| Cholesterol | A soft, waxy substance made by the body and found in animal products that we consume. Foods containing cholesterol include meat, fish, poultry, eggs and dairy products. Cholesterol travels in the blood as two compounds: low-density lipoproteins (LDL) and high-density lipoproteins (HDL). Cholesterol from food has not been shown to raise blood cholesterol levels. Rather, is is saturated fat in the diet that primarily raises blood cholesterol levels. |
| Chrysalis | is the 3rd stage of a butterfly’s life. This form is the change from a caterpillar to a butterfly. This is also called the pupa stage. |
| Composting | the biological decomposition of organic wastes. It turns ordinary kitchen and yard trimmings into what some call black gold. It happens naturally in the forests as leaves and other organic wastes decompose. It can be done in a controlled manner in your back yard. |
| Cool Season Vegetables | those varieties recommending for planting in the fall |
| Cooling Load | The amoung of energy needed to maintain comfort levels in conditioned air |
| Copra | the dried kernel or meat of the coconut from which coconut oil is expressed. |
| CRI | Color Rendering Index, a measure of how a standard series of colors appear under a light source compared to a reference light source, (daylight or incadescent light). CRI is measured on a scale of 0 to 100 with 100 being identical to the reference light source |
| Crown | Top of the pineapple where the leaves emerge from the fruit. |
| Crown Rot | Crown Rot is caused by the Phytophthora fungus, which attacks the roots and, most notably, the crown of African Violets. African Violets are most susceptible to Crown Rot when allowed to sit in soil that is heavy and soggy. In almost all cases, Crown Rot is fatal. The best control for Crown Rot is prevention. |
| Cultivar | A cultivated variety; does not occur naturally. |
| Cultural practices | Maintenance practices of a lawn including watering, fertilizing, mowing, and pesticide applications. |
| Daily Value | DV, a term on food labels based on the RDA (Recommended Dietary Allowance) designed to help consumers use food label information to plan a healthy diet. The Daily Value serves as a basis for declaring on the label the percent of the DV for each nutrient that a serving of the food provides. For example, the Daily Value for fat, based on a 2,000-calorie diet, is 65 grams (g). A food that has 13 g of fat per serving would state on the label that the "percent Daily Value" for fat is 20 percent. That is because 13 grams represents 20% of 65 grams. The DV also provides a basis for thresholds that define descriptive words for nutrient content, called descriptors, such as "high fiber" and "low fat." For example, the descriptor "high fiber" can be used if a serving of food provides 20 percent or more of the Daily Value for fiber-- that is, 5 g or more. |
| DASH diet eating plan | This is the name of a clinical study that tested the effects of nutrients in food on blood pressure. Study results indicated that you can reduce high blood pressure by following an eating plan that emphasizes fruits, vegetables, fat-free or low-fat milk and milk products, and is low in saturated fat, total fat, and cholesterol. |
| Dehydration: | Excessive loss of body water. |
| Diabetes | A condition caused by the body’s inability to use insulin to process the glucose (sugar) in the blood properly and so the level of glucose in the blood is too high for good health. It can be caused by too little insulin (a chemical produced by the pancreas to regulate blood sugar), resistance to insulin, or both. |
| Diabetes risk factor: | A life style or life situation that increases a person's chances of developing a disease. |
| Diabetes symptoms | Many people have no signs or symptoms. Symptoms can also be so mild that you might not even notice them. Some people have symptoms but do not suspect diabetes. Symptoms include increased thirst, increased hunger, fatigue, increased urination, especially at night, weight loss, blurred vision or sores that do not heal. Many people do not find out they have the disease until they have diabetes complications, such as blurry vision or heart trouble. If you find out early that you have diabetes, then you can get treatment to prevent damage to the body. |
| Diastolic pressure | Diastolic blood pressure measures the pressure in your blood vessels between heartbeats, when your heart is resting. |
| Dieback | Death of branches, either partial or entire, that can result from leaving a ragged cut or a long stub above the dormant bud. |
| Diode | A simple semiconductor device |
| Direct Sunlight | having at least 6 hours of sunlight |
| Diuretic: | Anything that promotes the formation of urine by the kidney. |
| Drip Line | The outermost reach of the branches away from the tree trunk |
| Duct Tape | Fabric based tape with a rubber adhesive used in many households for temporary fixes, but has proven to become brittle and fail over time. |
| EF | Energy Factor: the ratio of energy received from the water heater to the total amount of energy delivered to the water heater; the higher the better; determined by U.S. Department of Energy test procedures, or the number of pounds of clothing a dryer can dry with 1 kilowatt- hour of usage. |
| Egg | The ovoid, hard-shelled reproductive body produced by a bird, consisting principally of a yolk and albumen egg white). It is a good source of protein, iron, sulfur and vitamins A, B, D and E but also relatively high in cholesterol |
| Egg white | The common name for the clear liquid (also called the albumen) contained within an egg. It is the cytoplasm of the egg, which until fertilization is a single cell (including the yolk). It consists mainly of about 15% proteins dissolved in water. Its primary natural purpose is to protect the egg yolk and provide additional nutrition for the growth of the embryo, as it is rich in proteins and is of high nutritional value. Unlike the egg yolk, it contains a negligible amount of fat. |
| Egg yolk | The part of an egg which serves as the food source for the developing embryo inside. The egg yolk is suspended in the egg white (known more formally as albumen or ovalbumin) by one or two spiral bands of tissue called the chalazae. As a food, egg yolks are a major source of vitamins and minerals. They contain all of the egg's fat and cholesterol, and almost half of the protein. |
| Energy Star Qualifying Products | Residential water heater product classes that are eligible for Energy Star as of January 1, 2009: gas-storage, gas-tankless, integrated heat pump, gas condensing, and solar. |
| Enriched grains | A term usually applied to flour that, after the milling has stripped it of the germ and the bran and other nutritious elements, has niacin, riboflavin and thiamin added back into it. U.S. law requires that flours not containing wheat germ must have these nutrients replenished. |
| Epiphyte | A plant growing on, but not parasitic on, another plant. Orchids, Spanish moss and Bromeliads are epiphytes. |
| Epiphytic | A plant that grows on another plant upon which it depends for mechanical support but not for nutrients. Also called aerophyte, air plant. |
| Exhaust Vent | Where hot air from the dryer exits the house during the drying cycle |
| Fasting plasma glucose test | The preferred blood screening test recommended by the American Diabetes Association for the diagnosis of diabetes in children and non pregnant adults. If abnormal, the test should be repeated on at least one additional day to confirm the diagnosis of diabetes. The test should be performed after an 8 hour fast. For routine clinical practice, fasting plasma glucose is preferred over the oral glucose tolerance test for the diagnosis of diabetes because it is rapid, easier to administer, is more convenient for patients and providers and has a lower cost. |
| Fat | Along with proteins and carbohydrates, one of the three nutrients used as energy sources by the body. Also used as a source of bio-fuels |
| Fenestration | any opening in a building...including windows, skylights, and doors |
| Fiber | Dietary fibers are the indigestible portion of plant foods that move food through the digestive system, absorbing water and easing defecation. There are two types of dietary fiber; soluble and insoluble. |
| First-Hour Rating (FHR) | The amount of hot water in gallons a storage water heater can supply per hour (starting with a full tank of hot water); determined by the manufacturer using U.S. Department of Energy procedures. |
| Fluorescent | Light source that, when electrical surrent is applied, glows because of a chain of events iniitiated by the current's arc. |
| Foliage | Leaves of a plant |
| Foliar | Applied to the leaves of a plant |
| Foliar Frond | The erect leaves that are strap-shaped, hanging down from the basal fronds. |
| Fructose | A natural sugar found in many fruits and vegetables and in honey |
| Fruit | Fruits are products of flowers and usually develop as a result of a flower being pollinated. Fruits are basically seed-containers and seed-disseminators. |
| Fruit splitting | when the peel can no longer expand and it instead, splits |
| Fungus | A primitive form of plant life. There are species that cause plant disease such as powdery mildew or fusarium wilt. |
| Gallons Per Minute (GPM) | The amount of hot water in gallons a tankless water heater can supply per minute over a 77°F temperature increase; determined by the manufacturer using U.S. Department of Energy procedures. |
| Glazing | glass in a window or door, or the act or process of fitting with glass |
| Glucose | The human body converts most carbohydrates into a simple sugar called glucose. Glucose is a major source of energy for most cells of the body. It is the main sugar that the body makes from most carbohydrate foods and uses for fuel. Cells cannot use glucose for fuel without the help of insulin, a hormone which is made by the pancreas. |
| Glycemic Index: | A measure of how rapidly glucose of various forms of carbohydrates are absorbed into the blood circulation. |
| Grafted | A way to reproduce plants with the joining of parts of plants together in such a way that they unite and continue their growth as one plant. |
| Granulation | drying of the juice sacs within fruit |
| Grilling | A cooking technique in which foods are cooked directly over flame or the heat source by radiant heat placed below the food. Grills may be fueled by gas, electricity, charcoal or wood. Direct heat cooking usually at temperatures of 350F or more. Grilling is hot and fast cooking. Also, the piece of equipment on which grilling is done. |
| Groundcover | A ground cover is any low-growing plant that can be used to cover an area in the landscape. |
| Harvested | the gathering of a ripened crop. |
| HDL cholesterol | “High-density lipoprotein” is one of the classes of lipoproteins that carry cholesterol in the blood. HDL is considered to be beneficial because it removes excess cholesterol from the blood and disposes of it. Hence HDL cholesterol is often termed "good" cholesterol. |
| Herbaceous | Not woody; having no persistent woody stems above ground |
| High blood cholesterol | Too much cholesterol in the blood, caused by eating foods high in saturated and trans fat, can increase your risk of heart disease. Cholesterol can build up on the walls of your arteries. This buildup of cholesterol is called plaque. Over time, plaque can cause narrowing of the arteries. This is called atherosclerosis (ath-er-o-skler-O-sis), or hardening of the arteries. |
| Honey | The thick, sweet liquid made by honey bees from the nectar of flowers. In general, the darker the color of the honey, the stronger the flavor. Honey is the oldest sweetener known. |
| Honeydew | A sticky, sugary secretion deposited on plants by insects such as aphids, scales, and whiteflies |
| Horticultural Oils | Commercially available horticultural oils are refined petroleum products. Homemade recipes that include vegetable oils also can be used. The type of vegetable oil however can greatly affect its effectiveness. Cottonseed oil is generally the most insecticidal of all the vegetable oils. Paraffinic oils are also used to control many insects and Spider Mites. |
| Hummus | A smooth thick mixture of mashed chickpeas, tahini, oil, lemon juice, and garlic, used especially as a dip for pita. |
| HVAC | Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning equipment |
| Hyperglycemia (high blood sugar) | When the level of sugar in your blood is too high. |
| Hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) | When blood sugar (or blood glucose) concentrations fall below a level necessary to properly support the body's need for energy and stability throughout its cells. |
| ID Cardholder | Each employee who performs pest control for a licensee must have an identification card |
| Incadescent | Light source that glows because of its filament being heated to a high temperature. |
| Insecticidal Soap | is defined as any of the potassium fatty acid soaps used to control many plant pests. Insecticidal soap is typically sprayed on plants in the same manner as other insecticides. |
| Insulin | Insulin is a hormone produced by the beta cells of the pancreas which permits glucose from the blood to enter the body’s cells and helps the body use glucose for energy. Insulin controls the amount of glucose in the blood. People who are type 1 diabetic must use manufactured insulin, usually in an injectable form, to replace the natural insulin that is no longer produced by their pancreas. People with type 2 diabetes sometimes need to use insulin when their cells become resistant to the insulin that their pancreas makes naturally and oral medications are no longer working. |
| Intake Vent | Where a dryer draws air in |
| Integral light | Bulbs that combine a bulb, ballast and standard screw base in a single sealed assembly, which must be discarded when the bulb burns out. They can be installed in any standard screw-type fixture where incadescent bulbs are normally used. |
| Kelvin (K) | A measurement for the characteristics of visible light in determining color temperature, often used for categorizing CCT |
| Ketones | A waste product made by the body when it is using fat as an energy source. |
| Ketosis | Ketosis is a process in which your body converts fats into energy. During the conversion, ketones are produced as a by-product. Ketones can give your breath a sweet, fruity smell that may be mistaken for alcohol. Because long periods of ketosis can be dangerous to your kidneys and liver, ketogenic (low-carb) diets are never recommended by health professionals for more than short-term use, typically no longer than 14 days. |
| Kilowatt-hour (KWH) | Used on utility bills to define a unit of energy usage, e.g. a 100 way light bulb (0.1 KW) used for 10 hours (0.1KW X 10H) consumes 1 kilowatt hour of energy during that time. |
| Larval | The immature stage of an insect in the newly hatched, wormlike feeding stage |
| LCLM | Limited commercial landscape maintenance |
| LDL cholesterol | “Low-density lipoprotein” is the major cholesterol carrier in the blood. If too much LDL cholesterol circulates in the blood, it can slowly build up on the walls of the arteries that feed the heart and brain. Also referred to as "bad" cholesterol. |
| LED | Light Emitting Diode |
| Lesions | Spots on the leaf surface. |
| Lichens | Lichens are flaky moss-like organisms that grow on the bark and branches of our landscape trees or shrubs. They do not attack and kill. |
| LLO | Limited Lawn and Ornamental |
| Margarine | A dairy product similar to butter but made from milks, milk products, oils, and other ingredients. |
| Marinara | A sauce of tomatoes, onions, garlic and spices. |
| Mastic | A thick paste that provides a permanent seal at duct joints and connections; sometimes used in conjunction with a fiberglass mesh tape |
| MEF | Modified Energy Factor; measures the energy used during the washing process as a whole, including washing machine energy, water heating energy, and dryer energy required for the removal of the remaining moisture in the wash load; the higher the MEF, the more efficient the clothes washer |
| midges | Whitish-yellow 1/12” maggots that feed on flower buds |
| Multi-vitamin | A multivitamin is any preparation containing more than a single vitamin. Tablets and injectable forms are available. In common usage, "multivitamin" refers to tablets that contain various vitamins usually along with dietary minerals and, occasionally, herbal extracts. |
| mycorrhiza | A mutually beneficial association of a fungus and the roots of a plant such as a conifer or an orchid, in which the plant's mineral absorption is enhanced and the fungus obtains nutrients |
| National Fenestration Rating Council (NFRC) | a non-profit organization that administers the only uniform, independent rating and labeling system for the energy performance of windows, doors, skylights, and attachment products |
| Nematodes | Microscopic worms that live in sandy soil, damaging plant roots by feeding on them. |
| Nymph- | Young stage of insects |
| Oral glucose tolerance test | The administration of a sweet liquid solution of glucose to determine how quickly it is cleared from the blood. The glucose is most often given orally. The test may be performed as part of a panel of tests, such as the comprehensive metabolic panel. |
| Osmeterium | Swallowtail caterpillars and their larvae have a gland behind the head which they can project when threatened. This gland has an odor to keep the predators away. |
| Osteoporosis: | Porous bone (osteoporosis) is a disease characterized by low bone mass and structural deterioration of bone tissue, leading to bone fragility and an increased risk of fractures of the hip, spine, and wrist. Men as well as women are affected by osteoporosis, a disease that can be prevented and treated. Osteoporosis can strike at any age. One out of every two women and one in four men over 50 will have an osteoporosis-related fracture in their lifetime. |
| Oxidative stress: | The harmful condition that occurs when there is an excess of free radicals, a decrease in antioxidant levels, or both. |
| Parasitic | A plant which lives on, and acquires it's nutrients from another plant. |
| Partially hydrogenated vegetable oil | A semi-solid fat formed by the process of heating an oil and passing hydrogen bubbles through it. The fatty acids in the oil then acquire some of the hydrogen, which makes it more dense. A semi-solid partially hydrogenated oil called trans fat that has a consistency like butter is created. |
| Pesticide | a chemical substance used to kill pests. Pesticide is an umbrella term and encompasses herbicides, fungicides, rodenticides, insecticides, etc. |
| PH | A measure of the acidity or alkalinity of a solution, numerically equal to 7 for neutral solutions, increasing with increasing alkalinity and decreasing with increasing acidity. |
| Photosynthesis | Process by which green plants convert carbon dioxide to sugar and oxygen using sunlight for energy. |
| Phototoxic | a phototoxic substance is a chemical compound which becomes toxic only when exposed to light, i.e. the juices of Hogweed or Parsley. |
| Phytotoxic | a phytotoxic substance is a chemical compound which damages plant tissue |
| Protein | A molecule made up of amino acids that are needed for the body to function properly. Proteins are the basis of body structures such as skin, bone, and hair and are found in substances such as enzymes, hormones and antibodies. |
| Pups | Young plants that form at the base of the “mother” plant |
| R-Value | refers to a window assembly's resistance to heat flow; R-Value is the inverse of U-Factor (U=1/R) i.e., if the R-value of a window assembly is 2, the U-Factor is 0.5. |
| Reclaimed Water | Pinellas County’s reclaimed water is highly treated wastewater produced through an advanced wastewater treatment process. This process eliminates any harmful byproducts while retaining beneficial elements, such as nitrogen, for irrigating landscapes. |
| Red Meat | Red meat in culinary terminology refers to meat which is red-colored when raw, while in nutritional terminology, it refers to meat from mammals. In nutrition, "red meat" is synonymous with "mammal meat." The term is often considered misleading, as not all mammal meat appears red, and some non-mammal meat can be red. Red meat does not refer to how well a piece of meat is cooked or its coloration after cooking. A steak or hamburger is a red meat whether it is served rare, or cooked until it is well-done; pork is also red, though it turns to a whitish color when cooked. According to the USDA all meats obtained from "livestock" are "red meats" because they contain more myoglobin (an iron-containing pigment in muscle cells that holds and stores oxygen) than chicken or fish. |
| Refined grains | In contrast to whole grains, refined grains refers to grain products consisting of grains or grain flours that have been significantly modified from their natural composition. The modification process generally involves the mechanical removal of 2 of the 3 major parts of the grain: the bran and germ, either through grinding or selective sifting. Further refining includes mixing, bleaching, and brominating; additionally, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, and iron are often added back in to nutritionally enrich the product. Because the added nutrients represent a fraction of the nutrients removed, refined grains are considered nutritionally inferior to whole grains. |
| Return-register or Grille | Picks up inside air for reconditioning, drawing the air through a changeable filter into the air handler of your central system |
| RGB | Red-Green-Blue, the three primary colors of light |
| Rootstock | The part of the graft combination which becomes the lower portion, or root, is termed the stock (understock, rootstock) |
| Rosette | The base of leaves where they join together, forming a flower-like appearance. |
| Roughage | A misleading term that is often used to describe the fiber content of a diet. It is coarse, indigestible plant food that stimulates intestinal contraction. |
| Russeting | Mites, especially rust mites and spider mites, feed on leaves and fruit, causing a variety of symptoms referred to as stippling, silvering and russeting. |
| Salt-tolerant | used to describe plants that grow under conditions of (1) high winds, (2) salt spray, (3) alkaline soils, and (4) infertile sandy soils. |
| Saturated Fat | A fat that is solid at room temperature and comes chiefly from animal food products. Some examples are butter, lard, meat fat, solid shortening, palm oil, and coconut oil. These fats tend to raise the level of cholesterol in the blood. |
| Scale insect | Mostly sedentary oval-shaped insects that attach themselves along leaf veins and stems, sucking plant juices. Scraping off easily, scale can be armored, soft or mealybugs, ranging in color from black, brown, white or greenish in color. |
| Scion | The part of the graft combination which becomes the upper portion, or top, of the new plant. |
| Scouting or Monitoring | weekly inspection of plants in the landscape to look for insect, diseases, or problems |
| Semiconductors | Solid materials that possess electrical conductivity |
| Site Conditions | Salt tolerance, drainage, soil moisture, and amount of sunlight. |
| Sodium | A component of salt (sodium chloride); excess sodium intake can increase your risk for high blood pressure. A potassium rich diet can counteract some of sodium's effects on blood pressure. |
| Solar energy | Use of sunlight for heating or generating electricity |
| Solar Fraction (SF) | The amount of energy provided by the solar technology divided by the total energy put into the system; used in determining the efficiency of solar water heaters. |
| Solar Heat Gain Coefficient (SHGC) | measures the amount of the sun's heat admitted by the window, both directly and absorbed (and subsequently released into your home) |
| Sooty Mold | Sooty mold is a fungus that is a symptom of certain insect infestations and not a disease |
| Sphagnum moss | Bog mosses that are often used as soil additives and packing material because of their ability to retain moisture. |
| Spore | Small, single-celled reproductive body of a fungus. |
| SSL | Solid State Lighting, a general term for semiconductors that convert electricity into light. |
| Supplement | A nutrient or phytochemical supplied in addition to that which is obtained from the foods we eat. |
| Supply-Registers | Vent-like units in wall, floor, or ceiling where you feel the conditioned air blowing from |
| Symbiotic | - a relationship in which two or more dissimilar organisms live together in close association |
| Systolic blood pressure | The systolic arterial pressure is defined as the peak pressure in the arteries, which occurs near the beginning of the cardiac cycle. |
| The ph scale | commonly in use ranges from 0 to 14 |
| Thermal Envelope | the building's exterior shell that includes the walls, foundation, floors, ceiling, windows, doors, and roof; generally considered the boundary between the indoor cooled or heated area and the outdoors |
| Thrips | Small ( 2.6 mm -3.6 mm) brownish-black insects that suck juices from leaves and flowers. |
| Trans fat | Trans fat (also known as trans fatty acids) is mostly man-made form of fat. It is a specific type of fat formed when liquid oils are made into solid fats like shortening and hard margarine by food manufacturers. It is made by adding hydrogen to vegetable oil -- a process called hydrogenation. Hydrogenation increases the shelf life and flavor stability of foods containing these fats. Trans fat behaves like saturated fat by raising LDL or "bad" cholesterol that increases your risk of coronary heart disease and lowering HDL or “good” cholesterol in the blood. |
| Triple Bottom Line | Financial, social, and environmental effects of a firm's policies and actions that determine its viability as a sustainable organization. Definition courtesy of www.businessdictionary.com/definition/triple-bottom-line.html |
| Turbinado sugar | This sugar is a raw sugar which has been partially processed, removing some of the surface molasses. It is a blond color with a mild brown sugar flavor and is often used in tea. |
| U-Factor | measure of the rate at which a window conducts non-solar heat (as from your heating system) |
| Unsaturated Fat | A fat derived from plant and some animal sources, especially fish, which is liquid at room temperature. Intake of foods containing more unsaturated fats than saturated fats may contribute to reduced blood cholesterol levels. |
| Vegetable | The food of a plant, raised for some edible part of it, such as the leaves, roots, fruit or flowers, but excluding any plant considered to be a “fruit,” which contains seeds. Generally, if it has seeds inside, it is considered a fruit. |
| Visible Transmittance (VT) | measures how much light comes through a produc |
| warm season vegetables | those varieties recommending for planting in the spring |
| WF | Water Factor; gallons of water used per cycle, per cubic foot capacity of the tub; the lower the WF, the less water the washing machine uses. |
| White Light | Not an actual "color", but rather a combination of all wavelengths in the visible spectrum of light. |
| Whiteflies | Small 1/32” long whitish flies that lay eggs on the underside of leaves. The adults are not harmful; however, the young nymphs suck juices from plants. |
| Whole grain | Whole grains are cereal grains which retain the bran and germ as well as the endosperm which are the 3 major parts of the grain. Iin contrast, refined grains retain only the endosperm. The whole truth is if the label doesn't say "100% whole grain," check the ingredient list to see if the food contains any refined grains or flour. Dead giveaways are enriched or unbleached wheat flour, semolina flour, durum flour, and rice flour. Enriched grains: A term usually applied to flour that, after the milling has stripped it of the germ and the bran and other nutritious elements, has niacin, riboflavin and thiamin added back into it. U.S. law requires that flours not containing wheat germ must have these nutrients replenished. |
| Whole Window | ncludes the glazing (glass), frame, sash, and any operable elements |
| Winter Annuals | – plants that are used primarily for their flowers and are planted in the cool months of the year. |
