# Clemson HGIC Home & Garden Factsheet Scraper (`jungle_synthesizer/clemson-hgic-home-garden-factsheet-scraper`) Actor

Scrapes the Clemson HGIC factsheet library — 2,500+ science-based factsheets on plant care, diseases, pest management, lawn care, and food preservation. Outputs structured records: HGIC ID, body sections, symptoms, management, products, authors.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/jungle_synthesizer/clemson-hgic-home-garden-factsheet-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [BowTiedRaccoon](https://apify.com/jungle_synthesizer) (community)
- **Categories:** Developer tools, Education
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 96.2% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $0.80 / 1,000 record scrapeds

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## Clemson HGIC Home & Garden Factsheet Scraper

Scrapes the [Clemson Home & Garden Information Center (HGIC)](https://hgic.clemson.edu/factsheet/) factsheet library — 2,500+ science-based factsheets covering plant care, diseases, pest management, lawn care, and food preservation. Outputs structured records with HGIC ID, body sections, symptoms, management recommendations, recommended products, authors, and related factsheets.

### What It Does

Clemson HGIC is one of the largest university extension factsheet libraries in the US (SE US plant palette, 2,500+ documents). Each factsheet follows a consistent template with discrete sections: symptoms, management/control recommendations, and prevention. This actor parses that structure into machine-readable fields — exactly what plant-diagnosis apps, AI garden assistants, and agronomy SaaS platforms need as grounding data.

The actor finds every published factsheet and returns them all — complete coverage.

### Use Cases

- Training data for plant disease diagnosis AI and AI garden assistant models
- Structured extension knowledge base for horticulture SaaS
- Agronomy/landscaping content and reference data pipelines
- Garden app content enrichment (symptom/treatment lookup)

### Input

| Field | Type | Default | Description |
|-------|------|---------|-------------|
| maxItems | integer | 10 | Maximum number of factsheets to scrape. Set to a large number to scrape all ~2,500+ factsheets. |

### Output

Each item represents one HGIC factsheet.

| Field | Type | Description |
|-------|------|-------------|
| factsheet_id | string | HGIC factsheet number, e.g. `HGIC 1223` |
| slug | string | URL slug, e.g. `turfgrasses-for-the-carolinas` |
| title | string | Factsheet title |
| category | string | Subject category: Diseases, Insects, Lawns, Soils, Vegetables, Trees & Shrubs, Flowers, Fruits & Nuts, Food Safety & Preservation, Human Health & Safety, General |
| plant_subjects | string | Comma-separated plant names from the title |
| problem_type | string | Problem type: `disease`, `insect`, `cultural`, or `none` |
| summary | string | First meaningful paragraph / introductory text |
| body_sections | string | JSON array of `{heading, text}` objects for the full structured body |
| symptoms | string | Symptom description text (for disease/pest/damage factsheets) |
| management | string | Management and control recommendation text |
| prevention | string | Prevention and cultural practices text |
| recommended_products | string | Comma-separated trade names and chemistries found in management sections |
| related_factsheets | string | Comma-separated related factsheet links (`title | URL`) |
| last_updated | string | Revision date as shown in factsheet metadata, e.g. `Feb 28, 2016` |
| authors | string | Comma-separated list of factsheet authors |
| images | string | Comma-separated image URLs embedded in the factsheet |
| factsheet_url | string | Canonical URL of the factsheet |
| scrapedAt | string | ISO-8601 timestamp when the record was scraped |

### Sample Output

```json
{
  "factsheet_id": "HGIC 1223",
  "slug": "turfgrasses-for-the-carolinas",
  "title": "Turfgrasses for the Carolinas",
  "category": "Lawns",
  "problem_type": "none",
  "summary": "For over 50 years the lawn has been an integral part of the landscape...",
  "body_sections": "[{\"heading\":\"Mowing\",\"text\":\"...\"}]",
  "last_updated": "Feb 28, 2016",
  "authors": "Millie Davenport, Gary Forrester",
  "factsheet_url": "https://hgic.clemson.edu/factsheet/turfgrasses-for-the-carolinas/"
}
```

### Discovery Method

Reads the Yoast sitemap index at `https://hgic.clemson.edu/sitemap.xml`, filters for `factsheet-sitemap.xml` and `factsheet-sitemap2.xml`, and collects all `/factsheet/<slug>/` URLs. The `maxItems` cap is applied before crawling begins.

### Performance

- **Memory**: 128–256 MB
- **Throughput**: ~200 pages/minute at default concurrency (5)
- **Full corpus (~2,500 factsheets)**: ~15–20 minutes
- **Timeout**: 2-hour default (sufficient for full corpus)

# Actor input Schema

## `sp_intended_usage` (type: `string`):

What will this data feed? E.g. lead lists, KYB checks, price tracking.

## `sp_improvement_suggestions` (type: `string`):

Provide any feedback or suggestions for improvements.

## `sp_contact` (type: `string`):

We'll personally help with your use case. No spam.

## `resumeCursor` (type: `string`):

Leave empty for a fresh crawl. To CONTINUE a previous run where it stopped — without paying again for records you already received — paste the `resumeCursor` value from that run's Output (the run's OUTPUT key). Resume promptly: the previous run's data expires with your account's retention window (free tier: your ~10 most recent runs).

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

Maximum number of factsheets to scrape. Leave blank to scrape all available factsheets (~2,500+). Default is 10 for a quick test run.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "sp_intended_usage": "Describe your intended use...",
  "sp_improvement_suggestions": "Share your suggestions here...",
  "sp_contact": "Share your email here...",
  "maxItems": 10
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

No description

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "sp_intended_usage": "Describe your intended use...",
    "sp_improvement_suggestions": "Share your suggestions here...",
    "sp_contact": "Share your email here...",
    "maxItems": 10
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("jungle_synthesizer/clemson-hgic-home-garden-factsheet-scraper").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "sp_intended_usage": "Describe your intended use...",
    "sp_improvement_suggestions": "Share your suggestions here...",
    "sp_contact": "Share your email here...",
    "maxItems": 10,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("jungle_synthesizer/clemson-hgic-home-garden-factsheet-scraper").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "sp_intended_usage": "Describe your intended use...",
  "sp_improvement_suggestions": "Share your suggestions here...",
  "sp_contact": "Share your email here...",
  "maxItems": 10
}' |
apify call jungle_synthesizer/clemson-hgic-home-garden-factsheet-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,jungle_synthesizer/clemson-hgic-home-garden-factsheet-scraper"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/4Qnc28qCRUpcoW5ZE/builds/ml3HuAIGXGEvo7FmT/openapi.json