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| 1. Description - |
| Commercial greenhouse and nursery management practices as related to the production and sale of plants in California. Emphasis on greenhouse and container nursery operations. Class will focus on organization, management, and production practices used in large and small-scale commercial plant production. Design of facilities and use of technology will be emphasized through use of on-campus facilities and observation of off-site operations. This course is an elective for Horticulture certificates and degrees, and is intended for students in the horticulture program but members of the public and professional community are invited to enroll.
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| Prerequisite: None
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| Co-requisite: None
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| Advisory: Completion of, or concurrent enrollment in HORT 15 strongly recommended.
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| 2. Course Objectives - |
| The student will be able to:
- organize, schedule, and implement skills and practices used in the production and merchandising of a greenhouse or nursery crop.
- demonstrate skills required to maintain greenhouse and nursery facilities.
- identify major types of growing structures and their respective roles in commercial plant production.
- determine the types of materials and environmental control systems required for the production of major greenhouse crops.
- demonstrate, through written examinations, the various aspects of greenhouse design, construction, and operation utilized in the green industry.
- demonstrate the various aspects of container and in-ground nursery design.
- demonstrate, through written examinations, the development and care of horticultural crops in a greenhouse and nursery environment.
- demonstrate skills in management of nursery facilities.
- recognize the use of greenhouse and nursery operations in different cultures.
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| 3. Special Facilities and/or Equipment - |
| Horticultural laboratory, greenhouse, lath house and related horticultural facilities and equipment. Students provide pruning shears with sheath, work boots, leather gloves and clothing for fieldwork.
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| 4. Course Content (Body of knowledge) - |
| - Introduction to plant production
- Scheduling
- Maintenance
- Harvesting
- Marketing
- Shipping requirements
- Plant production by different cultures
- Greenhouse technology; evaluation of structural materials
- Framework
- Glazing
- Environmental control systems
- Nursery facilities
- Container growing systems
- Field growing systems
- Specific cultural requirements and technology designed to maintain high quality crops
- Irrigation techniques
- Nutritional analysis
- Methods of fertilizer application
- Types of container media and methods of preparation
- Identification of pests
- Responsible decision making as part of integrated pest management program
- Crop production
- Media preparation
- Planting
- Cultural requirements
- Harvesting
- Major flowering crops of California
- Specific production methods
- Technologies for optimizing post-harvest quality
- Strategies for marketing and sale of crop
- Market analysis
- Marketing techniques
- International markets
- Plant production management
- Business organization
- Personnel Management
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| 5. Repeatability - Moved to header area. |
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| 6. Methods of Evaluation - |
| Methods of evaluation used for this course will include:
- Participation through attendance
- Exercises related to facilities and crop planning
- Lab work
- Final examination
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| 7. Representative Text(s) - |
| Nelson, Paul V. Greenhouse Operation and Management - 6th Ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 2003. (recommended only)
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| 8. Disciplines - |
| Environmental Horticulture & Design
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| 9. Method of Instruction - |
| Methods of evaluation used for this course will include:
- Lectures.
- Participate in discussions.
- Engage in lab activities.
- Field trips.
- Engage in small group discussions.
- Read assigned reading activities.
- Perform self-guided research.
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| 10. Lab Content - |
| Lab content will include:
- Greenhouse mechanical and cultural setup.
- Greenhouse sterilization
- Fertilization equipment setup
- Computer control setup
- Zone setup
- Plant propagation.
- Starting seeds
- Dividing plants
- Cuttings
- Plant production management.
- Maintain proper cultural conditions
- Maintain pest control
- Plant marketing strategy.
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| 11. Honors Description - No longer used. Integrated into main description section. |
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| 12. Types and/or Examples of Required Reading, Writing and Outside of Class Assignments - |
| - Reading assignments will include reading approximately 20-30 pages per week from assigned text. Supplemental reading will be provided in hand-out form or through reference to on-line resources.
- Lectures will address reading topics and experiences of instructor. Classroom discussion and demonstrations in support of lecture topics will be provided.
- Writing assignments include:
- topical white papers
- production reports
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| 13. Need/Justification - |
| This course is a restricted support course for the AS degree in Environmental Horticulture & Design.
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