PLS331: Floriculture and Greenhouse Management

Spring 2004

Syllabus

Course Objectives: Plant Science 331, Floriculture and Greenhouse Management, is a multifaceted course which will expose you to the controlled environment ornamental plant production industry: from propagation to structures, environmental control, crop production and marketing. This course comprises material previously taught in two courses, PLS 331, Floriculture and Greenhouse Management, and PLS 436, Floriculture and Greenhouse Crop Production, and builds upon basic propagation methods learned in PLS 405, Plant Propagation.

There are three basic parts to this course:

(1) The course text, Greenhouse Operation & Management, 6e, by Paul V. Nelson, is required reading for all students. Lecture time on Tuesdays will be devoted to reviewing and discussing this text, so . . . you are required to have read assignments before class. Short weekly quizzes will assess your efforts in coming to class prepared to discuss the assigned materials (hints as to what you will be quizzed on will be offered a week before the quiz).

(2) Groups of students (individuals by permission only) are required to visit and photograph one fairly large greenhouse operation. The group will develop a PowerPoint presentation for the class accompanied by a script for each PowerPoint slide. Half the groups will present to the class midway through the semester and the rest near the end of the semester. A list of potential greenhouses will be provided by the instructor. (20%)

(3) Each student will be required to grow two or more greenhouse crops during the semester. This will include advance study of background information, propagating the crop by sexual or asexual means, establishing and growing the crop in the class greenhouses, and preparing both written and oral reports of the project. The individual student will be responsible for propagating, planting, irrigation, fertilization, pest control, growth regulation, and harvest, if appropriate.(25%)

Schedule:

Lectures: TTh 3:30 - 4:45 p.m., 123 Greenhouses

Lab: Arranged by individuals and groups

Field Trips: TBA

Credit: 3 credit hours, letter grade

Office Hours: W 10:00 - 11:00, or by appointment

Teaching Assistants:

Whitney O’Hanian, Phone: 345-9310;

Bill Johnson, 874-5220

Required Text:

Greenhouse Operation & Management, 6e. 2003. Paul V. Nelson. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ. ISBN 0-13-010577-5.

Optional Text:

Floriculture: Principles and Species. 1999. J.M. Dole and H.F. Wilkins. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ. ISBN 0-13-374703-4.

Grading:

A (95-100), A- (90-94), B+ (87-89), B (83-86), B- (80-82), C+ (77-79), C (73-76), C- (70-72), D+ (67-69), D (63-66), D- (60-62), F (<60). No curve.

CLASS SCHEDULING

Week 1

1/13 (Tues) Introduction

1/15 (Thurs) Disc: Floriculture - A Global Industry (chapter 1)

Week 2

1/20 (Tues)NO CLASS - MONDAY CLASSES MEET

1/22 (Thurs) Crop Production 1

Week 3

1/27 (Tues) Disc: Greenhouse Construction 1

1/29 (Thurs) Group Project Time 1

Week 4

2/03 (Tues) Disc: Greenhouse Construction II (chapter 2 Quiz; Crop Proposals Due)

2/05 (Thurs) Crop Production 2

Week 5

2/10 (Tues) Disc: Environmental Heating (chapter 3 Quiz (pp. 93-132, 144-150))

2/12 (Thurs) Math Exercise 1: Calculating Greenhouse Heating Requirements

Week 6

2/17 (Tues) Disc: Root Substrates (chapters 6, 7 Quiz)

2/19 (Thurs) Crop Production 3

Week 7

2/24 (Tues) Disc: Watering (chapter 8 Quiz)

2/26 (Thurs) Group Project Time 2

Week 8

3/02 (Tues) Disc: Fertilization

3/04 (Thurs) Preliminary Examination I (15%)

SPRING BREAK 3/08-3/12 - ENJOY YOURSELF!

Week 9

3/16 (Tues) Disc: Alternative Cropping Systems

3/18(Thurs) Crop Production 4

Week 10

3/23 (Tues) Disc: CO2 Fertilization & Light and Temperature (chapters 11,12 Quiz)

3/25 (Thurs) Group Project Time 3

Week 11

3/30 (Tues) Disc. Greenhouse Cooling and Environmental Control (chapters 4, 5 Quiz)

4/01 (Thurs) Math Exercise 2: Calculating Evaporative Cooling Specs

Week 12

4/06 (Tues) Disc: Growth Regulation (chapter 13 Quiz)

4/08 (Thurs) Virtual Field Trips, Part 1

Week 13

4/13 (Tues) Disc: Insect and Disease Control

4/15 (Thurs) Crop Production 5

Week 14

4/20 (Tues) Disc: Postproduction Quality and Marketing (chapters 16, 17 Quiz)

4/22 (Thurs) Virtual Field Trips, Part 2

Week 15

4/27 (Tues) Preliminary Examination 2 (15%)

4/29 (Thurs) Crop Production Oral and Written Reports 1 Review

Week 16

5/04 (Tues) Crop Production Oral and Written Reports 2 Review

5/07 (Friday) Final Examination (10%); 8-11 AM, Ghse 123