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Horticulture 3 (Plant Health)

Horticulture 3 (Plant Health) 100 Hours Certificate Course

Course Code:

BHT116

Level:

Start:

Anytime

Finish:

Anytime

Study From:

Anywhere

Tutor Support:

Unlimited Access

Learn About Horticulture 3 (Plant Health)

Horticulture 3 (Plant Health) Online Course

HORTICULTURIST, NURSERY STAFF, OR ENTHUSIASTIC GARDENER, PEST AND DISEASE MANAGEMENT- ESSENTIAL KNOWLEDGE.

HOW WILL THIS COURSE HELP YOU?

Identification of plant pests and diseases
Understanding plant health in depth
Systematically identifying plant health issues
The best way to control pests and diseases in plants
The importance of maintaining a high quality garden, whether it’s for a business or a home

IS THIS COURSE RIGHT FOR YOU?

Develop your horticulture skills
Boost your confidence as a professional gardener
Assist in the control of pests and diseases
Develop your gardening skills and knowledge
Improve plant selection for designers
Improve the quality of plants produced by nursery professionals

Find out what you can do to get the most out of your garden, nursery, or gardening service. Plants are susceptible to pests and diseases. Discover how to control them.

Develop with this course a deep understanding of plant health, the systematic identification of health problems in plants and the techniques for control of those problems.

Achieve high standards of plant health through distance learning with this Horticulture 3 (Plant Health) Online Course from ADL.

Course Information

Click the + and – below to expand/collapse the sections.

Lessons

Lesson Structure: Horticulture 3 (Plant Health) BHT116

There are 10 lessons:

1 Introduction

Pests
Diseases
Common terminology
Diagnosing problems systematically
Tell tale symptoms
Conducting an inspection: four steps
Pest or disease reviews

2 Overview of Preventative Controls

Introduction
Methods of pest management
Integrated pest management
Cultural control
Using disease resistant varieties
Crop rotation
Timed planting
Mulching
Cleanliness
Biological control
Types of biological controls
Beneficial plants
Trap or decoy plants
Pheromone traps
Physical controls
Traps
REpellants
Mulching
Pruning
Wounds
Chemical controls
Understanding pesticides
Safely storing chemicals
Safely mixing chemicals
Legalities
Plant breeding for resistance
Sources and causes of resistance
Adaptability, resistance and pest variability

3 Insecticides

Types of insecticides: systemich, stomach poisons, contact poisons, etc
Inorganics, botanicals, organophosphates, carbamates, synthetic pyrethroids
Characteristics of insecticides: toxicity, spectrum, LD50, persistence, volatility, etc.
Golden rules for handling pesticides
Terminology

4 Other Pesticides

Chemical Pesticides: introduction
Review of common pesticides
Soil treatment for control of diseases
Soil pests
Types of fumigtants
Systemic fungicides
Comparative toxicities

5 Spray Equipment

Types of sprayers
Uses of sprayers
Spray terminology
Sprayer maintenance and cleaning
Selecting a sprayer
Calibration
Using chemicals: agitation, clean up and disposal
Basic first aid with chemical pesticides
Response to liquid or powder spills
Keeping records
Misters, Dusters, Blowers
Pesticides and the environment

6 Insect Biology

Insect classification: orders, sub classes
Insect anatomy: mouthparts, legs, etc
Lifecycle
Feeding habits
Practical project: Insect collecting, preserving, identifying, for an insect collection
Common insects that a gardener encounters
Ants
Aphis
Beetles
Borers
Bugs
Caterpillars
Cockroaches
Crickets
Earwigs
Fleas
Flies
Galls (caused by insects)
Grasshoppers
Ladybirds (good and bad)
Leaf hoppers
Leaf miners
Lerps
Mealy bug
Mosquitos
Scale insects
Termites
Thrips
Wasps
Whitefly

7 Fungal Biology

What causes disease
Symptoms of disease
Lifecycle of a disease: inoculation, penetration, infection, growth and reproduction, dissemination
Fungi groups: obligate saprophytes, obligate parasites, facultative saprophytes, facultative parasites
Expanded concept of tree decay
Chemical pesticides in the UK and Europe
Common diseases
Anthracnose
Bitter pit
Blights
Botrytis
Canker
Cinnamon fungus
Club root
Damping off
Galls
Gummosis
Leaf curl
Leaf spot
Melanose
Mildews
Rots
Rust
Scab
Silver leaf
Spot
Smut
Sooty mould
Wilts

8 Environmental Problems

Common environmental problems
Foliage burns
Pollution
Lack of water
Drainage problems
Frost
Hail
Shade
Temperature
Wind
Symptoms of nutritional deficiencies
Air pollution
The plant and water
Non parasitic problems in turf (lawns)
Ways to provide environmental protection to plants

9 Viruses

Overview
Symptoms
Detection and diagnosis of viruses
Control
Examples of virus diseases

10 Nematodes, Molluscs and Crustaceans

Overview
Millipedes
Plant nematodes
Nematodes in citrus
Red spider mites
Spiders
Slaters or wood lice
Snails and slugs

Please Note. Each lesson requires the completion of an assignment located at the end of the each lesson, which you submit to your Tutor for marking and grading and returned to you with relevant suggestions, comments, and extra reading where necessary.

Learning Goals

Practical (Set Tasks)

More Information

INSECTICIDES – KNOW THEIR CHARACTERISTICS!

Consider the following when choosing an insecticide. Your judgement of what to use should balance all of these factors.

Toxicity
This is a measure of a substance’s capacity to poison. Its capacity to poison will of course vary from one organism to another. It may be very poisonous to one type of insect, but not to another. It’s toxicity to insects is not always directly related to its toxicity to people, domestic animals, or wildlife.

Spectrum of Activity
This is the range of organisms which the product affects. Insecticides such as pyrethrins or dichlorvos are broad-spectrum (i.e. they kill a wide range of pests). Conversely, chemicals which kill only a small range of insects are called “narrow spectrum”.

LD50
LD50 is a measure of the toxicity to mammals. It is a measure of milligrams of poison per kilogram of body weight required to kill 50% of test animals. It is generally tested on mice or rats to obtain the LD50 reading.

Dermal LD50 is the result obtained by subjecting animals to a dose of the chemical through the skin.
Oral LD50 is the result obtained by subjecting the animals to a dose of the chemical through the mouth.
The lower the LD50 value, the more toxic the chemical is.

Persistence
Most pesticides will change form gradually after application. The effect of the chemical on organisms it contacts will therefore gradually be reduced.

Persistence is a measure of how quickly or slowly this decline of the effect of the chemical is. Persistence is rated in terms of ‘half-life’.

Half life is the length of time from application to when the chemical has half the effect it did when it was first applied.

Dieldrin, for instance, has a half life of over 100 years, making it very persistent (it was banned from use in Australia in the early 1990s, is prohibited in many other countries, and under restricted use in several others). Malathion has a half life measured in weeks. Some chemicals have a half life measured in hours.

Volatility
This is how easily the chemical becomes a gas. Volatile poisons are more dangerous to work with (e.g. Dichlorvos) because they can be readily breathed in. Dichlorvos has been banned in the EU since 1998 and is no longer used in Australia except for the control of European wasps.

Repellence
This is the chemical’s ability to repel insects from the place where it is applied. Pyrethrin, for instance, repel insects such as mosquitoes and other flies.

Flushing Action
This is the tendency the chemical has to excite insects and make them leave places where they are hiding e.g. making cockroaches leave cracks and crevices.

Knockdown Action
This refers to the chemicals ability to quickly incapacitate the insect, that is, whether it acts quickly or not.

Phytotoxicity
This refers to the harmful effects the chemical might have on plants e.g. some types of chemicals sprayed under certain conditions will cause burning or other damage to plant foliage or growing tips etc.

Assessment

How our courses work

FAQ

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Here is a list of the most often asked FAQ’s.

General

Q. Why should I enrol with the Academy for Distance Learning?
A. Here at ADL, our students are our priority – we treat everyone as a unique individual.

Q. Do I need to buy text books?
A. No, as each module has been written by highly qualified industry professionals. The content of the material is presented in such a way that text books are not required. However, if you require additional reading your tutor will be able to supply a list.

Q. What happens if I have to stop studying for a while? (eg. become sick, go on holidays, have a baby, move house, etc)
A. It’s OK to take a break and start up your study at a later point in time. Just let us know.

Q. Is there an age limit?
A. There is no maximum age limit. We do however, have a minimum age limit of 18 years. Below that age parental consent would be required.

Q. Are your courses up-to date?
A. Our courses are revised and updated on a rotation system.

Q. Do you have a Cancellation policy?
A. Yes. We have a cancellation policy that is fair and equitable. For further details please click here.

Q. Will I have any opportunity to engage with other students?
A. We have a Student Community group based on facebook! If you don’t have a facebook account already, you could make one just for talking with fellow students on the group.

Enrolment

Q. When can I enrol/start?
A. You may enrol and start at any time of the year – it’s all self- paced.

Q. Can I study from anywhere in the world?
A. Our courses are available to anyone, anywhere in the world from the comfort of your own home. The course content is relevant to any country, culture or economy.

Q. How long do I have to complete the course?
A. You complete the course at any time that is convenient for you.

Q. Completing a 100 hour module – how long will it take?
A. For some students a 100 hour module will take approximately to 3- 6 months to complete. Others take less time and some even longer.

Assessment

Q. Assessment – how does it work?
A. For each 100 hour module you are assessed by assignments (at the end of each lesson) and a final one and a half hour exam (or you may elect to complete a Project, instead of sitting the exam) – the choice is yours – you sit for the exam in your own location.

Q. I don’t cope well with exams – what can I do?
A. You may elect to undertake a Project (set by your tutor) instead of sitting the exam. Projects are completed from your home and can usually take a couple of weeks to complete.

Q. If my assignment is not up to standard is there an opportunity to resubmit my work?
A. Yes –

Q. How many assignments do I need to complete for each module?
A. At the end of each lesson, there is an assignment – so if a course has say, 10 lessons, there would be 10 assignments.

Q. I am having difficulty attending workshops/industry meetings, what can be done?
A. If your course requires attendance at workshops, conferences, or industry meetings; alternative arrangements can be made in your country.

Qualifications

Q. Can I customize my diploma/higher qualification?

A. Not all educational institution’s certificates /diplomas meet everyone’s needs. The opportunity to Design Your Own Diploma at the Academy (subject to our approval) is an added bonus, not found at other colleges. You choose modules that you think will help you in achieving your goal.

Q. What do I get when I complete the course? Will I receive a transcript?
A. At the completion of all courses and providing all assignments and exam requirements have been met, you will receive your Award and a Transcript.

Tutors

Q. Our tutors – who are they?
A. We appoint Tutors and require that they must be currently active in their industry, with at least 5 years’ experience in their chosen profession.

Q. Can I contact my tutor at any time?
A. Yes – you have unlimited access to your tutor via email through our Online Classroom. You can always leave a message with ADL requesting your tutor to contact you. You decide on how much or how little contact you wish to have.

Q. Practical work – How is this done?
A. To find out more about this part of the course please visit the section on How Our Courses Work here.

What's Included

What your tuition fees include

All Course Material via Online, USB or Correspondence
Assignments Marked
Professional Tutor Feedback
Set Tasks - Practical Exercises to help you develop skills
Self-Tests – multiple choice questions at the end of lessons in most modules
Unlimited Personal Tutor Support – via our student classroom
Committed and Friendly Admin Support – vital to your success
All ADL Exam or Project fees (exception RHS exams)
Qualification Certificate
Official Transcript with assignment grades
Student Manual

Plus FREE

Academic Writing course (optional - 10 hours only)
Critical Thinking course (optional - 10 hours only)
Job Seekers Careers Guide
Study Tips on How To Study Better
Career Counselling by ADL Staff
CV Writing Help, Tips and Advice

Call us: +44 (0)1227 789 649 - Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm

Horticulture 3 (Plant Health)