Lesson Structure:   Horticulture III (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:  Horticulture III (Plant Health) BHT116

• • Identify the characteristics of pests and diseases of plants.
  • Explain methods for the control of pests and diseases.
  • Describe the characteristics of a range of different pesticides, including insecticides and fungicides.
  • Explain the selection and use of spray equipment appropriate for differenpecified tasks.
  • Describe aspects of the biology of an insect which are relevant to pest control.
  • Describe aspects of the biology of an fungus which are relevant to disease control.
  • Explain how inappropriate environmental conditions can affect plant health.
  • Identify the characteristic signs of a range of non-insect pests,
  • and select apropriate control methods.

• Short term impact
• Long term impact
• Economic impact
• Aesthetic impact.

Distinguish between the main types of plant diseases, including:

• Fungal
• Viral
• Bacterial.

Create a standard worksheet for reviewing pest and disease problems of plants.

Diagnose different problems (ie. pests or diseases), documenting the problem on a standard pest/disease review worksheet.

• Application of chemicals
• Plant selection
• Companion planting
• Cultural techniques (i.e. improving ventilation, improving drainage)
• Physical control (i.e. pruning, hand removal, trapping, hosing off).
• Explain how plant breeding has been used to improve pest/disease resistance in different plant species.
• Explain three biological control methods for dealing with specific problems.
• Develop an IPM strategy for a specific situation such as a crop or garden, considering:
• application procedures, remedial action and monitoring.
• Describe plant hygiene practices for a specific situation such as a crop, nursery or garden, in line with industry practice, enterprise guidelines and sound management practice.
• Recommend control methods for different pest and/or disease problems diagnosed.
• List safety procedures to follow when handling pesticides.

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