Nursery Growers Course

Want to start a small business growing and selling plants from home?

This course is designed to help you do just that! This is the way many plant nurseries start. If you want to avoid some of the big pitfalls, and minimize the chances of wasting time and money; a course like this is a very wise move before you begin.

Lesson Structure

There are 6 lessons in this course:

1. Plant Identification and Culture. How plants are named, scientific and common names, watering, weed control, when and how to use a glasshouse/shadehouse.
2. Plant Propagation. Overview of propagation techniques, propagating mixes, pots, hormones, propagating structures and aids.
3. Soils and Nutrition. Soil structure, soil additives, major nutrients, minor nutrients, nutrient deficiencies, salt toxicity, soil mixes, fertilisers.
4. Seed Propagation and Nursery Business. Handling seed, pre-germination treatments, handling seedlings, propagating selected species.
5. Cutting Propagation. Stem cuttings, leaf cuttings, leaf bud cuttings, propagating selected species by cuttings.
6. Pest and Disease. Identifying a problem, insects, fungal diseases, nursery hygiene.

Each lesson culminates in an assignment which is submitted to the school, marked by the school's tutors and returned to you with any relevant suggestions, comments, and if necessary, extra reading.

Aims

• Understand plant identification and culture.
• Describe a range of growing structures including a greenhouse, glasshouse and shadehouse.
• Understand the differences between sexual and asexual plant propagation.
• Have and understanding of basic nursery management principles.
• Understand the uses of a range of different materials used in plant propagation.
• Explain the main components of common potting mixes and how they contribute to the final product.
• Describe seed sources and how to store a range of different seeds for maximum viability.
• Explain how to overcome dormancy in seeds.
• Understand a range of cutting techniques including hardwood cuttings, softwood cuttings, semi hardwood cuttings, tip cuttings, heel cuttings, nodal cuttings, can cuttings and basal cuttings.

What You Will Do

• Develop a budget for a hypothetical nursery operation
• Name a soil based on criteria given in the course
• Create a potting mix using a given recipe
• Assess a number of plants for growing profitability
• Prepare a pot of cuttings and estimate the cost of production for each cutting produced
• Prepare a range of different types of cuttings
• Find plants with insect damage and determine the problem and possible remedies.
• Collect information on various chemicals used in the nursery industry.
• Assess plant ill health caused by agents other than insects.

This course is the first step to developing your knowledge and skill in horticulture.  It can provide you with a very solid framework for developing your knowledge and experience. It will point you on a professional path and show you possibilities you might never have thought of before.
The course is designed for people who are in the position of growing plants, on a small scale, under contract to a nursery.  If you want to get the greatest benefit from the course; you are urged to use your tutors. Ask questions and do not hesitate to contact the school and seek advice whenever you need it.

Extract from the course notes:

GROWING PLANTS IN A GREENHOUSE

A greenhouse is only as good as its user! You can grow all sorts of plants in a greenhouse, and achieve all types of things, which you might not be able to achieve otherwise, whether growing as a hobby or commercially.
However the greenhouse is only a tool which enables you to keep your plants a little warmer and perhaps control a few other aspects of their growing conditions. You must know what conditions the plant needs and try to create those conditions with your greenhouse. Greenhouses are very labour intensive you must watch the greenhouse carefully and adjust the way you are managing it if the conditions start to vary from what is desired. In the summer this may mean monitoring it every day, particularly if the greenhouse does not have automatic watering and ventilation systems.
You need to decide what you will grow in the greenhouse, and be aware that different plants have different requirements. It may not be possible to grow a great variety of plants in the greenhouse and get the very best out of each one - if each of those plants has different growth requirements.

The Greenhouse System
Thinking of a greenhouse as a system, rather then a structure, will help to reduce problems in the future, consider the following points before choosing a greenhouse system:

• Site- is it accessible? Take into consideration delivery of materials, access to (and for) customers, available light, wind and other climatic factors i.e. snow, topography, drainage, restrictions through local government by-laws and regulations, what planning permits do you require?.
• Environmental control systems including heating, ventilation and the ability to conserve energy.
• Water supply and irrigation systems
• Availability of other services such as electricity and gas
• The plant production system- including the inputs and outputs of the system
• The availability of labour
• What system will you implement for handling of materials?

The Components of a Greenhouse Facility
The components of a greenhouse system should be determined by the size of the business operation and financial constraints. Some systems may be operated successfully with a fully manual system through appropriate plant choice others will require more sophisticated equipment.

The following is a guideline:
• The floor or foundation- i.e. concrete/gravel (concrete is more generally used to control disease and for ease of movement throughout the larger structure. Walkways in these facilities are usually around 3m wide to facilitate larger machinery.
• The structure- takes into account the type of production system, the plants grown i.e. hanging baskets may determine specific gutter heights, the physical constraints of the site. All these factors may determine bay width, length, glazing, ventilation etc.
• Ventilation and cooling system – either natural through side walls and/or roof vents or automated, choice will be dependent on the plants grown.
• Heating system- choice is important as production of a uniform crop is dependent on the heating system
• Thermal screens- an increasingly popular addition as they also provide screening from summer sun
• The growing system- takes into account the ease of movement throughout the greenhouse that enables fast movement of stock
• Environmental control system- measures and controls the air and soil temperatures through a computer system. Advanced systems can also record data and evaluate plant performance.
• Water supply- mains or dams
• Irrigation systems- i.e. micro, ebb and flow, misting etc.
• Electrical installations within the greenhouse- install power at construction phase to eliminate extra cost later. Some large operations require a back-up system such as a generator.
• Fertiliser injection systems- used in larger operations to automatically apply fertiliser at set rates.
• C02 injection, distribution and extraction systems are used in larger operations

What Can You Grow?
A greenhouse may be heated or unheated and have a fully manual ventilation system. The unheated greenhouse is the simplest to manage. However it must be remembered that although a cold greenhouse will trap heat from the sun during the day, thereby extending the growing season, temperatures within the structure overnight can be as cold as the temperature outside. Plants that are frost sensitive cannot be grow in an unheated house over winter. Heating systems will add to the cost of running a greenhouse however simple systems are available for the small grower. Ensuring that the temperature within the house does not fall below 5-7º Celsius will extend the range of crops that can be grown.

Greenhouses are normally used for one of the following. There may be other uses, but these are the main ones:

• To propagate new plants in provide the ideal conditions for seeds to germinate or cuttings to initiate the growth of roots.
• To grow tropical plants in cooler climates.
• To protect plants sensitive to cold or frost.
• To grow vegetables, cut flowers or berry fruits out of season or faster than what might be achieved
outside.
• To grow nursery container plants over winter when there may not be much growth in the outside
environment.

It is not usually advisable to try to use the greenhouse for more than one of the above purposes. This may be acceptable for the hobbyist, but not for the commercial grower. The hobbyist who uses his greenhouse for multiple purposes must resign himself to the fact that he will not be able to get the best from his greenhouse in all areas of use.

FREQUENT QUESTIONS

Why Choose This Course

• Unique course materials (developed by our staff) and more current than some colleges (many reviewed annually); as a result, ACS graduates can be more up to date.
• We work hard to help you understand and remember it, develop an ability to apply it in the real world, and build networks with others who work in this field (It’s more than just serving up a collection of information –if all you want is information, buy a book; but if you want an education, that takes learning to a whole new level).
• Start whenever you want, study at your own pace, study anywhere
• Don’t waste time and money traveling classes
• We provide more choices–courses are written to allow you more options to focus on parts of the subject that are of more interest to you; a huge range of elective subjects are offered that don’t exist elsewhere.
• Tutors are accessible (more than elsewhere) – academics work in both the UK and Australia, 5 days a week, 16 hours a day. Answering emails and phone calls from students are top priority.
• We treat students as individuals –don’t get lost in a crowd. Our tutors communicate with you one to one.
• Extra help at no extra cost if needed. When you find something you cannot do, we help you through it or will provide another option.
• Support after you finish a course –We can advise about getting work, starting  business, writing a CV, etc. We can promote students and their businesses through our extensive profile on the internet. Graduates who ask will be helped.
• Support from a team of a dozen professional horticulturists, living in different parts of the UK, and in both temperate and tropical climate zones of Australia.

About ACS

ACS was started in 1979 by John Mason, who at the time was a gardening author, horticultural consultant and lecturer in horticulture at several colleges across Melbourne (in Australia).  Over the summer that year John discovered that there were thousands of applicants going to be turned away from horticulture courses at Burnley Horticultural College (now Melbourne University). There were simply too few courses being offered for the number of people wanting to study horticulture in Australia. This situation prompted a move to establish a correspondence course at Burnley; but after months of unsuccessful lobbying for support from government; John wrote a course, and with help from a colleague at Council of Adult Education, marketed it.

Standards were originally set in line with what were seen to be the standards of Australia's top horticultural college; and over the years, those standards have never been reduced. This makes our courses longer and more demanding than some other colleges; but it has also led to us building a credibility that stands tall in the horticulture industry across the world. 

In the early 1990's John started visiting the UK and becoming involved with the horticulture industry there. Around the mid 1990's ACS began offering RHS courses, and in 2003, John was formally recognised for his contribution to British Horticulture by being made a fellow of the Institute of Horticulture. ACS, as a school, established an office and staff in the UK in 2001, and has expanded considerably since then. Today it is formally affiliated with five other colleges in the UK (including Warwickshire College); all of who license and deliver ACS courses. 

A team of leading horticulturists work for the school's horticulture department, including 12 faculty members in both the UK and Australia

How You Study

• As soon as you enroll, we send an email to explain it all.
• We direct you to a short orientation video (downloadable over the internet) to watch, where our principal introduces you to how the course works, and how you can access all sorts of support services
• You are either given a code to access your course online, or sent out a CD or course materials through the mail (or by courier).
• Work through lessons one by one, each lesson typically having four parts:
• An aim -which tells you what you should be achieving in the lesson
• Reading -notes written and regularly revised by our academic staff
• Set Task(s) -These are practicals, research or other experiential learning tasks that strengthen and add to what you have been reading
• Assignment -By answering questions, submitting them to a tutor, then getting feedback from the tutor, you confirm that you are on the right track, but more than that, you are guided to consider what you have been studying in different ways, broadening your perspective and reinforcing what you are learning about
• Other - Your work in a course rarely stops at just the above four parts. Different courses and different students will need further learning experiences. Your set task or assignment may lead to other things, interacting with tutors or people in industry, reviewing additional reference materials or something else. We treat every student as an individual and supplement their learning needs as the occasion requires.
• We provide access to and encourage you to use a range of supplementary services including an online student room, including online library; student bookshop, newsletters, social media etc.
• We provide a "student manual", that is a quick solution to most problems that might occur

Recognition

• ACS has a highly respected international profile: by employers and academics alike. People are more aware of us than many other distance education schools –just do a search for “horticulture distance education courses” and see what comes up on the internet; or search for ACS Distance education on Facebook or Linked in, and see how many connections we have compared to other colleges.
• Recognised by International Accreditation and Recognition Council
• ACS has been educating people around the world since 1979
• Over 100,000 have now studied ACS courses, across more than 150 countries
• Formal affiliations with colleges in five countries
• A faculty of over 40 internationally renowned academics –books written by our staff used by universities and colleges around the world.

Extra Books or Reference Materials

• The course provides you with everything that you need to complete it successfully.
• Assignments may ask you to look for extra information (eg. by contacting nurseries, visiting gardens or searching the internet), but our school's resources and tutors are always available as a back up. If you hit a "roadblock", we can quickly send you additional information or provide expert advice over the phone or email; to keep you moving in your studies.
• Some students choose to buy additional references, to take their learning beyond what is essential for the course. If a student wants to buy books, we operate an online bookshop offering ebooks written by staff at the school. Student discounts are available if you are studying with us. The range of e books available is being expanded rapidly, with at least one new ebook being written and published by our staff every month. See www.acsebook.com