Study at Home -Tropical Plants, House Plants, Tropical Rainforest Plants and more
Learn where and how to grow tropical plants- Create a Tropical Garden or Grow them as Indoor plants
- Propagate, Breed, Collect Tropicals -indulge a passion or start a business
Some people would think a tropical is a plant that comes from the tropics. Others might consider tropical to also include plants from sub tropical places. This course is concentrating on plants which originate from tropical or sub tropical climates; but there may be some plants covered which fit a looser definition of “tropical”.
This course provides a valuable instruction for both growing plants in warm places or in protected places such as greenhouses and inside homes or offices.
Study many of the significant tropical plants including: Heliconias, Alpinia, Hedychium, Zingiber, Musa, Costus, Cordylines, palms and cycads, climbers, shrubs, trees, orchids, ferns, Aroids and Bromeliads, herbs, vegetables and fruit bearing plants, etc.
Lesson Structure
There are 10 lessons in this course:
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Introduction to Tropical Plants
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What does the term "tropical" mean
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What tropicals grow where you live?
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Plant names/classification (scientific & common)
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Species, hybrids, varieties and cultivars
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Growing Tropical Plants in different climates; tropical, sub tropical, arid and temperate
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Climatic Variations; seasons, mountains, savannahs, rainforest, coastal
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Gardening for Warm Climates and Microclimates
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Good and Bad News about Tropical Gardening
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Heat Traps, Warming a Garden, Greenhouses
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Plant Cultural Practices
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Common Gardening Problems
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Understanding soils, naming a soil, texture, pH, fertility, nutrition, feeding
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Water and Plant Growth
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Water deficiency and excess symptoms
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Water Dynamics in a Soil
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Planting and Plant Establishment Methods
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Light Requirements
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Mulches
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Tree Guards
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Weeds
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Propagation,cutting, seed, propagating media
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Potting Mixes, Potting up, Caring for young plants
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Pruning etc.
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Tropical Annuals, Perennials, Bulbous Plants, Bamboos & Lawns
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Bamboos, Grasses and Grass Like Plants
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Landscaping with Bamboos
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Review of Bamboo species
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Review of other herbaceous tropicals, including: Achmines, Agapanthus, Alocasia, Amorphophallus,Aristea, Babiana, Boophone, Brunsvigia, Caladium, Calaqthea, Calostemma,Clivia, Calocasia, Crinum, Crocosmia, Cyrtanthus, Dierama, Eucharis, Eucomis, Gladiolus, Gloriosa, Zephranthes, Hippeastrum, Hymenocallis, and many others
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Lawns
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Turf Varieties for Warm and Hot Areas
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Ornamental Gingers and Heliconias (and related plants)
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Introduction
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Zingerbales; Musaceae (bananas), Strelitziaceae (bird of paradise), Lowiaceae, Heliconiaceae (heliconias), Zingiberaceae (gingers), Costaceae (costus), Cannaceae (cannas), Marantaceae (prayer plants
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Gingers
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Heliconia
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Costus
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Canna
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Strelitzia
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Cordylines, Palms & Cycads
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Types of Palms; self cleaning, cleaning, solitary or clumping, fan or pinnate, etc
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Palm Propagation
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Review of many cultivated Palm Genera
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Cordylines
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Climbers, Shrubs and Trees
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Review of many cultivated Tree and Shrub Genera
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Cultural Requirements
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Review of many selected species characteristics
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Conifers; culture, genera, species
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Climbers; Allamanda, Antigonon, Aristolochia, Beaumontia, Bignonia, Bougainvillea, Campses, Ceropegia, Cissus, Clematis, Clerodendrum, Clitoria, Clytostoma, Combretum, Congea, Ficus, Hoya, Ipomea, Manettia, Mucuna, Pandorea, Philodendron, Scindapsis, Stephanotus, Thunbergia, Trachelospermum.
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Orchids, Ferns, Aroids and Bromeliads
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Orchid introduction
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Growing Orchids
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Epiphytes
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Orchid Genera
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Bromeliads
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Growing Ferns
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Types of Ferns; Fern Classification and families
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Fern Culture
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Aroids
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Tropical Herbs, Vegetables and Fruit Bearing Plants
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Growing Methods; organic, no dig, permaculture, Container Growing, Hydroponics, etc
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Culture of Selected Vegetables in tropical and sub tropic conditions
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Bush tucker
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Tea and Coffee
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Tropical Fruit trees
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Growing Tropical Plants outside the Tropics
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Growing tropicals indoors
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Growing in different climates and conditions.
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Landscaping with Tropical Plants
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Use of colour & texture
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Plant selection
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Planting a courtyard
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Preparing sketch plans.
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
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Explain the nature and scope of tropical plants
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Discuss cultural characteristics that are often peculiar to tropical plants
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Describe the taxonomy and culture of a range of soft wooded tropical plants including annuals, perennials and bulbs.
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Describe the taxonomy and culture of Heliconias and Gingers..
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Describe the taxonomy and culture of Palms and Palm like tropicals.
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Describe the taxonomy and culture of climber, tree and shrub tropical plants.
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Describe the taxonomy and culture of Orchids, Ferns and Bromeliads.
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Describe the taxonomy and culture of Herbs, Vegetables and Fruits in tropical conditions.
What Are Tropical Plants?
Tropical climates are found in South-East Asia, much of India, northern Australia, Central America, the Caribbean, Northern parts of South America, many of the Pacific islands and perhaps the central half of the African continent. Tropical areas in general have the highest average temperature levels, the longest frost-free growing seasons, and the greatest amount of light (intensity and duration), compared to other regions on the planet.
Tropical gardens can vary from dry and desert-like, to coastal, to dense, lush and leafy environs resembling the dynamic workings of a rainforest. Many different garden effects are possible using tropical plants. You can also, on a small scale, transform a garden into a microclimate using tropical plants that are not normally found in your locality.
The main climatic zones that exist on earth are Tropical, Temperate and Arid. There are of course variations between these such as subtropical, warm-temperate, dry-tropics, etc. It is important to understand that there are variations in climate within tropical and subtropical regions, and that not all tropical plants like the same conditions
Bamboos, Grasses and Grass Like Plants
These plants are generally very hardy, particularly once established. They can add a different mood to a garden through the typically soft, narrow foliage, contrasting with the broader leaves of most other tropical garden plants. Many species can be invasive, blocking pipes, lifting paving or cracking walls. Bamboos are particularly notorious. Problem plants like this should be grown away from such structures, or kept contained to a walled planter box or container. While the vigour of bamboos can be a threat, it also makes them fast growing and relatively easy to care for. Often a bamboo will survive as a tub plant where all else fails.
Gingers and Heliconias
Heliconias, Gingers, Bananas, Calatheas, Cannas, and various other leafy herbaceous plants all belong to the same botanical 
order.
This broad group of plants comes mostly from the tropics, or sub tropics, but some can be grown outside into temperate zones of the world.
Cannas are grown as summer bedding plants in areas prone to heavy snow over winter (but they must be lifted and protected over the colder months. Certain gingers will also grow well in mild temperate climates. Bananas have been grown successfully (with some protection) in southern England and southern Australia.
Vegetables, Fruits and Other Food Plants
There are hundreds of different food plants which can be grown at home, ranging from fruits and vegetables to herbs, nuts, berries, vines and even aboriginal (bush tucker) foods. The challenge is to choose the right combination to suit your family.
Other Tropicals
There's a lot more to learn..... If you want to explore this subject seriously; think about thaking this very unique course.
This course also covers: plant names/classification (scientific and common), climatic conditions, plants suited to your locality; cultural practices: understanding soils, naming a soil, propagation, watering, feeding, pruning etc. Growing tropical plants outside the tropics and indoors - in different climates and conditions.
Discover: how to landscape with tropical plants and how to use colour and texture; how to select appropriate plants; how to plant a courtyard and prepare sketch plans.
This is a great course for the beginner or the professional gardener, nurseryman, landscaper or plantsman.
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
