79421 - Ornamental Plant Growing And Nursery Production

Learning outcomes

At the end the student will be able to find, critically process and connect scientific, agronomic, physiological, economic, technical and commercial knowledge about the production of cut flowers, flowering pot plants, foliage pot plants, nursery garden plants and shrubs.

The student will acquire not only technical knowledge but also the ability to evaluate production processes in floriculture and nursery industry.

Course contents

1st Part: production and marketing (5 hours including 2 hours for practical activities)

Characteristics of the sectors included in floriculture: cut flowers, green cut foliage, flowering pot plants, green pot plants, garden plants and shrub nursery production. Localization of the production areas, surfaces, evolution and trends of the ornamental plant industry; marketing systems and markets.

2nd Part: Cut flowers and green cut foliage (20 hours including 5 hours for practical activities)

Propagation methods, environment requirements, growing systems for planned cycles, harvest and post-harvest techniques of the most important species for cut flowers (roses, chrysanthemum, carnation, lilium, gladiolus, gerbera, orchid, peony), and green cut foliage (asparagus, eucalyptus, ruscus) and flowery cut stems (aster, gypsophila).

Physiology of flower senescence and factors affecting postharvest stem quality. Storage conditions and packaging.

Production of dried and dyed flowers and foliage.

3rd Part: Flowering pot plants and ornamental leaf pot plants (20 hours including 7 hours for practical activities)

Propagation, environmental requirements and growing techniques for the planned production of the most important species for flowering pots (orchids, poinsettia, cyclamen, azalea, gardenia, hydrangea, bedding plants and perennials) and ornamental foliage pot plants (anthurium, bromeliads, dieffenbachia, ferns, ficus, marantha, philodendron).

4th Part: Garden plants and shrubs (15 hours including 6 hours for practical activities)

Propagation, environmental requirements and growing techniques for the pot production of the most important herbaceous perennial plants and shrubs. Selling time and use periods will be analyzed in detail. Evaluation of examples of garden plant use.

Practical activities (20 hours) include visits to companies, garden centers and markets and activities in the greenhouses of the department, such as substrate mixing, pot plant growing and experimental tests with growth regulators and media.

Readings/Bibliography

- ppt presentations, used during lectures and available on iol.unibo.it

- technical and informative papers supplied by professor

For the further investigation of specific subjects:

Boodley J.W., The commercial greenhouse. Delmar Pubbl. 1998.

Hartmann H. T., Kester D. E., Geneve R.L., Davies F.T., Plant propagation: principles and practices . Prentice Hall 2002. ISBN: 0136792359

Nav J., Perennial manual propagation and production. Ball Pubbl., Batavia USA, 1996.

For species identification:

Phillips R., Rix M., Bulbs. Pan Books Ltd. London

Phillips R., Rix M., Shrubs. Pan Books Ltd. London

Phillips R., Rix M., Trees. Pan Books Ltd. London

Pollock M., Griffiths M., Illustrated dictionary of gardening. RHS, London 2005.

Bibliografic information on specific subjects will be supplied on demand.

Teaching methods

Lectures will be supplemented by:

- visits to commercial and experimental greenhouses, nurseries, and gardens centers;

- practical activity inside the greenhouses (CAAB - Bologna) and the experimental fieds of the Departments, that is experiencing pot plant growing, testing new media and species identification;

- online looking for specific technical-informative sites (e.g. extension services of foreign and Italian Universities and growing guides of Companies).

Assessment methods

The learning test consists of an oral exam, about 45 minutes long, aimed to verify the acquired knowledge and the achieving of expected skills.

In detail, the exam includes 3 questions about:

- botanical identification of the species considerend during lessons;the student has to name 5 species ( genus and species) represented by photos or in vivo. Question weight = 10 points;

- N. 2 questions about the physiology and growing systems for 2 of the explained species during lessons. The questions are aimed to verify the student's ability to choose matherials and growing systems in accordance with plant physiology, growing cycle, market requirements and economic aspects.

Weight of the 2 questions = 20 points

Practical acivities are usefull but not essential for passing the exam.

Teaching tools

- projector and PC for ppt presentation during lectures;

- technical and scientific papers collected by professor;

- glass-greenhouses of the Department, completely climatized;

- experimental fields of the Department;

- guided visits to nurseries, commercial companies, experimental fields and green areas.

Office hours

See the website of Maria Eva Giorgioni