PLANT HEALTH ONLINE COURSE
- Learn to identify plant pest and disease problems
- Learn to evaluate a sick plant, and determine nutritional and environmental issues
- Study pest and disease control and managing plant health
- Expand your horticultural skills for improved career success in horticulture
A sick plant may have one or several causes at the same time.
There are thousands of possible causes which can contribute to a plant's problems. More often than not, there are several factors involved. Minor diseases or environmental problems may weaken the plant, making it susceptible to some more major (obvious) disorder. When you inspect a plant for problems, you should systematically consider all of the things which might possibly be going wrong. This course provides the foundation for inspecting diagnosing and treating all types of problems.
This subject develops a firm understanding of plant health, the systematic identification of health problems
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Horticulture Tutors
Diana Cole B.A. (Hons), Higher Dip. (Garden Design), RHS Advanced Cert. Horticulture, Cert Admin.Mgt., Dip. Inst. Personnel Management
In addition to her RHS horticulture, garden design, City & Guild construction, NPTC pesticide/legislation and business/management qualifications, Diana has a variety of skills drawn from setting up Arbella Gardens, a landscape gardening business. She also has administrative, management and training delivery experience drawn from her employment in other organisations such as the NHS and other educational institutions such as schools & universities. She has augmented her training expertise having gained the Preparing to Teach in the Life Long Learning Sector qualification. She also has experience gained through working as a volunteer in a number of different roles including amenity style gardening in parks and practical conservation work.
.Maggi Brown Cert.Ed.(Environment)
Maggi is regarded as an expert in Organic Growing throughout the UK, having worked for two decades as Education Officer at the world renowned Henry Doubleday Research Association (now Garden Organic). She has been active in education, environmental management and horticulture across the UK for more them three decades.
Yvonne Sharpe RHS Cert.Hort, Dip.Hort, M.Hort, Cert.Ed., Dip.Mgt.
Over 30 years of experience in horticulture, education and management, Yvonne hastravelled widely within and beyond Europe, and has worked in many areas of horticulture from garden centres to horticultural therapy. She has served on industry committees and been actively involved with amateur garden clubs for decades.
Thady Barrett M.Hort (RHS) Thady is a consultant to the horticulture industry in the UK, with particular interest in the ornamental plant sector. Previously a senior lecturer at Writtle College for 20 years which included being course tutor for RHS qualifications. Wide ranging practical horticultural experience but with specific interest in propagation techniques and plant production technologies. Member of the International Plant Propagators Society (IPPS) and awarded the Rose Bowl Award in 2009 in recognition of his contribution to the society
Lesson Structure
There are 10 lessons in this course:
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Introduction
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Pests
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Diseases
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Common terminology
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Diagnosing problems systematically
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Tell tale symptoms
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Conducting an inspection: four steps
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Pest or disease reviews
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Overview of Preventative Controls
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Introduction
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Methods of pest management
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Integrated pest management
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Cultural control
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Using disease resistant varieties
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Crop rotation
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Timed planting
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Mulching
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Cleanliness
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Biological control
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Types of biological controls
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Beneficial plants
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Trap or decoy plants
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Pheromone traps
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Physical controls
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Traps
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REpellants
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Mulching
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Pruning
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Wounds
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Chemical controls
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Understanding pesticides
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Safely storing chemicals
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Safely mixing chemicals
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Legalities
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Plant breeding for resistance
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Sources and causes of resistance
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Adaptability, resistance and pest variability
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Insecticides
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Types of insecticides: systemich, stomach poisons, contact poisons, etc
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Inorganics, botanicals, organophosphates, carbamates, synthetic pyrethroids
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Characteristics of insecticides: toxicity, spectrum, LD50, persistence, volatility, etc.
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Golden rules for handling pesticides
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Terminology
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Other Pesticides
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Chemical Pesticides: introduction
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Review of common pesticides
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Soil treatment for control of diseases
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Soil pests
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Types of fumigtants
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Systemic fungicides
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Comparative toxicities
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Spray Equipment
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Types of sprayers
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Uses of sprayers
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Spray terminology
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Sprayer maintenance and cleaning
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Selecting a sprayer
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Calibration
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Using chemicals: agitation, clean up and disposal
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Basic first aid with chemical pesticides
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Response to liquid or powder spills
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Keeping records
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Misters, Dusters, Blowers
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Pesticides and the environment
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Insect Biology
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Insect classification: orders, sub classes
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Insect anatomy: mouthparts, legs, etc
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Lifecycle
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Feeding habits
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Practical project: Insect collecting, preserving, identifying, for an insect collection
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Common insects that a gardener encounters
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Ants
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Aphis
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Beetles
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Borers
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Bugs
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Caterpillars
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Cockroaches
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Crickets
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Earwigs
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Fleas
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Flies
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Galls (caused by insects)
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Grasshoppers
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Ladybirds (good and bad)
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Leaf hoppers
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Leaf miners
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Lerps
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Mealy bug
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Mosquitos
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Scale insects
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Termites
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Thrips
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Wasps
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Whitefly
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Fungal Biology
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What causes disease
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Symptoms of disease
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Lifecycle of a disease: inoculation, penetration, infection, growth and reproduction, dissemination
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Fungi groups: obligate saprophytes, obligate parasites, facultative saprophytes, facultative parasites
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Expanded concept of tree decay
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Chemical pesticides in the UK and Europe
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Common diseases
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Anthracnose
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Bitter pit
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Blights
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Botrytis
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Canker
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Cinnamon fungus
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Club root
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Damping off
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Galls
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Gummosis
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Leaf curl
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Leaf spot
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Melanose
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Mildews
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Rots
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Rust
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Scab
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Silver leaf
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Spot
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Smut
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Sooty mould
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Wilts
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Environmental Problems
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Common environmental problems
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Foliage burns
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Pollution
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Lack of water
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Drainage problems
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Frost
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Hail
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Shade
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Temperature
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Wind
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Symptoms of nutritional deficiencies
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Air pollution
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The plant and water
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Non parasitic problems in turf (lawns)
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Ways to provide environmental protection to plants
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Viruses
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Overview
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Symptoms
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Detection and diagnosis of viruses
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Control
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Examples of virus diseases
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Nematodes, Molluscs and Crustaceans
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Overview
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Millipedes
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Plant nematodes
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Nematodes in citrus
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Red spider mites
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Spiders
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Slaters or wood lice
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Snails and slugs
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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Identify the characteristics of pests and diseases of plants.
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Explain methods for the control of pests and diseases.
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Describe the characteristics of a range of different pesticides, including insecticides
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Explain the selection and use of spray equipment appropriate for different
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Describe aspects of the biology of an insect which are relevant to pest control.
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Describe aspects of the biology of an fungus which are relevant to disease control.
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Explain how inappropriate environmental conditions can affect plant health.
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Identify the characteristic signs of a range of non-insect pests,
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and select apropriate control methods.
What will You Actually Do in this Course? -all of the following, and more....
Develop a checklist for determining the significance of pests and diseases, which addresses different criteria including:
- short term impact
- long term impact
- economic impact
- aesthetic impact.
Distinguish between the main types of plant diseases, including:
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.
Describe different ways to control pests and diseases, including:
- 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.
Distinguish between the main groups of pesticides, including:
- organo-phosphates
- synthetic pyrethroids
- carbamates
- chlorinated hydrocarbons.
Explain the difference between the action of systemic and non-systemic pesticides.
Explain maintenance practices, including cleaning, for a specified sprayer.
List different uses for several types of sprayers, including a motorised pump sprayer, a knapsack and a PTO driven tractor mounted sprayer.
Compare different sprayers, in terms of:
- cost
- applications
- maintenance
- spare parts
- ease of use
- safety.
Explain the application of chemicals in a given situation, including:
- Calibration
- Mixing chemicals
- Equipment operation
- Safety measures
- Post spray procedures such as cleaning, and storage of chemicals).
Describe the minimum records which should be kept when spraying pesticides.
Prepare a labelled diagram showing the structural parts of an insect.
Prepare an insect collection of different insects of significance to agriculture or horticulture.
Identify to genus level, the insects collected.
Compare the structural differences between different types of insects.
Describe the life-cycle of an insect species.
Explain how an understanding of insect life-cycle can be applied to pest control.
Describe the life-cycle of a fungal disease species.
Explain the physiology of tree decay processes, including compartmentalisation.
Explain aspects of fungal biology, for different types of fungi, which are of horticultural significance, including:
- Phytophthora
- Sclerotinia rot
- Peach leaf curl (Taphrina deformens)
- Powdery Mildew
- Pythium.
List environmental problems which affect plant health and their symptoms.
Describe the affect of air pollution on different plants.
Identify nutritional deficiency symptoms in specified situations.
Develop a fertiliser program in response to a specified nutritional problem.
Distinguish between the affects of water deficiency and water excess on plant health.
Explain how to diagnose damage by various non-insect pest problems, including:
- Nematodes
- Slugs and snails
- Mites
- Millipedes
- Larger animals such as rabbits, possums or birds.
Explain how to control different non-insect pests with both chemical and non-chemical methods.
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