| Nursery environment |
Students will set up their own soil-less media experiment to trial mixes of their choice, to complete this they will also study:
- Soil science, soil-less media and managing nutrients
- Understanding and operating irrigation systems, including misting units and hotbeds, and managing the nursery environment
- An understanding of potential weather events and how to mitigate them
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| Nursery operations |
- Online learning in the computer room
- Students who are in full-time nursery work could do online work at home
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Nursery Crop Protection
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Students will look at the specific pests diseases and disorders in a Nursery as well as weeds
- Identification, monitoring and management of these pests are covered and you will develop and run a crop protection plan
- Students will also have the opportunity to gain a basic GROWSAFE certificate
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Nursery Equipment, Packing and Dispatch
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- This course covers the use of nursery equipment and includes an optional forklift training day
- Nursery equipment is observed in a range of nurseries and covers potting and seed sowing machines, and state of the art nursery automation systems
- Packing and dispatch systems for both container and field nurseries are observed and the pros and cons of each noted
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Plant Selection and Planning
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- This course looks at plant identification in the Nursery, including learning about cultivars and varieties.
- An understanding of what types of plants suit different soil types, environments and garden situations is covered, and students are then required to come up with scale drawing for a landscape and planting plans for a real site.
- Students will learn how to place plants in the right place as well as plan, plant and monitor a revegetation project.
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Business Management and Marketing
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- This course introduces students to how they can set up their own plant growing business, and an understanding of the market
- It addresses the regulations, copyright, trademarks and labour laws as well as customer care
- Students will prepare a business plan and will participate in setting up and running a market day plant sale with other students as part of this course
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Human Resources
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- This course covers supervising and managing others in the workplace
- Relevant employer regulations and acts are covered including health and safety in the workplace
- Students also learn about leadership styles, communication styles and conflict resolution processes
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