Certificate of Cut Flower Production

Unit 1 – Introduction to Cut Flower Production

• Scope and Nature of the Flower Industry
• International Flower Market
• Succeeding in the Trade
• Flower Structure
• Development of a Flower
• Introduction to Hydroponic Culture
• Understanding plant growth, roots, stems, flowers, leaves
• Types of flowers, perennials, bulbs.
• Review of Flower Crops, Alstroemeria, Antirrhinum, Amaryllis, Anigozanthus, Aster Carnation, Chrysanthemum, Dahlia, Freesia, Gerbera, Gladiolus, Iris, Narcissus, Orchids, Rose, Stock and others.

Unit 2 – Soils and Nutrition

• Soil composition
• Soil texture
• Soil structure
• Colloids
• Peds
• Characteristics of clay, sand and loam soils
• Naming the Soil
• Improving Soil Structure
• Improving fertility
• Benefits of adding organic matter to soils
• Soil life, earthworms, mycorrhyzae, nitrogen fixing, etc.
• Soil Water
• Understanding dynamics of water loss
• Improving soil water retention
• Types of soil water (Hygroscopic, Gravitational)
• Soil analysis
• Plant tissue analysis for soil management
• Measuring pH
• Other soil testing (testing salinity, colorimetry, etc)
• Measuring Water availability to plants
• Soil Degradation and rehabilitation (Erosion, Salinity, Acidification, etc)
• Soil Chemical Characteristics
• Nutrient availability and pH
• The nutrient elemernts, major, minor, total salts
• Diagnosing nutritional problems
• Fertilisers (types, application, etc)
• Natural Fertilisers
• Fertiliser Selection
• Composting methods
• Soil mixes and potting media

Unit 3 – Cultural Practices

• Site selection
• Production
• Cultivation techniques
• Using cover crops
• Green manure cover crops
• Nitrogen Fixation in legumes
• Crop rotation
• Planting procedure
• Staking
• Bare rooted plants
• Time of planting
• Mulching
• Frost protection
• Managing sun
• Managing animal pests, birds, etc.
• Pruning
• Water management and Irrigation
• When to irrigate
• Period of watering, cyclic watering, pulse watering, etc
• Sprinkler irrigation
• Trickle irrigation
• Sprinkler systems, portable, permenant, semi permenant, travelling
• Types of sprinler heads
• Sprinkler spacings
• Selecting surface irrigation methods
• Weed control
• Preventative weed management
• Hand weeding
• Mechanical weeding
• Chemical weed control
• Classification of weedicides
• Natural Weed Control Methods
• Review of common weeds

Unit 4 – Flower Initiation and Development

• How flowers Age
• Managing flower longevity
• Effects of Carbon Dioxide
• Getting plants to flower out of season
• Types of flower response to temperature
• Ways to cause controlled flowering
• Narcissus flower management
• Managing Azalea flowering
• Seed sources
• Hydroponics for controlled growth

Unit 5 – Pest and Disease Control

• Integrated Pest Management
• Chemical Methods of Pest Control
• Chemical labels
• Non Chemical methods of pest control
• Pest and Disease Identification and Management on flower crops
• Anthracnose
• Blight
• Canker
• Damping off
• Galls
• Leaf Spot
• Mildew
• Rots
• Rust
• Smut
• Sooty Mould
• Virus
• Wilt
• Caterpillars
• Leafhoppers
• Mealy Bugs
• Millipedes
• Mites
• Nematodes
• Scale
• Slugs or Snails
• Thrip
• Whitefly
• Viruses,
• Others
• Environmental Problems

Unit 6 – Australian Natives and Related Plants

• Proteaceae Plants (Aulax, Banksia, Dryandra, Grevillea, Hakea, Isopogon, Leucadendron, Leucospermum, Macadamia, Mimetes, Persoonia Protea, Serruria and Telopea.)
• Culture of Proteaceae cut flowers
• Proteaceae propagation
• Anigozanthus
• Other Australian Cut Flowers

Unit 7 – Greenhouse Culture

• The greenhouse business
• Greenhouse system
• Components of a greenhouse
• What can be grown in a greenhouse
• Siting greenhouses
• Types of greenhouses
• Shadehouses
• Cold frames
• Heated propagators
• Framing and cover materials
• Thermal screens
• Wind breaks
• Benches and beds
• Environmental control; Temperature, moisture, irrigation, shading -both natural and with blinds/curtains, light-including supplemented light if needed, ventilation, levels of CO2, mist/fogging
• Photosynthesis
• Plants that respond to Carbon dioxide
• Day length manipulation
• Lighting and heating equipment
• Horticultural management within the greenhouse

Unit 8 – Harvest and Post Harvest

• Harvesting
• Flower deterioration
• Post harvest
• Shelf life
• Major factors that affect shelf life
• Post harvest treatments
• Other treatments
• Grading standards
• Conditioning flowers for market
• Harvesting and grading carnations
• Harvest and post harvest of selected orchids; Bud opening, transport, storing flowers
• Cost Efficiency Standards
• Quality Standards
• Quantity Standards
• Judging flowers

Unit 9 – Developing a Production Plan

• Managing a cut flower farm
• Deciding what to grow
• Production plans
• Decisions that need to be made
• Farm layout
• Design of a store

Unit 10 – Export Marketing

• International flower marketing system
• Aspects of export
• Flower Exporting case study
• Understanding marketing your produce
• Consider your markets
• Market research
• What to research
• How to sell successfully