GREENHOUSE MANAGEMENT BHT257

Learn How to Effectively Manage a Greenhouse

Greenhouses are normally used for one or more of the following reasons:

To propagate new plants inside by providing the ideal conditions
To grow cold and frost sensitive plants
To grow vegetables, cut flowers or berry fruits out of season or faster than what might be achieved outside.
To provide a contained 'isolated' growing environment for plant breeding or quarantine purposes.

In this course you will learn about the modern technology and its application to manage a greenhouse and thereby increase the efficiency and productivity of the greenhouse within a specific environment.

Learn How to Manage Manual and Automated Greenhouses

This is a 100 hour, self-paced course, with tuition from highly qualified international experts.

Course Structure and Content

There are nine lessons in this course as follows:

1. Types of Greenhouses

Greenhouse Designs for Commercial Nursery Production
Greenhouse Construction Methods and Materials
What Type of Greenhouse is Appropriate for Your Nursery?
Siting Greenhouses
Greenhouse Benching
What Can You Grow?
Environmental Control in Greenhouses
Computerised Environmental Control

2. Growing Systems and Equipment

How to Grow Plants
Measuring Conditions Inside a Greenhouse
Environmental Control Systems
Getting Plants to Flower Out of Season

3. Pest and Disease Management in Greenhouses

How to Stop Pests and Diseases Entering the Greenhouse
Detecting and Controlling Pests and Diseases in the Greenhouse
Common Greenhouse Diseases
Disease Control

4. Temperature Control in a Greenhouse

Heating Systems
Ventilation Systems

5. Water Management

Greenhouse Irrigation
Soil and Water
When to Irrigate
The Nursery Irrigation Program
Plants and Water
Equipment and Methods
Maintenance of Watering System

6. Nutrition Management

Irrigation and Nutrition Control
Liquid Feed Systems

7. Managing Light

Importance of Lighting in a Greenhouse
Artificial Lighting
Measuring Light
Controlling Light in the Greenhouse
Photoperiod Manipulation
Growth Rooms
Efficient Lighting Control

8. Managing Gasses

Carbon Dioxide Enrichment
Pollutant Gases
Temperature Control Systems (Ventilation)

9. Automation and Robotic Applications for Greenhouse Production

Automation in Vegetable Nurseries

Lesson Aims

Compare different types of greenhouses to better match the plants to be grown inside the greenhouse to be built.
Explain the equipment and measuring devices (manual and automated) used inside a greenhouse to help grow plants more effectively.
Explain options for reducing the impact of pests and diseases on plants grown inside greenhouses.
Detect and control the temperature within an optimal growing range for plants being grown in a greenhouse.
Control water in a greenhouse, including irrigation and humidity.
Control nutrient levels in a greenhouse at optimal levels for plant growth and health
To explain how light levels can be maintained in a greenhouse for optimal plant production.
Explain how to best manage the air characteristics inside a greenhouse.