AGH 106 - Introduction to Horticulture

1. Evaluate the commercial horticulture industry in the region.
   1. Outline the segments within the commercial horticulture industry.
   2. Identify career paths in the commercial horticulture industry.
   3. Discuss situations horticulture business encounter.
2. Differentiate between plant groups, plant life cycles and growth habits.
   1. Discuss the botanical classification of plants.
   2. Identify key plant families.
   3. Compare annuals, perennials, biennials, and monocarps.
   4. Distinguish between herbaceous plants, woody plants, rosettes, vines, trees, shrubs.
   5. Differentiate between angiosperms, gymnosperms, monocots, and dicots.
3. Examine the morphology of plant organs.
   1. Identify the vegetative structures, arrangements and modifications of roots, herbaceous stems, woody stems, simple leaves, and compound leaves.
   2. Identify the reproductive structures, arrangements and modifications of flowers, seeds, and fruits.
4. Appraise the plant anatomy.
   1. Outline the roles of major plant cell organelles.
   2. Compare and contrast between xylem, phloem, vascular cambium, cork cambium, bark, heart wood, and sap wood.
5. Critique how plants function and grow.
   1. Outline concepts of photosynthesis and respiration.
   2. Differentiate between transpiration and translocation.
   3. Describe the plant processes of floral development, dormancy, senescence.
   4. Outline the roles of key plant hormones such as auxins, gibberellins, cytokinins, abscisic acid, and ethylene.
6. Analyze the factors which impact plant growth.
   1. Investigate the impact that light quantity and photoperiod has on plant growth.
   2. Outline the role of water use in plants.
   3. Outline key plant nutrient needs and fertilization practices.
   4. Explain the role that the rooting environment has on plants.
   5. Identify soil textures.
7. Examine climate factors that affect plant growth.
   1. Discuss the impact seasonal changes has on plants.
   2. Identify the frost free days, USDA Heat Zone, USDA Hardiness Zone of a region and how they limit plant growth.
   3. Generalize the effects that topography and slope aspect have on plant growth and development.
   4. Identify factors that can create microclimates.
8. Investigate basic plant propagation methods.
   1. Identify the positive and negative traits of seed and vegetative propagation.
   2. Distinguish between bulbs, corms, tubers, rhizomes, tuberous roots, and fleshy roots.
   3. Demonstrate basic sexual and asexual propagation techniques.
   4. Compare different vegetative propagation techniques such as using division, grafting, cuttings, tissue culture, runners, stolens, suckers, etc.
9. Investigate proper planting and pruning techniques.
   1. Distinguish between proper planting techniques for bare root, containerized, and ball-and-burlaped plants.
   2. Explain the three step process of limb removal.
   3. Compare the effect of thinning, hedging, and bench cuts.
   4. Demonstrate proper pruning.
10. Evaluate basic production methods of food crops.
    1. Differentiate between cool and warm season vegetable crops
    2. Identify major vegetable groups.
    3. Summarize differences between direct sowing and transplanting
    4. Summarize basic pruning techniques of small fruits and tree fruits.
11. Investigate turfgrass management practices.
    1. Distinguish between cool-season and warm-season grasses.
    2. Summarize the traits of five grass species used in the region.
    3. Distinguish between bunch and rhizomatous grasses.
    4. Identify differences between turf and forage type grass cultivars.
    5. Summarize home lawn management practices.
12. Assess practices used in the landscape industry.
    1. Explain factors that determine where to place plants in the landscape.
    2. Differentiate between plants purchased for the landscape, such as shrubs, multistem, and clumps.
    3. Differentiate between woody plant forms such as central leader, open center, modified central leader, and columnar trees; formal and informal shrubs; dense and open branching habits.
13. Contrast the challenges of growing plants indoors as compared with growing plants outside.
    1. List factors that specifically affect plants grown indoors.
    2. Compare the limitations of artificial light sources and natural lighting.