Commercial Vegetable Production

Lesson Structure: Commercial Vegetable Production BHT222

There are 8 lessons:

Introduction to Vegetable Growing
Understand the planning processes required in setting up a farming enterprise. Select appropriate crops.
Cultural Practices for Vegetables
Explain general cultural practices used for vegetable production.
Pest, Disease & Weed Control
Explain the management of potential problems, including pests, diseases, weeds, and environmental disorders in vegetable production.
Hydroponic & Greenhouse Growing
Explain alternative cultural techniques, including greenhouse and hydroponic production, for vegetables.
Growing Selected Vegetable Varieties
Determine specific cultural practices for selected vegetable varieties.
Irrigation
To develop understanding of how efficiently manage the availability of water to vegetable crops in order to achieve optimum growth.
Harvest & Post-Harvest
Determine the harvesting, and post-harvest treatment of different vegetables.
Marketing Vegetables
Develop marketing strategies for different vegetables.

This course is taught by:

Katie Freeth
BSc. (Hons) Horticulture, (University of Bath); RHS General Examination; FI Hort; MIfpra.

An experienced and professional horticulturist with extensive management skills gained internationally; experienced in landscape management, staff supervision and management, written and oral communication, horticultural knowledge and application, supported by organisational and administrative skills and attention to detail.

Katie brings 20 years experience in Horticulture and is an accomplished lecturer, horticulture consultant and freelance writer. Katie is a judge for the International Awards for Liveable Communities in the Whole City Category.
Katie also worked for the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in France for approx 5 years first as a Sector Manager and then as an Area Manager; management of the cemeteries, peripatetic teams of gardeners (UK & French nationality) for the constructed cemeteries and memorials and static French nationality gardeners for small town/village plots.

Susan Stephenson
BSc in Applied Plant Biology (Botany) Univ. London 1983.
City and guilds: Garden Centre Management, Management and Interior Decor (1984)
Management qualifications in training with retail store. Diploma in Hort level 2 (RHS General) Distinction.

Susan Stephenson is a passionate and experienced horticulturist and garden designer. She has authored three books, lectures at 2 Further and Higher Education Colleges, teaching people of all ages and backgrounds about the wonders of plants and garden design, and tutors many students by correspondence from all over the world.

Susan studied botany at Royal Holloway College (Univ of London) and worked in the trading industry before returning to her first love plants and garden design. She is therefore, well placed to combine business knowledge with horticulture and design skills. Her experience is wide and varied and she has designed gardens for families and individuals. Susan is a mentor for garden designers who are just starting out, offering her support and advice and she also writes, delivers and assesses courses for colleges, introducing and encouraging people into horticulture and garden design.

Susan is a Professional Associate and exam moderator and holds the RHS General with Distinction. She continues to actively learn about horticulture and plants and (as her students will tell you) remains passionate and interested in design and horticulture.

She also supervised the Area Arboriculture Team and was Exhumations Officer€“ in charge of collecting discovered remains and arranging identification (if poss) and interment of same.
Learning Goals: Commercial Vegetable Production BHT222

Select appropriate vegetable varieties for different situations.
Explain general cultural practices used for vegetable production.
Explain the management of potential problems, including pests, diseases, weeds, and environmental disorders, in vegetable production.
Explain alternative cultural techniques, including greenhouse and hydroponic production, for vegetables.
Determine specific cultural practices for selected vegetable varieties.
Determine the harvesting, and post-harvest treatment of different vegetables.
Develop marketing strategies for different vegetables.

Practicals:

Compile a resource file of sources of information regarding vegetable varieties.
Describe the classification of different vegetables into major groups.
Prepare a collection of plant reviews of different vegetable varieties.
Determine three appropriate cultivars from each of different species of vegetables to be grown on a specified site.
Prepare a planting schedule of vegetable varieties, to be planted over a twelve month period, in your locality.
Differentiate between soil management practices for different vegetable varieties.
Explain the establishment of vegetables by seed.
Explain how to establish three different vegetables from seedlings.
Prepare a table or chart showing the planting distances, and planting depth of seed for different vegetable varieties.
Describe the application of pruning techniques to the production of specified vegetables.
Prepare a crop schedule (ie. production timetable) for a specified vegetable crop.
Prepare a pressed weed collection of different weeds.
Differentiate between different specific techniques for weed control in vegetable crops, including different chemical and different non-chemical methods.
Determine pest and disease problems common to different specified types of vegetables.
Identify appropriate control methods for the pest and disease problems you determined (above).
Develop pest and disease control programs, for the lifespans of different vegetables.
Determine the environmental disorders occurring with vegetable crops inspected by you.
Explain the methods that can be used to prevent and/or overcome different environmental disorders affecting vegetables.
Determine the potential benefits of greenhouse vegetable production in a specified locality.
Differentiate between the characteristics of different types of greenhouses.
Compare vegetable growing applications for different environmental control mechanisms used in greenhouses, including:
Different types of heaters
Shading
Lighting
Different types of coolers
Vents
Fans
Describe how a specified commercial vegetable crop might be grown in a greenhouse visited by you.
Compare vegetable growing applications for the major types of hydroponic systems
Open and closed systems
Aggregate
Water
Aeroponic culture
Determine reasons for choosing to grow vegetables in hydroponics rather than in the open ground.
Explain how a specified vegetable can be grown in an hydroponic system.
Determine two commercially viable varieties suited to growing in a specified locality, from each of the following different types of vegetables:
Brassicas
Cucurbits
Tomatoes
Lettuce
Onions
Potatoes
Legumes
Determine specific cultural requirements for growing each of the vegetable varieties selected (above) on a specified site.
Describe the culture of less commonly grown vegetables chosen by you.
Produce a log book, recording all work undertaken to grow a crop of different vegetable varieties, suited to your locality.
Describe different harvesting methods, including both manual and mechanical techniques, used in vegetable production, for specified vegetables.
Identify the appropriate stage of growth at which different types of vegetables should be harvested.
Evaluate commonly used harvesting techniques of vegetables.
Evaluate commonly used post-harvest treatments of vegetables.
Determine post-harvest treatments to slow the deterioration of different specified vegetables.
Develop guidelines for post harvest handling, during storage, transportation and marketing, of a specified vegetable variety.
Analyse vegetable marketing systems in your locality.
Explain the importance of produce standards to marketing in different vegetable marketing systems.
Explain the impact of quarantine regulations on transport of different types of vegetables, in your locality.
Explain an appropriate procedure for packaging a specified vegetable for long distance transport.
Develop marketing strategies for different specified vegetables.