UF Announces 2018 Greenhouse Training Online Courses

Jennifer Zurko

Can your grower staff benefit from additional training in order to make better crop management decisions? University of Florida IFAS Extension can help with four-week online training courses in English and Spanish. The first courses of the year, Greenhouse 101 and Costing & Profitability, start on June 4, 2018. To register, visit http://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/training.

Each course is completely online and includes streaming videos, readings and assignments. They’re available any time of the day and new modules are activated each week during the course. Graduates receive a personalized certificate of completion.

Greenhouse 101 teaches the underlying horticultural science of plant growth to growers who lack a formal training in horticulture. Topics covered are plant parts and functions, photosynthesis and growth, greenhouse technology, flowering, compactness and branching, irrigation, nutrition and plant health.

Costing & Profitability is an advanced course for experienced growers. It will help you develop the skills to accurately estimate production cost and profit for your greenhouse or nursery business.

This year features two new courses, Water Quality and Treatment and an Introduction to Hydroponics, as well as the return of Disease Management.

Online course schedule for 2018:
Greenhouse 101    June 4 – 29
Costing & Profitability    June 4 – 29
Nutrient Management 1 (Introduction)    July 2 – 27
Weed Management    July 30 – August 24
Nutrient Management 2 (Advanced)    September 3 – 28
Disease Management (REVISED)    October 1 – 26
Water Quality and Treatment (NEW)    November 5 – December 7
Introduction to Hydroponics (NEW)    January 14 – February 9, 2019

For more information, including discounts for registering multiple staff members, email greenhousetraining@ifas.ufl.edu. GT