"Identify and propagate palms and cycads. Learn about commercial applications"
Learn the general cultural practices required to grow palms and cycads
Learn to propagate, treat pest and disease, manage water and nutrition and more
Discover how to choose palms and cycads to suit almost any climatic situation;
Learn to use them in the landscape and other commercial applications.
Work with palms and cycads in a nursery or garden; get a job or start a business
COURSE AIMS
Distinguish between the characteristics of different types of palms and cycads.
Determine general cultural practices, including propagation, for growing palms and cycads.
Choose palms and cycads to suit different climatic situations.
Determine treatments for palms and cycads suffering various health problems.
Specify appropriate landscape applications for palms and cycads.
Explain different commercial applications for palms and cycads.
COURSE STRUCTURE
There are eight lessons in this course as follows:
1.
Scope and Nature of Palm Culture
Plant Naming
Species, Cultivars, Varieties
Characteristcs of Palm and Cycad Families
Botanical Characteristics
Review of Australian Cycad Genera
Australian Palm Genera
Review of Palms
Sub families, tribes and genera of palms\
Resources
2. Culture
Cultivating Cycads
Understanding Soils, Nutrition, pH, etc
Soil Mixes for Palms and Cycads
Mulches
Fertilisers
Drainage
Planting
Water Management
Pruning Palms and Cycads
3. Propagation
Overview
Propagating Palms from Seed
Propagating Media
Other Propagation Methods (for some palms); eg. Offshoots, layering)
Transplanting Seedlings
Cycad Propagation; seed, offsets, suckers
Transplanting cycads
Managing pest and disease
Propagating Equipment
4. Selecting Suitable Palms and Cycads
Growth Habits; solitary, clumping, aerial branching, subterranean branching, climbing
Review of palm genera
Cycad genera
Cold tolerant palms and cycads
5. Pests & Diseases of Palms and Cycads
Scope and Nature of Pest Management
Use of Chemical Legislation
Common palm and cycad pests
Common palm and cycad diseases
6. Using Palms and Cycads
Growing palms in a greenhouse
What palms can be grown in a greenhouse or conservatory
Environmental management and plant needs
Temperature, Ventilation, Light Management
Landscaping with Palms
How palms can be used for different affects
Planting Design
Preparing a Plan
7. Commercial Applications For Palms & Cycads
Scope and Nature of Uses for Palms
Rattan
Palm Oil
Dates
Coconut
Coir Fibre
Palms as Indoor Plants
Species Suited to Indoor Plant Culture
8. Special Assignment
A PBL assignment where you deepen your knowledge by planning the establishment of a collection of different cultivars of palms or cycads (your choice) that are suited to growing in a particular situation or locality.
Research shows that PBL gives the learner greater long-term benefits than traditional learning. Graduates of PBL courses advance faster and further in their careers.
Other benefits of PBL:
Develops critical and creative thinking;
Creates effective problem-solvers;
Increases motivation;
Encourages lateral thinking;
Improves communication and networking skills;
Is based on real-life situations.
WHAT YOU WILL DO IN THIS COURSE
Here are just some of the things you will be doing:
Distinguish between different plant families, including: *Arecaceae *Zamiaceae *Cycadaceae.
Distinguish between different major groups which the Arecaceae (Palmae) family is divided into.
Prepare an herbarium collection of fifty palms and cycads.
Explain two different ways to plant different specified palm or cycads plants.
Compare growing palms in the ground with growing them in a pot as an indoor plant.
Explain appropriate techniques for watering palms and cycads in a specified garden, or collection of container plants.
Develop guidelines for preparing a specified soil for planting a palm in your locality.
Make a potting media suitable for growing palms or cycads in a 300mm container.
Evaluate the chemical analyses of five different types of fertiliser to determine their suitability for use on palm and cycad plants.
Prepare a maintenance program for a palm plantation which, includes: *Soil management *Pest and disease control *Weed control *Pruning *Irrigation *A twelve month work schedule.
Write a procedure for propagating palms or cycads.
Summarise common causes for seed failure when propagating palms and cycads.
Perform tasks associated with propagating a palm from seed, including collecting and germinating seed.
Identify different environmental zones, in your country on an unlabelled map, which are suitable for growing palms selected from a provided list of twenty species.
Determine palm and cycad species which are particularly hardy and adaptable to three different environmental zones within your country.
Determine six species of cold tolerant palms and cycads.
Prepare lists of five palms and cycads, suited to grow in each of a variety of different situations.
Determine the pests which commonly occur on palms and cycads in your locality.
Determine the diseases which commonly occur on palms and cycads in your locality.
Develop a checklist of things to inspect when making an assessment of the health of palms and cycads.
Evaluate the health of five different palms or cycads using a plant health checklist, developed by you.
Specify treatments for three different pests which are common on palms.
Specify treatments for three common diseases which affect palms.
Specify treatments for three common problems which affect cycads.
Compare alternative (ie. non-chemical) methods of treating five common palm or cycad health problems.
Determine five palm species which have spikes on the foliage.
Determine five palm species which have no spikes on the foliage.
Determine ten palm varieties which have distinct foliage colours other than green.
Determine ten self-cleaning palm species.
Determine ten palm species which are not self-cleaning.
Categorise twenty different palm species according to the texture of the foliage, including: *Broad leaves (e.g. fan palms) *Fine textured feather palms *Coarser textured feather palms.
Evaluate the use of palms/cycads in a garden which incorporates at least three different varieties, commenting on both aesthetics and function.
Draw a landscape plan, demonstrating aesthetic impact, for a 30 square metre garden bed, where palms and cycads comprise 75% of the total number of plants used.
Evaluate the use of palms in a commercial interior (e.g. office or shopping complex).
Develop a procedure for the production of a palm plant in a wholesale nursery, from germinating the seed to the time it is ready for sale.
Determine how a specified palm needs to be treated differently when grown in a greenhouse.
Describe commercial farming of palms including the production of coconuts, dates and palm oil.
Tips for Growing Palms in Cooler Climates
Palms can be, and are grown all over the world; even relatively cold climates.
One of the hardiest palms is the Needle Palm (Rhapidophyllum hystrix ). Once established, it is reported hardy to temperatures as low as minus 5 degrees Fahrenheit. It does still like the heat of summer though. Some other particularly hardy palms are:
Nannorrhops ritchiana - survives zero degrees F when establishedPhoenix canariensis - mature specimens grow well in Sydney, Melbourne and parts of Tasmania.Sabal minor - survives zero degrees F when establishedSabal palmetto (cabbage palm) - survives to 5 degrees F (maybe lower) when establishedTrachycarpus fortunei (windmill palm) - are grown successfully in northern British Colombia (Canada)Trachycarpus - several other species will survive low temperaturesWashingtonia filifera - there are mature specimens growing well in southern Victoria (Australia), where temperatures can fall to zero celsius.
More Information on ACS Distance Education and our courses
Who are our tutors?
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Sample Course Notes
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How Long will it take to complete the course?
This obviously varies from student to student. Some students will have more time for study than others. Some students may work quicker than others, so it is an individual thing. We estimate that most students will take, for example, 4 – 6 months to complete a 100 hour individual module, but we allow up to 12 months for you to complete it.
Longer courses will obviously take longer. You can find more information on the length of time required and so on the “Enrolment” box, then selecting “Terms and Conditions of Enrolment.”
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I don’t think this is the right course for me.
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Who is ACS Distance Education?
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What qualification will I achieve for completing this course?
This is an individual module course. The individual module courses are 100 hour long usually and can be taken on their own or as part of a larger program of study.
If you wish to take an individual module course as a stand alone course, you can elect to sit an optional exam at the end of it.
If you successfully pass the exam and all assignments, you will receive a Statement of Attainment. You can take examinations at a time and location to suit you. If you enrol, you will be sent further information on how to arrange examinations at the end of the course.
If you do not wish to take the exam, you will receive a Course Completion letter when you have passed all assignments.
There is an assignment at the end of each lesson. So for example, if an individual module course contains ten lessons, you will need to complete ten assignments. Assignments can be sent to us via email, post or fax.
Other qualifications, such as certificates, diplomas etc may require examinations to be taken as part of the overall assessment process.
You can find further information on the examinations process by clicking on the “Enrolment” link above.
You can find further information on other courses by clicking on the “Courses” link above.
Distance Learning Palms and Cyads Course
"Identify and propagate palms and cycads. Learn about commercial applications"
Throughout this course you will learn to distinguish between the characteristics of different types of palms and cycads.
This is a course for amateurs and professionals; plant collectors and breeders, nurserymen, botanists, landscapers, gardeners and horticulturists.
