Plant Propagation

TPSS 420

Faculty:

Orville Baldos

Semesters taught:

Fall 2016

Goals:

COURSE OBJECTIVES
This course is designed to:
 
1. Acquaint students with the art, culture, and science of plant propagation. Gain an understanding of the language of plant propagation.
2. Understand the cultural practices and develop technical skills that are necessary to support plant propagation. 
3. Gain a thorough understanding of the subject of plant propagation in order to integrate knowledge, solve problems, and work as a plant propagator. 
4. Provide a basic background in plant propagation techniques that supports their study in other horticultural fields.

Skills and knowledge to be acquired:

As a result of study and training in this course, the student is expected to be able to: 1. Understand and explain physiological aspects of propagation by means of seeds, cuttings, grafts, and layers. 2. Choose among various propagation systems and techniques for a variety of plant materials to effect efficient and successful plant increase.

Computer skills to be acquired:

None

Pre-requisites:

TPSS 200 or consent

Text(s):

Beyl, C.A. and R. N. Trigiano. 2015. Plant Propagation Concepts and Laboratory Exercises. 2nd edition CRC Press. (Not available as an e-book).

Field Trips:

Yes

Course organization:

Introduction, Planning Propagation
Propagation Structures
Rooting media
Containers
Plant propagation environment
Anatomy of rooting
Physiology of root initiation
Techniques of propagation by cuttings
Clonal selection 
Stock plant management
Disease and disease management strategies
Grafting and budding
Layering
Micropropagation
Seed development
Seed production and harvesting
Seed handling/cleaning and storage 
Seed dormancy
Seed germination
Seed treatments and enhancements
Seedling production 
Plug culture
Native Plant Production
Intellectual Property Protection 

Grading:

20% for each of 2 midterms, 20% for Final Exam, 30% for laboratory notebook, separate lab writeups, homeworks and student presentations; 10% for term paper on propagation of a specific plant.