Introduction to Horticulture

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Introduction to Horticulture

• By Johnny M. Jessup
• Agriculture Teacher/FFA Advisor

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Horticulture

• Word first used in 1600s
• Comes from two Latin words
• Hortus Garden
• Cultura Cultivation
• Horticulture means cultivated garden or
  culture of garden plants

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Life Sciences

• Biology is the branch of science that deals with
  both plant and animal organisms and life
  processes.
• Zoology is the part of biology that deals with
  animals.
• Botany is the part of biology that deals with
  plants.

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Plant Sciences

• Applied plant sciences are based on the purpose
  for which the plants are grown.
• Agronomy
• Forestry
• Horticulture

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Agronomy

• The science and practice of growing field crops
  such as cotton, wheat, tobacco, corn and soybeans.

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Forestry

• The science and practice of growing, managing and
  harvesting trees for building materials and other
  products.

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Horticulture

• The science and practice of growing, processing
  and marketing fruits, vegetables, and ornamental
  plants.

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Introductory Horticulture

• Horticulture differs from agronomy and forestry
  because..
• Requires more intensive management and higher
  labor inputs than other branches.
• Horticulture offers a higher gross return per
  unit area per unit time.
• Ex.- Greenhouse grower (20.00 per ft2/yr)

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Branches of Horticulture

• Olericulture
• The growing and study of vegetables.
• Pomology
• The growing and study of fruits and nuts.
• Viticulture
• The growing and study of grapes or vines.
• Floriculture
• The growing and study of flowers.

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Branches of Horticulture

• Greenhouse Management
• The growing and study of plants in greenhouses.
• Turfgrass Management
• The growing and study of turfgrasses. This
  includes home, municipal, and commercial lawns
  sports turf maintenance highway rights-of-way
  and seed and sod production.

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Branches of Horticulture

• Nursery Management
• The growing and study of trees and shrubs that
  are produced primarily for landscape purposes.
• Arboriculture
• The growing and study of trees.
• Known as silviculture in forestry.
• Synonymous with urban forestry.

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Branches of Horticulture

• Landscape Horticulture
• The application of design and horticultural
  principles to placement and care of plants in the
  landscape.
• Interiorscaping
• The application of design and horticultural
  principles to placement and care of plants in
  indoor environments.

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Branches of Horticulture

• Horticultural Therapy
• The use of horticultural plants and methods as
  therapeutic tools with disabled and disadvantaged
  people.

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Horticulture Science or Art?

• Known as applied botany because.
• Takes principles of botany such as morphology,
  anatomy, and physiology and applies them to the
  growing of crops.
• Also uses other sciences such as.
• Chemistry, biochemistry, physics, mathematics,
  and genetics.
• So, horticulture is obviously a science.

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Horticulture Science or Art?

• But horticulture is also a art form.
• Where practical experience is helpful.
• Example A person may know the science of
  cultivating plants, but be unsuccessful due to a
  lack of a green thumb.

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Horticulture Science or Art?

• Art forms in horticulture
• Grafting
• Floral Design
• Landscape Design
• Horticulture is an applied science
  and an art
  form.

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History of Horticulture

• Garden of Eden
• Romanticized garden of paradise.
• Ultimate goal throughout history.

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History of Horticulture

• Prehistoric people were primarily.
• Hunters and gatherers.
• Collected seeds, fruits, and nuts.

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History of Horticulture

• Primitive people began to study plants.
• Is it edible?
• Does eating it modify well-being?
• Does it taste good?
• Can it used to keep me warm? As fuel? As
  clothing?
• Is it useful to combat pain? Disease?

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History of Horticulture

• When were plants first cultivated?
• Neolithic Age (7000 10000 years ago)
• First farmers were women!!!!

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History of Horticulture

• By 3000 B.C. in Egypt
• Land preparation
• Irrigation
• Pruning

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History of Horticulture

• Meanwhile in Mesopotamia,
  Babylonia, and Assyria..
• Irrigation canals lined with burnt brick and
  sealed with asphalt joints.
• This system kept 10,000 square miles under
  cultivation..
• Which fed 15,000,000 people
• Cultivated roses, figs, dates, grapes, and
  olives.

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History of Horticulture

• Hanging Gardens of Babylon
• Built by Nebuchadnezzar.
• One of 7 Wonders of the Ancient World

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History of Horticulture

• Eventually people began asking questions
  such as..
• How do they grow?
• How do they reproduce?
• How are they constructed?
• How are they nourished?
• How are they related to one another?
• How are traits passed from one
  generation to the next?

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History of Horticulture

• Meanwhile, back in America
• The Pre-Incas were cultivating maize (corn)

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History of Horticulture

• Other Indian crops included
• Potatoes
• Sweet potatoes
• Peppers
• Squash
• Tomatoes
• Cocoa

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History of Horticulture

• The use of plant products eventually led to
  physicians, pharmacists, and scientists.

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History of Horticulture

• Theophrastus
• 1st scientific horticulturist
• Student of Plato and Aristotle
• Wrote the books History of Plants and The Causes
  of Plants.

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History of Horticulture

• History of Plants
• Morphology of roots, flowers, and leaves.
• Anatomical features such as bark, pith,
  fibers, and vessels.
• The Causes of Plants
• Relationship of weather, soils, and agricultural
  practices.
• Importance of seeds
• Value of grafting
• Tastes and flagrances of plants
• Death of plants

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History of Horticulture

• Dioscorides
• Early Christian Era
• Wrote about the medicinal uses of plants
• Proposed ideas about the relationship of plants

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History of Horticulture

• Middle Ages
• Little advancement in horticulture
• Arabs (established botanical gardens)
• Scientific advances of Greeks and Romans were
  preserved in monasteries.

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History of Horticulture

• Renaissance
• Rebirth of energetic attention to scientific
  discovery.
• Taxonomy, morphology, and anatomy branches of
  botany began to grow.
• More and more plants were discovered due to
  exploration which required a system of
  classification.

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History of Horticulture

• Linnaeus (1707-1778)
• Swedish botanist.
• Developed binomial classification scheme for
  plants.
• Based on their sexual or flowering parts.
• Basis for all classification systems today.
• Built upon the work of the Greeks, especially
  Dioscorides.

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History of Horticulture

• As the Renaissance evolved
• Creation of formal Gardens
• Versailles
• Belvedere in Vienna

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History of Horticulture

• Improvements in fruit, nut, and vegetable
  production.
• Influx of new plants
  from the colonies.
• Some of these plants became mainstays
  of European diets.

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Horticulture in America

• When the Europeans arrived they brought seeds,
  cuttings, and plants.
• Orchards were established
• Crops brought to America
• Oranges
• Wheat
• Cabbage

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Horticulture in America

• Early horticulturists in America
• John Bartram
• George Washington
• Thomas Jefferson
• John Chapman
• aka. Johnny Appleseed

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Horticulture in America

• New life in horticulture
• Morrill Act of 1862.
• Established land-grant universities.
• Encouraged the growth of
  agricultural knowledge.

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Horticulture in America

• Liberty Hyde Bailey (1858-1954)
• Father of American Horticulture
• Educated at Michigan Agricultural College
• Present Day Michigan State University
• Studied at Harvard under Asa Gray
• Then was a professor at Michigan Agricultural
  College and at Cornell University.

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Horticulture in America

• Established the 1st horticulture department
• Prodigious Writer
• Hortus
• Taxonomic index of horticultural plants.
• Cyclopedia of Horticulture
• Cultural and taxonomic information of plants.

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Horticulture in America

• Established the Bailey Hortorium.
• things of the garden
• Established the (ASHS) American Society of
  Horticulture Science in 1903.

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Modern Day Horticulture

• New Cultivars
• Plant-Water Relationships
• Temperature
• Light
• Plant Nutrition

• The Rhizosphere
• Integrated Pest Management
• Plant Growth Regulators
• Mechanization
• Post Harvest Factors

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• Lets Review!

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Designed by

• Johnny M. Jessup, FFA Advisor
• Hobbton High School