| Department of Natural Sciences
90 % Department of Agricultural Sciences 10 % | |||||||||||||||||||
| Earliest Possible Year | |||||||||||||||||||
| Duration | 2 semesters | ||||||||||||||||||
| Credits | 15 (ECTS) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Course Level | BSc | ||||||||||||||||||
| Examination | evaluation of project report Aid allowed Description of Examination: pass/fail, internal examiner Dates of Exam: 66% of mark Description of Examination: 33% of mark | ||||||||||||||||||
| Organisation of Teaching | Winter (29/11-04 - 04/02-05) Teaching is conducted at KVL before Christmas and at SLU after New Years | ||||||||||||||||||
| Block Placement | outside schedule | ||||||||||||||||||
| Teaching Language | English may be conducted in Danish/Swedish | ||||||||||||||||||
| Optional Prerequisites | 120121 Introduction to Horticulture 120211 120311 Genetics, Botany and Breeding of Horticultural Plants 120411 Plant Protection in Horticulture | ||||||||||||||||||
| Course Objectives | |||||||||||||||||||
| The course aims at giving the students basic understanding of the external growth factors including climate (light, heat, water), nutrients and the growth media (soil and other growth substrates), which are determining growth, quantity and quality of horticultural plants. It gives an integrated understanding of interactions between growth factors and various horticultural plants including annual and perennial, economic and ornamental plants in greenhouse and outdoor in different global ecozones. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Course Contents | |||||||||||||||||||
| The external factors, i.e. climate (light, heat, water), nutrients and growth media (primarily soil) that determine and affect growth, quantity and quality of horticultural plants are the subject of the course. Individual growth factors and their effects on the plants as well as the interactions between environment and plant are examined in order to show how growth factors can be manipulated in various directions and how the plant can be affected by the growth factors. The following issues will be considered in the course: · Plant growth: Plant growth factors; micro and macro nutrients; nutrient uptake; growth, yield, quality, competition and tolerance; sustainable plant production. · Light: Quality and intensity of light; light and canopy photosynthesis; radiation energy; greenhouse effect. · Heat: Soil heat and temperature; micro and macro climate; various climates; acclimatisation; frost effects. · Air: CO2 effects; soil air composition; air exchange. · Water: The water cycle; soil water (content and availability); precipitation (distribution in time and space); water uptake by plants; water and nutrient transport in the rooting zone; hydrology; water balance and need; irrigation; drainage; aquaculture. · Growth media: Soil composition and formation; global soil types and soil classification; other growth media (peat, stone wool, vermiculite etc.). · Soil components: inorganic fraction (primary and secondary minerals, clay, silt, sand, gravel); organic fraction (carbon cycle, humus and humus formation, peat); texture and structure; soil organisms (earthworms, bacteria, fungi etc.); soil quality and pollution. · Soil and root zone processes: Ion exchange reactions (acidic and base cations, pH, acidification, liming, pH and nutrient availability, salinization, salt problems and tolerance, uptake of anions and cations by plants); weathering (mineral stability and free energy, weathering rate and acid neutralization); adsorption (phosphate bonding, phosphorus cycle, mychorrhiza, heavy metal sorption, pesticide sorption and mobility); redox processes (aerobic and anaerobic, Nernst equation, iron and manganese in soil, nitrogen cycle, sulphur cycle, soil microbiology). | |||||||||||||||||||
| Teaching And Learning Methods | |||||||||||||||||||
| Teaching and learning tools will include lectures, problem-solving exercises, laboratory exercises, excursions and project work. Lectures will be used to provide overview and coherence. Excursions to various kinds of rural and urban horticulture are used to show relations between theory and practice. Exercises on problem solving and laboratory exercises relating to plant growth will be used to support and improve the learning process. At the end of the course a larger overview project based on literature review must be performed. This project, which is performed in groups of 4 students, will include preparation and oral presentation of a lecture on a given subject. The result of the oral presentation will account for 33% of the final exam result. Subject (Biology, Chemistry) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Course Litterature | |||||||||||||||||||
| Borggaard, O.K., Rasmussen, L.H. & Gimsing, A.L. (2003): Soil Chemistry for Horticulturists. 2nd Edition. Laboratory Manuals. Hands-out materials. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Course Coordinator | |||||||||||||||||||
| Ole Kragholm Borggaard, okb@life.ku.dk, Department of Natural Sciences/Soil and Environmental Chemistry, Phone: 35332419 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Study Board | |||||||||||||||||||
| Study Committee DSH | |||||||||||||||||||
| Course Scope | |||||||||||||||||||
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