Checklist
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Complete and intensive study guide.
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20 Hours of coursework
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Flexible learning. Start and finish when you want.
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Delivered by ACS, Australias leading online short course creators.
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Final assessment
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Certificate of completion
Curriculum
LESSON 1 NATURE AND SCOPE OF VERTICAL GROWING
- Nature of vertical growing
- Green walls
- Green facades
- Crop production
- Scope of vertical growing
- The uniqueness of vertical gardening
- Where to grow
- How to grow
- Benefits of vertical gardening
- Mental wellbeing
- Physical health
- Environment
- Food production
- Reasons to create a green wall
- Understanding biophobia
- Health problems of biophobic design
- Review what you have been learning
LESSON 2 BUILDING THE GREEN WALL
- The living wall
- Design and construction of green walls
- Hydroponic systems
- Loose media/substrate systems
- Fixed media systems
- Mat media
- Sheet media
- Customising
- Waterproofing walls
- Weight loading
- Irrigation
- Drainage
- Lighting
- Nutrition
- Other design considerations
- Green wall design
- Design considerations
LESSON 3 GREEN FACADES
- The green façade
- Options for creating green facades
- Some techniques in detail
- Climbing plants
- Hanging baskets
- Window boxes
- Epiphytes
- Espaliers
- Growing plants on trellis
- Hedges
- Wall shrubs
- Green facade preparation
- More on epiphytes
- Succulents in green walls
LESSON 4 VERTICAL FOOD PRODUCTION
- Making use of vertical crop growing
- Hydroponics
- NFT systems
- Alternative layouts for vertical NFT systems
- NFT system choices
- Aeroponics
- Gravel and loose culture
- Aquaponics
- Mushroom farms
- Upright systems
- Growing in protective structures
- Greenhouse hydroponics
- Design considerations
- Temperature
- Relative humidity and vapour pressure deficit
- CO2 and O2
- Water
- Plant nutrients
- Control of the environment
- Artificial lighting
- Outdoor vertical food gardens
- Growing cucurbits in vertical systems
- Cultural methods
LESSON 5 AUTOMATION
- The need for automation
- Automated systems
- Irrigation and fertiliser
- Automated irrigation systems for green walls
- Fertigation of green walls
- Monitoring vertical growing systems
- Optimum air quality
- Drone inspections
- Cation exchange capacity
- Measuring ph levels
- Automated irrigation of hydroponic green walls
- Ph tests for hydroponics
- Ec testing
- Automatic ec and ph testing and control
- Irrigation pumps
LESSON 6 MAINTENANCE
- The range of maintenance tasks
- Inspection tasks
- Maintenance tasks
- Maintenance of plants
- The nature of plants
- Watering climbers
- Feeding
- Mulching
- Pruning and rejuvenating plants
- Maintaining plants in containers
- Watering
- Feeding
- Re-potting
- Maintenance of hanging baskets
- Problems with containers
- Maintenance of hard landscape components
- Maintaining plant health
- Symptoms and diagnosis
- How to conduct an inspection
- Symptoms of nutrient deficiency
- Pests and diseases problems
- Occupational health and safety
- Duty of care
- Risk assessment
- Identifying hazards and risk
- Example of a risk assessment procedure
- Work place Safety with tools and equipment
- General safety rules
- Maintaining vertical gardens and farms
- Maintenance issues when retrofitting green walls
- Avoiding problem materials which increase maintenance
LESSON 7 PLANT SELECTION
- Planting considerations
- Plants for green walls
- Plants for green facades
- Climbers to grow on trellis
- Wall shrubs
- Plants for hanging baskets
- Plants for window boxes
- Plants for hedging
- Plants for vertical farms
- Growing strawberries in vertical farms
- Organic of cultivation of strawberries in green wall containers