A specialist course for African Violet enthusiasts.  Designed for the African Violet enthusiast, this course covers everything from potting and feeding, to pests and propagation. You learn how African Violets are classified, and cover the exciting range of varieties available. Here’s your chance to achieve outstanding results with African Violets.

Course Aims:

• Describe how African Violets and related plants are classified and the plant naming system
• Describe the cultural requirements
• Select appropriate propagating materials and using them, propagate African violets.
• Identify and control pest and diseases
• Discuss the role that light plays in the growth of African violets
• Describe greenhouses and other environmental control equipment used for growing African violets.
• Describe the various ways in which African violets can be grown
• Demonstrate the knowledge acquired for a specific group or individual plant in the Gesneriaceae family through research.

Detailed Course Outline

This course is made up of a number of lessons or units. Each of these has self assessment questions, a set task (practical homework) and an assignment which you can upload online.

There are 8 Lessons in this course:

1. Introduction

• • What is an African Violet
  • Plant name pronunciation
  • Review of the system of plant identification
  • Introduction to Gesneriads
  • Classification of Gesneriaceae
  • Introduction to most commonly grown African Violet Species
  • Information contacts (ie: nurseries, seed, clubs etc.)
  • Plant Reviews

2. Culture

• • Understanding how plants grow
  • Soils ad nutrition
  • African Violet potting mixes
  • Other cultural practices -Planting, watering, feeding, etc.
  • Review of Gesneriad Genera -Columnea, Streptocarpus, Episcia, Aeschynanthus etc
  • Plant Reviews

3. Propagation

• • Sexual and asexual explained
  • Propagation aids -greenhouses, hotbeds, cold frames, misting etc.
  • Cuttings
  • Seed
  • Division
  • Plant Reviews

4. Pests & Disease

• • Plant maintenance and health
  • Identifying problems
  • Controlling problems
  • Reviewing pest, disease and environmental issues that can confront the species
  • Plant Reviews

5. Light and its Affects

• • Understanding light affects on african violet flowering
  • Artificial lighting
  • Plant Reviews

6. Greenhouse Culture

• • The greenhouse system
  • Components of a greenhouse (floor, structure, ventilation, heating, etc)
  • Types off Greenhouses
  • Shadehouses
  • Coldframes
  • Heated propagators
  • Environmental controls
  • Heaters, Ventilators, etc
  • Plant Reviews

7. Ways to Use African Violets

• • Containers, in the ground, in greenhouses, growing for profit (to sell etc.)
  • Review of popular cultivars
  • Plant Reviews

8. Special Assignment

• • Planning the establishment of a collection of Gesneriads, for a specific (real or hypothetical) location.

When you have completed the lessons of your Certificate course, you will be given the option of taking the optional exam. It’s okay if you don’t want the exam, we still issue your Careerline Certificate. For Advanced Certificates however, the exam is compulsory (per module) and are included in the course fee.