Plant Propagation

Course Schedule - Week 3

Typical of Monday classes, we'll spend a few minutes reviewing this past Friday afternoon's lab session to address any lingering questions, concerns, etc. We'll also discuss observations made on lab exercises currently in progress.

We'll then break into groups and each group will be provided with several of the propagation media (examples at right) introduced in Chapter Three of the textbook. Groups will have roughly ten minutes to prepare and present a short review of each medium.

By noon today I will email you the third quiz (Quiz #3) of the semester. Your completed quiz will be due to me via email by midnight, tonight. (The quiz will cover everything covered in the class to date - including pages 90-95 in Chapter 3 and this past Friday's cutting propagation lab exercise). I will post a brief quiz review video and grading rubric by noon tomorrow (Tuesday) and your grading effort will be due by midnight this Friday, February 3.

Finally, Looking ahead to Wednesday, please read Chapter Six in the textbook and watch the Chapter Six videos as we'll start discussing the propagation of plants by seed.

(Note: Given the amount of material that we're going to try to cover this semester, we will not be discussing the content in Chapters Four (Seed Development) and Five (Principles and Practices of Seed Selection) of the textbook. Hopefully, much of the content in those two chapters you will be familiar with from other courses you've taken here at ESF or elsewhere.)

In today's class we'll focus our discussion on topics addressed in Chapter Six and the Chapter Six videos, including seed harvesting and processing, seed testing (at right) and labeling, seed treatments and seed storage.

By noon today I will email you the fourth quiz (Quiz #4) of the semester. Your completed quiz will be due to me via email by midnight, tonight. I will post a brief quiz review video and grading rubric by noon tomorrow (Thursday) and your grading effort will be due by midnight this coming Sunday, February 5.

Looking ahead, you will want to read Chapter Seven and watch the Chapter Seven video content in preparation for next Monday's class.

Now that we're several weeks into the semester, it's time to start looking forward to your end-of-semester capstone project. Therefore, before we meet make sure to review the Course Capstone Project page and watch at least a couple of the videos created by students during the past several years (links can be found at the bottom of the Capstone Project page).

We'll start the day by discussing the capstone component of this class. I'll briefly explain my intent for this semester-long effort. I'll open the conversation for all to offer their thoughts on how this effort will be most supportive of learning rather than a meaningless effort that ultimately only induces unnecessary anxiety.

We'll then focus most of our efforts building upon the brief propagation media presentations made by you and your classmates during this past Monday's class. We'll discuss in greater detail their advantages and disadvantages, and we'll conduct several relatively simple tests to assess their water retention, drainage, and nutrient-holding behaviors.

For more information on this lab session click on this link Lab Session #3 - Capstone Project Introduction and Propagation Media.

Finally, a couple of quick quiz-related reminders.

• Your Quiz #3 grading effort is due to me by midnight, February 3.
• Your Quiz #4 grading effort is due to me by midnight this Sunday, February 5.
• There will be two quizzes (#5 and #6) next week.