UF to Start Disease Management Training Courses Online

Improve your prevention and management of diseases in nurseries and greenhouses by registering for Disease Management, the fourth course of the Greenhouse Online Training courses offered by the University of Florida IFAS Extension. This intermediate course is designed for growers with some experience and training. Topics covered include how to differentiate between a disease and other issues, disease prevention tips, organic and conventional disease management options, and how to safely apply and handle fungicides. The course is offered in English and Spanish.

Carrie Harmon, Ph.D., director of the UF/IFAS Plant Diagnostic Center in Gainesville, Florida, co-director of the National Plant Diagnostic Network teaches the course and speaker at GPN’s Plant Health Management Week from Sept. 20-22. Growers have described the training as “detailed but digestible, with an emphasis on practical, field-applicable knowledge”, and that it helped them “feel more capable identifying disease problems, and less intimidated by the disease books on the shelf.”

The course runs from Sept. 19 to Oct. 14, 2022. The cost is $249 per participant, with a 20% discount if you register five or more. All course material is completely online and available at any time of the day, and includes pre-recorded videos, an interactive discussion board with Ph.D. professors and quizzes. Two new modules are activated each week during the course, for a total of eight learning modules. Instruction is at your own pace and time within the four weeks of the course, with a typical time commitment of about 6 hours per week. Click here to register (http://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/training/).