Learn how to grow your own fresh fruit! If you’ve always wanted to create a fruit garden but don’t know where to start, this fruit growing online course is perfect for you.
Certificate of Home Fruit Growing is a professional development course that will develop your gardening skills so you can start growing your own fruit at home.
In this fruit growing course, you’ll explore how to grow fresh fruit, nuts and berries efficiently and economically, select the best fruits for your garden, improve soil fertility and control pests naturally.
On completion of this course, you’ll have the skills and knowledge to grow a successful fruit garden in your own backyard.
Course Structure
Unit - Home Fruit Growing
Unit 1 – Introduction
- Deciding what to grow?
- Where to get helpful information
- Citrus
- Berry fruits
- Nuts
- Vines
- Pome fruits
- Stone fruits
Unit 2 – Soils, Site Preparation and Planning
- Understanding soil nutrition
- Physical characteristics of soil
- Soil texture and structure
- Colloids
- Soil peds
- Characteristics of sand, clay and loam soils
- Soil profile
- Soil temperature
- Chemical characteristics of soils
- Soil pH
- Nutrient levels
- Understanding plant nutrition
- What nutrients do plants need?
- The nutrient elements
- The macronutrients
- The micronutrients
- Deficiency and toxicity
- Indicators of deficiency and toxicity
- Fertilizers
- Soil water content
- Naming the soil
- Deciding what to grow
Unit 3 – General Cultural Practices
- Pruning fruit trees
- Before pruning
- Points to consider when pruning
- Pollination requirements
- Usually self-unfruitful
- Usually self-fruitful
- Sometimes require cross pollination
- Winter chilling-requirements
- Weed control
- Cultivation
- Mulching
- Popular mulches (wood shavings, pine bark and hay and straw)
- Irrigation – berries
- Irrigation – the wide view
- Feasibility of irrigation
- Soil and water
- When to irrigate
- Maintaining appropriate water levels
- conventional irrigation systems
- Portable systems
- Permanent systems
- Semi-permanent systems
- Design & operation
- Scheduling irrigation
- Design considerations
Unit 4 – Tree Fruits
- Directory of tree fruits and their requirements
- Problem solving issues with fruit trees
- Fruit trees ideal for your area
- Paw paw (carica papaya)
- Pomegranate (punica granatum)
- Tree tomato or tamarillo (cyphomandra betacea)
- Apple (malus sylvestris)
- Apricot (prunus armeniaca)
- Avocado (persea americana)
- Banana (musa acuminata)
- Cherry (prunus avium and p. Cerasus)
- Citrus (citrus spp.)
- Grapefruit (citrus paradisi)
- Cumquat (fortunella spp.)
- Lemon (citrus limon)
- Lime (citrus aurantifolia)
- Mandarin (citrus reticulata)
- Orange (citrus sinesis)
- Tangelo (c. X tangelo = c. Reticulata x c. Paradisi)
- Fig (ficus carica)
- Loquat (eriobotrya japonica)
- Olive (olea europaea)
- Paw paw (cariaca papaya)
- Peach & nectarine (prunus persica)
- Pear (pyrus communis)
- Pepino (solanum muricatum)
- Plum (prunus domestica & prunus salicina)
- Quince (cydonia oblonga)
Unit 5 – Nuts and Vines
- How to grow in selected areas
- Description of different nut trees and various vines
- Commonly grown vine fruits and nuts
- Grapes
- Passionfruit
- Walnuts and chessnuts
- Almonds and peanuts
- Macadamias and pecans
- Pistachios and cashews
- Vines
- Passionfruit (Passiflora sp.)
- Grape (vitis vinifera)
- Setting up
- Site preparation
- Planting
- Pruning grapes
- How much to prune?
- Machine pruning
- Summer pruning
- Combination pruning
- Making wine
- How wine is made
- Fermentation
- Process for making white wine
- Process for making red wine
Unit 6 – Berries
- Ideal areas for growing berries
- Timeline for growing berries
- Conditions for growing berries
- Directory of berries and their requirements
- Blueberry (vaccinium spp.).
- Raspberry (rubus idaeus)
- Strawberry (fragaria sp.)
- Brambleberries
- Gooseberries
- Tree tomatoes
- Cape gooseberry
- Cranberries
- Currants
- Pepino
- Passionfruit
- Kiwifruit (chinese gooseberry)
- Pests on berries
- Flies, fruit fly and mites,
- Slugs and snails, thrip and whitefly
- Deciding what to grow
- Ease of propagation/cost of transplants
- How easy are these plants to grow?
- How long will the crop take to grow?
- Suitability to your facilities and climate
Study Hours
Estimated duration 50 hours
Course Delivery and Start
Start anytime, self-paced and 100% online
Assessment
Assessment will be comprised of written exercises, including short-answer questions, reflective tasks, short reports and/or projects. There are no examinations or due dates for assessment. As a result, you can complete training in your own time and at your own pace with the assistance of unlimited tutor support.
Testimonials
Graduation
A Certificate of Attainment and Statement of Results will be issued upon successful completion of this course.
How to Enrol
Enrol Online: Click Enrol Now (Credit Card) or Enrol Now (Internet Banking/BPAY)
Enrol via Live Chat (Business Hours)
Enrol via Telephone 1300 76 2221 (Business Hours)
Enrol via Purchase Order/Tax Invoice
Enrolling Multiple Staff?
To enrol multiple staff, please complete the Employer Enrolment Form. We’ll be in touch within 60 minutes during business hours!
Payment Options
Visa, Mastercard, BPAY and Direct Deposit.
Course FAQs
Why Choose Australian Online Courses?
- Professional development that is widely recognised and respected;
- Improve your employment opportunities;
- Study online, anywhere via our elearning system;
- High-quality professional development programs written by industry experts;
- All course materials provided online – no textbooks to buy;
- Unlimited tutor support via email;
- We offer twelve (12) months’ access, with extensions available upon application (fees apply);
- Course may be tax deductible; see your tax advisor.
Are there any entry requirements or pre-requisites?
To study online with Australian Online Courses you will need a computer (desktop PC/laptop) running a current/updated operating system with reliable high-speed internet access. You will need to use the Google Chrome browser to access your course.
Are there any computer requirements?
To study online with Australian Online Courses you will need a computer (desktop PC/laptop) running a current/updated operating system with reliable high-speed internet access. You will need to use the Google Chrome browser to access your course.
When can I start this course?
You can start within 60 minutes during business hours when you enrol and pay in full with a credit card!
Credit card: Within 60 mins during business hours.
BPAY: Within 1-2 working days.
Internet Banking: Within 1-2 working days.
Cheque/Money Order: Upon receipt of mailed cheque.
How is this course delivered?
This course is delivered online via our easy-to-navigate Learning Management System (LMS), where you will discover interactive online learning/written content, resources and assessment.
Do I need to attend classes or undertake any work placements?
No. All courses are delivered online via our LMS and there are no work placement requirements in this course.
What support can I expect from Australian Online Courses?
Unlimited tutor support is available throughout your studies via email only during business hours Monday to Friday. Our Administrative team are available Monday to Friday via email, live chat and telephone.
I am an international student. Can I enrol into this course?
Yes! We accept enrolments from individuals both within Australia and internationally; location is no barrier to entry into our programs.
Career Pathways
Future growth
Strong
Unemployment
Low
Professional Development for:
- Gardener
- Fruit production worker
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