University of Connecticut to Offer Cannabis Horticulture Course

The University of Connecticut (UConn, Storrs, Connecticut) announced plans to offer a class on cannabis horticulture through the Department of Plant Science and Landscape Architecture (1).

The course will be called “Horticulture of Cannabis: From Seed to Harvest” and will be taught by Gerald “Gerry” Berkowitz, a professor of plant science, and experts working in the cannabis industry today such as CEOs from successful business operations, for example, licensed cannabis growing facilities in Connecticut and cannabis testing laboratories.

According to UConn Today, the course will have a firm focus in horticulture, serving as a gateway to the entire cannabis industry. The introductory course will be open to all UConn students, regardless of their major, and has no prerequisites for enrollment. In addition to Berkowitz, expert guest lecturers will present on topics such as cannabis genetics, seed selection, soil and tissue testing, plant hormones, and laboratory testing of harvests.

Berkowitz currently has the ability to work with low tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) hemp cannabis plants, which will be used as examples for class demonstrations. As reported by UConn Today, the plants will be grown in concert with the course to provide students with hands-on examples of the range of horticultural methods applied to cannabis, such as propagating clones through cuttings, transplanting, training plants to alter canopy and flower architecture, culling males, pest management, and more.

The course will be offered in the Spring 2019 semester (2).

References:

1. https://today.uconn.edu/2018/10/cannabis-course-responds-industry-need/#
2. http://www.plantscience.uconn.edu/