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Hi, I am a college student doing an assignment on horticulture. I was hoping you could answer a few questions. Thank you in advance.
• What advice would you give a young aspiring horticulturist?
• What are some current issues facing horticulture?
• What are their biggest challenges in their field? How do you deal with them?

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Sep 20, 2014
 A Few Tips...
by: Jacki

First of all, as a person who is going to college, one thing that is essential is to own your research. You haven't put your name so I don't know how to address you. Even such an informal field as horticulture has some etiquette.

So, Dear College Student, I would have to say that the advice I can give you is to think of your passion as a career, and specialize just as though you were in a medical area or a legal field.

The entire area of study of horticulture is huge, and you can never know it all, even a tiny corner of it.

My specialties are propagation of perennials and succulents, and making ways to display them, such as crafts like mosaics and spheres planted with Sempervivum.

The major current issue facing horticulture is the fact that it's hard to make a living from it unless you are somewhat business oriented, and can find a specific approach that no-one has done before. Focus tightly on your niche, whatever that happens to be, and become an expert in one tiny portion.

The biggest challenges are that in a lot of areas chemical pesticides are becoming frowned upon. It's essential to find non-harmful (to us and the rest of the environment) ways to combat pests.

We've got a lot of baggage to overcome with chemicals like DDT, organophosphate pesticides and more recently, the neonicotinoide treatments that are having such an adverse effect on bees.

Keep an open mind, and be ready for when the next big idea takes off.

Hope this helps with your assignment, and gives you some things to think about as you achieve your goals.

Best of luck,
Jacki Cammidge, Certified Horticulturist

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