Or farming?
(SKIP TO BOTTOM IF YOU ARE A FAGGOT AND DONT LIKE READING MORE THAN TWENTY WORDS IN A ROW)

I'll let this cover people who focused on the study in school with no real intention of growing their own gardens or a low acreage farm.
Does education significantly increase a person's ability to grow a whole bunch of big red bad-ass tomatoes and silver corn?

I imagine their direction of their chosen profession generally focuses on identifying healthy plants and interbreeding them, or something more purely academic or business oriented.

The reason i ask is because I know several people who yearn to have productive gardens and devour literature on subsistence farming tips and methods, yet still couldn't grow a patch of mold on bread

Can a green thumb be bestowed by book learnin'?

8/28/2012 10:44:55 AM

no

8/28/2012 10:47:37 AM

botany is to gardening/farming what food science is to nutrition...


it's just the catch all for all plant related studies...

you have to get much more specialized to actually apply it specifically

8/28/2012 10:57:59 AM

I used to work with a guy that got a degree in horticulture from State and grew some amazing medicinal plants.

8/28/2012 11:01:38 AM

My aunt grew up on a farm, moved to another farm when she got married, and the only time plants she cares for do well is when they appear to die and she throws them out.

The back of her lawn near the treeline is littered with discarded plants she thought she killed that are THRIVING without her . It's like plantlife feels it is being punished whilst in her care and when she throws them out they are like felons on death row who got pardoned on the way to the gas chamber and are just living it up on the outside

8/28/2012 11:16:51 AM

lol sounds like my grandmother's farm.

8/28/2012 11:19:05 AM

Botany is the study of (natural) plant life, not growing plants for our needs. horticulture and crop science are a lot more relevant to gardening. You wouldn't expect biologists to excel at animal husbandry, would you? Most of them probably have little training/experience in rearing domestic animals, though they may study cellular physiology/ecology/phylogeny of a related animal.


Not to say that botanists can't garden and biologists can't raise chickens, because these endeavors are largely procedural, and are clearly accomplished by people we perceive to have little formal training.


The skills needed to have a great garden are, in order of importance:

1) interpreting environmental conditions for the area and choosing appropriate plants (you can't grow pineapples in NC, sorry. likewise you can't expect much of a corn crop if you plant under trees.) plenty of people do this the other way around, buy an attractive plant and then realize their yard doesn't have an area with the proper conditions.

2) doing things on a schedule and in a timely manner. Plants need fertilizer, water, and pest control BEFORE they are stressed and lose leaves.

3) don't be lazy about prep work or maintenance. Planting in clay and neglecting to weed won't get you much.

4) diagnosing problems and reacting to them in a TIMELY MANNER. If it takes you 3 weeks to look up what nutritional deficiency your plants have when they start yellowing and finally fertilize them, that's too freaking long. The plant is, at best, in stasis and at worst, slowly dying while you procrastinate/fail to act for whatever reason.




Reading helps with #1 and #4. People without a fundamental gap in knowledge usually fail in #2 and 3 by getting lazy and forgetful until the plants are in decline, but there's plenty of people that persistently overwater or can't figure out that a spot under a tree that gets less than 2 hours of light a day is not "part sun". The plants have tags on them saying what they need, interpreting the instructions regarding light and water/fertilizer conditions and carrying them out consistently is the important thing. Some people can be "book smart" in this way and still suck at this.


If you don't plant on time, water on time, apply fertilizer and kill bugs before the plants are stressed, you won't grow that much fruit.

8/28/2012 3:24:14 PM

came to post this

Quote :

"Botany is the study of (natural) plant life, not growing plants for our needs. horticulture and crop science are a lot more relevant to gardening. You wouldn't expect biologists to excel at animal husbandry, would you? Most of them probably have little training/experience in rearing domestic animals, though they may study cellular physiology/ecology/phylogeny of a related animal. "

8/28/2012 3:44:27 PM

came in to post this

Quote :

"Botany is the study of (natural) plant life, not growing plants for our needs. horticulture and crop science are a lot more relevant to gardening. You wouldn't expect biologists to excel at animal husbandry, would you? Most of them probably have little training/experience in rearing domestic animals, though they may study cellular physiology/ecology/phylogeny of a related animal. Not to say that botanists can't garden and biologists can't raise chickens, because these endeavors are largely procedural, and are clearly accomplished by people we perceive to have little formal training. The skills needed to have a great garden are, in order of importance: 1) interpreting environmental conditions for the area and choosing appropriate plants (you can't grow pineapples in NC, sorry. likewise you can't expect much of a corn crop if you plant under trees.) plenty of people do this the other way around, buy an attractive plant and then realize their yard doesn't have an area with the proper conditions. 2) doing things on a schedule and in a timely manner. Plants need fertilizer, water, and pest control BEFORE they are stressed and lose leaves. 3) don't be lazy about prep work or maintenance. Planting in clay and neglecting to weed won't get you much. 4) diagnosing problems and reacting to them in a TIMELY MANNER. If it takes you 3 weeks to look up what nutritional deficiency your plants have when they start yellowing and finally fertilize them, that's too freaking long. The plant is, at best, in stasis and at worst, slowly dying while you procrastinate/fail to act for whatever reason. Reading helps with #1 and #4. People without a fundamental gap in knowledge usually fail in #2 and 3 by getting lazy and forgetful until the plants are in decline, but there's plenty of people that persistently overwater or can't figure out that a spot under a tree that gets less than 2 hours of light a day is not "part sun". The plants have tags on them saying what they need, interpreting the instructions regarding light and water/fertilizer conditions and carrying them out consistently is the important thing. Some people can be "book smart" in this way and still suck at this. If you don't plant on time, water on time, apply fertilizer and kill bugs before the plants are stressed, you won't grow that much fruit."

8/28/2012 3:52:40 PM

im sure botanists want nothing to do with plants when they get home


like lawyers want nothing to do with their friends and families random legal inquiries when they get home

[Edited on August 28, 2012 at 3:57 PM. Reason : d]

8/28/2012 3:56:24 PM

pretty much. which is why i've made all of these mistakes first-hand at some point due to age lack of care.

8/28/2012 4:03:24 PM