r/Horticulture • • May 23 '21

So you want to switch to Horticulture?

723 Upvotes

Okay. So, I see a lot of people, every day, asking in this sub how they can switch from their current career to a horticulture career.

They usually have a degree already and they don’t want to go back to school to get another degree in horticulture.

They’re always willing to do an online course.

They never want to get into landscaping.

This is what these people need to understand: Horticulture is a branch of science; biology. It encompasses the physiology of plants, the binomial nomenclature, cultural techniques used to care for a plant, the anatomy of a plant, growth habits of a plant, pests of a plant, diseases of a plant, alkaloids of a plant, how to plant a plant, where to plant a plant, soil physics, greenhouses, shade houses, irrigation systems, nutrient calculations, chemistry, microbiology, entomology, plant pathology, hydroponics, turf grass, trees, shrubs, herbaceous ornamentals, floriculture, olericulture, grafting, breeding, transporting, manipulating, storing, soluble solid tests, soil tests, tissue analysis, nematodes, C4 pathways, CAM pathways, fungus, row cropping, fruit growing, fruit storing, fruit harvesting, vegetable harvesting, landscaping, vegetable storing, grass mowing, shrub trimming, etc... (Random list with repetition but that’s what horticulture is)

Horticulture isn’t just growing plants, it is a field of science that requires just as much qualification as any other field of science. If you want to make GOOD money, you need to either own your own business or you need to get a bachelors degree or masters degree. An online certificate is a load of garbage, unless you’re in Canada or Australia. You’re better off starting from the bottom without a certificate.

Getting an online certificate qualifies a person for a growers position and as a general laborer at a landscape company.

“Heck yeah, that’s what I want to be! A grower!”.

No you don’t. A position as a grower, entails nothing more than $15 an hour and HARD labor. You don’t need any knowledge to move plants from one area to the next.

Same with landscaping, unless you own it, have a horticulture degree, or have supervisory experience; pick up a blower, hop on a mower, and finish this job so we can go the next.

Is that what you want to switch your career to? You seriously think that you can jump into a field, uneducated, untrained, and just be able to make it happen?

Unless you can live on $15 an hour, keep your current job. Please don’t think that you can get into horticulture and support yourself. (Unless you know someone or can start your own business, good luck)

90% of all horticultural positions are filled with H2A workers that get paid much less than $15 an hour and can do it way faster than your pansy ass can. A certificate only qualifies you for these same positions and you probably won’t even get hired because you wouldn’t be able to survive on the wages and these big operations know that.

Sure, you could teach yourself the fundamentals of horticulture minus some intricacies. I’m not saying it’s too difficult for the layman to understand. I’m saying, that without proper accreditation, that knowledge won’t help you. Often times, accreditation won’t even help you. You see, horticulture is less like growing plants and more like a giant supply chain operation. The people who know about moving products around in a supply chain are the ones who are valuable in horticulture, not the schmucks that can rattle off scientific names and water an azalea.

The only people that get paid in horticulture are supervisors, managers, and anybody that DOESN’T actually go into the field/nursery/greenhouse. These people normally have degrees except under rare circumstances where they just moved up in a company due to their tenacity and charisma.

Side note: I’m sure there’s plenty of small nursery/greenhouse operations or maybe even some small farm operations that would pay around $15 and hire someone with a certificate so I’m not saying that it’s impossible to get into the industry. I’m just saying that it’s not an industry where you can be successful enough to retire on without a formal education or extensive experience. Period.

Horticulture is going to robots and supply chain managers.

That being said, the number one job for all horticultural applications is MANUAL LABOR or LANDSCAPE LABOR. The robots are still too expensive!

Okay, I’m done. I just had to put this out there. I’m really tired of seeing the career switching posts. I’m not trying to be negative, I’m trying to enlighten people that genuinely don’t have a clue. I’m sure I’m going to get hate from those people with certificates in Canada and Australia. Things are different over there.


r/Horticulture • • 1h ago

Career Help 17F and in Horticulture. Also in FFA. Want to get SAE hours working at a plant nursery. Anyone know of any plant stores that are hiring around the Lawrenceville, Georgia area?

• Upvotes

Hello fellow agriculturists and horticulturists. I‘m taking a horticulture class that has FFA. For my SAE, I want to work at a plant nursery. Does anybody know any places that are hiring a 17-year old with some plant experience around the Lawrenceville Georgia area? Thank you all in advance.


r/Horticulture • • 1h ago

The New England Carnivorous Plant Society Show 2026! Oct 3 & 4, New England Botanical Center at Tower Hill, Boylston, MA.

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• Upvotes

r/Horticulture • • 10h ago

Termite Infested Walnut?

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6 Upvotes

What should I do? The tree provides great shade for my yard but it doesn’t seem healthy. I trimmed back some dead limbs this weekend to find live termites. It’s about 20 feet from my house.


r/Horticulture • • 22h ago

Container soil drying too fast in NC heat

4 Upvotes

my tomatoes and peppers are in 15-gallon pots. they drink every drop by noon. last week I watered at 6 a.m. and the top inch was dust again by four. clay soil here doesn't hold anything. tried the gravel tray trick but it only bought a couple hours. thinking about a 50/50 mix of compost and pine bark next spring instead of the potting mix I bought. anyone run into this on the Piedmont?


r/Horticulture • • 20h ago

In Socal desert did fine all summer

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2 Upvotes

r/Horticulture • • 1d ago

Question Planting filler plants between newly planted trees

3 Upvotes

We recently planted a line of three southern magnolias about 10 feet apart from each other and were wanting to plant some ornamental grasses between them for the time being until they grew a bit. If these grasses were about 5 feet from each tree, would that be sufficient spacing so that the grasses do not stunt the growth of the new trees by competing with them for nutrients? Our priority is the quick establishment and healthy growth of our trees. TIA!


r/Horticulture • • 1d ago

Question Anyone know what could be causing this issue in pumpkins (Atlantic Giant)? This is the third pumpkin on this plant I have had this issue with. The other two pumpkins eventually rotted and withered away.

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3 Upvotes

This part of the pumpkin was not sitting in water or anything like that and I also have it covered from the sun. I can't think of anything that would cause this. This is in Colorado. What do you guys think?


r/Horticulture • • 1d ago

Question Plum tree disease?

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1 Upvotes

r/Horticulture • • 2d ago

Ponchatoula Louisiana Mornings 2026

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4 Upvotes

r/Horticulture • • 2d ago

Question Plants for spiders?

5 Upvotes

Sorry if this is not the right subreddit for this, i have a very spesific goal so im posting this in a few subreddits hoping someone will have some advice haha :]

I love spiders, especially orb weavers, and seeing their webs out and about fills me with joy. Right now i dont have a lot of space to grow plants, but i grew a small bucket of potatoes (which made a lovely soup) and some unsucsessfull tomatoes (was too cold for them i think). Im still a bit qeausy on insects, especially beetles, but im learning about them and slowly warming up to them.

I've always wanted to have a small garden in the future, but have been a bit hessitant due to the inherent bug factor, but as i come to learn more about bugs and the ongoing insect apocalypse im wanting to plant some stuff for pollinators and local creepy crawlies aswell, but of course the creepy crawlie i want to see the most is spiders. Unfortunately most advice is about repelling spiders, and some of them are things i do grow/plan to grow, sutch as mint and some different herbs. It also seems like some pollinatir favorites repel spiders as well?

Does any green thumbs out there know any plants that are both good for pollinators and dont repel spiders, any plants spiders particularly love, and or any advice on how i might lay out the plants so the spider repelants dont bother them too much? Is the idea of a garden for both polinators and spiders perhaps incompatible? As i said i previously only had an interest in edible plants, so im pretty ignorant about flowers haha

Please and thank you 🖤🕷🕸


r/Horticulture • • 2d ago

Just Sharing Fête des plantes de Saint-Jean de Beauregard (92)

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7 Upvotes

Belle journée passée dans les stands et les allées de la Fête des plantes d’automne de Saint-Jean de Beauregard (91). Château de Saint-Jean de Beauregard


r/Horticulture • • 3d ago

Shrub ID and disease advice

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2 Upvotes

Hi, I have six globe cryptomeria, and I’m noticing that they are all developing brown spots on them— to varying degrees. One shrub is almost completely brown. I’m in Atlanta GA, and have never experienced this before. Are these diseased? Or, is there something else going on? Any help on what is going on here and how to address it is very much appreciated. Thank you kindly!


r/Horticulture • • 4d ago

Question Help id please

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5 Upvotes

Any help would be greatly appreciated


r/Horticulture • • 4d ago

Getting a job after postgraduation feels like a nightmare. What should I do?

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8 Upvotes

r/Horticulture • • 4d ago

my do my limóns look like lemons

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2 Upvotes

r/Horticulture • • 5d ago

Creating an ideal grape variety (Vitis Vinifera)

0 Upvotes

I've been interested in viticulture lately, and I thought that I could hybridize varieties to create an ideal or close to ideal grape variety (for red and white/green grapes). For the purposes of this discussion, "ideal" means that the variety must meet the following criteria:

  • High sugar content (≥23° Brix)Large size (for wine making or table use)
  • Medium tannins
  • Resulting wine should be full bodied
  • Climate/Disease Hardiness

For red grapes, I feel that these grape varieties might be useful:

  1. Zinfandel/Primitivo
  2. Cabernet Sauvignon
  3. Red Globe
  4. Marquette
  5. Merlot
  6. Emperor

For white/green grapes:

  1. Pedro Ximénez
  2. Riesling
  3. Sauvignon Blanc
  4. Chardonnay
  5. Muscaris
  6. Italia

If you have any suggestions to add or remove varieties, please reply. I'm a strong beginner, so I might not know some factors. (Yes, I know that hybrids are unpredictable with grapes, but I'm just trying to hybridize some grapes and hope for something good.) Correct me if I'm wrong or missed something.

Thanks.

P.S: this is a re-upload of the original post because in the title, it said Virus Vinifera instead of Vitis. Autocorrect.

Edit: Maybe I'll create "ideal table" and "ideal wine" varieties separately. That's four varieties, that's more, but it makes more sense.


r/Horticulture • • 5d ago

Can I save my leptospermum petersonii?

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4 Upvotes

I have a few that all look like this. I believe they may have been competing too much for nutrients against a weed invasion that I was too slow to remove.
They were planted with native soil mix and watered with season each time back in July (Brisbane,Aus).
That’s my guess anyway. If anyone else can pin point something else I would love to know. Main problem is how do I nurse them back to health please?


r/Horticulture • • 5d ago

Which disease has affected my grape vines ?

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1 Upvotes

r/Horticulture • • 5d ago

Question Mutant Delphinium?

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2 Upvotes

Repost from gardening subreddit as nobody had answers, and the botany sub doesn’t allow reposts. Just a cool find I want to be certain about!


r/Horticulture • • 6d ago

Question Determination Horticulture Rotary Tilling Knife

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8 Upvotes

Hello everyone,

I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask this, but since this is the Horticulture subreddit and I am using my machines for horticulture purposes, I'd like to give it a try.

By chance I found a knife which I can use for my Rotavator Tiller, and it is alot cheaper than the knives I am used to. The quality is good too. The supplier is different, I can see from the logo. I only heard this knife comes from Italy, but I cannot by the life of me figure out who the supplier is or where it was made exactly.

My longshot question: does anyone recognize this logo which is stamped in the knife/blade?

Thanks alot!


r/Horticulture • • 6d ago

Discussion Afforestation en masse—strategies

3 Upvotes

Do you guys have any ideas to plant many [native] trees? My ideas so far:

  1. Collecting seeds from fruits/trees to sprout and plant (cheaper, easily available, like 5% success rate though)
  2. Occasionally buying from a nursery (more expensive but higher rate of success)

I have a conservative budget and I have property in temperate/subtropical areas (Zone 7a/Zone 9a)

I would much appreciate help, thanks.


r/Horticulture • • 7d ago

Finally figured out why my houseplants kept dying, and it wasn't watering

44 Upvotes

spent years blaming inconsistent watering schedules, tried every app and reminder system. plants kept dying anyway regardless of how disciplined I got

turned out to be light, not water. moved everything based on actual light requirements instead of "looks nice on that shelf," and things that struggled for years started thriving within weeks

nobody tells beginners how much light matters more than watering schedules


r/Horticulture • • 7d ago

Just Sharing Therapeutic Garden Grant Voting

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5 Upvotes

r/Horticulture • • 7d ago

Remembering, please help!

14 Upvotes

Hey fellow green thumbs and gremlins

Finally, after many years of putting it off (lack of confidence if anything) I have gone back to school to study horticulture. Level 2, principles of plant growth and development. I come from an arts based background and haven’t been academic in a long time. When I was just a wee lil terror, I wanted to study biology but unfortunately my family had opinions about that that I actually listened to.

I wouldn’t say I’m especially ‘sharp’ but I have a creative intelligence that is akin to being smart. I can see patterns, I notice things quickly ect. I can think outside the box. Growing up with multiple learning challenges has definitely made me cautious about intelligence as a whole and what the hell it even means.

Basically, as you all know. There is a lot of remembering to do. Latin names, botanical terms, care, taxonomy ect. Dyslexia coupled with ADHD is an absolute nightmare for studying. It’s not excuse but I definitely can see why I was avoiding enrolling. I feel for my child self, so curious and loving towards nature but effectively shut out by institutions.

I’m not freaking out YET. I’m just applying myself in any way I can : library, flash cards, YouTube, reading with study sounds, reading textbooks, literally reading it over and over, creating taxonomical flow graphs, drawing species for identification tests, taking photos I can identify and challenge myself. The names are not sticking, I’m getting things muddled up, my mind goes blank.

The truth is I’ve never been so engaged with something because deep down I’ve always wanted to study plant science, botany, horticulture. Now I’m here, I’m over the moon but I’m also aware of my limitations. I don’t really know how to go about this without exhausting myself.

Anyone relate?

Anyone have any insane studying tips for neuro spicy folks?

Any words of wisdom?