Published in the Hartford Courant iTowns, October 14, 2009
Submitted by Naugatuck Valley Community College
An open house for the public to tour the horticulture program’s brand new greenhouse at Naugatuck Valley Community College, part of the recently completed Technology Hall, will take place on Friday, October 16 starting at 5p.m.
The horticulture program is unique to NVCC among the 12 Connecticut community colleges and draws hundreds of students from across the state. To earn an associate of science degree in horticulture, students take classes including General Botany, Landscape Mechanic, Woody Plants, Herbaceous Plants, Greenhouse Management, Principles of Soil and Water Resources, Pest Control in Ornamentals and Turf, Landscape Design I, II and III, Floral Design I and II, Turf Management, Greenhouse Management, Landscape Maintenance, Fruit and Vegetable Production, Landscaping Small Properties, Arboriculture, Plant Propagation and Hybridization, and CWE/Horticulture Co-op.
Courses taught for the certificate in horticulture are a reduced version of those for the degree program.
Generous sponsors for the open house include Connecticut Green Industries Council, Connecticut Florists Association, Connecticut Greenhouse Growers Association, Connecticut Nursery and Landscape Association, Connecticut Cactus and Succulent Society and YardScapes Landscaping, Inc.
The state-of-the-art facility comprises 5,000 square feet, measures 96 feet long by 48 feet wide and is approximately 20 feet high. There are three separate rooms within the structure: one entry coat room/vestibule; one potting room; and two growing areas, one for the propagation of warm crops and one for cool crops.
The greenhouse employs a high-tech cooling system using a natural evaporative process and moveable sunshades to control temperature and sunlight. Access is via an entrance door and a second door at the rear provides an exit. Currently, the horticulture department is growing an assortment of tropicals, bonsai, orchids, mums, ferns, Christmas cactus, assorted begonias, cyclamen, gloxinias, streptocarpus,greenhouse tomatoes and an assortment of herbs for hospitality classes. Parking for the event is available via the East Entrance to the campus off Chase Parkway in the E lot in front of Technology Hall, which will be formally opened earlier in the day with a visit from Governor M. Jodi Rell.
