Where Plant Science Takes Root
At Cal Poly, fields, orchards, greenhouses and nurseries become your classrooms. Through hands-on learning in working Plant Sciences facilities, you’ll grow and manage crops, explore horticultural systems and put classroom knowledge into practice while building real-world skills.
Crops Unit
The Crops Unit has 70 acres of productive citrus, avocados, grapes, deciduous orchard and berries, including an eight acre certified organic production field. Additional nonbearing acreage for instructional use exists and new plantings are underway. Part of the land is certified organic. Students are encouraged to gain experience and earn income by participation in the enterprise project program or by working for the campus farm. There is also a new building containing two modern teaching labs with prep rooms.
Environmental Horticulture
The Environmental Horticulture Unit includes a student-operated commercial greenhouse range and nursery in which students carry on a project program involving wholesale and retail sales and the student-operated Poly Plant Shop. Also included are 35,000 square feet of greenhouses, a 5,000 square-foot retractable roof greenhouse, 7,500 square feet of shade houses; and the 4-acre Leaning Pine Arboretum.
Laboratories
The Plant Sciences department has modern, well-equipped laboratories in the Plant Sciences Complex, Agricultural Sciences Building and at the Units, including labs for biotechnology, landscape industries with CAD, pest management and post harvest technology.