There are a lot of parts to the Horticulture Contest and it can take time to learn all the fundamentals of horticulture, how to identify different plants and think through the quality of different commodities. The resources below are intended to help you on your horticulture contest journey.
General Hort Contest- Introduction Hort Contest Slides - feel free to download and adapt this.
Plant Identification
- Horticulture Contest Answer Sheet - includes a list of all the plants in each category and what will be used during the actual contest.
- Cloverbud Horticulture Contest Answer Sheet - the list of ten plants in each category that cloverbuds need to learn. This is also the sheet that cloverbuds will use during the contest.
- Plant Part List for each category - this includes what parts of each plant you need to learn (for example, you might need to know the seed, leaf, stem, and fruit of a plant) and could be included in the contest.
- Descriptive characteristics lists: includes botanical descriptions for each plant:
- Indoor and Flowering Plants
- Landscape Ornamentals
- Fruits, Nuts, and Berries
- Vegetables
- NC State Extension's Plant Database: the database allows you to specifically search for plants in the horticulture contest by using the tag "4h." While the database does not include all of the plants on the list, it is extensive. To access these plants directly, click on this link.
Judging
- Horticulture Contest Judging Answer Sheet (docx) and (PDF)
- Jerry Delso's FFA Judging Videos - some ideas to consider
- Penn State Hort Judging
- Oregon Vegetable Judging
- Oklahoma State Crop Judging Manual
Horticultural Knowledge
- NJHA Study Manual - the test is based on this manual
- The NC Extension Master Gardener Manual - the test is not based on this, but this resources and information are tremendous for supplementary .
