Gardening is a complex hobby, but it doesn’t have to be confusing or difficult. If you plan on gardening the natural way, you might have to understand certain complexities like the soil’s PH balance and bug fighting concoctions. If you are a newbie, getting into organic gardening can be daunting. If you want your organic garden to be a success, read the tips presented here.
Let your children be involved in your organic gardening efforts. You can provide a good learning experience that your children can appreciate the more they learn on how to grow healthy produce.
Let your children be involved in your organic gardening efforts. A garden can be a great learning experience for your children, and it gives you a chance to bond while producing healthy food.
If you’re planning on gardening inside, the first thing you should consider is an adequate light source. If you live somewhere without strong natural sunlight, you might want to look into growing plants that thrive in lower-light environments. If you want to grow plants that need a lot of light, consider using artificial lighting.
Add aspirin to your plants to help them fight sickness. One and one half aspirin crushed and added to a two gallon container of water will be a great help for your plants. Spray this mixture onto your plants. Spraying should be one time every three weeks.
Work properly in your garden. Have your tools laid out in an orderly way so you do not have to search for them. Prepare your equipment before you go into the garden and put everything away afterwards. Get a tool belt if you need to, or a pair of pants with a lot of pockets.
Coffee Grounds
Pine can make surprisingly great mulch. There are many types of plants with a high acidity, which means they thrive in acidic soil. If you are growing these types of plants, simply gather up fallen pine needles for use in your garden. Cover the beds with a couple inches of needles and as they decompose, they will disperse acid to the soil.
Use coffee grounds on your soil. Coffee has a lot of essential nutrients that plants need. Your plants will really bloom if they get the nitrogen they need from coffee grounds or compost or diluted urea.
Try to avoid letting your organic garden chores build up. If you can’t get out in your garden every day, there are still a number of things you can do to keep things from falling into disarray during your absence. Grab a handful of weeds, throw down some mulch, or toss some water on it anytime you walk by.
To get the most from your composting efforts, aim for a 1:1 ratio of dried materials and green plant products. Green plant material comprises leaves, weeds, spent flowers, grass clippings, and fruit and vegetable waste. The leaves you rake in the fall, straw, sawdust and the like are dry material. You should not use things like meat scraps, charcoal, blighted plants or the manure of meat-eating animals in your compost.
Do you want to kill weeds naturally? You will need many layers of newspapers. Weeds can’t grow without sunlight. When you cover weeds with newspaper layers, they suffocate due to lack of light. Newsprint also breaks down well, incorporating itself into the compost. One way to enhance the appearance of your garden if you are using newspapers is to add an additional layer of mulch.
Do you want to kill weeds naturally? You can place newspaper in several layers, and it will help control your weeds. Weeds can’t grow without sunlight. The layers of newspaper will kill the weeds because they no longer receive any sunlight. Newspapers break down nicely over time to become part of the compost. You can then add a mulch layer right on top so that it looks more attractive.
If you have problem slugs in your organic garden, get rid of them naturally with a beer trap. Take a glass jar and bury it in your garden, making sure that the lip of the jar is even with the soil. Fill that with beer just under an inch from the top of your jar. The beer will attract the slugs and they will be trapped in the jar.
The correct depth for planting seeds in containers is triple the seed’s size. There are some seeds, however, that you should not cover at all, since they need sunlight to germinate. This is true of popular flowers like petunias and zinnias. If you are unsure as to whether or not your seeds should be covered or not, try to read the package or find the answer online.
If plants are inundated with too much water, it becomes more difficult for roots to pull nutrients out of the soil. Before watering plants outdoors, check with some weather stations to find out if it will rain anytime during the day. Depending on the weather, you might want to skip watering for the day.
Treated Wood
The lack of pesticides in organic gardens is a major benefit. However, although this is a much healthier alternative, it is important to check surfaces of organic fruits and vegetables thoroughly to be sure that no unwanted pests are living in or on them.
Use untreated wood, stone, or brick to build a raised bed. Be sure that any wood you use isn’t chemically treated, and will be able to resist rot naturally. Good choices are cypress, cedar and locust. Don’t use treated wood in a garden for vegetables because the chemicals contained in them can leak into the ground. If you must use treated wood, create a barrier, such as with plastic sheet.
Every year, rotate your organic garden. Planting your garden in the same area every year will allow fungus to grow there as well. These kind of enemies to plants can stay underground ready for the next year to cause harm to your plants. When you rotate your crops, fungus and disease have less chance to spread.
While it’s harder to grow organically than chemically, the rewards are much better. While chemical-based gardening products make bold claims, it is hard to dispute that organic gardening consistently produces superior results.
Stagger you vegetable planting so you will have a new harvest every month or so. This staggers your harvest over time. While ruin in one harvest can be an issue, having multiple harvests to look forward to can alleviate some of the issue.
Ensure your soil is health by adding mulch. Mulch acts as a protective covering for the soil. The soil will stay cool in high heat, preventing damage to the roots. This helps soil keep its moisture by reducing the rate of evaporation. Mulch is also excellent for keeping weeds at bay.
For perennials, you can quickly get a plot developed in a short amount of time. Dig into the existing turf with a shovel or spade, flip it, and then layer the entire area with wood mulch. In a few weeks, try cutting into your new bed and planting some perennials.
The lack of pesticides in organic gardens is a major benefit. This will improve your family’s overall health, but it does mean you have to be extra vigilant about checking for pest infestations.
Incorporate shade elements into any organic garden area. These types of gardens are incredibly low maintenance, which many people will be relieved to hear. You will not have to water them as often, which will save you a lot of time. This does make plants grow slower, but on the bright side that means less weeds.
Any gardening can connect you with Mother Nature, but particularly if you employ organic gardening techniques. You will learn how to care for you plants from planting the seeds to harvesting your delicious vegetables.
The organic mulch around trees and flowers should be approximately three inches deep. This method is good for the planet, conserves water and can save money all at once. As an added bonus, it often looks very pretty.
Plant your tomatoes in intervals of three weeks, starting from the original strain and they will grow in a more organized structure. This method prevents a unified harvest, and allows separate times to pull the plants throughout the year. This will also prevent you from losing an entire harvest if some type of problem arises that kills off a batch.
Healthier soil grows healthier plants that can withstand insect damage and disease. Although the insects might still be present, you will be able to avoid their damage, which is what makes everyone happy.
If you are interested in using organic gardening techniques to plant perennials, you will be pleased to know that it is very easy. Cut under the dirt with a spade and turn it over. Next, cover the area with three to four inches of organic wood chips. In about 2 weeks, you will be able to plant flowers in your new bed.
Many people have heard the word compost, but do not know how it is made. Almost any organic item can be used to make compost. It may include leaves and grass, food scraps and wood chips. This is an ideal substitute for commercially sold fertilizers.
You need to mulch your flowerbed and garden using at least 3 inches worth of organic material. This helps give nutrients to the soil in your garden and holds in moisture. It will also give it a neat appearance because it will help eliminate weeds.
Find out the best time to water your garden. The style of hose known as a soaker would be most effective for this purpose. Soaker hoses water a plant’s base directly, which helps minimize the moisture loss that comes along with evaporation. Many experts advise that you water your plants early in the morning.
Now, you shouldn’t get your hopes up and believe that a few tips are going to turn you into an instant professional gardener. However, these tips are a great starting point if you do plan to grow organically. As you implement these tips and hone your skills, you’ll be a professional green-thumb-holder in no time.
Don’t waste your rainwater! Use rain barrels or alternate containers to trap and store rainwater for an organic way to hydrate your garden. This will help lower your water costs when you are watering your garden on a regular basis. Rainwater is free. You will also find that rainwater is a natural friend to plants.
Tags: coffee grounds, green plant, grow organically, organic gardening techniques, treated wood