A healthy diet can get a real kick start from having an organic garden, but understanding organic gardening itself can prove complex. There are hundreds of different seeds at your disposal. The tips below will help you get started in growing an organic garden.
Water infused with aspirin is great for combating plant disease. Crush and dissolve one and one-half 325mg tablets in two full gallons of plain water. Next, coat the plant with the aspirin mixture by spraying it on the leaves. Your plants should be sprayed one time each three weeks.
Think about planting everbearing strawberries in your garden, especially if you have small children. Children love to pick their own fruit right out of the garden, and will be more willing to help with the process if they get something out of it.
Flower Beds
You should utilize around three inches of mulch that is organic in your flower beds. Doing this keeps weeds down, keeps the moisture in your plants, and gives more nutrients to the plants. Mulch will also improve the general appearance of your flower beds.
Before planting your favorite perennials, you must first prepare the ground. With a garden spade, slice under the dirt then flip it over. Next, spread out wood chips several inches deep. Wait two weeks, then dig in and plant the new perennials.
Be aware of spacing considerations when you are first planting your organic garden. As plants grow and spread out, you will not always know how much space will be required. Proper spacing is important not just to accommodate the plants’ sizes but also for air circulation. Therefore, ensure that you allow for ample spaces between your seedlings.
When it is harvest time, use a laundry basket. This will be like a strainer for all your produce. Doing this allows you to both rinse and drain your fresh produce.
Do not underestimate pine as great mulch. Acidic soil is a favorite of garden plants that are high in acidity. When you have plants like this, nothing is easier than to gather pine needles for your beds. Cover your beds with two inches of needles; acid will be dispersed into the soil as they decompose.
Try lightly ruffling the seedlings with your hands about twice a day. While this appears strange, research shows it can help plants grow larger, versus not petting them at all.
Try to use untreated wood, brick or stone and make a raised bed. If using wood, make sure it’s naturally rot resistant and untreated. Some good choices include locust, cypress, and cedar. In order to avoid toxic substances from getting into the ground and perhaps into your vegetables, avoid using treated wood to enclose or demarcate different sections of your vegetable garden. If you have built a bed with treated lumber already, use a barrier such as plastic to line the bed.
Do you want to kill weeds naturally? Take layers of newspapers and use them for weed control. Like any other plant, weeds need to be exposed to the sun. When you place layers of newspapers on top of them, the weeds will suffocate from the lack of light. In time, the newspaper will decompose into the soil. To improve the appearance of newspaper, simply spread a bit of mulch over it.
It is a good idea to get organic garden certification so as to reaffirm your claims that your products really are organic. This will result in generating more sales and creating a loyal customer base.
The watering needs of your garden will vary considerably, depending on your climate zone and the time of year. You will need to water differently depending on what time it is or what kind of soil you are using. As an example, leaves should not be watered in humid, warm climates else leaf fungus could occur. Instead, aim to water the root system only.
While any kind of gardening can make you feel as though you’re in tune with nature, organic gardening takes this to the next level. When you do this type of gardening, you will start to have a good idea of the whole process of planting from start to finish.
Keep the soil healthy by adding mulch. Mulch acts as a protective shield for the soil it covers. On hot days, mulch will also protect your plant’s roots by keeping them moist and cool. This helps soil keep its moisture by reducing the rate of evaporation. It is also very good at controlling the weeds.
Watering Plants
Take a look below the surface to get a start. When buying tomato seedlings, avoid the ones with a bad root system or green starts. These starts will stick around on the main plant for several weeks, hindering the growth of the seedling as long as they are present.
Over-watering plants is counterproductive, as too much water reduces plants’ ability to absorb nutrients from the surrounding soil. Before watering plants outdoors, check with some weather stations to find out if it will rain anytime during the day. Depending on what the weather is going to be like, you might not want to water your plants for the day.
Organic foods don’t contain any chemical pesticides. Organic gardening is wonderful for your family and their health, but you also need to be vigilant about pests.
Stagger you vegetable planting so you will have a new harvest every month or so. This way you will not have to harvest all of your crops at once. While ruin in one harvest can be an issue, having multiple harvests to look forward to can alleviate some of the issue.
Once a year, you must rotate your garden. Planting the same type of plant in the same area of your garden each year can cause disease or encourage fungus growth. Those things can wait silently in the soil and attack plants the next year. If you change things up on a regular basis by varying your planting locations, you take advantage of a natural methodology to avoid fungus and disease problems.
As discussed earlier, there are many benefits to growing your garden with natural and organic methods. This opens up a world of possibilities for your flowers, vegetables and herbs. Use the tips and advice presented here to get the most of your organic garden. It can be a source of pleasure for years to come.
Use a soaker hose to water your organic garden. You can regulate the hose so that the water seeps very slowly into the soil, going directly to the roots, which avoids the leaves. They’re easier than hand watering and don’t use as much water as sprinklers.
