Organic Gardening Tips That Everyone Can Follow

Organic Gardening Tips That Everyone Can Follow

Whether they've read about them in articles or seen them on grocery store shelves, most people are somewhat familiar with organic products. You are probably aware of which foods are organic. The organic products cost more, and they often come in distinctive packaging. Continue on for some great organic gardening tips, so you can learn how to grow one at home. Include your kids in growing an organic garden. A garden can provide a wonderful learning experience for children, and will give you an opportunity to bond with them while you produce healthy food. Strawberries are a great plant to grow in any organic garden, especially if you happen to have kids or any strawberry lover in your home. Your children will enjoy being able to pick strawberries and will be ready to help you if they can get something sweet to eat. For in-home organic gardeners, you are looking for an ideal temperature of around 60-75 degrees for your plants. They need this type of warm temperature in order to grow. If you want to save money on gas bills in the winter, you can provide local heating for the plants with a heat lamp instead. Water infused with aspirin is great for combating plant disease. One and one half aspirin crushed and added to a two gallon container of water will be a great help for your plants. Simply spray your plants with the mixture, and this will help them fend off various diseases. Give your plants a spray of the aspirin-water mixture about one time every three weeks. If you choose to use organic methods to care for your houseplants, you should bear in mind that certain plants require more sunlight than others. If your home does not let in sufficient light, then consider getting plants that thrive in low-light situations. If you simply must have a plant that has higher requirements for sunlight, you can use indoor UV lamps. If you are growing your organic plants inside of your home or office, it is vital to make sure that the right amount of light reaches them. If you live in a home or apartment that does not get great sunlight you may want to consider growing plants that are designed to grow in low or medium-light environments. You could also consider using grow-lights for this exact purpose. Cover your flower beds with two or three inches of compost or organic mulch. Mulch will minimize weed growth and maximize nutrients and moisture. In addition, your flower beds will have a beautiful, finished appearance year round. It can be easy to prepare the soil in a perennial garden. Use a spade to dig up some soil, flip the soil over, and finally, sprinkle around 3-4 inches of wood chips on the soil. Let the area sit for a fortnight, then turn the earth and set up your new perennial bed. Put coffee grounds in your soil. Coffee grounds are rich in nitrogen, an essential nutrient for plant growth. The more nitrogen you have in the soil, the greater the growth of your plants will be, so adding grounds or compost will ensure your plants grow large very quickly.

Pine Needles

When you want to harvest the produce in your organic garden, always have an old laundry basket to hand. The laundry basket can be used as a colander for your produce. Rinse the produce while it sits in the basket, the extra water will go through the holes in the basket. Pine makes a much better mulch than you might think. Some plants do better in soil with high acidity as they are highly acidic themselves. Use pine needles to increase the acid level in your soil if you have plants that require higher acid. Spread a few inches of pine needles on your organic beds so that it will put the acid into your soil. A good general rule when planting your seeds into containers is that the depth of the planting should be about three times the size of the seed. It is important to note though, that not all seeds are covered to this depth, as some need direct sunlight to grow properly. Two of the common examples are petunias and ageratum. If you are unsure about your seed's requirements for sunlight, the resources are often provided along with the seeds, or you can find out online. Stay on top of your organic gardening to-do list, and don't let the work pile up. If your busy life prevents you from tending your garden every day, do small tasks to avoid having so much work when you do have some time. If you put the dog outside, weed a few spots in the garden while your dog goes to the bathroom. If you are building a raised bed utilize stone, brick or wood that is untreated. If you choose wood, it needs to be naturally rot resistant and untreated. Some great choices to choose from are cedar, locust and cypress. It is particular important that you don't use treated wood for vegetable beds, as the chemicals and toxins on the wood could leach into the soil and be absorbed by food plants. If you have used treated lumber, line your beds with plastic.

Plant Material

Water your plants appropriately for the climate. You will need to water differently depending on what time it is or what kind of soil you are using. For instance, if you live in a humid climate where it never goes below 30 degrees Celsius, refrain from watering the leaves, as this will inevitably invite leaf fungus. You have to make sure to water the root system. Be sure your new compost pile contains roughly the same proportion of dried and green plants. Green plant material includes grass clippings, spent flowers, vegetable and fruit waste, weeds and leaves. Dried plant material consists of sawdust, shredded paper, cardboard, straw, and cut-up and dried wood material. Avoid meat, ashes, charcoal, plants with diseases and manure from carnivores. Adding too much water could be harmful to the plants, because excess water will hinder the roots ability to get the nutrients they need from the soil. Only water as necessary when there is no rain in the forecast, or for plants which need extra watering. You can skip watering for an entire day if rain is on the way. Killing weeds the natural way? Try using several newspaper layers to control weeds. Weeds can only grow when there is adequate sunlight. By placing newspaper over them, they will not get light and suffocate. Old newspapers are a valuable addition to your compost heap. Use mulch on the top in order to make everything look attractive. Most people favor organically grown fruits and vegetables for their cleanliness and the fact that they are not grown with harmful pesticides. This will improve your family's overall health, but it does mean you have to be extra vigilant about checking for pest infestations. One unusual tip in organic gardening, is to "pet" your seedlings often. Use your hands or a piece of cardboard and lightly ruffle the seedling about one or two times a day. It sounds weird, but research has shown that handling the seedling like this often will make them grow bigger than seedlings that are ignored. 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. You will learn how to care for you plants from planting the seeds to harvesting your delicious vegetables. Growing your garden at home might not be the most convenient thing for you, but you will save a lot of money and always have the confidence that what you're eating and feeding your family is as fresh and as healthy as possible. Use the tips you've learned here and get started on your garden today. It's not what's on the surface that counts. When buying tomato seedlings for the garden, keep an eye on lush green starts with root systems that are bad. These starts will stick around on the main plant for several weeks, hindering the growth of the seedling as long as they are present.