Simple Things All Organic Gardeners Should Know

Simple Things All Organic Gardeners Should Know

Taking the time to use good gardening practices really shows in the end. It proves you care about growing healthy plants. Gardening is an admirable activity. As with any activity requiring a certain set of skills, you can continuously improve and develop your organic gardening skills. The following advice will help you out. If you're thinking about growing your own organic garden, then you might want to consider keeping a bit of your property undeveloped; this way wildlife can flourish. This is a great natural way to allow the insects and animals found in nature to assist with the growth of your garden. Water containing some aspirin helps your plants fight illness. Dissolve one and one-half aspirins into two gallons of cold water, and use it to fortify your plants. Spray the plants with the aspirin water to assist plants in battling disease. Your plants should be sprayed one time each three weeks. Have all of your tools available to you as you garden to increase efficiency. You have several options including using a bucket to hold your tools or wearing pants with lots of sturdy pockets. Keep all of the tools you use and your gloves handy and will help you work more efficiently. Keep your tools handy to work more efficiently. Keep the tools in a big bucket, or store them in strong pockets in your pants. Have shears, a trowel, gloves and other commonly used garden tools portable and easy to access. Once your seeds start sprouting, they do not need as much warmth as they needed before. To ensure that your plants do not suffer shock, start eliminating the use of a heat source. You must also take away plastic films from your containers in order to keep the warmth and humidity out. Check on your seeds periodically to make sure you know when to remove the films. Try to work as efficiently as possible when gardening. Don't waste thirty minutes looking around for a tool. Set up the tools you will need for your day prior to hitting the garden, then put them away neatly at the end of your gardening session. Wear pants with several pockets or use a tool belt. Organize the chores for your organic garden so they do not pile up. Even if you can't tend to your garden daily, you can do little things to help so that there is not a huge amount of work to be done when you are ready to get back to it. Even if you're just taking the dog for a walk, bend down and pick a few weeds. Use plastic bags to cover muddy gardening shoes. This allows you to work steadily and without distractions, making you a happier and more productive gardener. Old laundry baskets are handy tools at harvest time. A benefit of using something like a laundry basket is that it can strain for you, as well as hold a large amount of produce. Rinse off your produce while it's in the laundry basket, and any excess water will be strained out through the basket's holes. Do not overlook the benefits of pine mulch for your garden. Some plants do better in soil with high acidity as they are highly acidic themselves. When you have plants like this, nothing is easier than to gather pine needles for your beds. Spread the needles over the beds in a layer that is approximately 2-inches deep. Over time, the needles will begin to decay, supplying the soil with acid as they do. As a good general practice, you should make sure to plant your seeds three seed-widths deep into their containers. Some seeds shouldn't be covered and must be in sunlight at all times. Typical examples are petunias and ageratum. If you are wondering whether or not the seeds require direct sunlight, you can usually find helpful information online that will answer your question.

Laundry Basket

If you are building a raised bed utilize stone, brick or wood that is untreated. If you use wood, be sure that it is untreated and naturally rot resistant. Examples of good woods include cedar, cypress, and locust. In a veggie garden, don't use treated wood since its chemicals can leech into the food crops and soil. If you're using treated lumber, line it with a barrier, or some plastic. When it is time to gather your produce, you should use an older laundry basket. The basket strains the produce as well as stores it while you are going through your garden. After you have rinsed your produce in the laundry basket, the water will just drain right out the sides. If you sell or use organically grown produce in a commercial setting, you should communicate your commitment to natural growing by becoming certified. This can boost sales and tell loyal customers that you're providing the best to them. Use equal parts of green and dried plant material in your compost pile. Green plant material includes grass clippings, spent flowers, vegetable and fruit waste, weeds and leaves. For the dry end of the spectrum, think of things like paper and cardboard, sawdust, hay, etc. Materials to avoid during composting include diseased plants, meat, ashes and charcoal. Soil health can be improved by adding mulch. Mulch acts as a protective shield for the soil it covers. It keeps the soil cool on very hot days, thus protecting the roots in the ground. The soil will also stay moist longer because it reduces evaporation. It is also very good at controlling the weeds. The correct depth for planting seeds in containers is triple the seed's size. However, you should be aware that certain seeds should not be covered at all because they are required to be in the sunlight. These seeds include petunias and ageratum. 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. Over-watering plants is counterproductive, as too much water reduces plants' ability to absorb nutrients from the surrounding soil. Always be sure to check the weather and keep a tight watering schedule. It's important that your plants do not take on too much water. After reviewing the weather forecast, you can decide whether or not to spend the time and resources watering the garden. A useful technique for organic gardening, is to gently disturb your seedlings by using your fingers or a piece of cardboard one or two times daily. This may sound strange, but research has proven that doing this will help your plants grow bigger than if they were not petted at all. Any gardening at all can soothe the soul, but organic gardening provides additional benefits. Organic gardening allows you learn the entire plant cycle, from the beginning to the end. While gardening organically requires more work than gardening with the help of chemicals, the rewards are worth it. Chemicals can be beneficial, but a chemical free organic garden will always produce the best results. Check the roots of your plants. Make sure that the root system is healthy when you buy tomato seedlings and that the starts are healthy looking as well. These starts will stick to the seedlings for quite some time, which prevents the seedlings from growing until the starts are gone. Adjust your watering according to season and current climate. There are many variables of how much water your plants need including soil, light, and outdoor temperatures. In a warm and humid climate you should avoid watering the plant itself. Wet leaves promote the growth of leaf fungi. Instead focus on watering the root system. When setting up an organic garden, plant tomatoes three weeks apart. This helps the entire harvest from being ready at the same time. If something ruins one batch of tomatoes, the ones you planted before or afterward may not suffer the same fate. Now you know how you can use these ideas in your own garden. This is great news! The advice in this article was compiled to contribute to your overall knowledge of organic gardening. There is always something new to learn. Now, you can apply this new information to make your organic garden function better and become a more enjoyable endeavor. With just a small amount of steps, you can add a new garden just for any of your perennials. Cut beneath the turf using a spade, then flip it over. Finish by covering the entire area using several inches worth of wood chips. Let it sit for a few weeks, and then plant your new perennials.