Love Gardening? Try These Organic Gardening Tips

Love Gardening? Try These Organic Gardening Tips

Organic gardening requires a lot of patience and talent. It is a hobby with the goal of growing healthy, pesticide-free food to enjoy. It is challenging, but not as hard as you may think. Review the tips in this article and you'll be on your way to creating a wonderful organic garden. Indoor plants have been bred over time to thrive in temperatures that are characteristic of a home. Most indoor plants like to be in about 70 degree temperatures, plus or minus 5 degrees. They need this type of warm temperature in order to grow. If there are times during the year when you would prefer not to have the temperature that high, another solution you can utilize is to purchase heat lamps for your organic plants. A mixture of aspirin and water can protect your plants from common diseases. Try dissolving around one and one half aspirins into around 2 gallons of water for your plants. The simple practice of spraying them with the mix will help them fight off diseases. You should spray your plants about once every three weeks. If you are growing plants organically indoors, you have to consider the light that they are getting. If you want indoor plants, choose specimens that can grow in relatively dark places. If you have a different type of plant, extra lighting can always help. If you are growing plants inside of your home, you need to keep the thermostat set to 65 to 75 degrees during the day. Your plants will not grow well if it is too cold. If you wish to keep your house cooler than that, you may want to use a heat lamp just for the plants. After your seeds sprout, the containers do not need to stay as warm as they once did. Remove plants from the heated environment once they begin growing. Take off any plastic that is on the containers to keep away from warmth and moisture. Check on your seeds periodically to make sure you know when to remove the films. Be efficient when working in your garden. It's frustrating to search for a tool for a half hour. Keep your tools well-maintained and stored away in a designated place. That way you always know where they are and they are ready to use when you need them. If needed, purchase a tool belt or heavy duty pants with plenty of pockets. It never hurts to keep a few bags around the house to protect your floors from dirty gardening shoes. This helps you stay in the zone so that you can continue gardening when you have completed your tasks in the house.

Seeds Require

For some plants, pine needles makes an ideal mulch. Some plants have a naturally high acidic level, and therefore like acidic soil. If you are growing these types of plants, simply gather up fallen pine needles for use in your garden. 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. If you are planting seeds in containers, a good rule of thumb is that the seed's depth should be around three times its overall size. However, it is important to understand that some seeds require sunlight and should never be covered. These seeds include petunias and ageratum. If you don't know whether your seeds require sun exposure, check the seed package or search online for the information. When it is time to gather your produce, you should use an older laundry basket. You can also use a laundry basket as a strainer. Doing this allows you to both rinse and drain your fresh produce. 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. Although this method may seem counterproductive, it actually helps the seeds to grow quicker and stronger. Your compost pile should contain green plants and dried ones in equal amounts. Garden wastes, such as grass clippings, are classified as green materials. Dried material includes straw, shredded paper, and cardboard. Avoid ashes, meat, charcoal and diseased plants in your compost. A beer trap is an effective way of of dealing with any slugs that invade your organic garden. First, place a glass canning jar in the soil, burying it until the mouth is even with the surface of the soil. Keep the jar filled with beer, up to about an inch from the top. Slugs are attracted to beer. They will crawl into the jar and be trapped. If slugs are an issue in your garden, a beer trap can make them go away. To create a beer trap, dig a hole in your garden that is the depth of a glass jar, leaving the mouth of the jar level with the soil. Now, fill the jar with beer to approximately an inch below the lip. Slugs will crawl into the jar to get the beer and not be able to get out again.

Treated Wood

Certification is important in order to be considered a legitimate organic gardener. Having certification will increase your sales and verify to your customers that what you are selling is the best produce available. If you'd like to create a raised bed, use materials like brick, stone, or untreated wood. For best results, you should only use wood that has not been treated with chemicals or protective coating. Some good woods are locust, cedar and cypress. 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 your existing garden structure contains treated wood, at least take the time to make a plastic lining beneath the soil. Be aware of seasons and climates when you are watering, and change accordingly. The amount of water you will need will vary according to your climate and even such factors as the part of day and soil type. In a warm and humid climate you should avoid watering the plant itself. Wet leaves promote the growth of leaf fungi. Water the plants root system thoroughly instead. Organic gardening is a hobby incorporating nature, hard work and patience. This hobby allows you to use the land and grow delicious food. If you follow these tips and put in a great effort, there is nothing stopping you from becoming a good organic gardener. Any form of gardening helps you get in tune with the environment, but organic gardening takes this concept to the next level. Any form of gardening gives a basic outline for all others; teaching you the general methodology behind sewing, planting, and harvesting properly.