In the green gardening world, it is important to take the best care of your organic garden that you can. A little extra gardening know-how doesn’t hurt either. While the garden itself is important, your real goal is to grow great tasting produce that is healthy and does no harm to the environment or the consumer. Continue on for some helpful organic horticulture tips that stick out from the rest.
Clay soil can be a real pain to work with as it often sticks to the end of the shovel. To ease the digging, apply some car wax or floor wax to the head of the shovel and buff. The clay will slide off of its surface and it will prevent rust.
Healthy Plants
Beginning your garden with healthy soil is your first defense against pests! If you are producing healthy plants, they will be stronger and better able to resist bugs and diseases. Begin with a high-quality soil with less chemicals to avoid salt accumulation, and you give your garden an excellent chance of growing healthy plants.
You don’t need a costly chemical solution to deal with powdery mildew in your garden. Rather, you should mix a bit of baking soda with a small quantity of liquid soap in water. Spray this on the plants once per week until that mildew goes away. Baking soda is not harmful to your plants and will take care of the issue as well as any other treatment.
Pre-soak your seeds to keep them healthy. Use a small container filled with water to nearly the top and place several seeds in it. The seeds will get the hydration they need to start growing. The young plants will survive better, and get a boost toward maturity.
Your vegetable plants need about two or three inches of mulch placed around them. When you place mulch around your plants, it keeps the ground more moist. In addition, mulch will help you to prevent weeds. That helps you save a great deal of effort and time in weed eradication.
Control Pests
When growing a vegetable garden it can be hard to control pests. One major benefit of growing your own produce is knowing that they haven’t been treated with pesticides and other harsh chemicals. There is only one way to effectively control pests in your garden, and that is to stay vigilant in your efforts. Taking the pests off of the plants by hand is one of the best fixes if you are able to catch the infestation in its early stages.
Aid them by dumping any leftover water from steaming vegetables over them. In order to help acidify the soil for plants like gardenias and rhododendrons, you can use coffee and tea grounds. Chamomile tea can be used as an effective fungicide for potted plants.
Your children can help you with your 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.
Planted flowers will benefit from organic materials that are built up to as much as three inches. This will prevent weeds from growing, retain humidity, and feed your plants with the nutrients they need. This will also make your flowers appear beautiful and finished all year long.
Ruffle the seedlings carefully with a piece of soft cardboard or your hands twice a day. This sounds like total nonsense, but there is research suggesting that it does promote plant growth relative to unpetted plants.
Beer Trap
Use a beer trap to get rid of unwanted pests, like slugs. 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. Next, add beer to the jar until it’s about nearly full, with somewhere around an inch of space remaining. Slugs are attracted to the beer and become trapped in the container.
Adopting organic horticulture methods may take more effort than traditional approaches, but the payoff is considerably worth it. Although the chemicals may claim greater results, using organic methods to tame your garden will do less harm to your body, and the environment.
Adjust your watering according to season and current climate. 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. For example, if your climate is humid and warm, you should not water the leaves because it will encourage leaf fungus. The important thing is to make sure the plant’s roots receive sufficient water.
When you water too much, then you can actually harm your plants due to the fact that the roots can’t get the nutrients they need. Before watering your organic garden, check weather forecasts to determine if it is likely to rain later that day. If rain is on its way, you are probably safe to skip watering duties for the day.
It’s time to plant some organic garlic. Cloves should be planted whole during the fall or early spring months. Garlic grows best in soil that retains moisture but drains well. Space the clove about four inches apart, with the pointy end up and about one or two inches deep. Green garlic shoots could be cut as it grows, and it can be used to substitute scallions or chives. The bulbs are ready to harvest when the tops start to turn brown. Place the freshly picked bulbs in the sun, and let them dry and harden for a couple of days. Store the bulbs separately or tied in loose bunches in a cool place.
Organic Garden
Having an organic garden means that you can enjoy fresh, healthy fruits and vegetables whenever you want. It requires a good work ethic, but an organic garden is indeed worth the effort.