Organic Gardening Can Be Fun With These Tips

Organic Gardening Can Be Fun With These Tips

Organic Gardening Can Be Fun With These Tips

Organic Gardening Can Be Fun With These Tips

Many people are only just beginning to realize the joys of organic gardening. The easy to follow advice in this article will show you how to get out there and start planting. Follow our tips and reap the rewards.

Use companion plants. Companion planting is the pairing of plants within your vegetable garden, such as planting cabbage with tomatoes. Companion planting helps reduce the problems with insect pests, as it attracts natural pest-controlling wildlife. Companion planting is also a better use of the space in your garden, since you basically have two plants in the same plot.

It is important to rotate your organic plants regularly when you are attempting to grow an indoor garden. Plants bend toward wherever a light source is. If you do not rotate your plants there is a good chance that they will all bend toward one side which will limit the amount of vegetables that grow on the plants.

While Mother Nature will eventually do the work needed to create compost from a backyard pile, even if it is not actively tended, you can give her a helping hand by adding compost starter to the mix. Compost starters, available from the garden centers, add microorganisms to the soil that help speed up the decay process.

Blend flowering fruit shrubs into your regular landscape. Don't have a separate area to turn into a garden? Elderberries, blueberries and currants have pretty flowers in springtime and look great in the fall as well. The side benefit of these landscape-enhancing plants is all the fruit they produce for you to enjoy.

Take steps to protect earthworms in your organic garden. Till your soil minimally, as tilling can kill earthworms. The best tilling depth is 3 to 5 inches. Avoid using chemical fertilizers because they harm the micro-organisms in the soil, decreasing earthworm activity. Be sure that the soil never dries out too much, but at the same time avoid over-watering. By maintaining these soil conditions, you will notice your earthworm population increasing rapidly!

The best way to water your organic garden is to use a soaker hose. Soaker hoses not only conserve water, but also direct the water exactly where it needs to go, into the dirt, rather than on the leaves and into the air. By watering the leaves, you leave your plants susceptible to fungus growth.

To help spread mulch easily, you can use a flat-head rake or a bow. If you are using a rake, you should use the rakes tined edge to pull and spread your mulch. Use the flat side of the rake to even your mulch on the bed. You will want to use a light push then pull action.

A rule of thumb followed by many planters is to bury the seeds in soil to a depth of around three times the diameter of the actual seed. It is important to note though, that not all seeds are covered to this depth, as some need direct sunlight to grow properly. These seeds include petunias and ageratum. If you aren't sure, look online or at the package.

An important tip for organic gardening that will naturally help prevent disease from appearing in your plants is to move your plants to different spots of your garden each year. This will keep any disease from spreading because the soil doesn't build up harmful organisms from planting in the same spot each year.

Many people are confused about what the idea of organic actually means and so they think they can't participate in organic gardening. Organic gardening simply means that no types of pesticides or preservatives are used on the product which results in a much more natural form of the produce.

Employ crop rotation techniques in your organic garden. Typically thought of for large-scale farms, crop rotation can be useful even in a small garden plot. After a season or two of growing one crop, switch to a dissimilar crop the following year. This will prevent soil depletion and pest build-up caused by growing one plant and result in your gardening success.

If you plan to begin your organic garden from seed, be sure to start well in advance of the gardening season. Start seeds indoors so that you will have established seedlings ready to put in the ground after the last frost. Follow the instructions found on the back of your seed packets to determine the appropriate time to start the seeds for your climate.

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. You will also prevent your vegetables from being ruined all at once by an unexpected frost or an infestation.

Are you having a hard time getting grass to grow in your organic garden? Will it just refuse to grow in the yard? Try looking for an appropriate ground cover to use on the exposed earth. Then you can just fill in the problem spaces and create interesting bed shapes.

You don't just have to plant things that are going to be eaten by you in your organic garden. Try planting some flowers too. You can use annuals for one-season color. You do not want to use everywhere though since replacing a lot of them can be very expensive. Try planting them in a few small areas.

Cultivation

Try not to get too rough in the dirt of your organic garden by avoiding any frequent or deep cultivation. This can damage the plants' roots, dry out the surrounding soil, disturb any healthy soil organisms, or even bring weed seeds to the surface where they will germinate and grow into pesky adult weeds.

It just takes some time and patience to be able to grow a good organic garden. The next time your are working in your garden, see if there may be an opportunity to test a few of these tips. You can succeed as an organic gardener. You will have tasty, fresh vegetables and a beautiful addition to your home.