Organic gardening may be a major pain, or a joyous hobby. The following tips will assist you in becoming an accomplished organic gardener.
When helping organic plants flourish inside, it is vital to keep in mind how much light is reaching them. If the garden will receive little sunlight, find plants that can grow in medium or low-light environments. You can also try using artificial lighting to help.
Add three inches of mulch to your flower beds. Mulch will minimize weed growth and maximize nutrients and moisture. Mulch will also improve the general appearance of your flower beds.
You need to make sure you are very efficient when working in your organic garden. One of the biggest time wasters is not keeping track of your tools and having to look for them every time you need them. Organize the tools you will need before you head to the garden, and put every item away when you finish your work. Even something like a carpenter’s tool belt or some cargo jeans work well to keep tools organized.
Plastic bags can be kept on hand and reused to slip over your dirty gardening shoes. This allows you to maintain your flow so you can rapidly get back to your gardening.
Spacing is an important factor to consider when planting your garden. You will most likely underestimate how much space plants will need as they grow. Space is necessary not only for physical growth but also to help keep air circulation flowing within your garden. Because of this, you should always take the time to ensure that there’s enough distance between all your seeds.
Laundry Basket
Old laundry baskets are handy tools at harvest time. A laundry basket will act as a strainer for your produce. When you put your produce in a basket, you can then rinse it off and let it strain any excess water through the laundry basket holes.
To get the most from your composting efforts, aim for a 1:1 ratio of dried materials and green plant products. Green plant material can include old flowers, fruit waste, grass clippings, vegetable waste, and leaves. Sawdust, straw, cardboard, paper and wood pulp are all examples of dried plant material. Diseased plants, meat and fire-waste like charcoal or ashes should not be placed in your compost pile.
Do you want to know how to kill weeds in a natural way? You can place newspaper in several layers, and it will help control your weeds. Like any other plant, weeds need to be exposed to the sun. The layers of newspaper will kill the weeds because they no longer receive any sunlight. Newspapers easily break down over a period of time, and eventually become a portion of the compost. Use mulch on the top in order to make everything look attractive.
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. While it seems a little odd, it has been reported that this can encourage plant growth.
Vegetable Garden
Try using untreated stone, brick, or wood to create a raised bed. Make sure the wood you use is untreated and rot resistant. Cypress, locust and cedar are all very good choices. Avoid using treated wood in an organic vegetable garden. The chemicals in the wood can leak into the soil, and eventually into the plants. In the event your vegetable garden already has treated wood as part of its enclosure, consider replacing it, or painting it, or wrapping the treated wood in some protective covering. Keep in mind that if any of the untreated wood is below the ground, you should dig it up to make sure that you completely protect your vegetable garden from the chemicals in the treated wood.
In conclusion, there are more aspects of organic gardening than one would originally think. Organic gardening demands hard work and perseverance in the face of adversity, but your sacrifices will be rewarded when you can look out of your bedroom window and see a stunning organic garden in your own backyard, that you created with your own bare hands. Using the tips that you just learned you can improve your skills in organic gardening.