Most people have heard about or seen organic foods. These items are usually easy to recognize and you should be able to notice a difference in quality. They have different packaging and are more expensive. Keep reading this article to find some great tips on how to grow an organic garden and stop paying too much at the store.
If you work with clay soil, you have probably found using a shovel very frustrating and exhausting. To make working in clay easier, rub the shovel with floor or car wax and then buff it with a cloth. This will keep the soil from sticking, and prevent rusting of the tool.
Choose plant strains that will give you the best harvest with the biggest yield. Traditional strains are often out-performed by hybrids that have been bred for cold tolerance or disease resistance.
The first thing you can do to ward off garden pests is to ensure you are using healthy soil in your garden. Healthy plants are stronger and more able to resist both pests and disease. So give your garden a kick start by beginning with a healthy batch of natural and organic soil.
Stink Bugs
When partaking in gardening activities, particularly in the autumn months, keep an eye on those stink bugs. Stink bugs enjoy gardens, and are especially fond of fruit, tomatoes, beans and peppers. Stink bugs may get out of hand and do significant damage in your garden. It is important to take steps to eliminate them from that area.
Place at least an inch of mulch that is organic in with your veggies! The mulch will help keep the soil moist for longer periods of time. It will also prevent the growth of weeds. This can prevent you from having to constantly pull weeds.
Broad-spectrum pesticide is not a good garden choice. Broad spectrum pesticides don’t only kill the offending pests, but the beneficial ones also. In fact, beneficial insects are more likely to die than pests if you spray these types of pesticides. As the population of “good” bugs dwindles, your garden may become overrun with pests. You will need even more pesticides to deal with the problem, and it will never really go away.
Use cologne or other items with a distinct scent to keep your canine out of the landscaping. Your dog will find more interesting scents to explore elsewhere and leave your garden alone.
Take care of your knees when you’re gardening. It’s difficult for most people to bend while standing, especially at the waist. You can kneel instead to help keep your back relaxed while tending to your plants. A kneeling pad can be placed under your knees to help reduce the pain from compression.
If you’re really serious about environmentally-friendly horticulture practices, refrain from developing some of your land and use it as an animal habitat. Wildlife can help the plants in your garden to thrive, as insects support plant reproduction, while the excrement of many species contains nutrients which can help to fertilize your soil.
When growing plants inside of the house, you should ensure the thermostat is set at around 65-75 degrees in the daytime. Warm temperatures encourage plant growth. If you don’t like keeping your home that temperature in the winter, you may wish to consider getting a heat lamp, instead, to keep your organic plants the correct temperature.
Paying attention to spacing is important. You can easily underestimate how much space the plants need until they begin to grow. Failure to provide adequate room will restrict growth because it forces plants to compete for valuable nutrients and oxygen. Think ahead and give each plant room for expansion, by properly spacing the seeds.
Get the most out of what you have, and your property. Landscaping has one of the highest returns you can get from home improvement. You can raise your home value up to 20 percent! Look for hardy, low moisture plants that are naturally suited for your region.
Want to kill weeds naturally? Use several layers of newspapers for weed control. The main thing that a weed needs to thrive is sunlight. With layers of newspaper on them, the weeds are not going to have light, and therefore will not grow. Newspapers tend to break down into compost nicely. One way to enhance the appearance of your garden if you are using newspapers is to add an additional layer of mulch.
If you sell your crops and label them organic, you should get an organic garden certified seal. This will increase your sales, and it will prove to your customers that they have quality products.
Make sure you actually take a look under the surface of the dirt at the roots of your plants before you transplant anything into your garden. Evaluate each tomato and check for green starts, as they generally have bad root systems that impede growth. These starts will stick to the seedlings for quite some time, which prevents the seedlings from growing until the starts are gone.
Growing your garden at home might not be the most convenient thing for you, but you will save a lot of money and always have the confidence that what you’re eating and feeding your family is as fresh and as healthy as possible. Use the tips you’ve learned here and get started on your garden today.