You will see the difference when you begin using tried-and-true organic gardening methods. Your caring skills will shine through in the quality of your garden. This is a valuable attitude. Like other skills, there is always room for improvement. Below are some tips to help.
Select plant types that will bring a higher profits and yield. Traditional strains are often out-performed by hybrids that have been bred for cold tolerance or disease resistance.
Baking Soda
If you see mildew that is powdery, stay away from expensive chemicals to treat it. Put a little baking soda and some dish soap in water. Spray this on your plants once a week until the mildew disappears. Baking soda is not harmful to your plants and will take care of the issue as well as any other treatment.
When winter comes, you can save a few plants by transferring them inside the house. Think about saving your resistant plants or the expensive ones. Dig carefully around the roots and transfer the plants to a pot.
Bulbs are a great option for people who want to enjoy spring and summer flowers. Bulbs are one of the easiest plants to grow and are hardy perennials that return each year. If you choose your plants carefully, you could have flowers in blossom from the first weeks of spring to the end of the summer.
In a dark area, pre-soak your seeds overnight. Put some seeds (a small amount) in a container that isn’t too large for the plant you’ll be growing. Fill that container with water, almost to the top. This will give your seeds a healthy head start in the growth process. Seeds that are cultivated this way are more likely to survive and mature properly.
Tempt your cat away from the plants he has been bothering by planting catnip or wheat grass near them. You can put something over the soil which surrounds the plants which has a bad smell to cats to deter them.
Coffee Grounds
If your soil is highly alkaline, try mixing used coffee grounds into the soil. Using coffee grounds is a less expensive way to make your soil more acidic than trying to replace your topsoil. You will notice that your vegetables and greens will have a stronger taste.
If you have many low-growing plants in your garden, get yourself a pair of gardening knee pads. Gardening can really put a lot of pressure on your knees that will leave you cramped and uncomfortable. Investing in good knee pads will help cushion your knees so you are more comfortable.
A good but unusual organic solution for weeding your plants is try “boiling” your weeds way. A pot full of boiling water is an effective herbicide, yet it is, chemically speaking, completely harmless. Just douse the weeds directly with boiling water, taking care to avoid damaging nearby plants. This can cause enough damage to the roots of any plant to kill it.
Keep your plants dry and aerated daily. Excess moisture creates an appealing environment for disease and parasites. One common organism that thrives on moisture is the fungi family. Fungi can be controlled with fungicide sprays, but it is important to treat your area with the spray, before you see any problems.
Pectrum Pesticide
Broad-spectrum pesticide is not a good garden choice. Broad-spectrum pesticides will kill insects that are helpful to your garden as well as the harmful ones. Bugs that are good for your garden tend to be more susceptible to these types of pesticides, and using them could mean an increase in the pests you are actually trying to get rid of. If you respond to the growing pest problem with more broad-spectrum pesticide, you only continue the harmful cycle.
Plant with fall season color in mind. However, you can still maintain your horticulture hobby throughout the fall months. In terms of colorful foliage, fall is the time of year admired by many. Maple, beech trees or dogwood take on some amazing colors. Add even more color to your garden by planting shrubs such as hydrangea, barberry or cotoneaster.
Water your garden carefully. To save time, use a soaker type hose so each plant doesn’t need individual watering from the nozzle of a hose or a little watering can. Turn the water pressure on low so the soaker hose will not harm tender plants. Let the soaker hose do its thing for a couple hours, and your plants are watered.
If you have children, plant strawberries, especially everbearing strawberries, in your organic garden. Small kids enjoy picking fruit themselves out of a garden. Because of this, they’ll be more likely to provide you with some assistance in your garden if they feel like they’re receiving something out of this.
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. You simply have to spray the solution on your plants to assist them in warding off diseases. You should spray your plants about once every three weeks.
If you have a cut on your hand, take the time to make sure it is either healed or completely covered before you put your hands in the soil. If grime gets into the cut, it could become infected. There are bandages out there now that can seal cuts completely.
Easily and quickly prepare your ground for a garden of perennials. Use your spade to slice chunks of turf up, then flip each piece over, and spread wood chips on top to a depth of four inches. After a few weeks, dig, then plant your perennials.
You now possess the information, the equipment, and the required skills to use what you’ve just read to grow a fantastic organic garden. This is great news! These tips were specifically crafted to enhance your organic gardening techniques. A gardener should never be done learning! With luck, you have learned something you can use to get the most from your garden.