Gardening can be quite complex, when you break it down. Once you have decided to garden organically, you need to learn about your soil’s pH balance, as well as things like natural pesticides. If you are a beginner, take things slowly. Use the tips below to grow like a pro.
The quick and drastic change in the weather conditions can shock your plants and cause them to die. It’s important that you gradually change temperate conditions over time, so that your plants can adjust. Put them in the sun outside for a couple of hours during the first day. As you continue the first week of the project, gradually extend the duration of sun exposure. At the end of a week, they should be accustomed to the outdoors and ready to transition to outside safely.
Save some plants in the winter by bringing them indoors. Find out which plants will be able to thrive despite the transplanting and different indoor conditions. Dig carefully around their roots and place them into a pot.
Your soil needs to be of good quality before you start a garden. Have a soil analysis completed so you can know what you need to add to have soil which will fully support your garden. It is worth having this information so that crops do not get ruined. Most Cooperative Extension offices provide this service.
It is very important to keep the weeds from taking over in your garden. Those nasty weeds can turn your beautiful garden into a scruffy version of its former self. To help with weed destruction, use white vinegar. White vinegar kills weeds. Apply it full strength to any areas where weeds are a problem.
When dealing with any type of seeds in gardening, it’s important that you soak them overnight in a cool, dark location. Put some seeds in a container and fill the container to the brim with water. This will keep your seeds hydrated and give you a little head start with your growing. This gives the seeds a better chance of flourishing.
When you go to mow your lawn, make sure you don’t mow it too closely to the ground. If you let your grass keep some height after mowing, it will be able to absorb more sun and moisture resulting in a lusher, greener lawn. When you cut the grass too short, the roots are often not deep enough, which causes your lawn to have dry patches of brown, discolored grass.
Using boiling water to kill weeds is both efficient and organic. This is a safe way to eliminate weeds, as this will not damage the soil. 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.
Try to keep your plants aerated and dry, every day. Parasites are attracted to the moisture on plants. Fungus infections are common in overly moist plants. It is possible to get rid of fungi after it appears with anti-fungal sprays, but it’s better to spray at-risk areas before fungi appear.
Surround your vegetable plants with organic mulch, a few inches worth. When you place mulch around your plants, it keeps the ground more moist. In addition, mulch will help you to prevent weeds. This can prevent you from having to constantly pull weeds.
Scent the grass around your garden with old perfume or discarded aftershave to prevent your dog from wandering into your garden. These scents overpower the garden’s scents, which causes your dog to lose interest.
Include your kids in growing an organic garden. Helping a garden grow is an excellent learning experience for kids, and it allows your family to spend time together while creating healthy, nutritious foods.
Water infused with aspirin is great for combating plant disease. One and a half aspirin, dissolved in two gallons of water, can be a great addition to your plants. Help your plants to fight disease by spraying them with the aspirin water. You should spray your plants about once every three weeks.
If you’re really serious about environmentally-friendly gardening practices, refrain from developing some of your land and use it as an animal habitat. One side effect of this is that where animals thrive, so do birds and insects that help nurture and pollinate plants, which will increase the quality of your garden.
If you have recently suffered a cut, discontinue gardening until the cut has healed completely. If you have an open cut while horticulture, contact with dirt or debris can infect the wound. Bandage all cuts completely, using bandages that cover and seal cuts.
When you are growing organic plants within the home or an enclosed area, considering how much light the plants will receive must be emphasized. If your house or apartment doesn’t get a lot of natural light, one option is to grow something that only requires medium or low light. If you have a different type of plant, extra lighting can always help.
A rule of thumb for when you are planting seeds in containers is to make the hole depth around three times larger than the seed itself. You should know that certain seeds need not be covered, because they need the sunlight. Some examples are petunias and ageratum. If you are unsure about the specific needs of your seeds, you should consult your local garden center or conduct further research online. Important things to look for include water requirements, ideal soil type, and recommended sunlight exposure.
Now, you shouldn’t get your hopes up and believe that a few tips are going to turn you into an instant professional gardener. However, these tips are a great starting point if you do plan to grow organically. As you implement these tips and hone your skills, you’ll be a professional green-thumb-holder in no time.