Organic Gardening: Three Essential Things That You Need To Do To Keep Your Plants Healthy
Organic gardening can be a lot of fun especially if you know how to take care of your plants. Just the though of having fresh vegetables all the time without spending a lot of money is enough reason for you to be excited about organic gardening – if the monkeys don’t get them first. However, organic gardening is not as easy as you want it to be. Keeping your plants healthy can be quite a challenge especially if you are growing them organically. Remember that you can not use chemical fertilizer or spray insecticides on your plants. Since you will rely solely on natural methods on raising your plants, here are a few things essential things that you need to do to keep your plants healthy.
Choose The Right Plant Variety
If you are into organic vegetable gardening, you need to choose the right types of vegetables to plant on your garden. Remember that different types of vegetables thrive on different types of environment. This means that if you want to have healthy plants, you need to start with healthy seedlings. You should also choose a plant variety that is endemic in your area. Forget about those exotic vegetable varieties. Yes, it is nice to eat exotic vegetables but growing exotic vegetables can be very difficult. To make your life easier, choose local vegetable varieties. You can easily find planting materials of these local vegetable varieties in your local nursery for very affordable prices. Moreover, you can get a lot of help from your local nursery or organic gardening shop when it comes to planting and keeping your plants healthy.
Maintain Healthy Soil
Healthy plants need healthy soil. The first thing that you need to do before you engage in organic gardening is to check the quality of your soil. Remember that not all types of soils are good for organic gardening. Some soils are already too contaminated to be considered as viable for growing organic plants. To check the quality of your soil, dig some holes in different places and get some soil samples. Bring your soil samples to a soil laboratory and ask the technician to test whether your soil sample is viable for organic gardening. However, even if the technician tells you that your soil sample is viable for organic gardening, you should still apply organic soil conditioners on your soil before you start planting. You can buy soil conditioner from your local garden supply shop.
Creating Organic Gardening Compost
Organic container gardening and other types of organic gardening can all benefit from the creation of organic gardening compost so that nutrients can be added to the garden on a regular basis. It is not difficult to create an organic gardening compost pile, but it does require individuals to choose an appropriate place for the pile and to maintain it on a regular basis. This compost can be added to the garden as well as adding it to the lawn so that the nutrients in the compost pile are absorbed into the ground and allow the garden and lawn to be healthier and stronger, while being organic and healthy for the life and environment around these areas.
Leaves and Grass
An organic gardening compost pile can easily be started in a remote area of the yard. The reason it should be in a remote area is because the pile is unsightly, being composed of raw materials that are slowly decomposing to make the rich soil. For this reason, the organic gardening compost pile is often nestled amidst some trees or bushes in a remote area of the yard so that it does not take away from the landscaping but remains readily available to be added to or to have the rich soil taken from it.
Once a place is chosen for the organic gardening compost pile, then it can be started by using grass clippings from the lawn or by using leaves that have been raked from the yard. These materials should be piled together so that they can begin to settle and decompose in the pile, thus creating the rich soil beneath it which can be used to help to fertilize the yard. Once the main pile has been created, the organic gardening compost pile can be maintained by added more materials to it on a regular basis. These materials do not have to be only grass clippings or leaves. Household materials can also be added to the pile provided that they are of organic materials such as paper, vegetable leftovers, fruit peels, and other organic waste materials. The bigger the variety of materials that are used to maintain the pile, the bigger the variety of nutrients that are available in the rich compost soil beneath the organic gardening compost pile. In addition to creating the rich soil beneath it, the soil also attracts insects that can be used in the garden as well to help to aerate the soil and fertilize it, such as earthworms, so that the garden is kept healthier as a result.
Beautifying the Premises: Organic Container Gardening
Organic container gardening is a nice twist on the typical container gardening that has been done for many years. Organic container gardening uses all natural materials in order to maintain the plants that are placed in the pots. This helps to ensure that the people and animals that are around the plants will not be harmed by any synthetic chemicals that are sometimes used in the pots for fertilizer and pesticides. Using all organic materials helps to protect pets, small children and the environment at the same time.
Options
Often organic container gardening is used when an individual lives in an apartment or condominium where they do not have the option to create a full sized garden. It is also often used to help decorate screened in porches, front porches and walkways so that there are beautiful flowers and other plants around at all times. It is wise to fill the organic container gardens with a mix of different plants, since there are some plants that tend to attract good insects which kill the bad ones and help to protect the more fragile plants in the pot. In addition, when there is only one kind of plant, it acts as a beacon for the insects that like to feed on that plant, causing more harm and the need for some sort of pesticide.
There are fertilizers that can be used in organic container gardening, but these need to be chosen carefully so that they are indeed organic. The organic fertilizers only use organic materials and not the dangerous synthetic chemicals that are used in the traditional fertilizing agents. The fertilizers that are used in organic container gardening are usually slow release so that they do not burn the roots of the plants or cause any other issues. The soil in the container should also be tested to see what types of nutrients are lacking from the soil so that just the right combination can be created for the types of plants being grown.
Organic container gardening also sometimes has herbs and vegetables that are grown so that they are on hand for the individuals to use in the kitchen at all times. They are also sometimes used to start plants that will later be planted in a traditional outside garden when the weather gets to be more suitable for gardening those plants. In other cases there are plants that are more rare or difficult to grow and need protection from the weather and sun that is experienced outside for optimum growth in organic container gardens.