A great way to deal with weeds in a safe and nontoxic way, is to use a spray bottle of diluted dish soap to treat areas with overgrowth in your garden. Use a ratio of one tablespoon of mild dish soap per 16 ounces of water. Spray the weeds once a day and with in a week they should shrivel up and be easier to pull out.
Instead of pulling weeds, turn them into nourishment for your garden. Some weeds, like Lamium or Chickweed, are tough to remove one at a time. Instead, using a sharp shovel or spade, cut under the weeds and turn them over, making sure to bury all of the leaves. The weeds will rot, providing the soil with nourishment like composting.
Install a fan to blow on your seeds. Make sure your fan is turned on a very low setting. This light touch will help your plants grow stronger. You can also stroke your plants very lightly with your hand or a piece of paper for a few hours to get the same effect.
Marigold flowers are quite the powerhouse in an organic garden. As their flowers and leaves decay, the marigold releases chemicals that attract frogs, repel snakes and kill nematode pests that attack many vegetable plants, including tomatoes. Look for ways to let the bright yellow marigold bring brilliant color and decoration to your garden, as it goes to work to protect the health of your plants.
Calculate how much water your plants truly need. Thinner plants generally need more water; they contain larger surface area with less capacity to store water. Plants with large, thick waxy leaves are often more suited for water-starved environments. Over-watering may also cause problems with the plant due to microbial growth on their roots.
When planting your organic garden, spacing is an important thing to keep in mind. Plants take up quite a bit of space as they grow, and it's easy to underestimate just how much. You will also need to ensure that you allow ample space around full-grown plants for air circulation. Plan your organic garden while keeping this in mind, and space your seeds accordingly, when planting.
When growing organic plants, you should move your containers to a bright area immediately upon sprouting. This is because the seedlings need a minimum of 12 hours of light per day in order to properly grow. You can use a greenhouse, a sunny area, or a couple of fluorescent lights.
Use an aged laundry basket when you want to collect your produce. An old basket will act like a strainer does. 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.
For the best organic garden, choose plants that do best in your type of soil and climate. Plants that have adapted to a specific type of environment have a better chance to thrive without much fuss in that environment. These plants will also save you time in maintenance because they are naturally hardy.
Use untreated stone, brick or wood to build raised beds. Any wood you use needs to be untreated and resistant to rot. The best varieties include cedar, locust and cypress wood. Don't use treated wood in a garden for vegetables because the chemicals contained in them can leak into the ground. If you have built a bed with treated lumber already, use a barrier such as plastic to line the bed.
In general, it is best to water your plants early in the morning. This is because the sun and wind will evaporate the moisture throughout the day. Watering in the morning gives your plants the best opportunity to spend more time using the water. It is also dangerous to water late in the day because if the water has not evaporated from the foliage, fungal diseases can start to appear overnight.
Cultivate your soil to improve the quality of your soil. When you cultivate, or till, your soil, you loosen up parts that may be compacted. Compacted soil does not absorb water well, and it discourages soil micro-organisms from growing in it. When your soil is properly tilled, seeds can thrive and grow.
When you are ready to mulch, choose an organic mulch. Cocoa hulls or weed-free straw are great examples. The mulch will eventually decompose and add rich, organic nutrients to your soil. Just add a couple of inches to your garden each year and you will see the long-term benefits.
Tomatoes make a healthy, productive addition to any organic garden. To get the most out of your tomatoes, make sure you plant them properly: Tomato plants need lots of air and sunlight. You should space your tomato plants with plenty of open air between them, and site them so that they catch at least 10 hours of direct light every day.
Use recycled plastic or paper cups to start your tomato plants in. Just put the seeds in the cup, and cover with soil. This will allow you to grow the plants in the best conditions, and it keeps a few cups out of the landfills too. When they are ready, transplant the tomatoes into your garden.
Using a soaker hose to water an organic garden is the very best choice. The water seeps slowly out of these hoses and can be directed straight to the roots so that the leaves stay dry. This is less tedious than watering by hand, and they consume less water than using sprinklers.
Do you now see why organic gardening is such a wonderful thing? Discovering that you can grow healthy plants and add them to your healthy diet, is indeed a thing of wonder and also, one of great skill. The tips in this article should have given you some great tips to begin building a good foundation and successfully grow your own organic garden.
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