In the world of organic gardening, there are plenty of great resources available to both new and experienced organic gardeners alike. There are many e-guides, books, videos, and other resources available. This set of tips contains some of the best advice for helping a good organic gardener become a great organic gardener.
Coffee grounds and leftover coffee can be used to repel slugs. If you have an issue with slugs in your garden, you can repel them effectively with coffee. You can sprinkle coffee grounds on the soil around your plants or use leftover coffee in a spray bottle to spray the slugs directly.
Why buy new garden covers when you can use your old blankets to cover plants in the winter time? If you don't have any old blankets you can buy used ones at thrift stores cheaply. Use tomato cages to support the blankets over your plants. Individual bricks or garden rocks can be used to hold the blankets and down and insure good coverage for your plants.
Take care of your containers. You do not have to spend a lot of money on containers: you can reuse common items as pots. Make sure you clean your containers thoroughly and disinfect them to avoid diseases. Drill a few holes in the bottom so that the extra water can be drained.
Pine can make a great mulch. Some garden plants have a higher acidity, and prefer a more acidic soil. Plants like these thrive when you use pine needles as mulch. Using several inches of needles to cover your beds provides acid for the soil as they begin to decompose.
Use compost to feed your crops. In organic gardening, compost is necessary for the survival of your plants. A home compost pile is a great, inexpensive source of compost. Many food scraps, grass, and dry leaves can be used in your compost. However, avoid cooked foods, ash, and animal waste in an organic compost pile.
If you are new to organic gardening and are interested in growing vegetables, you should be aware that certain plants are much easier to start with than others. For example, broccoli, onions, and peppers are amongst the easiest. You should also be aware that different plants have different growing timetables. These timetables are available online. After selecting which plants you want to grow, look up their timetables so you know when to plant them.
The best way to spread mulch on your organic garden is with a flat-headed rake. A flat-headed rake is effectively two tools in one. You can use the tined side to distribute mulch over fresh areas. When you flip the rake over, its flat side makes an efficient tool for smoothing your mulch and making sure it is distributed evenly.
Grow organic herbs to add some flavor to your cooking and brighten up your yard. Herbs make great landscape plants: add them to a bed or pot in your yard. They are wonderful to flavor foods you cook, offer fragrance and have medicinal properties. Herbs are very easy to grow and actually thrive on neglect.
Mix old or rotted food into your soil. Rotting food is just a sign that it's decomposing due to the bacteria that breaks down the starches and fats in the food. The food that you don't eat can provide your plants with a boost to their nutrition. Because the food is decomposing, the plants are even better equipped to strip vital nutrient it.
If you are trying to grow tomatoes from seed, use old drink cups or yogurt containers to start them. When they are ready to be transplanted, just cut the bottom off of the cup and put them right into the ground. This will help protect the new plant from worms and other pests.
Enclosing your garden, say, in a hothouse or greenhouse will help you to keep pests out of your garden. The invasive plants, animals, and bugs are less likely to be able to get in. The problem is, greenhouses can be expensive. On the other hand, you gain the ability to plant all year round too, which can help offset the costs.
When running your organic garden, you should use the "shovel method" to eliminate weeds. This method does not eliminate all of the weeds at one time because doing this is ineffective. This method uses a sharp spade to turn the weeds over and bury the leaves. When the leaves rot, the weeds will actually provide nourishment to the soil.
You don't just have to plant things that are going to be eaten by you in your organic garden. Try planting some flowers too. You can use annuals for one-season color. You do not want to use everywhere though since replacing a lot of them can be very expensive. Try planting them in a few small areas.
Discourage rabbits from using your garden as a snack bar. Rabbits will take advantage of your organic garden if you give them the chance. They don't tend to discriminate between certain foods, eating anything that they encounter. Blood meal, wood ashes, hot pepper flakes, chili powder or garlic powder sprinkled around your plants will deter them. You can also sprinkle black pepper directly on a plant, which will give the rabbit a sneezing fit.
Try to think of your organic environment in terms of an ecosystem. More specifically, try thinking of it in terms of "biodiversity". If you use many different types of plants, you will help encourage many different types of insects to live in your garden. Many of these insects can be beneficial to your garden.
A great tip that can help improve your organic gardening is to start grouping plants together. This basically means that you arrange your plants in a way so that each plant benefits the next one. Some plants for instance, attract good bugs, which can help other plants survive.
With the above information in hand, you now know a little bit about what is needed to succeed as an organic gardener. There is a lot of information to be had and you need to know how to apply it. Grow an aesthetically pleasing organic garden that will feed you well by applying the simple tips you got in this article.
Orignal From: Simple Advice That Makes A Better Gardener!
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