Organic Gardening

Organic gardening is the exact same as regular gardening except that no synthetical fertilizers or pesticides are used. This can make certain aspects difficult, like controlling disease, insects, and weeds. Organic gardening also demands more care to the soil and the many needs of plants.

Organic gardening starts with the soil. Gardeners must add organic matter to the soil on a regular basis in order to keep the soil productive. In fact, compost is necessary to the healthiness and well being of plants grown organically. Compost can be made from leaves, dead flowers, vegetable scraps, fruit rinds, grass clippings, manure, and a lot of other things. The ideal soil has a dark color, sweet smell, and is full of earthworms. Some soil might need more natural additives than regular compost can give, like bonemeal, rock phosphates, or greensand. A simple soil test will tell you the pH balance and which nutrients you will need to use.

One thing that makes even gardeners that are really serious about organic gardening reach for pesticides is insects on their plants. The best way to defend plants against insects is to take preventive measures. One thing that can be done is to make certain plants are healthy and not too wet or dry as insects typically attack unhealthy plants and if healthy, they can oftentimes outgrow modest insect damage. A assortment of plant types is a fine idea to keep pests of a special plant type from taking out the entire garden.

Possibly the best way to defend against insects is to make your garden alluring to insect predators, like ladybugs, birds, frogs, and lizards. You are able to do this by keeping a water source nearby or by growing plants that attract insects who feed on nectar. Additional ideas are sticky traps, barriers, and plant collars. There are a few household items that prevent against insects too, such as insecticidal soaps, garlic, and hot pepper.

To keep off plant disease in organic gardening, select disease immune plants and plant them in their prime conditions. A lot of diseases will spread because of steady moisture and bad air circulation, so the site of your garden and the way it is watered may assist ensure against diseases.

Weeds can be an bothering and frustrating part of organic gardening. Organic mulch can act as a weed barrier, but for even better protection put a bed of newspaper, construction paper or cardboard under the mulch. Corn meal gluten will slow the growth of weeds if spread early in the season before planting, as does solarization. There is also the old-fashioned art of hoeing and hand pulling that always works. Your best bet in weed prevention is persistence. Mulch well and pull and hoe what you are able to; after a couple of seasons you will be able to beat the weeds permanently.

Organic gardening is an excellent way to assure that your plants will be free and clear of all pesticides and, if attended properly, will be as healthy as possible. Organic gardening may take a bit more time and care than regular gardening, but after gardeners master it and work out all the oddities of their garden, it is definitely worth the extra time.