Lots of people think that gardening is a tough task to accomplish, but that’s false, if you know how to do it. The right information can help anyone become a master gardener. These tips will enable you to be more proficient at horticulture.
Consider starting your plants in pots and then planting the seedlings in your garden. Your plants will be more likely to mature this way. This method also reduces the waiting time between plantings. Your seedlings will be ready to be planted when you remove your old mature plants.
Use slug-proof varieties of perennials wherever possible. Snails and slugs are garden nightmares, and only need a single evening to obliterate a plant. They often enjoy feeding on perennials with very smooth and tender leaves. Young plants are a special favorite of theirs. There are some perennials that do not appeal to slugs, such as those with leaves that are hairy and tough with a bad taste. Some varieties of these plants are campanula, helleborus, heuchera, or euphorbia.
Baking Soda
There are home solutions available to combat the powdery mildew you may find on your plants. Mix a solution of baking soda, water, and a tiny bit of dishwashing liquid. Spray this mix on your plants every week and the mildew should go away. The baking soda is harmless to your plants and a very effective remedy.
If many of the plants in your garden grow close to the ground, some horticulture knee pads will prevent pain and knee injuries. Without pads, you may have pain in your knees from spending too much time kneeling on the hard ground. Your knees can get supported with a decent pair of horticulture knee pads.
Allow enough room between plants for air to circulate, so that plants do not stay too wet. Moisture on plants is sure to attract disease and parasites. A fungus is one of the most important and debilitating parasites for plants. Proactively treat fungi through the use of fungicidal sprays and treatments.
A touch of organic mulch will boost the potential of the vegetable plants in your garden. Mulch helps the soil surrounding the plants remain moister for a longer time. It will also prevent weeds from growing. This could save you lots of weed-pulling time.
Get a wheelbarrow and a kneeling stool to work in your garden. Spending too much time on the ground working can be quite hard on your knees, and a gardening stool can help alleviate this, plus make things more comfortable for you. You often need to move large objects from place to place, so it’s a good idea to have a sturdy, well-balanced wheelbarrow.
Learn the appropriate time to pick different vegetables. Each type of vegetables has its own ideal time for picking for the best flavor. For example, baby peas and zucchini taste best when they are picked young. The opposite is true of tomatoes. They taste their best if you allow them to ripen on the vine as long as possible. To get the most out of your horticulture efforts, find out when to harvest your crops.
Pectrum Pesticides
When gardening, don’t use any broad-spectrum pesticides. Broad-spectrum pesticides will kill insects that are helpful to your garden as well as the harmful ones. In fact, beneficial insects are more likely to die than pests if you spray these types of pesticides. As the population of “good” bugs dwindles, your garden may become overrun with pests. This will leave you using even more pesticides to fix the problem.
In order to bring in good insects to your garden, you need to plant heather. Heather will attract bees early in the spring as well as other beneficial insects. Because heather beds require very little maintenance, they often become the home of spiders, ground beetles, and other insects that can benefit your garden. For this reason, you should always remember to put on your horticulture gloves when tending to your heather.
You must always take care of your knees when working in the garden. Most people can’t bend for long periods while standing. You should kneel while tending to your plants for the sake of reducing stress to your spine. Many types of gardening pads and cushions are available so that avid gardeners can kneel for longer periods of time without experiencing knee pain.
Keep the temperature in your home between 65 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit, if you are keeping or growing any kind of plant in your house. Plants require a warmer climate to grow. If you are not willing to keep your house that warm during winter, you could always get the organic plants a heat lamp.
After your seeds begin to sprout, it is not as important to keep them warm. As your plants grow, you will want to put a little distance between them and heat. If you used plastic wrap to insulate your seedlings, you should now remove it. Check on your seeds often so you catch them when they are ready.
A beer trap is an effective way of of dealing with any slugs that invade your organic garden. Take a glass jar and bury it so that the soil is even with its mouth. Fill it with beer to about one inch below the top of the jar. Slugs will be attracted by the beer and fall into the jar.
Use a soaker hose to water your organic garden. With a soaker hose, you actually help your plants grow to their potential because the water slowly seeps out the hose which helps guide it to the roots, allowing the leaves to remain dry. This is less tedious than watering by hand, and they consume less water than using sprinklers.
As was discussed at the start of this article, if you have an idea what you are trying to do, horticulture will come easy. These suggestions have given you a solid foundation in how to design and maintain a fabulous garden.