Does the grass always look greener on the other side? You probably want to know if your neighbor just has a green thumb, or a more practical method to keep his garden in such good shape. The truth is that there is no gardening “secret”. It just takes knowledge and understanding proper plant care. You can start to increase your gardening knowledge today by reading the information below.
When powdery mildew appears on your plants, you should not rush out to purchase a costly chemical treatment. Combine a bit of liquid soap and some baking soda with water. You just need to spray your plants with this solution once every five days until the mildew is no longer visible. Your plants will not be harmed by the baking soda, but the mildew will definitely not like it!
It is important to choose the right type of soil if you want to achieve the best results. Depending on the type of plants you desire in your garden, your natural soil may or may not be appropriate. It’s also possible to make a fabricated area that contains only one type of soil.
In order for plants to grow, they must have enough CO2. Plants tend to grow better when the CO2 levels are higher. A greenhouse has the best levels available. When it is exposed to high carbon dioxide levels, a plant has the best growing condition possible.
Stink Bugs
When horticulture, be watchful of stink bugs, particularly in the fall. Stink bugs like to eat beans, peppers, tomatoes, and all sorts of fruit. If left unattended, your garden could be ravaged by these bugs, so you need to proactively keep their population under control.
Come up with a gardening plan before planting anything. Use this to remind you where certain things were planted, later when they start sprouting. You can also avoid losing the smaller plants, or in larger gardens, the small plant groups.
To help them out, try poring leftover water from steamed vegetables on them. Tea and coffee grounds can be used to add acidity to your soil for plants like gardenias and rhododendrons. If fungus is ravaging your potted plants, sprinkle a bit of Chamomile tea on them, and see if it helps.
Broad-spectrum pesticide is not a good garden choice. While broad-spectrum pesticides will kill most pests, they will also kill helpful insects. Useful insects are more sensitive to these pesticides than the pests, so by killing them, you could be growing your pest population. This can lead to needing even more pesticides to eliminate the problem insects.
During the day, when the weather is hot, vegetables tend to be softer, which causes them to be damaged even if you gently pick them. Use garden shears to remove your vegetables from the vine to avoid damaging the plant.
If you want to spend more quality time outdoors with your children, why not allowing them to help you with your gardening? Children enjoy picking fresh fruit, especially if they can eat it right away.
Aspirin water has disease-prevention properties that can protect plants. One and a half aspirin, dissolved in two gallons of water, can be a great addition to your plants. All you need to do is spray the plants with the solution in order to battle common ailments. Use this method every three weeks.
It is essential to keep your knees protected as you garden. Bending over for extended periods can be harmful to your joints and muscles. You can kneel instead to help keep your back relaxed while tending to your plants. For extra comfort, purchase a knee pad for use as a cushion between your knees and the ground.
Before planting any perennials, you have to make the ground ready. Use your spade to slice chunks of turf up, then flip each piece over, and spread wood chips on top to a depth of four inches. Allow the newly turned soil to sit for two weeks, then plant your perennials.
You need to avoid chores in your organic garden stacking up. If you’re too busy to do all those little things each day, there are some small steps you can take to not have all that work build up on you. Grab a handful of weeds, throw down some mulch, or toss some water on it anytime you walk by.
The simple beer trap is still one of the best methods of ridding your organic garden of slugs. Take a glass jar and bury it in your garden, making sure that the lip of the jar is even with the soil. Pour beer into the jar until it’s almost full. Leave an inch of space between the beer and the jar top. The beer helps attract slugs and they end up trapped.
If you want to consistently grow healthy tomatoes, wait three weeks between planting each set. When you stagger your planting in this manner, your tomato plants will not be in bloom all at once, meaning you have fresh tomatoes for longer. Also, if something goes wrong during one harvest, all your tomatoes won’t be ruined.
Before planting anything in the organic garden, decide exactly what you want to grow. Different plants require different sorts of environments. Each type of rose may need different types of environments, for example. Make sure you check on what environment a plant is best suited for before you purchase it.
Know when to buy plants to be added into your organic garden. When it comes to perennials and annuals, this is particularly important. You should purchase plants that show buds that have not bloomed yet. This ensures that the plant has a better chance of taking root in your garden.
Most of these ideas are quite simple and require little advance skill. All it takes is applying what you have learned after boning up on some basic techniques. You need to pay close attention to how your plants fare after changing up your techniques. If you find that one thing does not work, you should try something different. Exercise a little patience and you will see your garden grow before your eyes.