5 Helpful Tips for Organic Gardening
Whether you're new to gardening or trying to move to organic settings, these 5 tips will help you start a dream organic garden.
1. Capture moisture with mulch
Over-watering is bad for the roots of plants, but water usually evaporates too quickly from normal soil, so that plants can get enough water, especially when you live in a dry environment. There are many different ways to keep water levels up, including using heavier soil or growing vegetables with strong roots. However, the simplest way to prevent evaporation is to cover the garden bed with organic mulch.
Although you can buy mulch in most gardening stores, you can also find it in free mulch activities. Whether these trees come from sparse forests or collections after the festival, most forest institutions and local park departments will cover the old vegetation and provide them free of charge or at a low cost. As an organic gardener, this is an incredibly convenient way to get as much mulch as possible without worrying about the environmental impact.
After covering, spread it on the bed of the plant, with a thickness of about 2-4 inches. If you are worried about weed control, you can also apply 4 thick newspapers on the dirt directly before covering. After covering, water until the wood is completely wet. Then, use semi regular water to keep water trapped without flooding plants.
2. Add covering crops in winter
One of the mistakes many new gardeners make is to empty their garden beds after the target harvest. Your zucchini plant will not survive the whole winter, and you do not want the carefully planned dirt to blow away, and there is no root that can be fixed in place.
First, pull up the stem of any plant that has been successfully harvested. If these parts are free of disease and have no attached seed heads, you can always compost them. Then, choose a mulch crop that is suitable for your soil and the preparation season. Common choices include beans, grass, and broad leaves.
Plant a lid in an empty space in the garden. Some of these crops provide their own harvest, while others serve only as placeholders. Either way, as these crops begin to die in the winter air, move on, leaving the stems and leaves in the soil. In winter, this natural compost will add nutrients to the soil and fix precious dirt in place.
As a final step, remember to rotate the soil with the mulch crop on the lid, at least 3 to 6 weeks before planting the seeds. If some of your mulch crops survive, they may need to be weeded or until they are ready to be sown. Either way, this is a great time to check the quality of your soil, add fertilizer, and usually prepare for the planting season.
3. Encourage the Presence of Earthworms
Earthworm is an important component of healthy soil complex. The worm cultivates the soil and adds essential nutrients that are difficult to obtain by any other method. Worms in your soil are created by having a healthy environment and the food and resources your mini garden assistant is looking for.
To encourage the existence of earthworms, the first thing you need to do is to cultivate less soil. The soil is expected to be turned over in spring and may be turned over again during planting. The more you move the soil, the less safe the worm is.
Next, make sure there is a lot of organic matter on the top of the soil. Mulch is very suitable for this purpose, but fertilizer and compost are also good choices. Finally, check whether the hydration level, acidity, temperature and texture of the soil are suitable for the worm culture you want to create.
If you follow all these conditions, worms should begin to appear naturally in your soil. However, if, for some reason, there are no worms in your area, you can also buy worms from your local gardening store. Keep in mind that if the soil is unsafe for worms, they will eventually die rather than form new populations.
4. Don’t Let Weeds Grow into Seeds
Composting and organic gardening almost always go hand in hand. However, if you are not careful, adding compost to the soil may introduce new plants in the wrong part of the garden. This happens when flowering seed heads are mixed into compost - many new gardeners don't know to avoid this.
Start by weeding your garden in time. Do not let weeds bloom and produce seeds, as they almost always fall into the soil and remain dormant until conditions are right. You also need to avoid composting flowering or seeded plants. There are many other opportunities to find compost material, so don't be afraid to throw this plant material away.
If plants start to bloom on the compost bed, it may be because the temperature is too low. The compost bed needs to be between 130 and 170 degrees Fahrenheit to avoid internal growth and promote maximum decomposition. You can increase the heat of the compost bed through nitrogen, moisture and regular maintenance.
5. Plant Onions to Deter Pests
As an organic gardener, one of your biggest challenges may be pest control. Non invasive insect control methods are always difficult to find, while dealing with deer, birds, squirrels and other scavengers is another problem.
Although they are not a perfect solution, onions and chives are a surprisingly powerful deterrent that can be used throughout your garden. Plant them near the roots of plants you don't want to be chewed by curious animals. The strong smell of leeks will keep away pests of all sizes.
Organic gardening requires more attention than gardening with common tools and pesticides. Spend time every day watering, weeding, and covering plant beds. As long as you maintain your garden regularly, you should be able to achieve excellent results.