So, you’ve made it. You’re ready to get into organic gardening right? Well, now is the perfect time. You probably have a lot of questions on how to start and what to do, but no worries, this article has you covered. Listed below are some tips that will help you get started with your organic gardening plans.
Plant vegetables and flowers that are native to your local area. These plants will grow better with less work than plants that are not native. Also, native plants won’t require much extra watering, as they will generally adapt to the amount of rain typical to that area. This will also reduce your need for pesticides and fertilizers, since the plants will be able to handle the soil and pests in your area.
Rutgers extension services help run a 4-H summer camp at the Montclair Community Farm. Marissa Staffen SPAA’12, 4-H Essex County Agent
Make sure your pot is the right size for your plant. If the pot is too small, the plant’s roots may not have enough room to grow. The roots will become “root bound”, stop growing, and begin to suffocate. The size of the root system can determine the size of your plant and yield.
Use stones as plant markers if you want to keep a natural looking motif. You can write with permanent magic marker on the flat side of stones and surround your plant with them. That way you will be able to tell what type of plants you have without having an unsightly white mark.
If your tomato plants have long branches that are not flowering or producing fruit, go ahead and pinch them off. It won’t hurt the plant, but will actually help. Pruning back the branches that are not producing fruit, allows the plant to focus its energy and nutrients on producing larger and more flavorful fruit.
When you get new plants for your garden, make sure you are meeting their sun requirements. Some plants prefer low sun and shady areas, while other plants require full sun in order to thrive. Giving your plants the wrong light level can cause them to wilt and die too soon.
Do not give your garden too much fertilizer. Providing fertilizer to your plants allows them to better make food from sunlight. Too much fertilizer, however, can cause your plant to grow too fast, which prevents it from fruiting or flowering. The excess chemicals left in your soil can wash away and pollute the local ground water.
If you find that your garden is producing more vegetables than you can eat, you might try finding recipes that call for the produce in different stages of maturity. For example, if you anticipate that you’ll have more squash than you need, you can harvest the squash blossoms. This makes your garden more diverse in its offerings that you can enjoy.
Now you are much more prepared when it comes to organic gardening. You thought that you were ready before, well look at you, now! Hopefully, the tips that were provided gave you some advice that will help you get started with your organic gardening adventures so that you can begin growing like a pro!
