Organic gardening – General Notes on Pest Control Approaches in horticulture

Posted on 17 July 2010 by admin

Pest Control Approaches

Chemical horticulture fights off invasive pests with specific insecticides. They may be effective and fast-working at the beginning, but their long-term use may result in the raise of the insects resistant to the used insecticide. To kill those, more efforts will be needed, and the use of the different and stronger chemicals may be necessary. Moreover, killing enemies in the garden, any insecticide will inevitably eliminate predator insects (natural control bugs). And their lack will cause multiplying of the harmful pests. Consequently, a gardener will have to search for some other options to defeat the invasive populations.  

Organic horticulture, on the other hand, offers pests control through the studying and understanding their life cycles and peculiarities, as well as through the combined use of such methods as:

-           plants selection (pests and disease resistant plants are chosen for a garden);

-           companion plants growth (planting those crops that fight off pests and insects);

-           annual changing of the plants location to disrupt the reproduction cycles of the invasive species;

-           the use of row covers during the periods of pests migration;

-           employing insects traps to reduce the population of the pests;

-           increasing the number of predator insects and beneficial organisms.

In addition, organic gardeners usually allow some pests to live in the garden, carefully controlling their level though.

All of the mentioned methods have also additional benefits in the organic garden, as fertilization, soil protection, pollination, season extension and water conservation, despite of the fact that their influence and results usually take some time to become obvious. To sum it up it is possible to say that biological and organic pest control can be constituents of the integrated pest management (IPM). Nevertheless, the latter can also utilize chemical pesticides to eliminate harmful insects, although these do not belong to the biological or organic means.

Soil

Soil control and management are the important things in gardening. They offer the possibility to keep the garden healthy and strong, which is the key factor in the prevention of diseases and pests invasion onto the plants. One of the ways to success is providing the garden with humus and organic matter.

Starting your own organic hydroponics gardening setup – hydroponics gardening supplies and points to remember

Posted on 29 June 2010 by admin

When Starting your own organic hydroponics gardening setup, you should remember that you will need to arrange two beds or layers in your hydroponic garden. The upper bed is, actually, a box to keep the plants in. This box should contain a growing medium for the plants to grow in. You can use perlite, coconut fiber, lava rock, Styrofoam pellets, rockwool or vermiculite for this purpose. The main thing about medium is that it should be able to keep a small amount of moisture for a long time. Experts assure that lava rock is best in this respect.

The lower bed is necessary to keep the water with the dissolved nutrients in it. The water is pumped with the help of an aquarium pump to the upper bed in order to water the plants. This procedure is repeated several times a day at equal intervals, being controlled with a timer.

Gardeners sometimes find it difficult to maintain the pH level of the water, its nutrition rate, and the ration of nutrients at the right level. These are, actually, the key factors, due to which a hydroponic garden or an organic hydroponics prospers. If these three crucial things in gardening are kept in balance with the help of Organic fertilizers, such technique of plants growing is called an Organic Hydroponic Garden.

Organic fertilizers are better for the plants than the chemical ones, as the latter are capable of burning the roots if used in higher concentrations.

When water solution is pumped to the trail with plants, it is partly absorbed by the medium and by the plants roots till saturation point. Consequently, the pumped water, returning back to the reservoir, contains lesser amount of parts per million (ppm) than before. 

Organic nutrients make hydroponic gardening easier, as they do not contain any chemicals, which can change the pH level or ppm of the solution. As a result, many problems, listed among the most common ones of organic hydroponic gardening, get solved on their own.    

It is a common knowledge that the upper part of a plant’s root uptakes nutrients, while the lower one absorbs water. To increase plant’s saturation with nutrients, it is possible to directly add them to the upper part of the roots, which, in the long run, will result in the more efficient organic hydroponics. To introduce such technique into your organic hydroponic garden, you should develop an organic hydroponics system.

The container can be similar as in the hydroponics gardening, or it can be a coir fiber container. It should be half filled with lava rock at the bottom. Then it is preferably to use a medium divider (e.g. coir fiber). The upper part of the tray should contain a mixture of 1/3 horticulture perlite of coarse grade, 1/3 potting soil, and 1/3 of large horticulture vermiculite.

When all this is set, it is necessary to place this container in the grow bed, with water level being a bit lower than the mixture of soils. Such arrangement will ensure the higher efficacy of the organic hydroponic gardening.

Lava rock with the secondary roots of the plants will be submerged in the water, and it will also serve to make this water flow up and moisten the soil mixture. At the same time, the upper layer of medium will be free to absorb the nutrients added directly to the primary roots.

Such hydroponic system saves a gardener from constant controlling and maintaining of the pH level and ppm of the growing medium. Nevertheless, beware of adding too many liquid nutrients to the soil layer: they may leak into the lava rock layer and disarrange your organic hydroponics gardening.

Organic gardening – General Notes on organic horticulture Organic gardening systems

Posted on 23 June 2010 by admin

Organic horticulture employs the crucial principles of organic agriculture for the successful herbs, fruits, vegetables, flowers and ornamental plants growing. These principles concern the management of pests in the garden, soil composition and conservation, etc.

General Notes

Mulches, Double Digging, compost, Vermicompost, cover crops, mineral supplements and manures are the main constituents of the soil mixture in this kind of gardening in contrast to the commercial farming. Organic horticulture expects to minimize the risk of insects, fungi, and diseases development with the help of maintaining the high quality of the soil. Nonetheless, sometimes it is still necessary to use insecticidal soaps and sprays, pheromone traps, or other pest-control means, created especially for organic farmers.

Experts define five fields of horticulture:

-           olericulture, which stands for the production and marketing of vegetables;

-           pomology that means the production and marketing of fruits;

-           floriculture, which is the production and marketing of floral crops;

-           landscape horticulture that includes the production, marketing, and      maintenance of landscape plants;

-           and finally, post harvest physiology that studies and practices the preservation and maintaining of the quality of horticultural crops

All these areas can utilize the key principles of organic gardening.

Organic horticulture employs the methods and uses data, which have been collected for thousands of years. Generally speaking, this type of gardening is based on the natural, long-term processes and eco-friendly, global approaches, in contrast to horticulture, based on the use of chemicals that speed up the processes and aim at the separate results and reductionist strategies.

Organic gardening systems

There exist various formal organic gardening systems that utilize peculiar methods. They are listed among the general organic standards, but are more specific than them. For example, Rudolf Steiner developed the so-called biodynamic farming. Masanobu Fukuoka, the Japanese writer and farmer, practiced Natural Farming, based on the so-called no-till system for the small-scale production of grain. Finally, intensive and biointensive techniques and SPIN Farming (Small Plot INtensive), developed in France, also belong to the small-scale gardening methods.

A garden in a container or growing box provides healthy, organic, and highly nutritional food. Moreover, it is also the means to share one’s experience, to improve local economy, and to offer better and more sustainable way of living. A small raised bed garden of 32 square feet is capable of supplying tasty, healthy, and organic greens to a family, requiring, at the same time, less water and fewer nutrients if it is based on the postulates of bio-intensive planting and square foot gardening. 

In addition, the existing garden can be improved with the help of composting or vermicomposting. These methods allow getting the best organic fertilizers by reusing organic matter, which provides necessary nutrients to the organic garden. Besides, compost and vermicompost are always an easy way to improve the results.

Hydroponics Gardening for Organic Vegetables – Introduction

Posted on 17 June 2010 by admin

Hydroponics gardening or growing plants in the growing media other than soil has been known to humans since ancient times. It is known that during the times of King Solomon, people practiced soil-less gardening, which later became known as hydroponic gardening.

The word “hydroponics” is derived from two Greek words: “hydro”, which means water, and “ponics”, which stands for labor. The principles of gardening without the use of soil were developed many and many years ago. Since then this type of gardening demonstrates certain valuable benefits in comparison to traditional growing plants in soil. One of the key benefits is that hydroponic plants grow 30-50% faster than plants, grown under the typical conditions in soil.

Traditional organic gardeners have always demonstrated certain level of contempt for hydroponics as the type of efficient and successful gardening. The followers of the traditional soil gardening consider hydroponics to be a kind of chemical gardening. Organic gardeners have always been pretty pessimistic as to supplying their plants with a balanced and calculated set of chemicals, which is a common practice among hydroponics gardeners. However, such an attitude of wide publicity and professional gardeners to hydroponics had changed after Steve Fox demonstrated his achievements in hydroponics gardening.

One of the key components of hydroponics gardening is growing media, an inert material, which unlike soil, does not supply any chemicals or nutrients to the plant. There are multiple types of growing media used today. The examples are sand, gravel, coconut fiber, perlite, and vermiculite. Amazingly, but even air can be used as a growing media for growing hydroponic cultures under the certain conditions.   

The undeniable benefit of hydroponic gardening is that it protects the fertile soils from exhaustion. Besides, it does not presuppose the use of chemical pesticides and other chemicals, which are extremely harmful for the environment. In general, hydroponic gardening may ensure greater yields and, at the same time, let the fertile soil regenerate itself for further organic farming.

Though hydroponic gardening also uses some of the chemicals to feed the growing plants, all the chemical plant fertilizers and nutrients are contained within the enclosed area of hydroponic greenhouse and do not spoil the open air, water or fertile soil.

Gardening and Caring for Your Rose Types

Posted on 24 May 2010 by admin

Gardening and caring for the different rose types

WATERING

Roses are deep rooted and once they are well established are more capable than most plants of surviving mild drought spells. The first spring and summer directly after planting your rose is very important. During this period if the soil around your rose seems to be drying out give your roses a good soaking. Each rose could get about 2 gallons of water. In following years you will only need to water them if drought seems iminent.

FEEDING YOUR ROSES

As with all plants that provide us with beautiful blooms they need plenty of the correct nutrients. Give roses a good helping of blood, bone and fishmeal in early April, about two handfuls to each rose. In June a handful of specially prepared rose fertilizer will give your roses a huge lift. The magnesium and potash gives the rose a great kick. Just work the fertilizer in gently around the soil at the base of the plant.

MULCHING YOUR ROSES.

Mulching is a very simple task with great benefits. Mulching retains moisture, smothers weeds and generally boosts the health of your roses. Well rotted manure is best but garden compost or bark mulch can also be used.

DEADHEADING YOUR ROSES.

Deadheading spent blooms not only tidys up the rose but actually saves the plants energy and thereby encourages more bloom flushes. A light pruning of hybrid teas will encourage a second flush.

WATCH OUT FOR ROSE SUCKERS.

Shoots that emerge from rootstocks are known as suckers. These will be different in coloring and often by the amount of leaves, than what grows from the stems over ground. Gently scrape away the soil until you can see where the sucker is growing from the rootstock, tear the sucker away cleanly.

CONTROL OF WEEDS.

Mulching is the most effective method of controlling weeds and also the less back breaking.

Hoeing is not as effective and you must take care not to damage the stems.

Sowing other plants underneath the rose is also an option. The least favored option is the application of a rose-bed weedkiller. This will eventually damage the soil and thus your rose.

ROSE DISEASES AND PESTS.

This is an area that turns people off growing roses and really it shouldn’t. Roses have diseases and pests particular to them and as such regular treatment is very effective. The main problems are greenfly, mildew and blackspot.

There are plenty of products that treat these main three problems in one treatment. Performing a regular maintenance schedule starting in April will leave you with very few problems. Do make sure to follow exactly the manufacturers recommendations.

Your roses will respond brilliantly to a little regular maintenance and once you have started your routine there will be very little work attached. Issues will only arise once you neglect your routine and this is what often deters people from growing roses.

Make Gardening a Family Event

Posted on 30 March 2010 by admin

Show them how much you enjoy gardening. Spend time in your garden. It is especially easy to stimulate a child’s interests when they see you having fun.

Make gardening easy. Don’t expect a perfect garden. Allow your family to work at their own pace and within their attention spans and age range, especially children.

Dig it! Kids love to dig. This is a great way to teach the basics while letting them play and just have fun. 

Let them play an active role in planning. Take your children to the local nursery and let them pick seeds or transplants to start their garden. Take your time and let them browse and enjoy all of the beautiful plants.

Grow a theme garden. This is a great way to let your children use their imagination and express their creativity. The sky is the limit. Some great ideas are gardens that coincide with the holidays, alphabet gardens, a garden themed in their favorite colors, a sensory garden where you can experience different smells, tastes, textures and sights, or a “Freedom Garden”.

Give children their own “kid sized” tools. They don’t have to be expensive. You can go with an old spoon and a bucket that you have around the house or you can venture down to the garden center and purchase garden tools made for children’s hands.

Give them a space to call their own. It doesn’t have to be big. This will teach them ownership and responsibility, and your children will be able to take credit for their own little space.

Get crafty! Press or dry flowers to make a beautiful arrangement, make potpourri, or make a pomander ball. Children love making things and will be amazed at the crafts and gifts that they can make from the garden.

Grow a vegetable garden. Your children will be amazed that they can grow their own food. Be sure to use organic pesticides.

Use gardening to brush up your children’s math and science skills. Let them count the seeds they are planting, or teach them how plants are living things. Not only will you capture their attention, you will be polishing their skills as you go.

Have a contest. Kids love to be rewarded. Be sure to give each child a reward; the biggest tomato, the prettiest flower, or perhaps the best tasting herbs (a little Spray-N-Grow will help!)

Don’t try to do it all! Pick a few of these tips that you know are best for your family and have fun with them. After all, gardening is meant to be fun and easy. And with a little help, something the whole family can enjoy.

Original Article