Magnolia Tree Gardening Blog

Posts Tagged ‘organic’

Covers Nearly Every Bit Of Information About Organic Gardening: From Planning To Designing… From Understanding Your Soil To Improving It… From Choosing Your Plants To Planting Them… From Tending Your Garden To Harvesting Your Crops.

The Organic Gardening Secrets.

If you have been gardening for very long, and especially if you are an organic gardener, you know one of the best mulches or soil amendments that you can add to your garden is natural compost. One particularly good kind of compost is created in worm bin where red worms are added to a mixture of bedding and organic waste. One of the best ways to do this is with what is called a composting bin. Here are a few tips on how to use these special bins in order to get top quality compost every time.

Throughout history, it is common knowledge that any gardeners that use dark, earthy soil as a base for their garden is going to create a healthy harvest in just a few months based upon the nutritional content and texture of the soil. If you’re soil is not so lucky as to appear in this way, one of the best ways to improve its quality, soil fertility, and also to stimulate the health of the roots of your plants that you are growing is to add vermicomposting material created in a worm bin.

Although modern technology is a mainstay for most of us including cell phones, places to live that are interconnected with civilization, and of course the Internet, this modernistic focus has led to farming means that are not natural and can damage the soil that we are using. Using commercial fertilizers and adding inorganic salt based nutrients with inorganic forms of potassium, phosphorus, and nitrogen, are ways that most commercial farmers ensure that their crops will grow. This practice has been shown to create runoff with excessive salts and nutrient depleted soils.

With this in mind, it is probably time based upon the amazing amount of organic waste that our modern society produces that we find a way to take all of this back to the farms and our own homes and start creating food that is better for us and more nutritious on not only an individual scale but a global scale. One of these ways is educating people on the use of compost bins.

They are actually very easy to acquire and also economical. Within the soil itself, you would add worms but these are not the only organisms that will be in the dirt aiding the composting process. Organisms such as worms are helps by fungi, bacteria, mites, arthropods, and even insects that will love to live in this dark, moist habitat. The breaking down of organic waste will be accentuated and what will be left is a soil that is light, crumbly and moist and ready to interject into the soil that you currently have.

If you live near a large growth of trees, you can use the leaves as long as you shred them to a size that will compost very quickly. These will provide a natural source of carbon that the worms it is need in the bedding of the soil in order to do their job. Make sure that you do not use live oak trees or even magnolia trees because of the acidic value with in this carbon base that can be poisonous to the worms. If the worms die, so does your composting process.

One other thing to consider with composting bins is where you put the organic material for the worms and how far the worms should be beneath the soil compost mixture when you start out. As a rule of thumb, and most average compost containers, you should place a bout a thousand worms or 1 pound of worms about 6-8 inches beneath the soil, place your organic material on top, and then place the lid on top of the container to begin the process. After a period of two to three days depending upon how many worms you started with and also the amount of organic material that they have to process, this should be a fine start toward the creation of your compost as well as a great breeding environment for your worms.

Although this is common sense, but the more worms you have the better and the more compost you will inevitably make. By taking the profits that you will receive from selling excess worms or possibly excess compost, you can then invest into another container and start the whole process over again with no additional out-of-pocket expense.

So go out and do your due diligence and find yourself an affordable compost bin that will allow you to begin the vermicomposting process. We must all do our part in order to protect ourselves from food that is contaminated by modernistic processes and go back to growing some ourselves which will make us healthier and happier.

The organic hydroponics system pre-supposes that the reservoir will not supply nutrients to the plants; thus, there will be no need to constantly check the ppm and pH balance of water. It will make wet only the lower part of the medium and the secondary roots. This system gives a gardener an opportunity to grow plants as easy as it is in soil growing without troublesome balancing of the chemicals and pH level of the water.

The technique of the organic hydroponics allows supplying organic nutrients to the upper soil-mixture layer, as in traditional plants growing. The liquid forms of the organic nutrients are mixed according to the necessary concentration and then poured onto the top of the medium upper half.  Beware, though, of pouring too many nutrients!

This experiment will help you learn how much liquid with hydroponics nutrients you should pour on your plants for its excess not to drip into the lava rock layer and, consequently, into the water reservoir. If you find out that there is an excess of feeding liquid and it drips through the lava rocks into the grow bed, you can either soak it up with a cloth, or you can use other form of fertilizer, the one without liquid. It is also reasonably to change lava rock.

However, if only a small amount of organic nutrients is noticed to drain into the reservoir, there will be no problem, as the volume of water there is much larger. Reservoir water should be changed every 1-2 weeks, similarly to the standard hydroponics nutrients chemical reservoirs

â??Ebb and flowâ? hydroponics system is an example of the common arrangement of the indoor garden. Such system is composed of the upper grow bed, which is a box or tray that holds containers with plants. Those individual containers may be filled with various mediums, the most frequently used ones being rockwool, coconut fiber, lava rock, perlite, vermiculite or styrofoam pellets. The best mediums are those that are porous and can accumulate some water for a long time: lava rock is said to be the best in this respect.

The other part of the hydroponic system is the lower bed â?? the reservoir with the mix of water and nutrients dissolved in it.  Aquarium pump, regularly triggered by a timer, sends water solution up into the tray with plants.

The most important thing is to keep the correct composition of water solution in the reservoir â?? this is the key factor of the hydroponic garden flourishing. Many beginners find it difficult to maintain the right pH level of the water, necessary amount of nutrients, and their correct ratio. 

Standard organic plant nutrients are available to fertilize plants; however, many people are reluctant to do that, as they think such fertilizers will quickly make the water reservoir dirty. Indeed, organic nutrients interact with the organisms in water, which leads to their decomposition. Specialized concentrated nutrients, on the other hand, keep the reservoir relatively clean, since they are synthetically made and thus they cannot interact with the organisms in water. Nonetheless, such â??cleanâ? fertilizers will severely burn the plants roots if used in access.

Being pumped into the grow bed, water with a fertilizer saturates the plants and returns to the reservoir lacking the previous amount of nutrients and ppm (parts per million). Thus, its composition is always different and changeable. That is why a gardener should always monitor water solution, controlling its pH level and plant nutrients amount.

Gardeners experience proves that the mixture of vermiculite, perlite, and organic potting soil (loose 100% organic soil mixture is also suitable) in equal proportions is the best for the successful organic hydroponics gardening. Such mixture offers the perfect upward capillary action of water and supply of CO2 and oxygen. Organic soil in the upper medium layer provokes microbial action.

Some growers practice mixing organic nutrients (e.g. worm castings) into the upper medium part. Others just distribute them on the surface of the grow medium and then spray them with water. Another way is to mix nutrients with half a cup of water and pour onto the top of the medium. Any of these methods ensure proper nutrients entrance into the soil mixture and good absorption by the plants primary roots.

The upper layer of the medium is also called “soil alternative”, as it is the place where the nutrients are supplied to. It is treated as a standard soil container. To improve the capillary action of the water delivered by the lava rock at the bottom, it is recommended to spray the soil alternative once or twice a day with water.

Creating your organic gardening using hydroponics system pay special attention to the level of the pumped water, this must not moisten the upper part of the medium. If this happens, the nutrients, delivered to this soil part of the growing medium, will be washed out into the water reservoir, becoming unavailable for the upper part of the plants root system.

The usual watering cycle takes about half an hour to make the whole upper part of the medium wet. If this time is not enough, you may set the timer to prolong the cycles. It is also possible to spray the upper half of the growing medium with water in addition to the regular pump-triggered watering. Remember that soil-based part should never be soaked in water – being moist is enough for growing organic plants.

The use of organic plant nutrients instead of the man-made chemicals in the hydroponic garden eases the work of a gardener. The matter is that the absence of synthetic chemicals eliminates the problem of ppm amount and pH balance of the water. If there is no need to calibrate nutrients, to check pH level of the water, and calculate fertilizer’s amount, a beginner of the hydroponic gardening will definitely make no mistakes, which means many problems may never occur.

A dual root growing system is made by special composition of the medium in the container: the upper part of the medium is soil or soil substitute, and organic nutrients can be supplied directly to this upper part; the lower half of the medium is some porous material, which retains water, but to which no nutrients are supplied. 

Creating an organic hydroponics system, a gardener may use a standard hydroponic grow container, though a coir fiber container will suit too. The preferred material to put at the bottom of the box is lava rock, which perfectly keeps water. Lava rock is then covered with a thin layer of loose rockwool or coir fiber to divide both medium layers and prevent them from mixing together. The upper half of the container should be filled with a mixture of 1/3 potting soil, 1/3 coarse grade horticulture perlite, and 1/3 large-sized horticulture vermiculite. Such arrangement ensures the upper capillary action of water and protects the bottom of the grow bed from the occasional mixing with any organic particles. 

Using a standard plastic hydroponic grow container one should place a plastic screen lining inside the grow bed, fitting it well at the bottom and on the walls of the container up to their top, also with the aim to protect the water from the small particles in the medium mixture. It is also possible to use a hydroponic container with tiny holes.

One more good choice for the use of organic gardening methods in hydroponics system is coir fiber containers. The filling is the same as described above with the thin layer of loose or strand coir fiber between the two types of medium. 

Such box is then set in the grow bed. Note that the level of the pumped water should be a bit lower than the soil mixture. The secondary root system will be submerged into the water along with lava rock and promote the capillary water flow up into the soil. The lower half of the medium may be watered on a regular hydroponic basis, while the upper one can be moistened just once a day. 

This system allows a gardener to supply nutrients right to the upper part of the medium, where they are vitally important. At the same time, the whole medium structure will be perfectly moistened by the pumped water and the plants will also have constant supply of oxygen and CO2, drawn into their root systems. Finally, proper amount of CO2 will improve the absorption of nutrients by the upper parts of the roots. 

Plants, growing in the containers, will develop two types of the roots: the upper one, which will uptake plant nutrients from the upper part of the medium; and the lower roots, which will reach the lava rock part of the growing medium.

The upper root system is primary; it includes web-like thin roots that look similar to those that develop in the plants grown in the standard soil. They absorb multiple nutrients, thus ensuring the flourishing of a plant and its normal growth. The lower roots that are secondary will grow in the lower part of the medium (which can be lava rock, sand, gravel, perlite or pumice). These look typically to the hydroponically grown plants: long, rope-like, and stringy. These roots mainly absorb water; in addition, they receive much oxygen between watering cycles, which leads to the improved nutrients metabolism and faster growth.

These days hydroponics gardening gains more and more popularity in different parts of the world. More and more people become fascinated with this way of plants growing. Due to the constantly increasing interest in hydroponics, new methods and techniques of this gardening type appear. They are all aimed at the easing of the process of plants growing, improving the fruits, vegetables, and greens quality and taste, as well as at the making the whole process as eco-friendly as possible. Indeed, the new techniques try to solve the problem of hard-to-dispose used materials (as rockwool) and chemically-laden water and other wastes. Moreover, the primary goal of today hydroponics is to use exclusively organic materials, which offer the benefits in the crops quality and work of a gardener. 

Not so long time ago gardeners were amazed by such hydroponics methods as Nutrient Film/Flow Technique, Ebb and Flow, Aeroponics, and even Semi-Organic Hydroponics. These days the leader of this gardening is Totally Organic Hydroponics, which major benefit is the possibility to grow 100% pure organic garden plants.

Learn How To Start Up Or Enhance Your Own Organic Vegetable Garden At Home. Everyone Can Save Money On Food Bills And Produce Superior Fruit And Vegetables.

Free Organic Vegetable Gardening At Home.

hydroponic plants receive all the nutrients they need for growing and fruiting from the growing liquid with all the nutrients dissolved in it. Hydroponic nutrients are available in great variety at specialized hydroponic stores. By the way, both chemical nutrients and organic nutrients can be used for the needs of hydroponic gardening. The only thing to remember is that organic fertilizers require more skills, time, and attention to use them effectively.

Hydroponic gardening allows anyone to grow organic vegetables, fruits, and flowers. A little research, learning and training, combined with enthusiasm, will soon bring the first success in hydroponics to you.

Today, there are many ready-made hydroponic systems available on the market. They are not too expensive, but such systems can really help to make an easy start in hydroponic gardening. For the beginning gardeners it is even recommended to choose simple inexpensive hydroponic systems – they are enough to give you the necessary experience. Of course, you can always build you own system to suit all your particular growing conditions and requirements, when you have enough experience and understanding of how hydroponic system works.

If organized properly, hydroponics gardening can even be easier than traditional plants growing. For example, with hydroponic system it is much easier and less time-consuming to test and maintain the necessary pH level in comparison to the regular soil gardening, where even the pH level testing can be a very challenging task, not speaking about maintaining it on the required steady level.  

After all, it is necessary to remember, that in spite of the fact that hydroponics differs significantly from traditional gardening, it is nothing but an alternative approach to grow the same fresh, tasty, and healthy food. Just spend some time to research the topic, evaluate all the benefits of hydroponic gardening – and you will see that there are many advantages offered by hydroponics. Growing healthy organic vegetables without polluting and exhausting fertile soils is definitely one of them.

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.