25
GARDENING TIPS EVERY
GARDER SHOULD KNOW!
1. If it’s getting cold and you have tomatoes still ripening on the vine
save your tomatoes! Pull the plants up and bring them inside to a warm
dry place. Hang them up, and the tomatoes will ripen on the vine.
2. Companion planting is an excellent way to improve your garden. Some
plants replenish nutrients lost by another one, and some combinations
effectively keep pests away.
3. Paint the handles of your gardens tools a bright, color other than
green to help you find them amongst your plants. You can also keep a
mailbox in your garden for easy tool storage.
4. Compost needs time to integrate and stabilize in the soil. Apply two
to three weeks prior to planting.
5. There is an easy way to mix compost into your soil without a lot of
back-breaking work: Spread the compost over your garden in the late fall,
after all the harvesting is done. Cover with a winter mulch such as hay
or chopped leaves and let nature take its course. By spring, the melting
snow and soil organisms will have worked the compost in for you.
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6. Like vining vegetables, but don’t have the room? Train your melons,
squash, and cucumbers onto a vertical trellis or fence. Saves space and
looks pretty too.
7. Garden vegetables that become over-ripe are an easy target for some
pests. Remove them as soon as possible to avoid detection.
8. Onions are ready to harvest when the tops have fallen over. Let the
soil dry out, harvest, and store in a warm, dry, dark place until the
tops dry. Cut off the foliage down to an inch, then store in a cool,
dry area.
9. Keep dirt off lettuce and cabbage leaves when growing by spreading a
1-2 inch layer of mulch (untreated by pesticides or fertilizers) around
each plant. This also helps keep the weeds down.
10. When planting a flower or vegetable transplant, deposit a handful of
compost into each hole. Compost will provide transplants with an extra
boost that lasts throughout the growing season.
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11. Insects can’t stand plants such as garlic, onions, chives and
chrysanthemums. Grow these plants around the garden to help repel
insects.
12. Milk jugs, soda bottles and other plastic containers make great
mini-covers to place over your plants and protect them from frost.
13. For easy peas, start them indoors. The germination rate is far better,
and the seedlings will be healthier and better able to fight off pests and
disease.
14. Healthy soil means healthy plants that are better able to resist pests
and disease, reducing the need for harmful pesticides.
15. Another reason to use natural and organic fertilizers and soil amendments:
earthworms love them! Earthworms are extremely beneficial in the vegetable
garden; increasing air space in the soil and leaving behind worm castings.
Do what you can to encourage earthworms in your soil.
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16. Diatomaceous earth makes an excellent organic insecticide – it is an
abrasive white powder used to damage the cuticle, skin and joints of
insects. It also makes an excellent slug barrier.
17. Some vegetables actually become better after a first frost, including
kale, cabbage, parsnips, carrots, and Brussels sprouts.
18. When transplanting tomatoes, cover the stem with soil all the way up
to the first set of leaves. This greatly encourages root growth, making a
stronger, healthier plant.
19. Healthy soil means a thriving population of microbes, earthworms and
other organisms. A soil that has “good tilth” will produce robust garden
plants that are better able to resist pests and disease.
20. A simple five percent increase in organic material (compost) quadruples
the soil’s ability to store water.
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21. Plants will do best if they are well suited to your growing area. Take some
time to read up and choose plants accordingly.
22. Keep garden vegetables from getting dirty by spreading a 1-2 inch layer of
mulch (untreated by pesticides or fertilizers) around each plant. This will also
help keep the weeds down.
23. Water your garden in the early morning to conserve moisture loss and to help
avoid powdery mildew and other fungal diseases that are often spread by high
humidity levels.
24. If you’re short on space, garlic, leeks and shallots make excellent container
plants. They tend to have few insect or disease problems and don’t require much
room for roots.
25. Over watering is worse than under watering. It is easier to revive a dry plant
than try to dry out drowned roots.
25 Gardening Tips Every Gardener SHOULD KNOW!
https://www.planetnatural.com/vegetable-gardening-guru/tips/
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URBAN
ORGANIC
GARDENER
https://www.urbanorganicgardener.com/
Readers Digest
https://www.rd.com/
Farmers Almanac
http://www.almanac.com/
Modern Farmer
http://modernfarmer.com/
The Encyclopedia of Life
http://eol.org/
PLANETKIDS.BIZ
http://www.planetkids.biz/
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