Using Containers in Organic Vegetable Gardening

Organic gardening isn’t only for farmers or people who have backyards. This is because it can be do using containers.

Organic vegetable gardening containers have advantages. You can use it décor every time you decide to let it get some sunlight when you place it by the balcony or patio. If the weather gets too cold outside, you can bring it indoors. But best of all, you don’t have to deal with certain threats that can only happen outdoors like weeds, insects or soil borne diseases.

Organic vegetable gardening containers do not use soil. You need to use potting mix that is much lighter and provides excellent drainage. You need to use organic fertilizer though to help it grow. An example of this is mulch that can be made from chipped bark, garden compost, leaf moulds and manure which helps prevent it from drying out.

Another thing the plants inside these containers need is a lot of water. Ideally, you should put these in small amounts at least 30 minutes after an initial watering because putting in too much could drown your plant.

The containers can be hung aside from just putting these on the ground. If the container that you purchased does not have any holes, make a few.

By now you may be asking, “What are the ideal vegetables to be planted in these containers?” To give you can idea, these are bush beans, capsicum, carrots, eggplant, lettuce, onions, peas, radishes, spinach and tomatoes.

You know that organically grown vegetables need sunlight. If you have a lot of these containers and it is getting pretty windy outside, you can protect them from falling by grouping these together with the taller ones with these as your walls.

The best organic vegetable gardening containers are those made from clay, plastic or wood. The length of the roots and its width is the deciding factor when choosing what size you will buy from the store. For instance, if your vegetable happens to have 6 inches of roots and grows to about 10 inches wide, it is best to get a container that measures 8 inches deep and 10 to 12 inches wide. You must always give room for allowance as this may grow bigger. 

We mentioned earlier that one of the advantages of the organic container is that you don’t have to deal with insects. But sometimes, bugs like the hookworm manage to get to your plant. If this happens, just bring the container to the sink and wash the leaves. Should there be slugs, get rid of them by sprinkling diatomaceous earth on the soil.

If there are aphids on your vegetables, fight fire with fire by getting other insects to do the dirty work. A pack of ladybugs will do the trick without causing any collateral damage.

The use of organic vegetables containers makes it people without a backyard the chance to plant their own crops at home. This is ideal for residents living in condos and apartments so they can save money to pay for rent or buy other things when the sustenance they need is just sitting by the balcony or window.

If you want to try it, go ahead and ask someone at the gardening store for some help to get you started.

The Basics – Organic Vegetable Garden

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to plant vegetables. But if you want to do this the old fashioned way which has been proven to be very effective, you should know the organic vegetable gardening basics.

The first thing you have to know is what is organic vegetable gardening? It is simply a way of farming that does not use any synthetic products which includes fertilizers and pesticides. In short, you work with nature to get what you want.

When choosing the right vegetable to plant is knowing which of these are suitable to the soil and the climate. If you live in an area that experiences droughts, buy those that do not consume that much water.

Before you drop seeds into the soil, make sure the land is ready by tilling the land so it is clear both of rocks and weeds.

The next step will be to add compost, bone meal or rock phosphate and greensand to the soil to supply it with nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium. If the pH level of the soil is too high, add lime or sulphur to adjust it.

One more thing you have to do before planting the seeds is putting in organic fertilizer. You can use recycled leaves, grass clippings, coffee grounds, eggshells and kitchen waste which should be applied a month before planting begins.

Then it is time to plant the seeds. Each seed must be spaced by a certain distance the roots do not fight for water. In between each of the vegetables, you can plant other things as well because the tighter the space, the lesser the chances that weeds will grow.

Pests are the biggest threat to your organic garden. To fight them, you can use birds, frogs or other insects. You don’t have these creatures to fend off other insects. You simply have to create the ideal environment by putting a bird house or a small pond. Once they are in place, they will do the rest by patrolling your garden and eating those who seek to eat your crops.

Putting up a few barriers can also help. Row covers are known to prevent moths from landing and laying eggs. You can also use sticky traps and foil collars to stop pests and borers.

There are also organic pesticides around but some of them can only kill one or two kinds of pests. So before you buy them, make sure you know what you are dealing with.

Crop rotation is the best way to preserve the fertility of the soil. This is done after you harvest the vegetables so it is ready for planting once again. For this to work, you have to plant in the same area a different vegetable.

Anyone can learn organic vegetable gardening basics and soon have their own little farm in their backyard. It is fresh and you can pick this anytime you want which is very convenient as these are only a few feet from your home.

Should everyone get into organic vegetable gardening? Perhaps because there is a food shortage right now and most of the vegetables imported do not use this technique. The government for its part has given incentives to farmers here to shift to this method but its going to take more effort to persuade countries that do business with the US to do the same thing.