Gardening Tips – The Best Ways To Create And Use Fertilizer

December 5, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment 

Brooke Hayles asked:


When you do your gardening, you always end up with some leaves and weeds, dead plants and probably some grass clippings. Most people see this as rubbish and send it off to the landfill. Not only is this a waste of one of nature’s fertilizers but it takes time and money to get rid of this garden ‘rubbish’. So, what alternative is there? Well, a gardening tip to consider is do what nature would do and use all this garden ‘rubbish’ to provide nutrients for your garden. Following are the gardening tips to help you convert this garden ‘rubbish’ to compost.

The first thing to know is that organic waste is considered better for your garden than any chemical fertilizer on the market. Nature has a decomposition process that promotes proper chemical change resulting in excellent nutritional benefits to the plants in the garden.

Of course, the question is, “Where shall I put this pile of smelly garden ‘rubbish’”? Gardening tips; your compost heap shouldn’t be smelly and if it is, you need to alter the composition of it to prevent it becoming anaerobic ie too much nitrogen. This requires the heap not being too wet and having enough oxygen. Once you’ve got the balance right, you will find that the decomposition process is actually producing some fertilizer that isn’t a pong to the nose!

So, what does this suitable place for a fertilizer heap look like? Gardening tips; is should be an area that has plenty of width space and not too deep. If it’s too deep, the materials down low in the pile will not be able to get enough of the necessary requirements, and you end up with a smelly heap. Try to choose an area where you can spread out the garden ‘rubbish’. You can, if you’ve got the space, have two heaps side by side. Remember, it’s width not depth that’s important.

What rubbish can you put into the heap to be converted to garden food? Gardening tips; it must be quickly decomposable – that is, able to rot away quickly. Did you know that orange peel takes years to decompose? Therefore, it’s not suitable; nor is meat or diseased plants. However, you can use most other organic material including grass clippings, woody plants, leaves, and vegetable scraps. Using your lawn mower, shred garden ‘rubbish’ to help quick decomposition.

How do you start the composting process? Gardening tips; make the materials as small as possible. Mix up the pile quite frequently to allow oxygen into the heap which will aid the decomposing process. Water periodically, but not too much as this is a sure way to invite anaerobic micro-organisms which will give you a smelly pile.

No matter what, your compost pile will be a little unsightly. Gardening tips; find a place that isn’t easily seen and is also near the garden areas that you will want to fertilize. Be aware of your neighbours; it may be out of sight for you but right in the vision of your neighbor. They really don’t want your compost heap near their entertaining area! Construct a compost pen for your pile, or buy a ready-made compost bin to contain all the decomposing material.

Summary:

Use your garden ‘rubbish’ as garden food and put back nutrients into the soil. Some gardening tips will ensure that you get a good start to making your own fertilizer.



Indoor Gardening Tips – Nature At Home!

September 12, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment 

Abhishek Agarwal asked:


Bring nature into your living room and liven up the atmosphere by indulging in indoor gardening. It not only gives your interiors an aesthetic touch, but also works as a great relaxant. Who wouldn’t want to be in the company of beautiful plants and flowers after a long day at work.

They also function as natural air purifiers by ridding the atmosphere of unwanted carbon dioxide and turning it into life sustaining oxygen. Whatever choice you may have, be it tropical, exotic or common indoor plants, all of them add aesthetic value to a home and make it look more welcome and cozy.

Following are some useful indoor gardening tips to ensure that your indoor plants stay healthy and lively:

What food is to us, sunlight is to plants. Plants require from moderate to high levels of sunlight to survive. Every plant has it’s own diet levels for sunlight, thus, when shopping for indoor plants, you must look up the instructions to check how much sunlight the plant requires and what’s the best location to ensure they get their feed. Some may even need direct and bright sunlight and hence may need to be placed close to a south-facing window.

Plants that need low sunlight can be kept anywhere indoors as long as they get a minimal supply of natural light. They can also be kept near windows but with caution as too much light can burn them down, so a little distance should be maintained. Few varieties of plants that feed on low to medium levels of sunlight are Boston ferns, African Violets and Philodendrons.

Any list of indoor gardening tips will be incomplete if it doesn’t offer watering instructions. Indoor gardeners all over the world are accused of being too generous to the extent of killing the plants when it comes to watering. Like sunlight, every plant has its own watering requirements and should be subjected to no less or no more than that. Too much water can even rot some plants. A water gage will be a good investment to maintain a tab on the moisture levels of the soil, to keep it in synchronization with the plants requirements. Such gages are an economical means to balance the watering levels of different plants.

Another important indoor gardening tip is to always pay heed to the fertilizer requirements of the plants. For example, an indoor plant like African Violet, looks beautiful when bought afresh, however its leaves start yellowing over a period of time and eventually fall off. This is mainly due to the fact that many nursery owners use special fertilizers to catalyze the plants growth and make them look as much appealing as possible to the prospective customers. However, once bought, if they are not fertilized and taken care of in the same way, they die. Hence, you must ascertain each plants fertilizer needs at the time of purchase, so that you can take best care of them later.

It is always helpful to take professional advise from a plant specialist to know about your indoor plants fertilizer needs. Following all such indoor gardening tips dedicatedly will keep your garden lively and blooming.