Introduction To (Organic) Gardening

Joined
Jul 14, 2020
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9
Hello all. Another user suggested I make a post like this so I did. :) I hope you enjoy it, but please know this is only my advice from having one garden in my life, so this is as basic as it gets. If you grow things feel free to add your advice to the thread. Thanks for reading!

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Dill flowers

1. YOUR ZONE
Before starting a garden you’ll need to determine your plant hardiness zone. Zones are numbered geographic areas that experience a certain low temperature range in the winter. Knowing your zone number will help you pick the right plants for your local climate. Find your zone here by using a U.S. or Canadian map. Because most plants need warm weather the majority of your growing season will be from early spring to late fall, the time period between the last and first frosts of the year.

2. LIGHT/SUN
The amount of light in your garden also determines what you can grow. Amounts of light are roughly divided into three levels:

Full sun – 6-8 hours of direct sunlight per day
Partial shade – 4-6 hours of direct or filtered sunlight per day
Full shade
– 3 hours or less of direct or filtered sunlight per day

Before planning a garden first observe the area to see how much light it gets between 10 am and 6 pm when light is the strongest. Notice if the light is direct (unfiltered) or filtered through the leaves of nearby foliage. Choose plants for your garden based on your zone climate and how much light you receive. If you're in the U.S. or Canada plant your garden rows in a north to south arrangement to expose them to as much sun as possible.

3. LOCATION AND SOIL
Gardens can be inside in containers, outside in the ground, or outside in containers or raised beds. Container and raised bed gardens will require soil from an external source which can be purchased in bags from garden centers. Different soils are sold for different purposes so research the right soil for your garden. Organic container gardens typically use bagged potting mix. When buying bagged soil or specific soil nutrients look for the “OMRI listed” label on the bag. OMRI listed means that the product is approved for use in organic gardens.

Outside in the ground: An optional soil test can provide insight into the health of the medium you plan to grow food in. If you suspect heavy metals in the soil or want a thorough analysis of nutrient levels you can pay a lab to analyze samples from your yard. Another way to test soil is to buy litmus paper to check the pH level. Test results will indicate if the soil needs additional nutrients. If soil does need extra additions know that that it can take months or years to change the soil content slowly enough to not shock plants. If your soil isn’t safe or healthy you can still do an above ground garden in containers or raised beds.

Inside/Outside in containers: For a plastic-free garden you can use terra cotta pots or burlap sacks of varying sizes. Terra cotta pots work great for smaller plants like herbs while burlap sacks are available in more sizes for slightly cheaper. To make a container out of a burlap sack just fold the sides down a few times and fill it with soil. I don’t recommend plastic but a commonly used plastic container is a food grade 5 gallon plastic bucket with drainage holes drilled into the bottom.

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Burlap containers made from folded burlap sacks

Above ground raised beds: Also known as garden boxes, raised beds are often made of wooden planks nailed together to form a square or rectangle. Sometimes people lay wire down before adding soil to keep digging animals out. To prevent anything from leaching into your food it's advised to only use wood that isn’t pressure or chemical treated. Cedar is a good option. Gardening is popular so there are tons of free tutorials online for how to build a raised bed if this is your choice.

4. CHOOSING PLANTS
Like light, plants are divided into three categories based on how they complete their life cycle. Plants are either annuals, biennials, or perennials.

Annuals complete their entire life cycle in one season. They start as a seed then mature and produce flowers which go onto make a new set of seeds. After the mature plant makes seeds it will die off and the only way to continue the life cycle is to plant new seeds next season.
Biennials take two seasons to complete their life cycle. The first season is for growing roots, stems, and leaves, and the second season is when the plant flowers and makes seeds.
Perennials come back year after year with the same root system. However, many perennials take at least two seasons to flower.

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Cilantro flowers before they turn into seeds

Most garden vegetables are annuals. When starting your garden you can buy seeds in packets or young plants in small containers which are ready to transplant into the garden. Whether you choose seeds or young plants, buy organic. Organic seeds and young plants are not that much more expensive than conventional ones and are available in many garden centers. You can also harvest the seeds from your plant to use next season. Seeds aren't the only way to grow food though. You can re-grow onions, garlic, and potatoes from sprouted ones in your pantry.

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Small potato harvest from regrowing a bag of potatoes similar to the one pictured

5. STARTING SEEDS
For your outside garden you can start your seeds inside or out depending on the time of year and plant you are growing. If starting seeds indoors you will need small trays where the seeds can sprout. Cardboard egg carton containers make great seed starting trays. You can also use tiny terra cotta pots or food safe plastic containers. If starting seeds outdoors it's okay to sow them directly into the ground or container. If you have an indoor garden you can sow seeds into regular sized containers and skip the egg carton step. Transplanting plants can stress them out so gardeners try to minimize the amount of times they do it.

Every seed will have a different requirement for sowing. Some need darkness, some need cold, some can be planted on the surface and some need to be buried an inch deep. Check the seed packet or do an internet search to see what each seed requires. Always label your planted seeds by writing the plant name and date planted onto something (a popsicle stick or bamboo stake) and putting it in the soil away from the seed to avoid disturbing the roots. Shortly after the seeds sprout they'll need to be thinned out. Usually two or more seeds are planted in the same hole to increase the odds of successful germination which means two or more seeds will sprout very closely at the same time. Generally, once they are an inch or two tall you can thin them down to the healthiest looking one by cutting off any extras at soil level or gently pulling them out.

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Two seedlings that need to be thinned out soon

If your seedlings are indoors you’ll need to blow on them or lightly brush your fingers over them a few times a day to stimulate a the effects of a breeze. This will strengthen their stalks which would occur naturally if they were outside. If the seedlings look weak or “spindly” you can tape aluminum foil to the back side of the container they’re in to reflect more light onto them. When the plants are old enough and the outside temperature is warm enough you can transplant them into the ground or into bigger containers. Before you do that you'll probably need to harden off the plants to avoid shock. To harden off, put plants outside for one hour on the first day, two on the second, three on the third, and so on for seven days, then transplant.

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A young tomato plant that had recently been transplanted from inside

When watering, aim for the soil instead of watering from overhead. This is recommended because wet leaves make plants more susceptible fungal diseases. Simply letting your plants dry out could kill them so water on a regular basis, usually in the morning to prevent excess water evaporation.

6. PROTECTING YOUR GARDEN
Depending on where you are you’ll find that an outdoor vegetable garden is like a free buffet for hungry animal friends. These visitors are capable of eating entire plants overnight so I recommend not starting an outdoor garden until you have some sort of fencing. Chicken wire and rabbit wire are commonly used affordable materials. In addition to warm blooded guests you'll have to manage the insects that will try to harm your plants. Since pests will be specific to your zone and vary from plant to plant it's easier to observe your plants for bugs rather than try to memorize the common pests for each plant. My OMRI approved pest control method of choice is food grade diatomaceous earth, a white powdery substance that gets dusted on plants. Diatomaceous earth works by cutting and drying out the exoskeletons of bugs when they ingest it but can kill beneficial insects as an unintended side effect. Recipes for other natural pest control methods can be found online and often use common kitchen ingredients like milk, spices, baking soda, and neem oil.

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Chamomile behind chicken wire fencing

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Flea beetle and damage on my tomato plant

The third thing you need to protect your garden from is disease. Some diseases, like powdery mildew, affect all plants and can destroy an entire garden while others diseases come from viruses or bacteria in the insects that feed on individual plants. It can be a lot of work to keep your plants healthy but spending a little time in the garden each day helps. Inspecting individual plant health by checking the leaves and soil on a day to day basis will help you notice changes and identify problems faster.

7. OTHER
Compost
Gardening and composting often go hand in hand because compost piles reduce food waste while providing a free source of nutrient-rich soil for the garden. Compost piles are a carbon and nitrogen rich mixture of decomposed food waste and plant matter. Compost piles need both green and brown ingredients to maintain the right Carbon/Nitrogen ratio. Green ingredients (nitrogen rich) include vegetable tops and skins, fruit peels, wilted vegetables or browning fruit, egg shells, and coffee grounds. Brown ingredients (carbon rich) include dried leaves, grass clippings, hay, small twigs, and unbleached brown paper bags. Avoid adding citrus peels, moldy food, animal bones, dairy, bread/pasta, cooked foods, food with oil, or diseased plants to your compost pile.

To start your pile first decide where you’re going to put it and how you’re going to contain the scraps. (Some animals will try to eat from your pile if it’s not properly protected.) You can compost in a cardboard box, a hole in the ground, or in a heap in the yard. After picking a spot all you need to do is start collecting nitrogen rich food scraps and carbon rich plant matter and add them to the pile in alternating layers. Adding water and stirring the pile a few times a month will help it break down faster too. Within a few months the pile should start to decompose and form soil. If you see worms that’s a great sign.

Fertilizer
Fertilizing your plants is usually done when they begin to show signs of nutrient deficiencies. If not done carefully fertilization can burn or kill plants from introducing nutrients too fast. When purchasing fertilizer look for the OMRI Listed logo on the label. Most store-bought fertilizers will also have an NPK rating on the label which describes the ratio of Nitrogen (N) to Phosphorus (P) to Potassium (K) in the product. Most fertilizers target specific nutrient deficiencies so the fertilizer you use will have to be a personal choice based on research. Some gardeners make their own fertilizer. One example is compost tea, an aged liquid fertilizer consisting of homemade compost and water.

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A happy squash flower

EXTRA READING
Farmer's Almanac Plant Hardiness Zones Explained
How to grow plants: Farmer’s Almanac Individual Plant Information
How to grow plants: Botanical Interests Seed Sowing Guide for Common Plants
Organic N-P-K Fertilizer Information
 

polymoog

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Joined
Jun 17, 2017
Messages
8,207
great job, human!

other topics we need to cover here:

permaculture techniques
- companion planting
- aquaculture (chlorella, spirulina, kang kong, water chestnuts, etc.)
- "fringe" gardening techniques: electroculture/magnets, using scalar devices, sound waves (sonic bloom), fractal water devices, etc.
- grafting
 

Lurker

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Mar 14, 2017
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To the zone issue I'll add that heat can be a factor too. In the peak of summer, okra and eggplant are about the only things that do well. Even the peppers slow down.
 
Joined
Jul 14, 2020
Messages
9
:) Thank you everyone for reading, commenting, and leaving positive feedback. I agree it would be great to expand this thread to include the topics polymoog mentioned. I'm especially interested in companion planting and grafting.
 

Tidal

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Mar 4, 2020
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Lurker

Star
Joined
Mar 14, 2017
Messages
3,783
To the zone issue I'll add that heat can be a factor too. In the peak of summer, okra and eggplant are about the only things that do well. Even the peppers slow down.
Sorry, I left out a few words: In my area. I'm sure there are areas where the heat isn't a factor.
 
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