Composting: A Basic Know-how

This is one of my sequel  from my earlier blogs about importance of going Organic and the real meaning of going organic. In this blog I want to share some thoughts about Composting.which is an integral part of Organic Gardening.

The word Compostcomes from two Latin roots, “Com” means “together” and “Post” means “to bring”. So basically compost means To bring together. You have to bring together various things and mix it altogether to form a compost.  Composting is based on the principle of return. As humans we reap things from the earth in the form of produce. But we are not alone, there are many other life forms besides ours that comes into play and make the total cycle run. Giving back to the earth is as vital as taking from it. Composting is a way of using up what we have in abundance to repay a long standing debt to the earth. 

Why Composting:

1.       Compost not only contains the major elements that your plants need for the ultimate growth such as Nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium(NPK) but also the trace elements that are sometimes overlooked by the gardeners such as Boron, Cobalt, Copper, Iodine, Iron, Manganese, Molybdenum and Zinc. The more varied the material used to make compost is greater the variety of nutrients your compost will provide.

2.       The release rate of nutrients are suitable to your plant's need. In the spring when the plants just start growth, the microorganisms in compost release the nutrients slowly. As the weather starts getting warmer plants growth become more rapid and so as the release rate of nutrients from the microorganisms. It is the nature’s way of controlling the release rate of nutrients.

3.       Compost increases the water retention capacity of the soil, as it holds water up to 200% of its dry weight.

4.       Compost add micro-organism and larger creatures such as earthworms and insects, which are natural soil builders.

5.       Compost binds with cadmium and lead and thus neutralize the toxin present in the soil and prevents plants to take up those material.

6.       Acts as a pH buffer as you can lower the pH by adding compost made from acidic raw material such as oak, saw dust etc.

Different type of organism generally present in the compost:

1.       Microorganisms:

Bacteria

Fungi

Actinomycetes

2.       Macro-organism:

Earthworms

Insects

Spiders

Nematodes

The rule of thumb for preparing compost is it should contain 2 parts of vegetable matter(grass, leaves, straw etc) and one part animal matter(manure). The greater the number of material in the compost the more the type of organisms will be at work. You can use any material to prepare composed just remember, the material should have just two qualities: (a) it should be bio-degradable, (b) it must contain things that is usable and available to microorganism.  

If this article helped you in any form please put your word of encouragement below.

Mulch: A Basic Idea for The Beginners

In my past blogs I kept mentioning about Mulches. I know many of the gardeners are  totally aware of this term, but I can feel the confusion a beginner will face while others keep mentioning about mulching. So I have decided to demystify the whole term and make the word much more easy to understand and most importantly easy to apply.

Technically mulch refers to a layer of organic or inorganic material which is applied to the surface of any soil. The word mulch is very catchy and we can see a variety of things like straw, grass crippling, leaves are being used. Sometimes recycled rubbers or plastic sheets are also been used as mulch. Though there are variety of materials used in mulching the basic purpose more or less remains the same. 

1. Applying mulch can help the soil to retain its moisture. This are particularly helpful in dry climate like a summer season.
2. A considerable amount of mulch make a thick layer on the soil and make the air almost impossible to reach the soil layer. This principle is used in controlling weeds. Weeds die with the lack of oxygen.
3. In case you are using organic matters for mulching this in later stages decomposes and mixes with the soil thus helps in increasing the nutrient content of the soil. If applied properly it can increase the soil productivity many folds.
4. It also keeps the soil temperature fixed and not fluctuate according to the climate temperature. Thus leaving lesser stress on the plant to adopt to the outer climate.

There are two ways you can apply mulch. You can add the mulch directly to the soil or you can apply mulch around the existing plant. As per the content mulch can be of two types: Organic Mulch and Inorganic Mulch.

Organic Mulch:

When you use material such as leaves, straw, grass crippling, wood chips etc the mulch is called organic mulch. The best part of using organic mulch is that it decomposes slowly and release nutrient into the soil. It encourages earthworm activities and keep the weed seeds from germinating. Just remember two basic formula. Lay down the mulch where there are weeds already. And secondly make sure the layer is thick enough to prevent new weeds from coming up. A general recommendation is to apply a layer of 4-6 inches of mulch in the most weeded areas and 2-3 inches in case the area is shady and not much of weed is present. One word of caution is that organic mulch is generally acidic in nature. So add little bit of lime with the mulch to neutralize its acidic impact, in case the plant is more comfortable in neutral of slightly alkaline soil.

Inorganic Mulch:

Inorganic mulching product can include plastic sheets, rubber chips etc. I personally do not recommend any inorganic substance to use in mulch due to its negative impact on the environment. But in some cases you can use it if you are not that much comfortable using organic mulches. Applying a plastic sheet as a mulch can prevent the water for entering to soil from outside also. So in case you are having drip watering system which is embedded before applying the plastic sheets it can be used.

The best way to use the mulch is to keep the base of the plant mulch-free. It will help the plant to breath freely. If you are using cedar chips and other aesthetically superior products just stay away from coloring. Normal colors contains chemicals which can dampen the whole purpose of doing organic gardening.

Just keep one thing in mind whatever is your material and whatever is your reason, try to apply mulch. It is easy and it will make your garden look very beautiful and professional.

Did you liked the article. Please feel free to share with your fellow gardeners.

Soil pH: A basic Idea

In some of my earlier articles I have mentioned about pH and the ideal pH for a particular plant. But many starters are not aware of this technicality. So I decided to demystify the jargon in this article.

Soil pH is the measure of how acidic or how alkaline your soil is. It is actually to measure the concentration Hydrogen ions in the solution. It is measured in a scale of 0 to 14. Where 0 being the most acidic and 14 is the most alkaline and 7 stands for neutral. To give you an example lemon juice can be of the range of 2 to 3 signifies very acidic where as baking soda can be of a pH of 8 to 9 which means it is very alkaline. The fresh clean drinking water is of pH 7.

This pH is calculated on the logarithm scale so a difference between one point is equal to 10 times acidity. i.e, the pH of 6 is 10 times more acidic than pH 7 and 10 times less acidic than pH 5.

Now you must be wandering about why pH is so important to your plant? Lets see why. The pH of the soil has a very big role in plant growth and its survival. Though it is not a nutrient, it controls the availability of the nutrients to the plant. So it does not matter how much nutrient you put into the soil, if it can not get absorbed by the plant it is of no use. For example a soil pH of 6 or more can inhibit the absorption of calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium etc. where as a soil pH of 7.5 or more can reduce the amount of Iron, Zinc, Copper, Manganese. A soil pH of less than 4 can be full of toxic amount of Aluminum or Manganese.

Now the good news. The soil pH is not fixed. You can change it to your plant’s liking. The soil pH is dependent on your local climate. You can get the idea by looking at the plants in your locality. Generally it is found that in high rainfall areas the soil pH is acidic. Plant like blueberries flourish in these areas. Where as typically low rain fall areas in the world is generally contains alkaline soil. Plants like olive or pomegranate do well in those areas.

It is best to test your soil pH before you start planting. You can get the required instruments in your local garden shops. You can also contact any professional to do it for you.

If your soil is too acidic and you want to reduce the acidity and increase the pH, agricultural lime or dolomite can be a good option to be added with the soil. Generally agricultural lime is cheaper than dolomite. In case your soil is deprived of magnesium then add dolomite otherwise lime would be fine.

In case your soil is far more alkaline and you want to decrease the pH, add peat moss or compost. Adding these organic material can definitely beneficial than adding ammonium sulfate or other inorganic sulfates.

I hope this clears the doubts surrounding the pH and its effect. Do post your comments.

Self-watering Containers: Know the Basics

I have discussed about the watering techniques in the past. Today’s topic will be an extension to that. It is called “Self Watering Containers”. This topic has been requested by one on our reader. I hope this will clear some doubt in this topic.

Self watering containers are great for gardeners especially in the warmer climate. As the name suggests the pot is made in such a way that you don’t need to keep an eye on the watering of the plant. Rather it takes the water by itself when required.

Self watering containers are little bit different from your regular container pots. They are generally consists of two containers. One is the container where the plant is planted the other one is the water reservoir. The planting container has minimum two holes, one for the overflowing of water and the other one is for placing a wick. The wick connects the planting container with the water reservoir, so it keeps the soil moist.

Once your pot has been prepared, put the soil into the planting pot and water it. The excess water will go out from the pot through the hole. If you want to know more about watering techniques, check out our earlier article on watering techniques.  After planting your seed or transplant in the pot, you add water to the reservoir. Now when the soil of the container will be dry, the water will go from the reservoir to the planting container. It is much more natural way for the plants to soak up the water from the soil rather than to receive it from the top.

You can easily cultivate many perennials, and annual plants in this method. Though many gardeners cannot think about growing vegetables in self watering containers, it can be very easy and beneficial to the crop. Plant such as tomato, cabbage, garlic, carrots, cilantro and other leafy vegetables can be grown easily by this method.

This will enable you to make sure that you don’t need to test the soil for dryness you just need to make sure your reservoir is never goes dry.nects with the water reservoir, so it keeps the soil moist.uots with the water reservoir.

The best plants that thrive in this are those which grow well in moist soil. So it is not a good idea to try this method on plants which are happier to grow in dryer soil.

I am very happy to realize that many of you people have liked my articles and are sending me valuable inputs. I hope this blog will continue to delight you in the future also. If you have any topics which you want to know more about, mentioned them in the comment box below.

Aquaponics System: Know the basics of Aquaponics Design

In this edition of Gardening ABC we will discuss one new concept in gardening. We have already discussed the basics of vertical gardening and container gardening and their benefits In our earlier articles. Today we will discuss Aquaponics system.

Most of us have heard about hydroponics, it is a system where plants are grown without using soil and cultured in water only. Here they generally use chemical fertilizers for the nutrition of the plants. Aquaponics system goes one step further. It uses fishes in the water to provide the nutrition to the plants. Thus it makes the total system organic. Like hydroponics, it also does not uses soil. Roots of plants are generally kept directly in the water. In some cases roots are supported by some rocks inside the water.

The Aquaponics System:

 

The three main parts of this system are:

Fish tank

Grow bed

Pump to move the water from the fish tank to grow bed.

The water from the Aquaponics fish tank goes to the grow bed. There it provides the much needed nutrition to the plant. The plants in the system act as the cleanser. It clears the water and then drains the water back into the fish tank. The secret of success in this system is maintaining proper balance.

In this culture choices of fish and plant is very important. It is better to use fresh water fishes which we generally found in landlocked lakes or rivers. On the contrary if you choose sea water fish you will limit the option of plants severely.

Try to avoid ornamental fishes such as Goldfish if you have any plans for eating fishes.They are commonly treated with chemicals and some times can cause cancer in human. The best options which we can use are common fishes like cat fish, Tilapia, trout, etc. You have to adjust the size and temperature of the water inside, once you decide on the type of fish. For example fish like catfish grow long so you need enough space for them.

Also concentrate on your gardening goals, like if your plan is to grow cool weather plans like spinachor peas avoid fishes which loves warm water.

If you are really serious about starting an Aquaponic system for your own I will suggest you check out this amazing source of information.

Benefits of following Aquaponics system:

Aquaponics system works most of the time independently. The fish and plants work together and the water gets recycled. You just need to replace the water which has be evaporated from the system. Once you created the system you don’t need to add fertilizers regularly or weed it.

It gives you the chance to reduce carbon footprint as you don’t need to travel to get your food.

It reduces the water consumption in gardening.

What do you think about the article. Do you have some other information on Aquaponics Gardening? Share it with us here.

Related articles about Aquaponics:

Top Five Aquaponics Fish for The Fish Tank

Advantages of Aquaponics System
Aquaponics System: 5 Steps To Success