Organic Garden Fertilizers.

Garden Fertilizers.

Many gardeners worry about their garden soil. They worry incase there isn't enough natural soil nutrition to keep their plants and vegetables in the best condition. You can easily add garden fertilisers to your soil to improve it, but many gardeners like to use organic methods.

Garden fertilizers that are used for your garden are a man made product, and these can be added to any general garden soil that you have in to add vital nutrients. These nutrients which come from the fertiliser will help your organic vegetables and flowers grow successfully. There are many places where you can buy garden fertilisers or to get organic gardening advice, garden centers and organic farmers will try and help give the best advice on what to put into your soil.

Garden Soil- What is the ph level of my Soil.

If you need advice about any type of soil it's best if you take a sample to get it analysed to find out the ph.level. There are some simple devices which do this, which you can buy to check the ph levels, any gardening centre will help you choose one. What a ph level will indicate is whether your soil is Alkaline or Acid or anywhere in between. This is very important as some flowers and vegetables prefer the soil to be neutral ie.in the middle, or towards acidity or towards alkaline.

The thing to remember is you can add fertilisers to your garden to bring about the conditions you want. If you like to grow Azaleas or Rhodendrum bushes then you need an Ericacious compost ie. one that has had the alkaline removed. Other plants don't like acid soil so it's best to find out what your soil ph level is before seeking advice.

Organic Gardening Methods, What are they?

The word organic misleads some people, they think you don't need to add anything to your soil, but in truth nitrogen and other soil improvers are needed not only to sustain the quality of the soil, but to improve it's growing potential. A organic garden is one where you build up the soil to give the plant or vegetable all the nutrients it needs to grow successfully. This means understanding your soil, knowing what to add or leave out to make it a nutrient rich soil which allows the micro-organisms to work in the best effective way to help your plant or vegetables.

Compost Heaps.

Having a compost heap is essential for all organic gardeners. Your old vegetable skins or tops and any removed leaves can eventually find themselves back into the soil. A compost is the absolute minimum requirement needed and this can't offer the full amount of nutrients needed, this is why to grow sustainable vegetables you need to add some fertilizer material to your soil.

This process is called or known as sustainability. You want as an organic gardener to pursue the process of recycling products back into your garden, plus adding any organic fertilizers which will give you, not only the right conditions for better yielding crops and stronger plants, but also those that can resist disease. An example of this, is we all know that once your tomato plant has started growing, it is best to remove some of the larger green leaves to allow the sun to shine on your growing tomatoes. By removing the leaves and putting them into your compost will eventually transfer some of the nutrients from the leaves back into the soil. So when you replant next year, and use the rotted down compost, it will help your tomatoes become stronger and more resistant to disease.

There are a full range of different fertilizers available at your garden centre for specific jobs, you don't need them all, but ask for help or do some careful reading on the subject which may

Organic Garden Fertilisers and Soil Improvers.

Ok you have made a start at organic gardening, but what should you do first. Find out about the type of soil you have is a good start. Dig the area over you are concentrating on and remove all weeds. If you have a compost put plenty on the garden and dig it in.

Knowing the ph level of your soil is a good starting point, once you know this you can add whatever is needed to correct the balance which will make growing vegetables more profitable. Nitrogen is one of the best fertilisers, it comes available in liquid form or as a solid in granules. The liquid form gets on to the leaves and roots and is absorbed very quickly into the plant. The solid type of nitrogen fertiliser is more of a slow release type. Many organic gardeners and garden centres add pellets of nitrogen into the hanging baskets so they produce flowers for you. This is why nitrogen should be added to all your raised beds, pots and containers.

Some other types of fertilisers are, sand and granite meal- these help break up heavy soil or clay. Bone meal is used when planting young trees or bushs and is sprinkled directly into the soil. Chicken pellet manure can be added as ageneal fertilizer. Some gardeners also use seaweed as a liquid general fertlizer.

Cheap Methods to Improve your Soil.

If your family is on a budget, and who isn't these days, you should have a composting area. These take very little time to set up and once the process has started you will have a lasting supply of good quality composting material to add to your garden.

I would suggest digging this in with fork or spade to fully integrate it, then planting your flowers or vegetables. But compost heap material can also be used as a top dressing to help suppress weeds, keep in moisture and give slow release nutrients as the mulch is watered. Making a compost is a relatively simple task and all you need to do is add a activator to kick start the process. Basically anything from your kitchen vegetable waste can go on the compost. Always have a lid on it and then let nature take it's course.

Mulching the soil will give great benefits, horse manure broken up and dug well in is also beneficial for plants and rose gardens. Old grow bags that you have had to grow tomatoes in can be spread around the garden and dug well in to mix it up. Soil enrichment and soil improver's are readily available at the garden centre or local farmer.

You could ask a local farmer who may help you with some manure to dig into your garden. Sometimes its best to remove the top soil all together and replace it with new, but only as a last resort. Most soils can be improved sufficiently to harvest a good crop.

A word of warning, fresh manure from the farm may be too strong to put directly onto your garden. Add some of the manure to a water butt to weaken it down. Or just leave it in one part of your garden to rot down and lose some of it's strength, before applying it. Over the winter is a good time to put manure directly onto the soil. This way it has a chance to break up and be ready for next spring planting.

Garden Mulches.

Some people think mulching is a way to decorate your garden. In a way it does look decorative but that isn't the main reason why gardeners do it. One of the best reasons why organic gardeners do it is to suppress weeds from growing. In addition it also helps the soil to retain moisture, by stopping it from being evaporated.

When mulching it is best if you add between 2" and 5" to the soil, depending on the plant size. Use a rake or hoe to get into any awkward areas, and add plenty near fences or a boundary to stop weeds developing. Keep topping up your mulch throughtout the growing season, then dig it well into the soil at the end of the year.