Organic Gardening – Issues
Not All Plain Sailing
Organic gardening has its own specific challenges that should not be underestimated. Many books have been written and anyone who is contemplating organic gardening for the first time would be well advised to read up as extensively as possible.
The main issues you are likely to encounter may be considered under the following broad headings:
Avoiding Disease
The best way to control disease in your plants is to make them as resistant as possible, which means keeping them strong and healthy.
As far as possible avoid stress conditions such as drought. If you live in an area that has little rainfall, then you should aim to grow species and varieties of plants that have been bred specifically to be drought resistant. Alternatively, consider growing plants in containers so that irrigation is easier.
As well as moisture, plants need a range of nutrients that vary from species to species. In general, most plants prefer a particular type of soil (acid or alkaline) and a particular aspect, so that some are happiest in sunny conditions whilst others prefer shade.
Overall, the closer you can match the specific needs of each plant, the happier and healthier it will be and a healthy plant will be more resistant to attack by any kind of pest.
The other tried and tested method for controlling disease is to rotate your crops from year to year. Some plants build up nutrients in the soil that are available to be taken up by other plants in following years. In addition, most diseases tend to attack a small range of plants and if the same crop is grown year after year in the same location, the disease is likely to build up in the soil.
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Managing Weeds
In addition to carefully selecting the plants, you need to be in control of the weeds that grow very successfully without the need for any cultivation by you.
One of the most effective weed control measures is to cover your soil with thick mulch. You can use a variety of products including homemade compost, bark chippings, composted straw from a friendly farmer, or even discarded carpet.
Much depends on how important appearance is to you so, for example, you may be happy to use carpet in the vegetable plot if it is normally out of site, but prefer the appearance of bark chippings around your prize flowers.
Be alert for the first signs of any weeds that manage to grow through the mulch and remove them as soon as they appear and before they have the opportunity to set seed and start multiplying.
Be careful when discarding weeds in the compost heap since some of the stronger plants, such as dandelions and docs may be able to survive and even thrive in the conditions within the compost bin.
Controlling Insect Pests
Controlling pests is a two-stage task. First you want to prevent pests from becoming established in the first place and then you need to deal effectively with any that manage to evade your defences.
As far as insects are concerned, the aim is to control them naturally and one of the first steps in that direction is to encourage helpful wildlife into your garden. There are all kinds of animals, birds and beneficial insects that will do all the hard work for you.
For example, if you have a problem with slugs and snails, then encourage hedgehogs or toads to take up residence and they will eat them up for you. Similarly, greenfly are a favourite delicacy of ladybirds and lacewings.
If wildlife is not sufficient for the job, the next tack is to distract pests away from your prize plants using companion planting. There are all kinds of plant combinations you can try, for example, you can help protect your tomatoes from whitefly and greenfly by growing French marigolds close by, which emit a strong smell that repels the creatures.
Companion planting can also work the other way. Instead of repelling harmful insects, you may be able to attract them away from the plants you want to protect towards plants you are prepared to sacrifice. If you want to protect your cabbages from caterpillars, for example, you can plant nasturtiums close by to attract them.
You can go to the next stage of protecting your plants from pests by using biological controls. These can be purchased from specialist dealers and in some cases can be quite expensive. Consequently, they are probably best suited to contained environments such as green houses or conservatories. There are many types available and you need to purchase them according to the particular pest that is troubling you.
Organic Gardening – Other Issues
When it comes to attack by insect or disease, there is no substitute for vigilance. If you spot problems in their early stages you can often deal with them more easily, effectively and cheaply.
So, for example, if you spot the first signs of greenfly in your garden, you can often eliminate them by simply squashing them before they have chance to multiply.
Similarly, if you can spot the first signs of disease in a plant, you may be able to cut out the affected part without causing unacceptable damage to the rest of the healthy plant.
Depending on just how particular you are about being organic, there are some sprays available that many organic gardeners consider to be acceptable. For example, a soap solution that contains only natural ingredients can be effective against a variety of tiny insects such as aphids. You may find other solutions available in your local garden centre that are formulated to be acceptable to the organic gardener.
Finally, if you are not prepared to use the full arsenal of synthetic remedies that are available to others, then you will have to accept that occasionally you will have some nibbled leaves or minor imperfections in your vegetables. However, in return, you will have the satisfaction of knowing that you are looking after the environment and your own health and taste buds may well benefit from food that has been grown without any unnatural chemicals.