Organic Gardening Requires Extra Attention
Posted by Unknown in Advise and Tips, Gardening, Organic Farming on Monday, 13 May 2013
By Tripp Williams
Columnist
Organic
gardening is growing in popularity and interest. The local farmers
market in Evans, which focuses on organic and sustainable garden produce
sold directly to consumers, has helped pique the interest of many in
the area. While many people are interested in growing organically,
organic gardening requires a lot of planning and strict adherence to
Georgia Department of Agriculture guidelines.
The first step
in organic gardening is to plan ahead. If planning to use organic
fertilizer sources or organic soil amendments, these need to be tilled
into the garden well in advance to be effective. Ideally, this process
should begin in the fall prior to spring planting. Organic amendments
don’t provide nutrients as quickly as synthetic fertilizers. Organic
fertilizers require time to decompose and release their nutrients. Soil
microbes have to convert them into a form that plant roots can absorb.
An added benefit of organic amendments is that they can act as a
slow-release fertilizer throughout the season. This improves soil
structure.
Another
important aspect of organic gardening to consider is the restrictions on
pesticides, including herbicides, insecticides and fungicides in
synthetic and naturally occurring forms. Organic gardening does not
allow synthetic pesticides. This means more manually weeding and careful
inspection of the garden.
Weeds must be
pulled or hoed, with mulch to help prevent weeds. Disease or insect
damage must be pruned off plants at the first signs of infestation. The
key is to catch all of these problems as early as possible to prevent
them from becoming bigger problems and spreading throughout the garden.
It is a good practice to become familiar with common garden problems and
be able to tell the “good bugs” from the “bad bugs.” For example, lady
beetles help control aphids, mites and other insects.
Organic
vegetables don’t have to look beautiful. Unfortunately, many times they
do not. The commercially grown vegetables in the grocery store are often
grown in a controlled environment with pesticides. Organic gardening
might produce fruits and vegetables with small spots or blemishes.
However, this does not affect the taste.
Here are a few more tips for the novice organic gardener:
• Get your soil
tested by taking a sample to the local University of Georgia
Cooperative Extension office. This is an important step to do during the
planning stage to ensure a proper growing environment.
• Use basic
cultural control options such as mulching, pruning, spacing, crop
rotation, resistant varieties and planting at the proper times.
• Clean
equipment periodically. A 10-percent bleach solution used on pruners and
other tools after cutting away diseased plant material will minimize
the spread of diseases.
• Water plants
as needed and only in the early morning. This helps prevent diseases and
promotes the development of a strong, deep root system.
Tripp Williams,
Columbia County’s agriculture and natural resource extension agent, can
be reached at (706) 541-4011, or trippj@uga.edu.
