Secrets to Growing Luscious Organic Greenhouse Vegetables
The following is a guest post from Jean Gallagher.
Greenhouses are the perfect home for growing organic fruits and vegetables. Just because you are gardening in a protected environment however, you won’t be free of garden pests and diseases. The good news is you will have complete control over how you protect your precious organic edibles.
Even better, if you place a lean to greenhouse just outside your kitchen door you will conserve energy. Because you are sharing a common wall with your home, you can also share the heat or cool air. You won’t even have far to go each day to care for your plants and to collect your bounty when the time is right.
To enjoy the healthiest, tastiest and most robust harvest you have ever experienced, follow these simple guidelines.
- Avoid greenhouses made from synthetic materials. If you can, opt for a wood or metal frame rather than plastic or pvc. Glass greenhouses are also more favorable for organic gardeners as the popular polycarbonate panels are chemical based. The panels themselves are more important than the greenhouse frame as moisture will collect on the panels’ surface and drip on your plants.
- It is important to use only organic soil in your containers. If you plant taller vegetables and fruits such as tomatoes or corn directly into the ground, you must be certain that the soil is free from dangerous organisms and toxins. There are test kits available to check your soil for toxins. If your ground soil isn’t par, don’t despair. You can simply fill pots with organic soil and sink the entire pot into the ground.
- Compost is the single most important factor in your organic garden. As long as everything you toss in your composter is organic, the resulting compost will be too. People often forget and put everything, organic or not, in their compost pile then expect the resulting compost to be organic. It doesn’t work that way. What goes in must come out.
- You can stop weeds organically before they have a chance to grow. Lay an inch or two of newspaper on top of the soil in each container and cover with more soil or mulch. The newspaper will keep weeds from breaking through. Since most newspaper inks are soy-based your plants will stay happy and healthy. The paper will also decompose over time and be a healthy additive to your soil. Be certain not to use the glossy color inserts as they are not only very toxic, water cannot penetrate the glossy surface.
- The layout plan of organic home greenhouses needs to be well planned in advance. Measure the area where you will place your pots as well as the ground area for your taller plants. Once you know your greenhouse’s dimensions you can simply use a piece of graph paper to plot out where each variety of fruit and vegetable will be placed.
- Although “companion planting” is not a new concept, the use of it in an organic greenhouse cannot be over emphasized. Greenhouse gardening has its own share of pest problems, many which can be avoided naturally by the use of companion planting.
- Aphids don’t like nasturtiums
- In order to discourage carrot fly, plant onions and leeks close by.
- Greenfly and blackfly are a nuisance to your tomatoes but French marigolds will chase them away.
- Mice don’t like the smell of elder shrubs.
- Ants can be an issue for your ground plantings. Any kind of mint or bay leaf , even garlic will deter them.
- Snails and slugs will drown if you place small containers of beer around your plants. They love the smell, but they’re not too bright and they will fall right in.
- On the other hand, to attract healthy bugs, plant Buddleia, Achillea and flowering herbs such as Dill, Rosemary and Lavender throughout your greenhouse. These will attract pest-devouring ladybirds, lacewings and hoverflies.
You can see that you don’t need anything toxic to keep your edibles happy and healthy.
- In extreme circumstances if you find you do need an herbicide use an organic soap mixture in a spray bottle. The soap mixture has the added benefit of reducing the chance of various diseases that can affect your plants. Simply add a little lemon detergent to a bottle of water. Be sure to use the cheapest lemon detergent you can find as it won’t have the toxic additives of the more expensive labels.
- After you harvest your fruits and vegetables, pull the spent plants from the soil and toss them in your compost bin for next year’s garden. When you remove them from the soil it will help maintain the nutrients in the soil and discourage pests.
Last but not least, enjoy your harvest!
