When done correctly, gardening can be one of the joyful hobbies a person can do. Unfortunately, many people believe that it's all about exposing the plants to the sun and watering them.
It's much more than that. Gardening can be fun and enjoyable, but plants can also get infected. There are various reasons why a plant can get a disease, affect the rest of the plants, and wilt, but the most common reason is poor maintenance.
If you're unaware of all the diseases, viruses, or bugs that may affect your plants, flowers, fruits, and vegetables, you will not be able to take care of them. Before planting anything in your garden, you should know how to take care of them, learn what to do when a disease spreads, and how to fix it. If you're ready to start your gardening journey and want to ensure that your garden stays healthy, these tips are for you.
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Check The Soil
Just because your local garden store says that the soil is good doesn't necessarily mean that it is. You have to check the quality of the soil before you purchase any. The soil is the most important component of a garden. Poor soil can damage your plants or make them prone to bacteria and disease. A healthy garden needs healthy, high-quality soil with the right pH level. Avoid compost piles. Unlike, what many people believe, compost piles may harm your plants. People use compost piles because they believe that it's a nutrient-rich soil.
Not knowing that not all materials decompose at the same rate and materials that aren't fully decomposed will not be productive for your plants. On the other hand, a compost pile that has materials that have degraded fully will kill diseases and viruses if they affect the plants.
Checking the quality of soil is not enough to ensure a healthy garden. You should also take care of it. Soil degrades over time and will need to be refreshed regularly or replaced.
You should turn the soil once or twice a month, depending on the type of soil you have. Plants, flowers, vegetables, and fruits only benefit from the light and loose soil. When it starts to harden, the plants will not be able to grow.
Check Plants
Many people take good care of their garden and still end-up with infected plants. That’s usually because they have introduced an infected plant to the rest, and the virus or disease has spread between them. It’s a very common incident that many gardeners face. However, the way to avoid it is very easy. Whether you get your plants from your local garden shop or you purchase plants online, you should check that the plant and the soil are healthy. Keep it far from the rest of the plants until it’s fully grown, and when you see that it looks healthy, add it to your garden.
For beginners, it may be difficult to differentiate between infected plants from healthy plants as they aren't familiar with how it should look like. The best way is to search how it's supposed to be so you can tell the difference.
There are some basic things to look for, such as the roots, leaves, and spots. Before you purchase any kind of plant, ensure that the leaves don't have any dead spots, that it has a good and firm root, that there aren’t any visible rotten stems, and of course, that it doesn’t have any insects.
By doing that you will be ensuring that the plant you're getting is healthy. Still, it's not 100% guaranteed that it's healthy even if you have inspected it carefully, which is why it needs to be in a separate place until you're sure that it's in good condition.
Watering Techniques
Watering plants can seem easy for a lot of people, but if a plant is not watered properly, it will not be healthy and may die in a short time. It's not just getting the plants and the soil wet, some flowers need small amounts, while other plants need to be watered twice or more a day. Overwatering can cause fungi growth and dead spots on the leaves. Underwatering can leave the plants dehydrated and it can rot the roots. Every type of plant, flower, and fruit, has its own needs.
The best times to water your plants are in the early morning and early evening. These are the times when the soil is moist and will absorb all the water.
If you water your plant during the day while the sun is strong, it will evaporate, and neither the soil nor the plant itself will benefit from the water. You will be watering the plants thinking they have enough water while they’re dehydrated all the time.
Feeding Plants
To maintain a healthy garden, plants should be fed regularly. All plants need nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium to grow properly.
Nitrogen enhances the growth of leaves and gives them the bright green color, phosphorus concentrates on developing healthy and firm roots, while potassium is mainly for encouraging the development of fruit and vegetables. There are other nutrients and minerals that you can add to your plants, but these three are the essentials for a healthy garden. You can also use plant or animal-based fertilizer to enhance your garden's growth.
Garden maintenance is not an easy job, but if you want a healthy, green, and productive garden, you should follow the above tips. There are other things you need to do to take care of your garden, such as trimming, using the right tools, choosing the right plants, and keeping animals and bugs away from the garden.
You should always ensure that the plants you get are suitable for your location. Each plant needs a certain amount of sun to be productive, and you have to provide that. You should always clean your tools after trimming and removing dead leaves so you don’t spread any infection to the rest of the plants.
To enjoy gardening, get plants that will suit your lifestyle. If you don’t have enough time for regular gardening maintenance, you should get low maintenance plants so you can easily take care of them.