Companion Planting A basic Know how

Companion planting is a process where two or more different kind of plants are planted in close proximity to provide some benefits such as pest control and pollination to the plants. The best part of companion planting is that it is organic or natures way of controlling pests and improve pollination. We all aware of the benefits of going organic. I have written an article on this also. If you are interested to know more about the benefits of being an organic gardener you can check this post.

There are various mixes of plants which apart from making the garden more eye catchy, provide a healthy benefit to the plants. From ancient times and before the introduction of mass scale pesticides and fertilizer, people used the concepts of companion planting. They believed certain combination of plants have mysterious power to help each other. Now science also proved that some combination in deed help to grow the plants very well.

There are basically 4 type of benefits you get by opting for companion plantation:

1. It helps both the plants to grow. Tall plants provide shade to the sun sensitive shorter plants.
2. You can use your space more productively. It also increases the chances of getting a good yield, even if one crop fails.
3. This provides pest control in an organic way. Some companion plants help in preventing pest insects and pathogenic fungi. It can also divert pests from the other plant.
4. It attracts pollination by attracting beneficial insects. Companion plants some time produce more nectar than the main plant and thus attract more beneficial insects.

Below are some of the example of companion gardening:

Planting beans and corns together can be beneficial for both of them. The beans fix nitrogen to the soil which also benefits the corn. Whereas the cornstalk can be used as a trellis by the bean plant to climb up.

Growing dill and cabbage can be another example of companion planting. Dill can attract many beneficial wasp which can control cabbage worms and other cabbage pests.

Planting basil along with tomatoes (click here for tomato growing tips) can improve the flavor and growth of tomatoes. It also repels mosquitoes.

Planting garlic near tomato or cabbage plant can help to control beetle and aphids from infecting tomatoes.

Cucumber and radish also work together pretty well. Radishes help to deter cucumber beetles. But make sure cucumber is not planted near potatoes as it can encourage the late blight in potatoes.

There are so many such combinations available. You can find many of them through internet.

I hope you get an idea about the companion gardening concept through this blog. It is definitely an option you can try out in case you are thinking of going organic. Check my blog the meaning of organic for more information about going organic.

Thanks for reading the article. Enjoy Gardening.

Read more

Grow Garlic A useful plant In Companion Planting

A nickel will get you on the subway, but garlic will get you a seat.

Once we discuss growing ginger, garlic is not very far behind. Today we will discuss about Garlic.

Botanical name: Allium sativum

There are basically 2 varieties of Garlic are available.

Soft-neck variety: in this type of garlic the neck of the garlic stay soft after harvest. This variety is the easiest to grow. This variety is also recommended particularly for the warmer climatic areas.

Hard-neck variety:here garlic has a stiff stem that dries to a rigid stick. And it makes braiding almost impossible.

Garlic is grown from the cloves. For growing, you need to plant the cloves into the ground with root end down and pointed end up. Break the cloves from the bulb but do not remove the papery husk which surrounds individual clove. Put the cloves two inch inside the soil with 6 to 8 inches apart. Each clove will produce a single bulb and the largest clove generally produces the largest bulb. If you planting the clove into normal soil and not in any soil-less media, it is better to soak the cloves in water containing baking powder and liquid seaweed to prevent fungal diseases.

Planting cloves from the grocery store can be a bad idea. They are generally treated with various chemicals to make their self life longer. Instead try your local nurseries or seed selling companies for the cloves.

Make sure your soil has plenty of organic matter. To increase the fertility you can always add compost to the soil. Select a place where the sun exposure is good. Garlic requires plenty of nitrogen so choose your compost ingredients accordingly.

Once you planted the cloves cover it with mulch. If you are new to mulching, and want to know more about it, check out this article. After 6 to 8 weeks, depending on the variety and the weather, you will find the shoots coming up through the mulch.  Water requirement of garlic is normally not huge. Inch deep water in every week is more than enough. Stop water once the leaves begin to yellow. This will help to make the bulbs firm.

Garlic has very few pest problems. Rather it is a pest repellant. That is why in organic pest controlling methods, using garlic is a common phenomenon.

You can harvest the garlic once three-quarter of the leaves become yellow. Dig up all the bulbs and get them out of the sun immediately. Keep them in dry and shaded place for six weeks. Once they become thoroughly dry trim the roots. Cut off the stalk 1 inch above the bulb. Now you can use your garlic.

Apart from its intense flavor and culinary uses it is very good insect repellant and thus used widely in companion planting. More about companion planting and its benefits check out this article.

Do you have Suggestions. Feel free to post it.

Read more