Organic Gardening

Organic Gardening

If you're trying to run your garden organically, then you'll need to know about environmentally friendly pesticides.

It's hard to get the right balance. The organic experts tell you that you should garden with nature. If you've got the right balance with your plants, then your garden will be healthy, heal and look after itself. A well balanced garden can take a few years to achieve.

In the meantime, if you're just starting out on the organic gardening trail, there will be times when you will find yourself with an 'imbalanced' plot. You will probably get diseases and most certainly some type of aphid will visit your plants.

Even in the best managed, established plots, there's going to be times when you're overrun with aphids or you've got plants with mildew, rust, scab or blight.

If that's the case in your garden and you don't want to reach for chemicals, then try these natural remedies.

- Water. The first line of attack for aphids is good old water. You can rub off the aphids by hand and then hose the plants with a jet of water. This sometimes works if you've caught the infestation early enough.

- Stinging nettles are good all rounders. Take about a half pound (quarter kilo) of young nettles and soak them in a bucket of water for a week. Strain off and spray the liquid to control aphids. Don't throw away the nettles. You can add them to your compost heap. They will make a good natural fertiliser if you chop them into the ground as well.

- Elder. Use about a pound (half a kilo) of young stems and leaves. Boil in 6 pints (3.5 litres) water for half an hour. Strain the liquid and allow it to cool a little. If you bottle it hot, it will keep for 3 months or so. This spray mixture will control aphids and young caterpillars. You can also use it as a fungicide for mildew and blackspot.

- Rhubarb. The oxalic acid in rhubarb leaves controls aphids. Cut about a pound (half a kilo) and boil in 2 pints (1.1 litre) of water for half an hour. When cool, add one dessertspoon of soap flakes. Then use this to spray the affected plants.

- Garlic. Be careful with garlic as it will kill good insects as well as pests. Treat only the affected areas. Make a liquid by crushing a couple of heads of garlic and allow them to steep in 1 pint (0.5 litre) of water for a couple of days. Paint this onto the affected areas. It will control aphids, mildew, rust and blight.

- Milk. Use 1 part milk to 9 parts water and use as a spray where plants have been affected by mildew. Don't use anything stronger than 3 parts to 9 parts milk as it will go rancid.

If you're going to spray with a pesticide, even an organic, natural one, then spray in the evening, when the sun's gone down and the bees have returned to their hives. Also, don't spray when it's windy or you will get a 'drift' from affected plants to healthy plants.

For an explanation of organic gardening terms that you might not understand, please check out the Growers Dictionary section.

I found that I was either skimping on explanations or giving too much information on the individual pages so I have posted all relevant terms in one section - if there's anything you need to know, please drop me an email.

	Web www.the-herb-guide.com

Organic Gardening - Growers Dictionary