Organic Gardening How To Blog

Deep Water Culture is the simplest method to use in hydroponic gardening. If you are new at hydroponic gardening, DWC is an organic garden how to that is inexpensive and easy to master. So, what exactly is DWC?

DWC is basically growing plants in a vessel of water. The water is aerated to provide an oxygen enriched nutrient bath for the plants to grow in. Properly done, plants will thrive in this bath and grow very quickly.

You can purchase DWC systems at online hydroponic gardening stores such as StealthHydro.com, or you can make your own DWC system. These are easy and inexpensive to make. For a small system, it will cost you about $30. We have provided a video below that will instruct you on how to make the DWC system. The parts that you will need are:

1 – Vessel (preferably black in color)

1 – 3′ long black airhose

1 – Air pump

1 – Air stone

1 – 2′ square x 2″ thick styrofoam

Now, once you have your DWC system built, you can enhance your system to make it as good as any system that you could buy. One of the best enhancements is to provide horticultural lighting. An excellent lighting system to do this with is the Multi-Spectrum Pro 315Watt CFL light bank. It emits 15,000 lumens and will super-charge your plants growth.

There you have it. Enjoy and learn from your DWC system. Once learned, you will get more involved with hydroponic gardening and the StealthHydro.com Super Store can provide all your needs.

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Water is getting scarce and I sometimes worry about having enough for my organic garden. This year was particularly bad because we have had three years of drought. The community I live in restricted water usage and I was worried that I would not have enough water to keep all of my plants alive. So, with my husbands help, I built a rain collection system to help with watering my organic garden.

My husband and I cut the downspouts on two of our gutters and screwed flexible hosing on to the downspouts which directed rainfall into two 55-gallon barrels. These barrels were elevated off the ground by about 10 inches by putting cinder blocks under the barrels. We cut a one inch hole at the bottom of each barrel and connected a faucet to each one. The added elevation allowed me to either connect a hose to the faucet or to put a bucket under the faucet. Now, with what little rain we had been getting, I had additional water for my organic garden.

I was amazed at how quickly those barrels filled when it did rain. It’s amazing how much rainfall is shed off the top of your house. Making this rain collection system was easy and I now know we should have done it a long time ago. It is a simple way to save water (and money) even if you don’t have a drought.

In case you decide to build a similar system, here are some additional tips:

Save yourself some work. Place the barrels as close as you can to your organic garden.

Try to place the barrels in a shaded area. Water evaporates quickly in the sun.

If you can, obtain an offset diverter. Connect this to your downspout so that you can divert the rainfall either into the barrel or onto the ground. This is helpful once your barrels are full of water.

Cut several 1″ holes towards the top of the barrels. This will allow water to drain from the barrels when they are full. Glue screen over these holes to keep mosquitoes and other insects out.

Place organic BT dunks in the water to prevent mosquitoes from breeding.

Establish a friendly overflow. These barrels will fill up quickly when it rains. Keep the overflow away from the foundation of your house.

These rain barrels have been a big help in keeping my organic garden alive. For added help, watch this video:

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Wouldn’t you like a fresh salad from your organic vegetable garden for that Thanksgiving dinner? With the cold winter season coming on, many gardeners just give up on their gardens. But, if you would like to try something really fun, try to maintain your organic vegetable garden all winter long. Here’s how to do it.

Take a small area in your garden, say 4′ x 4′, and create a small green house. Take inexpensive chicken wire and create a small dome over this small garden area. On top of this, spread one layer of clear plastic so that it completely covers the chicken wire and reaches the ground on all sides. Weigh the plastic down at ground level with rocks or bricks so that the wind won’t blow the plastic off. Now, you have a small greenhouse for your organic vegetable garden.

On sunny days, it may get too warm inside this greenhouse. To prevent this from being a problem, cut a 12″ long slit near, but not at the top of the dome. Heat rises when it gets warm and the slit will allow excess heat to escape.

If you have particuarly cold winters, you can furthur insulate your small greenhouse by placing a layer of bubble wrap on top of your plastic, followed by one more layer of clear plastic on top of that. Don’t forget to put slits in both of these additional layers of plastic. Your organic vegetable garden will thrive in this greenhouse that you created.

Watch this video to give you some additional tips for maintaining your organic vegetable garden.

If you are new to organic gardening or you would like to learn more, try any one of these two great e courses: Organic Gardening Magic or My Organic Food Garden. Or, try them both! Satisfaction Guaranteed for your Organic Vegetable Garden needs, or your money back.

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Making a pepper spray to keep unwanted critters out of your organic garden is an easy organic gardening how to. Most gardeners grow peppers and besides using them in your favorite dishes, you can use them to make an unflavorable dish to deter critters. When sprayed on plants, pepper spray will deter rabbits, squirrels, some deer, and a number of different types of harmful insectsinsects.

Kentucky State University researchers took extracts from different types of peppers and exposed spider mites to the extract. Within 24 hours, half of the spider mites were dead. More importantly, the spider mites were repelled by the pepper extracts. What the researchers found most interesting, however, was that the chemicals that cause the peppers to be hot was not the cause of toxicity and repellancy. It was some other unidentified constituents that caused this and research continues to this day as to what that is.

To make your own pepper spray, puree two chili peppers and a dash of water in a blender. Strain and discard the solids. Add one gallon of water to this pepper mixture and mix thoroughly. Let this mixture sit overnight. When ready to use, mix 1/4 cup of your liquid peper to one additional gallon of fresh water. Add 1 tablespoon of herbalcidal soap and mix (the soap will help the pepper spray to spread evenly over your plants). You are now ready to use your pepper spray from this organic gardening how to.

Watch this video for some more details on making and using pepper spray. I think you will like this country boy!

If you are new to organic gardening or you would like to learn more, try any one of these two great e courses: Organic Gardening Magic or My Organic Food Garden. Or, try them both! Satisfaction Guaranteed for your Organic Gardening How To needs, or your money back.

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