Tips to Avoid Infestation

One of the most important factors you’ll want to watch for as your garden begins to take off is insect infestation. Regardless of where you happen to live, this can be a problem. The good news is that there are a number of steps you can take to keep insect infestation from becoming too much of a headache.

The first step is to be quite vigilant in paying attention to your plants and notice infestation as soon as it begins. This will help to keep the problem from expanding into devastating blight on your entire garden. Do your best to identify the type of insect that is causing damage as quickly as possibly. Certain kinds of insecticides are manufactured to fight back against specific types of insects, so it is important that you understand what kind of enemy you are battling.

At this point; however, it should be pointed out that not all insects in gardens are dangerous, so while you should be concerned if you see insects on your plants, realize that it may not be necessary to launch an all out war—at least not until you identify the type of insect you’re dealing with and understand whether it is an insect that will cause damage to your plants or whether it might be a beneficial insect.

Beneficial insects provide a number of advantages to your garden, including feeding off other types of insects and insect larvae. If you aren’t sure which types of insects in your area may be beneficial, do take the time to find out. You may discover that you’re battling the wrong insect.

If you are growing an organic garden, you will not wish to use any type of chemical or insecticide; of course, but that doesn’t mean that you cannot take steps to eliminate insects, either. Many garden supply stores now stock organic pest control solutions that can be safely used on your organic plants.

You can also make your own herbal or organic insecticide at home by combining garlic or hot pepper spray with water, blending the solution well and then straining out any pulp that may be present. Some gardeners have found success by also mixing in a few drops of common soap; which can be toxic to many types of insects.

Regardless of whether you are growing an organic garden or not, there are also other measures you can use to keep insects at bay. Some of these steps should be undertaken as soon as you begin putting your plants into the ground. For example, proper spacing of your plants can play an important role in preventing infestation as can routine weeding and good fertilization.

Transplanting Tips

Whether you have decided to grow seeds at home in order to propagate your own plants or you have purchased transplants from a garden supply store, it is important to understand how to properly transplant young plants so that they have the best chances of survival. These vulnerable plants should be handled with extreme care so that the tender root systems are not damage during the transplant.

It is also important to keep in mind that ideally, the best time to undertake transplanting is before the weather actually begins to grow warmer. In most locales, autumn is the best time to transplant; however, you can also transplant as far as into the spring, provided that you do so before the plants begin to leaf out for the new season.

A small gardening implement or even an eating utensil can be ideal in removing the young plants from their initial containers. Be careful not to force the plants out but work with them gently and carefully until they are freed from the container.

When placing the transplants into the ground, be sure to allow sufficient space for them to grow. One of the most common mistakes of many new gardeners is to crowd transplants too closely to one another because they want their garden to look fuller. While spacing them out from one another further at first will give your garden a bare look, it will provide plenty of room for the young plants to grow and will also assist in proper air circulation. The latter is extremely important in keeping disease at bay.

Once the plants are in the ground, you should also make it a point to place some type of mulch around the young plants. This will help the soil to retain moisture and will also prevent a large portion of weeds from growing around the young transplants. Just be sure to pull back the mulching during watering, otherwise the water might not reach the root system of the plants.

With that said, it is imperative to note that transplants should not be allowed to dry out. These young plants are very susceptible to shock at this point and will continue to be susceptible until they have become established in their new homes. Follow the same watering schedule as you did when you were seeding the plants. Water every day or every other day.

When transplanting young seedlings, make sure that you add in a sufficient amount of fertilizer so that the young plants receive the nourishment they need in order to continue growing.

Finally, don’t forget to pinch off stem tips as the plants begin to mature. This will assist the plants in side branching.