Contrary to popular belief, organic wasn’t just a fad that has since disappeared. Indeed, many French people today want to garden and maintain their vegetable garden without adding pesticides or fertilizers. Chemicals are no longer popular these days. Here are some tips to help you do that!

Choose the species you want to plant

To garden organically, you have to garden intelligently and in particular restore a natural balance between flora and fauna. To properly select plants, certain criteria must be taken into account:

The nature of the soil:

Some plants prefer acidic soils and others prefer alkaline soils. You can, if you are unable to recognize the nature of the soil, bring a sample to the garden center for information. Another clue can help you: take some damp earth in your hand, if it forms a ball, it is clayey, otherwise it is rather sandy.

The climate :

It is better to opt for plants perfectly adapted to the climate, your garden will then be more beautiful. For example, you should avoid planting hydrangeas, which seek water, in the south, or olive trees that need light, in the north. Obvious precautions, but one that must not be forgotten.

The orientation of the land:

You will not put the same plants on a ground, located full south, where the shade is impossible only on a well shaded area. It is always necessary to check whether the plants perfectly withstand direct sunlight.

The presence of other species:

You will be able to discover the nature of the soil, its quality and the quantity of water, in particular by looking at which plants grow naturally on the ground.

Choose plants that are resistant to diseases that typically affect these species.

You should know that certain varieties of plants coexist more easily among themselves than others. Find out before you choose them. For example, marigolds produce a substance that can scare away nematodes, these worms that attack tomato plants. Put some near your tomatoes to help them.

Garden layout

Make sure you don’t need pesticides. To do this, you just need to follow a few rules:

  • Respect the minimum distance between two plants;
  • Respect the sowing dates;
  • Apply plant rotation, this allows your soil to recharge with nutrients since all plants do not have the same needs;
  • Water well and at the right time: water the stems and do not touch the leaves to avoid damaging them. If your soil is sandy, water regularly in small quantities;
  • Mix the plantings: take into account the right associations to ward off diseases and pests.

To read also: How to organize your vegetable garden?

How to repel pests naturally?

We must encourage the arrival and establishment of animals and insects useful to plants. Install flowering hedges, leave some weeds in certain areas and create a pond, to attract natural predators. Ladybugs and earplugs eat aphids, hedgehogs like slugs and snails, birds eat certain pests …

Other means are also effective:

DIY traps.

Use fine netting or ant collars for trees.

If you really can not do otherwise, put anti-pest products with the mention AB or organic-European label or certified Nature and Progress.

Protect your plants mechanically

To get rid of weeds, mechanical weeding with a hoe or weeder is recommended. The thermal weed killer is also an interesting and natural option, it is odorless and the rest of your garden is safe.

Mulching is also very beneficial. It eliminates weeds and in addition, it allows to maintain an ideal humidity level. It is made up of straw, wood, cardboard… only organic elements. There are also ready-to-use products, but be aware that dry mowing is also ideal.

Homemade products to enrich the earth

Compost is a great substitute for fertilizer in the garden. You do this easily in composting bins or containers designed specifically for this. It will have to be balanced and you have to learn the techniques to obtain a quality and efficient compost. It should be neither too wet nor too dry. It’s also a way to recycle your waste and it’s good for the planet.

If you wish, get started in the preparation of decoctions and 100% natural amendments such as nettle manure for example. They help the plant to defend itself by stimulating it. In addition, they can also help to drive away pests. Note that there are also natural fertilizers in garden centers.

Try permaculture

Permaculture is the art of cultivating your garden without maintenance and without pesticides, in harmony with the natural environment. This assumes that you intervene as little as possible, allowing your garden to flourish and live, all while still getting good harvests. It is a simple method of cultivation and entirely ecological.

Permaculture Gardening Without Fertilizers
© istock

Grandmother’s remedies to ward off pests

The boiling water containing starch that you used to cook rice, potatoes, or pasta is great for removing weeds. In fact, starch helps prevent germination. You can also spray white vinegar on the ground directly.

Coffee grounds repels insects such as mole crickets or carrot maggots. You place it directly in the furrows when sowing.

Baking soda mixed with olive oil will be sprayed on the leaves of the plants, thus constituting a natural barrier against insects.

The peelings

Of course, fruit and vegetable peels take place in the compost, but they can also be used on their own directly on the ground. They then repel aphids, slugs, ants … A good way to garden without pesticides.

Some examples: broccoli repels flies, bananas, aphids and lemon repels ants.

Read also : Plant insecticides: natural and healthier

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