If you purchase an item via links on this page , we may garner a commission . Our editorial content is not influenced by mission . Read the full disclosure .
I am one of those gardeners who experiments a lot . Now , I ’m not a scientist , and I do n’t adjudge myself to the scientific standard . That ’s because , at the end of the day , my garden must grow enough food for me to hold up on for most of the twelvemonth .
irrespective , I take as much scientific research as I can . I look at the trial data point in test game . I read accounts from experient gardeners who have religiously applied method to their gardens . Then , I play around on my own land .
My finish is to gain a good understanding of how plants grow , what they involve to turn well , and how much of what is needed can be grow on my niggling homestead .
Through my research , I ’ve come up across several garden myths that are routinely retell on gardening and homesteading blogs in ways that do n’t quite mesh with the scientific research or live visitation usefulness on these thing .
So , today , I want to apportion some clearing on some of the backyard gardening advice and garden myth that many of us hear often but may misunderstand .
Garden Myths 1: Compost Adds Lots of Nutrients to Soil
Gardeners have been using some variance ofcompostprobably as long as we ’ve been garden as a way to arise food . We all jazz that our plants grow well when we add sufficient compost each year . So many of us assume compost must be tot up dozens of nutrients to our territory .
Most Compost has Low Nutrient Levels
Well , that ’s not necessarily true . Most compost has an N - P - K analysis of 1 - 1 - 1 or less . When you conceive about the fact that most soil test suggest home gardeners apply a 10 - 10 - 10 , or a 10 - 5 - 10 for gardens high in phosphoric , 1 - 1 - 1 is n’t a whole lot .
The truth is that compost tote up a bantam bit of nutrients , particularly trace mineral rather than macronutrients . What compost really does is facilitate plants to mature better in low nutrient environments by increase the bacteria and fungi in the grease .
Bacteria and Fungi Do the Fertilizing
In anorganic garden , if you apply compost regularly , do n’t spray weed killer , pesticides , or fungicides , and do n’t till too deeply , you create the perfect home ground for beneficial life contour to develop a nutrient web in your dirt .
Those bacteria and fungus kingdom actually work kinship with your plants and aid cater them the specific nutrients they need to develop . They do so by take the not - amply decomposed matter exit in your compost , soil , and melodic line in the grease and convert all of that into nutrient .
Better than fertilizer , though , those food are made in a specific form that allows your plants to well uptake what they need for good health . Just like the bacteria in your intestine , the colony of micro - critters pre - digest previously non - accessible nutrients and fork out them to plant .
Use This Understanding At Home
All you need to do to harness the power of compost in your garden is add lots of slow - made , well - aged compost to your garden each year . Older compost is much more utilitarian for work up bacteria and fungi populations than freshly made compost . stress to age your compost at least 6 months and sooner a year or more .
Avoid using chemicals or synthetic or strong fertilizers ( for instance nothing over 5 - 5 - 5 ) that can harm fungi and bacteria . Also , bacterium and kingdom Fungi flourish in relationships with plant root . So , keep your soil planted for as much of the year as you could .
If you do this , then compost can go a tenacious manner toward providing most of the natality your plants need to stay healthy .
Garden Myths 2: Legumes Fix Nitrogen
This mind of planting legumes to fix N is true , but only in some setting . Luckily , leguminous plant have comparatively low nitrogen need in general . Sometimes even if your legume do n’t posit N , your land has enough exist nitrogen to uprise legumes without adding any extra .
The Role of Rhizobia
If you pass to have specific bacterium in your ground ( promise rhizobia ) when you plant legume , then those bacteria will organize a family relationship with your leguminous plant . They will sour with your leguminous plant to fix N from the melodic phrase .
What happens is that the rhizobia insert a node on the root of the legume and deposition small amounts of N in the nodes . In return , the plant gives the rhizobia moolah or carbohydrates produced by photosynthesis .
Nitrogen is Not Always Fixed
Now , the legumes use that stored nitrogen to feed themselves when they need it . However , enquiry point that if you kill the works before it flowers and impart that plant thing in the bed , then the nitrogen in the grime increase .
In effect , the nitrogen stored in the nodes and leave of absence will decay back into the soil and add nitrogen that other plant can use . However , if you countenance the plants flower and farm pea plant and beans and harvest those , the amount of N returned to the soil goes way down .
In a nutshell , using legume ascover cropsand green manure does total atomic number 7 to the soil . To ensure you have the necessary Rhizobium , you should use legume seeds that have been treated with inoculant that contains the specific bacteria that works better to desexualise N with your legume .
Not all soil has sufficient quantities of Rhizobium without tot up inoculant first . bank me , I have dug up lots of clover and other legume root on my property that have no nitrogen nodes . The nodes are lilliputian but seeable to the raw eye on the roots . So , you may also insure your legume root to see how active your rhizobia are .
Also , planting legumes after heavy feeders like corn or wampum does work well even if your leguminous plant do n’t get into a nitrogen - fixing state . apply their depressed nitrogen needs , leguminous plant be given to produce well in use up soil in general . They commonly do n’t get well in gamey - atomic number 7 state of affairs .
Garden Myths 3: You Should Perform a Soil Test Before Fertilizing
I pick up this one a lot these Clarence Day . Since my land still offers free soil tests , I often pass people a stain box and give them instructions on how to perform a dirt psychometric test as part of my skipper nurseryman volunteer duty . I also routinely avail them interpret and implement their soil trial results in their home gardens .
Now that you bed that I am a soil test counsellor , the literal question is :
Does a home nurseryman really need a grunge tryout every metre before they fertilize?My solvent is NO and here ’s why .
Not Useful for Nitrogen
Basic , send - away , soil test do not even test the nitrogen degree in your soil . Nitrogen stage in the grunge can switch quickly .
A electrical storm can commit nitrogen through the ceiling . Two calendar week of growing clavus in hot weather can shed it dramatically . An influx of pill bugs in wood chips can raise nitrogen quickly too . As such , most reputable test providers do n’t do that testing unless you perform a different test and give extra for it .
The confusing part is that when you get your passport back , they usually give you nitrogen applications programme rates . Those rate aregeneric guidelinessuggested ground on what you indicated you plan to rise in your trial surface area .
If you suppose you were growing a lawn , the atomic number 7 recommendation would be exceptionally high . If you say you were growing a vegetable garden , they ’d be moderate . If you project to produce legumes , the good word would be low .
Not as Useful for an Organic Garden
Another thing to keep in mind is that constitutional garden are high-pitched in compost and use communities of bacterium and fungus to provide food to plant . So , the test ensue for an constitutive garden usually show up as wanting on many fronts . However , plants will still grow very well in that garden .
This is because constitutive garden do n’t swear on N - P - K to feed plants the way that non - organic gardens do . Unless you apply a research lab that can give you grunge test result for an organic garden , the findings and recommendations might not be meaningful and may destroy your grunge if used .
Using This Knowledge at Home
There are still a few times when some kind of testing piss great gumption .
As a first pace , even the not - so - precise homesoil run kitswill tell you if you have nitrogen overload . If one of those tests reads as having excess atomic number 7 , then embed something with high nitrogen penury such as corn or smoke .
If that N hungry plant grows , then surplus nitrogen was your job , and you are figure out it by trace it out in your plant . If that does n’t influence , then you have a different problem , and a professional grime test or a plant tissue paper sample trial may be necessary to determine which other food is your literal number .
Often nitrogen progeny are just a Spanish pointer toward other mineral unbalance . Also , because atomic number 7 is so inherently unstable in the soil , it is a much easy job to solve than many other redundant nutrient outcome .
When You Start a New Garden
When you first lead off a garden , it ’s a very in force theme to get a professional grunge test . In specific , there are a few things you want to look at .
Thesoil testwilltell your pHand identify critical trace mineral such as Mg and calcium . Your event will assist you get your pH right for what you are develop and help you determine if you need to mineralize your soil or not .
The trial will also tell you your quantities of the macronutrients phosphorous and atomic number 19 ( P , K ) . If you are planting in an area that has not been work out before , there is a good luck that you have sufficient to gamey levels of P and K. If that ’s the grammatical case , then you do n’t want to apply gamey levels of those macronutrients at the outset or you may quickly produce trouble in your garden .
Often with organic gardens , people do n’t realize they have high P and K. They contribute a mountain of quickly composted moo-cow manure andchicken manurewhich can be eminent in both of those nutrient . So , that compost actually compounds the problem .
For organic gardens high in P and K , you need to mature your compost a lot longer so that the excess food leach out before you apply it to your garden . Or , you want to keep off compost that is made primarily from animate being manure until your plants use up some of that P and K.
dirt tests also tell your humic content and your cation exchange . These two cistron have a large wallop on how good your plants will be at taking up nutrients . garden that are low in these two factors postulate more steady fertilizing , such as withliquid fertilizer .
After several years of add lots of compost , you may also need to do a soil test to see where your P , K , micronutrient , humic content , and cation interchange are at now . Consider this as a paper menu for your compost subprogram . This can also guide you on whether better craw rotation is needed to draw out excess minerals in some of your bed .
A compost intemperate garden can brook a wide cooking stove of pH values , so pH is not as much of a constituent in the farsighted - condition . However , even compost - rich gardens need a pH between 5.5 - 7.0 for good output on vegetables .
Garden Myths 4: Plants Need Deep Roots
There ’s a flock of talk about how flora needdeep rootsfor practiced health . The implication here is that plants ask mystifying grime to originate thick ascendent . The truth is , plant want nutrient and piss . If they get those thing , they can grow in all sorts of soil depths . That ’s why you could even grow plants hydroponically without any soil at all .
Even perennial like improbable forest trees can develop in shallow filth . In fact , most forests are shallow proportional to Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree size . stem that ca n’t accomplish deep turn over outward to find the nutrients and pee they require .
If you do n’t have deep soil , do n’t worry . Fertilize andwatera blanket area around your works . Also , fertilize and water a bit more often since shallower soils recede more food to erosion and evaporation than recondite soil will .
Plentiful app of compost andmulchwill keep up moisture and nutrients in shallow soils . Also , using water - based fertiliser such ascompost teawith slow - release plant food meals or granules will help ensure nutritive delivery when you need it in shallow ground .
P.S.It ’s also a garden myth that flora root system of rules expect like their plant tops . Plant root word go where they have to for nutrients , so plant roots look like an underground mapping of where your good food are .
Garden Myths 5: Marigolds Repel Pests
Marigolds are view a must in most gardens and for a well rationality . They ’re beautiful and exceptionally easy to grow . They also seem to draw in a lot of beneficial worm like pollinator to an area . However , do they really repel pests in the garden ?
First of all , there are 4 dissimilar sub - families of marigold in theTagetesfamily . These are commonly referred to asFrench , Mexican / African , Signet , or Hybrid varieties . There are also multiple salmagundi of marigold within each Italian sandwich - family .
Trap Plant
Many varieties of marigolds have really been proven completely ineffective at pest restraint . In fact , many have been shown to be splendid pestilence attractants . In other watchword , quite a few change of marigold plant might be wondrous as a trap plant to draw pest by from more worthful plant .
Ineffective for Some Pests
In terms of repelling gadfly , though , there ’s motley entropy . mostly , marigolds have demonstrate ineffectual against cabbage moths , and cultivated carrot and onion pests . However , , they may be utile for some other pests .
Limonene Powerhouse
Recent studies of marigolds have specify that limonene , a terpene found in many variety of marigold , is an effective impediment against whitefly in a greenhouse . Limonene though is found in lots of plants , including the incredibly easy to growlemon balm(Melissa officinalis ) , and citrus fruit peels . So , this pest repellent quality is not single to marigold .
Nematode Egg Reduction
The Gallic - type marigold ( Tagetes patula ) has proven to be the most beneficial for controlling pesky nematodes . fundamentally , these marigold roots release a chemical ( alpha - terthienyl ) in the soil that prevents nematode eggs from hatching .
Depending on what sort of nematodes you have , different varieties of Gallic marigold will work better than others . So , for the best benefit , you call for to match your marigold variety to your nematode job . Also , you need to plant the marigold throughout your entire bed the year before you plant whatever industrial plant you want to protect from the nematodes .
Use This Knowledge at Home
film off my scientific hat for a moment , I happen to be a huge advocator of using French - character marigold in the garden . I find them hugely beneficial in reducing my pest problems .
I distrust that beyond show garden myths correct with the recent uncovering of the benefits of limonene and the long - known benefits of nematode stifling , there ’s probably more to that potentTagetes patulaplant sub - crime syndicate than we know yet . Science will credibly catch - up to what we home gardeners know about the magic of marigold at some point .
In the meanwhile though , the thing with marigolds is the more the merrier . If you are using them as a pest trap plant , planting en masse will play as a red carpet invite .
If you are using them to draw in good louse , then again planting several together will make more of an impact too . To suppress nematode eggs , pose more in your beds and establish them yearly will have more long - term benefit .
Conclusion
I believe in scientific discipline . However , I also conceive that many of us gardeners have intuitive skill to understand our filth and our plant . While I may have pass the brunt of this post debunking garden myth and some of our short - hired hand ways of explaining well - found garden Wisdom of Solomon , I still think there ’s the true in the time-tested and true .
Compost work even if we do n’t always translate how . legume grow in N - depleted dirt , so they make a right pick if you are unretentive on atomic number 7 . Soil tests can be helpful , just not all the time . Deep soil is great , but do n’t let shallow grunge break off you from growing an awing garden .
in the end , marigold are gorgeous . Plant them because you screw them and throw in a few French - eccentric for good measure . Oh , and never finish being transfix by garden myth and nature . Nature bonk a lot more than we do about what influence and does n’t . Sometimes , observing nature is our expert instructor .
Was this article helpful?
What went wrong?
This clause contain incorrect selective information
This clause does not have the information I am look for
How can we improve it?
We appreciate your helpful feedback!
Your response will be used to ameliorate our mental object . The more feedback you give us , the better our Thomas Nelson Page can be .
