Project Guide
Grow Organic Plants
With careful attention to soil preparation and plant selection, regular watering and feeding with the right plant food, and frequent walks around the garden to check on your plants – all good habits for any gardener – you can grow robust organic plants that produce impressive harvests!
Materials
- All-Purpose Container Mix
- In-Ground Soil
- Plant Nutrition
1. Prep the Soil
Most plants are happiest in soil that’s rich with organic matter and has a balanced texture that gives roots a place to grab hold and soak up nutrients while allowing excess water to drain. To create that ideal soil environment in an in-ground organic garden, blend Miracle-Gro Performance Organics All-Purpose In-Ground Soil with the top layer of your native soil. If you’re gardening in indoor or outdoor containers, fill them with Miracle-Gro Performance Organics All-Purpose Container Mix. (Growing in raised beds? Use Miracle-Gro Performance Organics Raised Bed Mix or a 50-50 mixture of In-Ground Soil and Container Mix.) Both are enriched with aged compost and provide just the right organic nutrition to get plants off to a strong start – so strong, in fact, that they’re guaranteed to deliver up to twice the harvest (vs. unfed plants) during the growing season.
2. Choose Your Plants
Once your soil is ready, plant it up with a variety of strong, vigorous, USDA-Certified Organic plants from Bonnie Plants Organics. That way, you won’t have to sit around waiting for seeds to sprout – you’ll already be well on your way to harvest.
3. Maintenance
Remember, care doesn’t end just because your plants are in the ground. Be sure to water your organic garden regularly – don’t just depend on rain, especially in the summertime. Whenever the top inch of soil is dry, it’s time to give your plants a thorough soaking. If you see plants beginning to wilt, that’s a good sign that you need to reach for the hose or watering can.
4. Feeding
The other thing to keep in mind (and this is crucial) is that if you want them to be productive, organic gardens need to be fed regularly throughout the growing season. After all, just like kids, plants need plenty of the right kind of nutrition in order to flourish! A month after planting, sprinkle Miracle-Gro Performance Organics All-Purpose Plant Nutrition Granules evenly around your plants. Gently work the granules into the soil, then water to start feeding. Make sure to follow all of the directions on the label.
5. Watch for Pests!
Finally, don’t forget to keep a watchful eye on your organic garden so you can quickly spot invading pests before they do any lasting damage. If you do see insects on your plants, don’t panic. Not all insects are pests – in fact, many of them are important for the health of your organic garden. Good guys like wasps, butterflies, bees and flies are beneficial pollinators, and dragonflies, green lacewings and some beetles (like ladybugs) dine on damaging aphids, mites and slugs. If you do spot destructive bugs in the garden, consider removing them by hand, spraying them with a hose, setting natural traps or treating plants with an organic pest control spray.