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Step 5Hints 2: Water, light, soil and nutrients
Water, light, and a good, nutritious soil are the most important factors that contribute to nice plants:
Water is essential, of course. The quantity used will depend on each plant.
Plants like aloe vera will need little water; other like allisum or tomatoes will need plenty of it, to be provided during the evening and/or the morning. Strawberries also require much water.
Medium-sized and big trees can take water from deep regions of the soil crust, which ussually retains water, so such trees may not require watering (except in some specific dry seasons).
The application of water to pots, as said in step 1, will usually be increased in windy and/or hot days.
If you want to be greener and not spend so much money in water, you can make rain collectors connected to tanks where you store water for later use Instructables on rainwater collectors here
Light is another important factor, which comes together with temperature. Some plants require much sunlight, others prefer sunlight only in the morning and afternoon, and others may not like direct sunlight at all.
The plants we'll tipically use in a gourmet garden, as well as most plants with flowers, are in the medium-to-lots region of optimum sunlight. So make sure where you put the trees so as to avoid projecting shadows on your tomatoes, allisum, strawberries, lettuce, etc.
Soil is the material which gives the plants support and supplies it with nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorous, pottasium, minor elements and trace elements) dissolved in water. As such, it has to be stable but not hard, it must contain the required nutrients each in its correct amount, and it must be able of buffering pH and changes in water content.
Again, the optimum soil will be different for each type of plant. But a standard soil in which most plants grow well can be made by mixing about 70% humus (or compost) and 30% sand. Just make sure that the humus or compost is well done, since any fermenting material will be bad for your plants. Also make sure that when you use your own humus for a pot, you are not putting worms inside of it (worms will start eating your plants' roots when they run off organic material).
There are a number of instructables on producing compost. In my case, I have an area of 1 x 3 m where I let cut grass, leaves, and other organic materials to decompose into humus under the action of naturally-occuring worms, fungui, and bacteria. Every 6 or more months, I rotate all that compost extracting the part which has formed well, and I store that separately.
Water is essential, of course. The quantity used will depend on each plant.
Plants like aloe vera will need little water; other like allisum or tomatoes will need plenty of it, to be provided during the evening and/or the morning. Strawberries also require much water.
Medium-sized and big trees can take water from deep regions of the soil crust, which ussually retains water, so such trees may not require watering (except in some specific dry seasons).
The application of water to pots, as said in step 1, will usually be increased in windy and/or hot days.
If you want to be greener and not spend so much money in water, you can make rain collectors connected to tanks where you store water for later use Instructables on rainwater collectors here
Light is another important factor, which comes together with temperature. Some plants require much sunlight, others prefer sunlight only in the morning and afternoon, and others may not like direct sunlight at all.
The plants we'll tipically use in a gourmet garden, as well as most plants with flowers, are in the medium-to-lots region of optimum sunlight. So make sure where you put the trees so as to avoid projecting shadows on your tomatoes, allisum, strawberries, lettuce, etc.
Soil is the material which gives the plants support and supplies it with nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorous, pottasium, minor elements and trace elements) dissolved in water. As such, it has to be stable but not hard, it must contain the required nutrients each in its correct amount, and it must be able of buffering pH and changes in water content.
Again, the optimum soil will be different for each type of plant. But a standard soil in which most plants grow well can be made by mixing about 70% humus (or compost) and 30% sand. Just make sure that the humus or compost is well done, since any fermenting material will be bad for your plants. Also make sure that when you use your own humus for a pot, you are not putting worms inside of it (worms will start eating your plants' roots when they run off organic material).
There are a number of instructables on producing compost. In my case, I have an area of 1 x 3 m where I let cut grass, leaves, and other organic materials to decompose into humus under the action of naturally-occuring worms, fungui, and bacteria. Every 6 or more months, I rotate all that compost extracting the part which has formed well, and I store that separately.
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