Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Six factors to control in your garden
Six Elements to Control PP Presentation – Narration
Source Food for Everyone Foundation
1. The Mittleider Method of gardening is sometimes called “The Poor Man’s Hydroponic Method” – and for good reason. (Hydroponic growers are able to consistently control all elements of the growing process, and therefore get maximum yields.)
In the next few minutes you will learn how to control the 6 elements that are necessary to healthy and productive plant growth.
2. The large commercial hydroponic growers do it best, and as a consequence they are able to produce as much as 330 TONS per acre!
However, in order to do that hydroponic growers must invest about $1,000,000 per acre in buildings and equipment, and in addition they have very high labor costs.
3. Our garden yields approach the hydroponic growers, and yet the investment is a TINY FRACTION of the typical hydroponic grower’s.
That’s why the label “The Poor Man’s Hydroponic Method” fits – anyone can do it. And some call this method “The best of organic” also! You’ll learn why as we go along.
Using the principles and procedures illustrated here you can have a GREAT garden in ANY soil – or in NO soil – in virtually any climate. You discover that soil and climate differences are NOT major problems.
You’ll learn to control the 6 basic physical conditions necessary for healthy plant growth.
(By borrowing hydroponic growers’ principles and procedures, and adapting them to the small family gardener – we increase the quality and quantity of our garden yields MANY times as compared to traditional methods.)
4. The most important factor to control is LIGHT – for reasons that should be obvious.
Light is life! And nowhere is it more obvious than in the world of plants, where 95% of the structure is the result of that marvelous miracle called photosynthesis.
Using just the three basic elements carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen plants create CARB-O-HYDRATES.
(Number one in importance is providing maximum sunlight – for as long as possible. In the far North plants go crazy in the summer with 18 and 20 hours of sunlight!)
5. Therefore you must AVOID planting where there is shade – from trees, houses, walls, shrubs, etc.
Even tall vegetable plants will produce shade, unless you plant tall varieties to the North OR East of short ones.
(Any fruit-bearing plant MUST have direct sunlight for at least 6 hours per day, and 10 is much better. In this picture, tall plants – tomatoes and corn - were planted East AND West of the short peppers. Even with wide aisles the peppers suffered some for lack of sunlight.)
Notice the row of short pepper plants between rows of tall plants. The peppers produced very little, because they lacked direct sunlight many hours of the day.
6. A plant can even shade itself more than is healthy! Remove sucker stems from climbing plants, and prune excess leaves – to allow light everywhere.
(Crop yields can be increased significantly by pruning. For example, removing sucker stems on tomatoes is important to maximize crop yield.)
7. The second element to control is TEMPERATURE. Plants thrive in a rather narrow temperature range, and this is especially true when they first germinate.
Sustained temperatures above 70 degrees Fahrenheit are essential for fast germination and high germination rates. Even 10 degrees colder will greatly slow the germination time and reduce the number of plants.
(Is your garden too small for a greenhouse? Start your plants on a heating pad in your house. Somewhere warm is essential.)
8. Even after germination young plants need favorable temperatures to thrive. In early Spring this may require some protection – and sometimes even a little supplemental heat – whether in the greenhouse or in the garden.
(A small seed-house like Dr. Jacob Mittleider’s can grow hundreds of healthy seedlings. Mini-greenhouses right in the garden help to keep them warm on cold nights.)
Covering your plants with plastic as illustrated helps warm the soil and eliminate cold winds, and on cold nights even the heat from a couple of light bulbs can be enough to prevent freezing.
9. In this way – by covering your plants and protecting from frost – you can extend your growing season by up to 4 weeks in both Spring and Fall.
(The arched frames in back can easily be covered to grow plants clear into December in Utah. T-Frames work just as well as those A-Frames.)
10. The third element to control is AIR. Remember that plants receive carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen from the air. However, they access those things mainly through their ROOTS.
Therefore, good drainage is necessary. Why?
(To use this area as a successful garden just required drain ditches to remove the standing water.)
11. You must avoid flooding the roots for any extended length of time. Even a few hours under water can kill your plants.
(Soil that is soaked with or covered with water drives out the soil air. Roots get oxygen from the air, not the water, so the plant can drown in a fairly short time.)
So, to insure your plant roots receive the soil-air they must have, never plant in a low spot with poor drainage.
12. We solve the drainage problem by RAISING the planting area of our soil-beds slightly higher than the surrounding aisles.
13. The fourth element to control is WATER.
Water obviously should be clean, and it MUST be non-toxic. Any concentration of harmful elements, such as chemicals from a nearby industrial plant, can quickly kill your plants.
How much and how often do you need to water?
Understand that “a plant is a continuous water pipe, from the tip of the smallest root to the top of the highest leaf” - JRM.
And a plant is over 80% water!
Water should therefore ALWAYS be available to the plant roots. The soil should be MOIST but not completely WET. One inch daily is enough.
14. In addition to being slightly raised –
Your soil-beds should be LEVEL.
This avoids the loss of water; plus your seeds, small plants, and fertilizers are not washed out and lost.
(Do not plant until your beds are level. Much grief is avoided by following the procedures accurately.)
15. Level beds also ensure UNIFORM DISTRIBUTION of water and natural mineral fertilizers to all plants’ roots.
16. Even when watering almost every day we conserve water, using about ½ that of traditional methods.
This is because we only water the root-zone of the plants - about 17% of the garden area.
(No water is lost to run-off, nor wasted in the aisles. In Armenia village neighbors are AMAZED at how little water we use.)
17. Never water your garden by sprinkling – for 3 reasons:
Sprinkling encourages weed growth in the aisles and on the ridges;
It wastes a great deal of water through evaporation as well;
It promotes diseases, which thrive in a moist environment.
(On a hot day evaporation wastes up to ½ of the water when sprinkling is used. And even more than that is wasted on the aisles and ridges. Sprinklers may be needed for lawns, but they have no place in the vegetable garden!)
18. Four-inch-high ridges surrounding the planting area accomplish several things;
They define the bed aesthetically and afford some protection to small seedling plants;
They keep the water and fertilizers in the root zone of the plants.
19. Automating your watering will greatly increase the pleasure you receive from your garden.
It makes watering EASIER, FASTER, and more EFFICIENT!
(Many beds can be watered at the same time. 125 beds at the Utah Zoo garden are watered in only 60 minutes.)
20. Simple illustrated plans for automating your watering system are available in the Mittleider gardening books, and it’s free online at http://foodforeveryone.org/pdf/MGC_Chpt_16.pdf
(The main water pipe should be as large as your water source. Use threaded connections – NOT GLUED! Use Schedule 200 – NOT schedule 40 for watering pipes.)
21. The fifth element to control in your garden is your plants’ FOOD.
Besides the 3 elements plants receive FREE from the air there are 13 other elements that plants must have for food.
Most people know about the 3 MAJOR nutrients, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, or N, P, & K.
However, 3 SECONDARY elements are used almost as much by plants as phosphorus, and these are calcium, sulfur, and magnesium.
In addition there are Micro-nutrients – also called Trace Elements - because plants use only small amounts of them. They include zinc, boron, manganese, iron, copper, chloride, and molybdenum.
People in the Mountain West can get these complete balanced plant foods pre-mixed.
WHEREVER YOU live simply get Micro-Nutrients from the website at www.growfood.com and mix with NPK and Epsom Salt according to instructions to have the complete balanced nutrient mix.
22. Plants require feeding in two ways, with two separate natural mineral nutrient mixes. They are called the Pre-Plant Mix and the Weekly Feed Mix, indicating how they are used.
Unless materials are water-soluble plants can’t get or use them. They receive their nourishment as water-soluble MINERALS through their ROOTS.
(WATER SOLUBLE is the key! Dirt often has most or even all the minerals in it, but it’s usually NOT water soluble – therefore it’s not available to your plants.)
How are we “The Best of Organic”? The nutritional value of manure and compost are unknown. We know what plants need and we supply exactly that – in balanced amounts.
And we supply small amounts weekly throughout the growing season – just as they are needed.
23. The sixth and final element we must control is COMPETITION. (And disease certainly competes to rob you of your crop! Beat the big four for sure success.)
Competition from weeds, bugs, and animals is usually fierce and constant.
And diseases are very difficult to control, and sometimes almost impossible to eliminate after they get established.
24. Eliminate all weeds! Success STARTS with a weed-free garden! (Starting right is all important! Don’t expect a great finish if your beginning is sloppy.)
“No amount of scratching after the crop is planted can overcome the ill effects of poor seed-bed preparation.” JRM
You must remove both annual and perennial weeds, and for perennials that includes the roots, rhizomes, and runners.
25. And after planting you must KEEP UP the weeding! (People often ask what our secret is to our weed-free gardens. It’s E & O Weeding – early and often! Get those weeds out of the END aisles also, or they’ll come into your beds! After beds are built, the 2-way hoe and rake are your main weeding tools.)
Be sure you remove the weeds every time from within the rows, on the ridges, AND in the aisles!
26. How do you eliminate bugs from your garden? Cultural practices that greatly reduce your risk include maintaining a weed-free DRY perimeter, aisles, weed-free beds, and keeping the garden free of mulch or other ground coverings.
(Rather than providing bug hotels throughout your garden, make them walk the Sahara Desert to get to lunch or dinner. Most won’t make it! Because of the above cultural practices, and growing HEALTHY, FAST-GROWING PLANTS, we RARELY have to resort to pesticides or herbicides.)
27. You must take POSITIVE and sometimes AGGRESSIVE steps to control and eliminate animal pests.
Those steps may include fencing, traps, baits, and/or netting.
(Deer and many smaller animals, as well as birds, will love the salad bar you provide if you don’t keep them out.)
28. DISEASE is the last thing you need to control, but not the least. It’s recently been discovered that healthy plants naturally resist disease. (Read about HIGH BRIX LEVELS. Your sustainable Mittleider-Method garden vegetables will have them!)
29. In addition to minimizing bugs, a dry periphery and aisles are inhospitable environments for diseases.
(Disease thrives in MOIST conditions. Keep everything possible DRY! This garden THRIVED in BLOW-SAND – in HOT Santa Clara, Utah.)
30. The best disease control is PREVENTION.
Pruning plants reduces those moist conditions diseases love, and provides light and air to ripen tasty fruit.
(These tomatoes were NOT pruned properly – Production suffered greatly, and they were subject to bugs and disease.)
31. Don’t give diseases OR bugs an easy path to your tender plants. Remove everything touching the ground.
32. Follow this recipe accurately and consistently for “a great garden in any soil, in any climate.”
THANK YOU!
Source Food for Everyone Foundation
1. The Mittleider Method of gardening is sometimes called “The Poor Man’s Hydroponic Method” – and for good reason. (Hydroponic growers are able to consistently control all elements of the growing process, and therefore get maximum yields.)
In the next few minutes you will learn how to control the 6 elements that are necessary to healthy and productive plant growth.
2. The large commercial hydroponic growers do it best, and as a consequence they are able to produce as much as 330 TONS per acre!
However, in order to do that hydroponic growers must invest about $1,000,000 per acre in buildings and equipment, and in addition they have very high labor costs.
3. Our garden yields approach the hydroponic growers, and yet the investment is a TINY FRACTION of the typical hydroponic grower’s.
That’s why the label “The Poor Man’s Hydroponic Method” fits – anyone can do it. And some call this method “The best of organic” also! You’ll learn why as we go along.
Using the principles and procedures illustrated here you can have a GREAT garden in ANY soil – or in NO soil – in virtually any climate. You discover that soil and climate differences are NOT major problems.
You’ll learn to control the 6 basic physical conditions necessary for healthy plant growth.
(By borrowing hydroponic growers’ principles and procedures, and adapting them to the small family gardener – we increase the quality and quantity of our garden yields MANY times as compared to traditional methods.)
4. The most important factor to control is LIGHT – for reasons that should be obvious.
Light is life! And nowhere is it more obvious than in the world of plants, where 95% of the structure is the result of that marvelous miracle called photosynthesis.
Using just the three basic elements carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen plants create CARB-O-HYDRATES.
(Number one in importance is providing maximum sunlight – for as long as possible. In the far North plants go crazy in the summer with 18 and 20 hours of sunlight!)
5. Therefore you must AVOID planting where there is shade – from trees, houses, walls, shrubs, etc.
Even tall vegetable plants will produce shade, unless you plant tall varieties to the North OR East of short ones.
(Any fruit-bearing plant MUST have direct sunlight for at least 6 hours per day, and 10 is much better. In this picture, tall plants – tomatoes and corn - were planted East AND West of the short peppers. Even with wide aisles the peppers suffered some for lack of sunlight.)
Notice the row of short pepper plants between rows of tall plants. The peppers produced very little, because they lacked direct sunlight many hours of the day.
6. A plant can even shade itself more than is healthy! Remove sucker stems from climbing plants, and prune excess leaves – to allow light everywhere.
(Crop yields can be increased significantly by pruning. For example, removing sucker stems on tomatoes is important to maximize crop yield.)
7. The second element to control is TEMPERATURE. Plants thrive in a rather narrow temperature range, and this is especially true when they first germinate.
Sustained temperatures above 70 degrees Fahrenheit are essential for fast germination and high germination rates. Even 10 degrees colder will greatly slow the germination time and reduce the number of plants.
(Is your garden too small for a greenhouse? Start your plants on a heating pad in your house. Somewhere warm is essential.)
8. Even after germination young plants need favorable temperatures to thrive. In early Spring this may require some protection – and sometimes even a little supplemental heat – whether in the greenhouse or in the garden.
(A small seed-house like Dr. Jacob Mittleider’s can grow hundreds of healthy seedlings. Mini-greenhouses right in the garden help to keep them warm on cold nights.)
Covering your plants with plastic as illustrated helps warm the soil and eliminate cold winds, and on cold nights even the heat from a couple of light bulbs can be enough to prevent freezing.
9. In this way – by covering your plants and protecting from frost – you can extend your growing season by up to 4 weeks in both Spring and Fall.
(The arched frames in back can easily be covered to grow plants clear into December in Utah. T-Frames work just as well as those A-Frames.)
10. The third element to control is AIR. Remember that plants receive carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen from the air. However, they access those things mainly through their ROOTS.
Therefore, good drainage is necessary. Why?
(To use this area as a successful garden just required drain ditches to remove the standing water.)
11. You must avoid flooding the roots for any extended length of time. Even a few hours under water can kill your plants.
(Soil that is soaked with or covered with water drives out the soil air. Roots get oxygen from the air, not the water, so the plant can drown in a fairly short time.)
So, to insure your plant roots receive the soil-air they must have, never plant in a low spot with poor drainage.
12. We solve the drainage problem by RAISING the planting area of our soil-beds slightly higher than the surrounding aisles.
13. The fourth element to control is WATER.
Water obviously should be clean, and it MUST be non-toxic. Any concentration of harmful elements, such as chemicals from a nearby industrial plant, can quickly kill your plants.
How much and how often do you need to water?
Understand that “a plant is a continuous water pipe, from the tip of the smallest root to the top of the highest leaf” - JRM.
And a plant is over 80% water!
Water should therefore ALWAYS be available to the plant roots. The soil should be MOIST but not completely WET. One inch daily is enough.
14. In addition to being slightly raised –
Your soil-beds should be LEVEL.
This avoids the loss of water; plus your seeds, small plants, and fertilizers are not washed out and lost.
(Do not plant until your beds are level. Much grief is avoided by following the procedures accurately.)
15. Level beds also ensure UNIFORM DISTRIBUTION of water and natural mineral fertilizers to all plants’ roots.
16. Even when watering almost every day we conserve water, using about ½ that of traditional methods.
This is because we only water the root-zone of the plants - about 17% of the garden area.
(No water is lost to run-off, nor wasted in the aisles. In Armenia village neighbors are AMAZED at how little water we use.)
17. Never water your garden by sprinkling – for 3 reasons:
Sprinkling encourages weed growth in the aisles and on the ridges;
It wastes a great deal of water through evaporation as well;
It promotes diseases, which thrive in a moist environment.
(On a hot day evaporation wastes up to ½ of the water when sprinkling is used. And even more than that is wasted on the aisles and ridges. Sprinklers may be needed for lawns, but they have no place in the vegetable garden!)
18. Four-inch-high ridges surrounding the planting area accomplish several things;
They define the bed aesthetically and afford some protection to small seedling plants;
They keep the water and fertilizers in the root zone of the plants.
19. Automating your watering will greatly increase the pleasure you receive from your garden.
It makes watering EASIER, FASTER, and more EFFICIENT!
(Many beds can be watered at the same time. 125 beds at the Utah Zoo garden are watered in only 60 minutes.)
20. Simple illustrated plans for automating your watering system are available in the Mittleider gardening books, and it’s free online at http://foodforeveryone.org/pdf/MGC_Chpt_16.pdf
(The main water pipe should be as large as your water source. Use threaded connections – NOT GLUED! Use Schedule 200 – NOT schedule 40 for watering pipes.)
21. The fifth element to control in your garden is your plants’ FOOD.
Besides the 3 elements plants receive FREE from the air there are 13 other elements that plants must have for food.
Most people know about the 3 MAJOR nutrients, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, or N, P, & K.
However, 3 SECONDARY elements are used almost as much by plants as phosphorus, and these are calcium, sulfur, and magnesium.
In addition there are Micro-nutrients – also called Trace Elements - because plants use only small amounts of them. They include zinc, boron, manganese, iron, copper, chloride, and molybdenum.
People in the Mountain West can get these complete balanced plant foods pre-mixed.
WHEREVER YOU live simply get Micro-Nutrients from the website at www.growfood.com and mix with NPK and Epsom Salt according to instructions to have the complete balanced nutrient mix.
22. Plants require feeding in two ways, with two separate natural mineral nutrient mixes. They are called the Pre-Plant Mix and the Weekly Feed Mix, indicating how they are used.
Unless materials are water-soluble plants can’t get or use them. They receive their nourishment as water-soluble MINERALS through their ROOTS.
(WATER SOLUBLE is the key! Dirt often has most or even all the minerals in it, but it’s usually NOT water soluble – therefore it’s not available to your plants.)
How are we “The Best of Organic”? The nutritional value of manure and compost are unknown. We know what plants need and we supply exactly that – in balanced amounts.
And we supply small amounts weekly throughout the growing season – just as they are needed.
23. The sixth and final element we must control is COMPETITION. (And disease certainly competes to rob you of your crop! Beat the big four for sure success.)
Competition from weeds, bugs, and animals is usually fierce and constant.
And diseases are very difficult to control, and sometimes almost impossible to eliminate after they get established.
24. Eliminate all weeds! Success STARTS with a weed-free garden! (Starting right is all important! Don’t expect a great finish if your beginning is sloppy.)
“No amount of scratching after the crop is planted can overcome the ill effects of poor seed-bed preparation.” JRM
You must remove both annual and perennial weeds, and for perennials that includes the roots, rhizomes, and runners.
25. And after planting you must KEEP UP the weeding! (People often ask what our secret is to our weed-free gardens. It’s E & O Weeding – early and often! Get those weeds out of the END aisles also, or they’ll come into your beds! After beds are built, the 2-way hoe and rake are your main weeding tools.)
Be sure you remove the weeds every time from within the rows, on the ridges, AND in the aisles!
26. How do you eliminate bugs from your garden? Cultural practices that greatly reduce your risk include maintaining a weed-free DRY perimeter, aisles, weed-free beds, and keeping the garden free of mulch or other ground coverings.
(Rather than providing bug hotels throughout your garden, make them walk the Sahara Desert to get to lunch or dinner. Most won’t make it! Because of the above cultural practices, and growing HEALTHY, FAST-GROWING PLANTS, we RARELY have to resort to pesticides or herbicides.)
27. You must take POSITIVE and sometimes AGGRESSIVE steps to control and eliminate animal pests.
Those steps may include fencing, traps, baits, and/or netting.
(Deer and many smaller animals, as well as birds, will love the salad bar you provide if you don’t keep them out.)
28. DISEASE is the last thing you need to control, but not the least. It’s recently been discovered that healthy plants naturally resist disease. (Read about HIGH BRIX LEVELS. Your sustainable Mittleider-Method garden vegetables will have them!)
29. In addition to minimizing bugs, a dry periphery and aisles are inhospitable environments for diseases.
(Disease thrives in MOIST conditions. Keep everything possible DRY! This garden THRIVED in BLOW-SAND – in HOT Santa Clara, Utah.)
30. The best disease control is PREVENTION.
Pruning plants reduces those moist conditions diseases love, and provides light and air to ripen tasty fruit.
(These tomatoes were NOT pruned properly – Production suffered greatly, and they were subject to bugs and disease.)
31. Don’t give diseases OR bugs an easy path to your tender plants. Remove everything touching the ground.
32. Follow this recipe accurately and consistently for “a great garden in any soil, in any climate.”
THANK YOU!
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