Container Gardening

We all need to eat every day, not just eat but eat healthy foods. Organic vegetables are expensive than of the commercial one. Not all people can afford to buy an Organic Vegetables or food so they prefer those in commercial which has lesser price but more on chemical fertilizers.

Why we should buy if we can plant? You don't have an area to have a garden? You don't have an earth you you can use in planting? That's not a problem, there are so many ways you can plant food in urban areas. First you must have a composting bin which, you will get your earth for your gardening. Next some plastic containers which has holes in the bottom for drainage, And some area in your backyard or in a patio where you can place the containers.

There are many types of containers you can use and ideas of planting you can read more here http://containergardening.wordpress.com/

The Plants Basic Needs

Sunlight
Most vegetables need at least six hours of full sunlight every day to grow properly. Cool season plants like lettuce, celery and broccoli can get by on a bit less. Setting containers on caddies allows them to be easily moved towards the sun.

Containers
Most vegetables require a pot that is at least 45 centimetres deep and 60 centimetres wide. If you don’t have space for large containers, you can still grow shallow root plants, such as lettuce, radishes and peppers, in smaller containers or window boxes. Remember to consider total weight when choosing a container. A pot filled with wet soil can be heavy.

Soil
Using a soilless potting soil with time-released fertilizer is the easiest way to ensure that your vegetables get the water and nutrients they need. Soilless potting mixes contain a mix of ingredients like compost, perlite, vermiculite and sphagnum peat that help soil absorb and retain water and nutrients. A soilless mix also helps protect vegetables from bacteria and insects.

Fertilizer
Choosing a soil mix with time-released fertilizer helps vegetables to get a head start, but you’ll want to supplement it with application of fish emulsion every few weeks.

Water
Drip irrigation systems set on automatic timers can make container gardening a breeze, and ensure that plants get all the water they need. If you’re going to hand water vegetables, you need to make sure that the soil never completely dries out. Check the soil each morning by sticking your finger into the dirt. If the soil is dry past your first knuckle, it’s time to water.

Vermi Culture

Vermiculture, which is also known as Worm composting or vermicomposting, sees the involvement of the breaking down of organic waste with the steady work of microorganisms along with worms. The process of vermicomposting is useful for the breakdown of organic matter so that it can be put to more use than simply ending in a landfill.

Here are some facts that one would do well to known if one were interested in working with Vermiculture

1.     The regular earthworms, found in the garden or the surrounding soil cannot be utilized forVermiculture. These worms would die if they were to be added to indoor worm bins.

2.     These worms from the soil would, however, congregate within the lower sections of an outdoor bin, if I were kept in contact with the surrounding soil.

3.     The worms that are indeed used for composting purposes are specially bred surface-dwelling worms, which do not burrow within the soil. They are typically found to live in nutritionally richer organic matter like manure, leaf litter and compost heaps.

4.     The most common type of worms used for Vermiculture is the Eisenia fetida. The Eisenia hortensis, a cousin of the Eisenia fetida, which is also known as the ‘European Night crawler’ is made use of as well. This specie of the worm s also commonly sold as bait for fishing

5.     The other common names for Eisenia fetida include those like red wiggler, red worm, brandling worm, the tiger worm and the manure worm.

6.     Unless you live on a farmland, or do introduce the worm on your compost bin, there are not many chances you will find these worms on your property.

7.     Another species of worm found used in composting via Vermiculture is the Lumbricus rubellus. This worm is also a small worm, reddish in color, not as potent at composting as the Eisenia fetida.

8.     According to experts on the subject, a composting worm is capable of processing as much as its own equivalence in weight in a single day. In conditions that are highly optimized, these worms are said to be able to process as much as four to five times their own weight. Of course, this is possible only when the food stock that is supplied to them is of the best quality with the most chances of processing at the earliest possible. That is why this phenomenon will not be seen normally in a small system like a home.

9.     One of the first things that you need to do is realize that the worms must process only a quarter to a half of the total weight of the worms in waste in a single day. That means that if there were a pound of worms, they would be able to process as much as a quarter to half a pound of food in a day. One must definitely feed the worms lesser at the start, for at least the first two months, so that they can be acclimatized to the new system that they are introduced in.

10.    Red worms actually graze on the communities of microorganisms that colonize themselves on the waste materials, not actually eating the waste. In the process of gorging on these microbial communities, these worms do indeed ingest quite a bit of the rotting waste in the ensuing process. According to some research and findings, the primary source of food is protozoan bodies, while other microbes and fungi are also said to be consumed in the process.

11.    According to a number of different studies that have been formed on the subject, the process of Vermiculture leads to the significant reduction in levels of dangerous pathogens in the waste materials, like bio solids.

12.    The red worms involved in composting can survive very well even in conditions where the moisture content is significantly high (80 to 90 percent). However, it is also necessary that they receive oxygen, so a proper balance need to be struck between the two.

13.    There are close to a thousand individual worms that one can get in a pound of worms exclusively for composting processes and the cost for these can be anywhere between USD  $ 15 and $ 40.

14.    While creating a bin for these worms, remember that a larger surface area is much more important in comparison to the depth of the soil. This is why it is advisable to use a tub for this purpose more than a bucket.

15.    While regular light itself is harmful for these worms, red light itself does not have a strong effect on it.

16.    The eggs of the Red Worms are similar to miniscule lemons, with a color akin to straw.

17.    The baby red worms look like miniature versions of the adult worms. They however, do not have the same amount of red pigment.

18.    The production of worms can be increased by adding sources of calcium like egg shells that have been crushed

Read more: http://www.earthconservation.net