Hello Friends!
These 50 gardening rules of thumb, Do’s and Don’t’s, tips & tricks can make all
the difference and make you a gardener with a GREEN THUMB!
Whether you are a beginner or an expert, Please watch and implement all these 50 rules and
be a successful gardener!
1.
Gardening needs Patience!
Gardening takes time to master, and plants take time to blossom, cuttings take time to
root, seeds take time to germinate.
Not every plant will be a winner for you!
Do not give up if you fail or your plant dies!
2.
Go Scientific!
Always gain the right knowledge on plant care tips.
Beware of unscientific shortcuts, gardening hacks, fertilizers and stuff like seen on
the internet.
Use your common sense and reasoning before jumping into some non-sense tips.
3.
Do you know the Surest way to kill a plant?
Apart from Over watering or under watering, the biggest killer is Over-Caring a plant!
You know – Too much is Too Bad!
4.
Do not get upset when a plant dies!
It's not failure–it's an opportunity to learn from your mistakes.
5.
Thumb Rule for Watering: Over watering is one of the biggest killer!
Use the finger dip method to check for moisture – dip an inch of your finger into the soil.
Water it only if its dry.
6.
The most common reason plants fail to bloom is not enough sun.
As a general rule most flowering and fruiting plants needs at least six to eight hours of
direct sunlight in a day.
7.
Many plants wilt in hot sun, even if soil is moist.
Do not water them seeing the wilt.
Overwatering can kill them.
Examine your plants in early morning when its cooler and if they are still found wilted,
water them!
8.
Butterflies are the most beautiful visitors to your garden.
Attract them by planting their favourites like butterfly bush, zinnia, lantana, marigold,
salvia, pentas, firebush and other plants.
9.
Encourage beneficial insects and pollinators like butterflies and honey bees in your garden.
Do not use powerful chemical pesticides on your plants.
It can kill them!
10.
Avoid wetting the leaves when you water.
Wet foliage encourages disease and fungus in most plants.
11.
A kinked Garden hose is a waste of time and energy.
Invest in a good quality garden hose for peace of mind!
12.
Fruits and Vegetable plants need full sunlight of atleast 6 to 8 hours and leafy greens do
not!
They can be grown even in partial sun or indirect bright light in shady spots.
13.
You know, you are a True Gardener, if you accept a gift of Cowdung Manure and feel happy
on your birthday or similar occasion?
14.
Neem oil is the best and safe organic pesticide to get rid of a lot of pests and diseases
in your garden.
15.
Say No! to Chemicals!
For Treating a pest affected plant, always start with the least toxic option first like
neem oil or even plain soap water.
Go for the powerful options only as the last option.
You know you can make a more potent organic pesticide by mixing neem oil with other oils
like clove oil and eucalyptus oil.
16.
You know you could burn your plants or even loose them if you apply overdose of chemical
fertilizers like NPK, DAP or Urea.
On the other hand, Your plants are absolutely safe with organic fertilizers like cow dung
compost or vermicompost.
17.
Prepare a Garden Maintenance schedule or time table and reminders on your calender like
watering, pruning, fertilizing, pest control and other important gardening tasks to follow
regularly to keep your plants healthy.
18.
Grouping Plants of similar family for better maintenance like succulents and cacti which
need watering once or max twice a week.
Water loving plants, Flowering plants and shade loving plants all must be grouped separately
for proper maintenance.
19.
Choose the Right Plant for the Right Location depending on its sunlight requirements like
a sun loving or flowering plant and shade loving plants.
That’s again Grouping of Plants.
20.
Soil is the King!
Your garden will only be as good as your soil.
Take your time to prepare the best potting mix.
The right proportions of various ingredients including soil, compost and other stuff are
important for best results.
21.
Most of the plants love sunlight plus a well draining soil to perform well.
Always Remember this you purchase a new plant or repot a plant.
22.
Focus on Preventing diseases and problems more than curing them.
Prevention is better than cure.
Even if your plants are pest free, spray a pesticide like neem oil atleast once in a
fortnight.
23.
Make it a habit to Remove weeds and other unwanted plants at least once in a week.
24.
Top soil raking or tilling should be performed once in 15 days or atleast once in a month
to improve soil aeration.
25.
Fertilize your plants at the same time when you till or rake your top soil.
A handful of an organic fertilizer like decomposed cowdung powder or vermicompost can keep your
plant healthy.
26.
Know your plant by its name and family.
This is very important to learn about the requirements of a plant like water, sunlight,
fertilizers and so on.
You can use some useful plant identification apps on your phone like PictureThis App or
even the Free Google Lens tool in your google search app to identify plants.
27.
Soil PH and Temperature can be very important!
Make sure you have this type of simple soil PH and moisture meter and also the soil thermometer.
Also learn more about the ideal soil PH required for plants and ways to alter soil PH.
28.
Soak your seeds!
Most seeds benefit from pre-soaking and germinate faster.
Soak them for several hours or overnight in room temperature water before sowing them.
29.
Always use gardening protection wherever applicable, like use garden gloves while handling potting
mix and cacti.
Wear a mask while applying a pesticide.
30.
Pruning or trimming plants is an important task in gardening.
Know the best time to prune your plant.
For most plants its just at the end of its dormancy period which falls mostly in late
winter or early spring.
Do not hesitate to trim your plants to make them more bushy and increase flowering and
fruiting.
31.
Keep you garden clean and avoid water stagnation to avoid breeding of mosquitoes and other
harmful insects.
After all Health is Wealth!
32.
Rule of Thumb for Watering: Generally for most plants, its better to water less often
but thoroughly till it reaches all the roots.
Instead of watering more frequently with small sips of water, thorough watering like until
the water drains out of the drainage holes is the recommended method.
33.
For Cloning your favourite plant and growing its cuttings – always making a Sharp Cut
at 45 degree angle half an inch below a node with a clean cutting tool.
34.
Container selection is also very important in gardening.
Choose the right size and type of container like clay and cement planters for keeping
in full sunlight and Plastic and others for keeping in shade or even indoors.
35.
Use organic fertilizers and not chemical fertilizers.
You can mix various fertilizers like cow dung powder, vermicompost, neem cake powder, bone
meal powder etc to make a cocktail to offer the best nutrients to your plants.
36.
When you purchase seeds, always go for F1 or F2 hybrid seeds and even Heirloom seeds
for best results.
37.
When you purchase plants from a nursery, examine the plant for any pests.
One infected plant can spread the pests to your entire garden.
38.
Repot your potted plants in the next larger container once every 1 or 2 years.
39.
You can reuse your old potting soil by removing roots and other debris and adding fresh compost
to it.
40.
Always check the patency of the drainage holes specially just before rainy season.
If water is not flowing out, use a sharp tool to make the drainage hole patent.
41.
Keep ants away from your garden.
Ants can carry sucking pests like aphids and mealy bugs to the growing tips of plants and
they have a symbiotic relationship.
Use remedies like Borax powder or Diatomaceous earth powder to get rid of ants.
42.
Never mix saw dust or any raw stuff into your potting mix as this can cause nitrogen deficiency
in your plants.
Nitrogen Stealing effect applies as the saw dust steals nitrogen form the soil in its
decomposition process.
43.
Do not Kill earth worms in your soil or containers.
They are gardeners best friends and make the soil fertile.
44.
Install a Shade net for your plants in summer season to protect them scorching summer sun.
45.
Gardening keeps you healthy and is a cure for depression, anxiety and many other diseases.
46.
Learn to interpret leaf yellowing and leaf browing at tips and edges.
Do not Panic!
Know the reason and treat accordingly.
Check out all related video links in description below.
47.
Learn to interpret leaf curling, like upward curl or downward curl, or curl due to pests
and things like that and treat accordingly.
48.
Sow the rights seeds in the right season like summer or winter vegetables and flowers.
You can use a Garden planner software or google this for the zone you live in.
49.
Grow plants faster and healthier using air pruning pots, fabric grow bags and coco coir
pots.
50.
Work Smart!
Use some sensible Gardening Shortcuts and Hacks to save time and achieve success.
Please Watch these 100 Gardening Hacks and Shortcuts from this link circled right here.
Please Like and Share this video with your friends!
Happy Gardening!