http://healthyhomesteading.com/2011/05/the-mittleider-method-of-garden/
Mittleider Method Techniques That Changed The Way I Garden
- Feeding Plants- Dr. Mittleider found for plants to thrive they need
16 essential plant nutrients. By providing plants with the 16 nutrients
plants are healthier and full of nutrients we can consume.
The 16
nutrients include 3 airborne elements -Carbon, Hydrogen and Oxygen.
The
other 13 include nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium (NPK).
The other ten
include calcium, magnesium, sulfur and 7 trace elements.
This plant
formula is fed in small amounts to the plants on a weekly basis over a
period of the growth of the plants.
- The Soil -The condition of the soil is not as vital when using the
Mittleider Method. It is important to have well draining amended soil
but you can still plant successfully in many different soil types.
According to Dr. Mittleider and his method, plants can grow
in virtually any soil as long as the plants are given the essential
nutrients. It is however important to create soil beds or grow boxes
that have the soil evenly distributed for proper water distribution.
- Plant Spacing – With the Mittleider Method seeds and seedlings can
be spaced a lot closer together than traditional methods recommend. The
reason for this is because many plants can be grown vertically. Tomatoes
(indeterminate), cucumbers, melons and squash some of the plants that
can be grown inches apart because of vertically growing.
- Watering – One of the mistakes I have been making with my garden
over the past few years is the methods I use for watering. I usually use
drip systems and/or a osculating sprinkler. Dr. Mittleider did not
recommend these type of watering because it is wasteful and not as
affective. Watering with a PVC pipe with small holes drilled into them
and place down the center of wide isles is the best way to water,
according to Dr. Mittlleider.
- Pruning - Apparently there are many vegetable plants that can be
pruned. I was familiar with pruning tomatoes but didn’t realize
cucumber, squash and melon plants as well. Pruning these plants can be
done because of the vertical growing method. Pruning is important
because is allows the growth of large fruit instead of many small
fruits. And because plant spacing is closer you can still get the same
size harvest but with larger fruit.
Is the Mittleider Method of Gardening Organic?
Growing an organic garden is very important to me. If I am going to
take the time to garden to feed my family, I want the produce to be most
nutritious it can be. After researching the Mittleider Method and
finding out that in order for plants to grow they need certain
nutrients. I came to the realization that in order for my family to get
the best possible food from my garden, my plants need to be as healthy
as possible.
Many people, including myself see the plant formula and think, “those
ingredients are in commercial non-organic fertilizers, they can’t be
organic, can they?” Well, yes they can. If we understand the fact that
everything is chemical at a molecular level. The “chemicals” or elements
that are in the plant formula are in our soil and manure fertilizers
already.
The reason elements such as nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (aka
NPK, found in bags of fertilizers, usually with numbers like
10-10-10) are in commercial fertilizers is because they do feed
plants. There is however a problem with commercial fertilizers and that
is the misuse of them. For instance, one of the things nitrogen does is
causes rapid growth. An unbalanced amount of nitrogen will cause rapid
growth but not healthy nutritious plants. Overuse of certain elements
can cause toxicity in the soil as well.
So why won’t organic fertilizers such as manure be good enough? The
problem with manure is that the nutrients plants need are not always in
manure. They may have some of the nutrients but not in the right
amounts. Manure often has a unhealthy amount of salt in it which can
affect the proper growth of plants. If manure is not sterile it can also
cause all kinds of weed problems for you. You can still use sterile
manure in your garden but instead of thinking of manure as a fertilizer
think of it as a soil amender. The Mittleider Method of gardening offers
plant nutrients in the right amounts over the right amount of time. The
soil does not get to any toxic level because they plants are using what
they need when they need it.
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