Usually " organic based" means that the product derives macronutrients from organic sources, but for whatever reason doesn't actually carry an OMRI "organic" certification. Could be the use of EDTA chelates, could be a sourcing issue- can also be that the maker simply hasn't jumped through all the hoops needed to get OMRI cert.

Fer instance, if you're making a product that contain " natural" ingrediants, and you have OMRI certs for all of your inputs, you can qualify for "organic" status- assuming that all of your processing equipment can be certified as not having been used on any materials that don't qualify as OMRI certifiable.

It's illegal in the US to claim that a product is "organic" w/out certification- so if there's a possibility that non-certed inputs will be used at some point in the future ( ie potential use of non-OMRI because OMRI-approved may not be available in the future), you're better off printing your packaging as "organic-based", even though everything that you're using today is, in fact, OMRI certifiable.

Also, ANY change in the production of an OMRI certed product requires re-submission of application and re-certification- expensive and time consuming.

Oddly enough, not all natural products are considered OMRI certifiable- fer instance, a fertilizer containing rock phosphate, which is certifiable, may not be certifiable if said phosphate is not handled according to certain guidelines.

Bottom line- US OMRI certification is a joke- I've been thru the process of having a greenhouse OMRI certified, and I was freakin' amazed at what I could get away with, and what was disallowed- the rules are more complicated, and less logical, than say, Cosmic Wimpout.

If yer talking about either the Fox Farm or the Pure Blend products, the issues with the use of iron edta as opposed to an " approved" chelate... cause the large scale use of citrate salts is gonna save the planet.:wtf: