Worm Castings last how long.....???

[Weedologist]

Growing organically is giving me a headache. J/k but i really wanna stay organic, but it seems a bit harder than I thought.

[mainegrown]

idk about ya'll but i think that OMRI certified does not mean that you dont use "non organic" but naturally occurring minerals.. all of the letters in a fert are minerals. and no way can a living being create a mineral. they digest it and die.. therefor if you fed a cow perlite and he shat it out it would be "organic"... nope i dont think so. my mother is an organic botanist and she has taught in more than one local collage. she told me i wasnt cheating using soil additives as long as i wasnt mixing straight chemicals into my soil... if it dont kill the bacteria in the soil its not bad... and btw i think but cant confirm yet but perlite has living organisms in it i believe.. and or develops them in the porous holes and therefor is much better then vermiculite for organic growing..
-J"Stoned

[lampost]

This is kind of off topic, but noticed on your posting Rasta that you claim perlite to be one of your organic soil ammendments, for the record perlite is not OMRI certified, and therefore is technically not considered "organic".

I think you are confused. We don't distinguish between organic and inorganic for minerals. It's like saying that water isn't organic!

Technically, an organic compound is any compound that contains carbon. However, I think we're talking about a different meaning for the word "organic" when we refer to organic gardening.

Basically, the way I see it, for organic gardening you need to use natural fertilizers, growing mediums, etc. that aren't altered or created by man. Inorganic gardening (or using chemical fertilizers) would involved the use of man-made or supplemented materials. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong...

As far as the use of perlite, "disqualifying" the plant from being labeled as organic... that is just incorrect. Volcanic rock is a natural part of this world...