Organic growing indoors is quite different from organic agriculture outside. The Soil Association will not certify our indoor tomatoes because they are not produced purely ecologically. But who cares what they think? The Soil Association have just certified farmed salmon that is obviously not ecologically sound. What most of us want is the tastiest, non-poisonous harvest possible with enough quantity to justify the outlay in money and time. We can provide most of the necessary aspects of the natural environment for a nature-identical product.

Organic is not just doing without chemicals, you have to provide the plant with everything it needs. In organic growing you are adding much more than with the pure chemicals, substances that the plant benefits from even if it can live without them. Several companies now produce ranges of organic nutrients, soils and pest controls that enable the indoor grower to get yields that are very worthwhile. They will not produce quite as much as plants forced to their limit in a hydroponic system but the smell and taste should be noticeably better. They will also be far more resistant to problems while growing than their chemical-fed cousins. The essentials are:

1. Pest control that does not pollute the plant or the environment.
2. Natural soil components.
3. Natural nutrients.
4. No post-harvest chemical treatment.

There are many products on the market now that offer good control of pests. The most important first step is to make sure you have proper conditions in the growroom. Too much heat or cold, not enough airflow, irregular watering or inappropriate nutrient strength, bad pH, rotting dead plant material – anything that stresses the plants can invite disease and pests to take control. The organically approved pesticides include many that smother the pest. Insects and mites breathe through holes in their shell and these are easily blocked. Others act by stripping off the waterproof coating of the insect or mite so it dries out rapidly. These are very good products but have one drawback – they have to be sprayed onto the pest directly. If some are hiding you don’t kill them. Predators will help to get the last cunning bastards. Depending on the pest you have these can be mites (with the same huge appetite for other mites that the spider mite has for plants), nematode worms, parasitic wasps or ladybirds. They have evolved to seek and destroy. These predators have to be bought fresh and used as soon as possible as they get hungry and die very quickly. There are now some bacteria available that kill sciarid fly (fungus gnat), the bane of many indoor soil grows.

Normal, healthy soil contains massive amounts of living fungi and bacteria. About one billion bacteria in one gram of soil. Fungi can range from microscopic single cells like yeast to massive networks of underground threads of the same fungus covering up to 10 square kilometres. There are now a range of cultures of fungal spores and bacteria available to buy that are made to help our plants. These are very important in producing healthy organic plants. The fungi will defend our plants from disease-causing organisms like root-rots caused by Pythium and Phytophthora, actually producing a physical barrier in the form of a sheath around the root tip. As well as defending against enemy organisms the fungi take some sugars from the plant in return for pumping other nutrients into the roots. The fungal threads cover a much larger volume of soil than the plant roots. Symbiotic (from the Greek for “living together”) fungi particularly help the uptake of phosphorus (the P in NPK). Fungi will help against many forms of plant stress but they need an acidic pH and won’t tolerate large swings to high pH (alkaline) conditions. Bacteria help by killing pathogenic organisms and turning nutrients into usable forms.

In the last few years several companies have perfected their organically-certified nutrients for indoor use. Nothing could be simpler, just dilute and use. Most should be used immediately as they are so rich and bacteria-friendly they will go off quickly when diluted. Many organic gardeners like their own soil mix recipes but that is not really necessary now as the soils available have improved so much. The various additives are very confusing, as with all additives for indoor growing. We will be trying to sort out what is hot and what is rot in future issues.

Avoiding post harvest treatment is, of course, easy in home production.  Most of us cannot understand why commercial producers need to spray chemicals on consumables before offering them to us. After all, it is only going to be on the shelves for a few days isn’t it? It seems you can’t trust anything you buy nowadays without researching it fully and having a laboratory on hand to detect contamination. This is why so many people are turning to producing their own fruit, veg and herbs at home. Worry is bad for the digestion. If we need to store our produce we can dry it quickly at a low temperature with plenty of airflow. Once dry it should be crisp to the touch and will then keep almost forever in a sealed glass jar in a dark place.

Organic indoors means using the most recent scientific advances to grow plants indoors in the way they have been grown for thousands of years under the sun. I recommend it, You will never have tasted anything so good.

Author: Alfred Nussbaum  – Original Article Here – Thanks To UrbanGardenMagazine