Sorry dude but you are in the soil forum. Organics forum is here.

How do you raise your "chemical free" plants without the chemical dihydrogen monoxide?

Dose makes the poison. Too much dihydrogen monoxide is bad, too little is bad.

I do my best on my own, but when I have to rely on brought in soil/compost etc, I feel pretty sure that the few places I use (including our landfill) are organic.
I'm in Sonoma Co CA where there is NO WAY you can be called organic W/O several years of certification!
I rarely if ever use bagged products just because of these questions. Nancy

Why not make your own compost with the organic produce that you eat, like carrot peelings, etc.. Then you know it's organic, why buy any of that bagged stuff at all? I only buy bagged wood to help make compost. I never buy pre made compost, its all awful in my opinion, and not up to par.

Lets not split hairs nil13, you know what I mean. Yea, water and everything on the earth is a 'chemical', but what I mean is synthetic, chemically produced nutrients, as opposed to naturally derived.

Excellent points nancyjane and tropical_thought. I would make my own compost if I had the space, but my garden space is very small, and I hate to devote precious land to a compost pile - I'd rather have a larger garden instead, but still supplement with purchased compost - that is if I can trust it. Kellogg makes a good organic compost - I think I'll switch to that.

I think not having room for a compost pile is not a workable situation.

I'm with pnbrown. A single compost pile covers an area three feet by three feet. My entire back garden (or yard in US English) is about 36 feet long and 12 feet wide. There is a compost heap in it. It's hard to square a commitment to organic gardening with not having a compost heap.

I used to use Kellogg, just to add to my bin, but I don't like it anymore, now I use another kind of wood, forest blend something, but consider wood ties up nitrogen. I think you have room for small bin somewhere. Once you get used to the idea of it, If the garden is super small it won't need that much compost, and a small bin will work. The green cone is really small.

Here is what is wrong with: Kellogg
forest humus, chicken manure, worm castings, bat guano, kelp meal, oyster shell, lime & dolomite as pH adjusters.

do you see the words lime and ph adjusters, I want acid soil, but those things were making it alkaline
If you have very acid soil and a lot of rain fall maybe, but I have alkaline soil and major drought. chicken manure is filled with salt and oyster shell I think is also not good. What you want is just pure wood with only maybe a bit of nitrogen to prevent tie up. All those other things look good, at first glance, but if you want to research each one you will see what they really are is counter productive to your garden. They don't make the green cone any more. I have one still, I am not using it right now, but it is really small, like the size of a traffic cone and perfect for a small garden.

Here is a link that might be useful: the green cone so you can see a picture of one

This post was edited by tropical_thought on Sun, Sep 21, 14 at 12:15

OMG pt03 pnbrown, are you telling me that a completely natural chemical can kill me?

This post was edited by nil13 on Sun, Sep 21, 14 at 16:42

Got the wrong guy dude.

Doh! Fixed

I think this topic has come up before in the form of a gardener asking where to get 'Organic' compost, that is, chemical-free or made from chemical-free ingredients. If I remember correctly there was actually no Organic standard for compost. A producer could certainly claim that all the inputs for their compost were Organic, i.e. not chemically treated. If these people are doing that and it's not true, well then they're dishonest. However if there are no requirements and no certification possible for compost, they haven't hoodwinked the certifiers.

The question of whether it really matters due to the breakdown of chemical residues in the composting process is a completely different one. I don't propose to discuss that unless the OP wants to. However I would point out that if they are claiming they use food scrap, is that scrap from 100% organic food? Because if it's not, by your apparent requirements, it's technically no different from non-Organic manure or yard waste anyway.

It appears OMRI's review standards for compost include only pathogens and heavy metals. Neither of which will be significantly affected by using treated grass clippings or manure from non-Organic livestock.

What are OMRI review standards for compost products?

"Applications for compost products must include lab results for pathogens and heavy metals. Composts which have levels above the pathogen threshold will be listed as in a category which has the same restrictions as the Category: Manure-raw. Composts which do not meet the heavy metal requirements may receive a caution statement, or may not be eligible for OMRI listing. For information about maximum allowable levels of pathogens or heavy metals see the Review Standards for Lab Analyses information sheet in your Application Kit (you need to be logged in to the OMRI website to follow the link provided). Depending on the compost type, additional requirements may apply. See compost requirements by category on pages 80-81 of the OMRI Generic Materials section of theOMRI Generic Materials List and in the table below. If you have ordered an Application Kit, then you can login to the website and access advanced application support materials such as a completed Example Compost Application. The Sample Compost Application is an excellent reference for applicants applying for a product review of a compost product. (plus table)."

http://www.omri.org/suppliers/standards-compost-0

I don't have a three by three foot area for a pile, bins are compact and some tumblers take up even less space then that, less space then a barbecue.

tropical - my compost is in a bin too, not loose. As you say it is no bigger than a barbecue, garden chair or large plant pot. It's hidden behind a shrub and it invisible from the house.

floral_uk, if I had a 36 feet long and 12 feet wide garden area, I'd have a compost pile in it too and my problem would be solved. I am in southern california and my total garden size is about 8 by 6, slightly bigger than a living room couch. Then I have lots of large pots and containers on all my sidewalks, driveway and patio areas. I make my own potting mixes just by mixing coir and perlite, and some composted bark from some composting sites, and I add organic plant foods.

There is a bin that can go on a sideway Exaco Trading Aerobin 400 Insulated Composter, or any bin that is not open to the dirt or any tumbler can go in concrete patio area.
I don't want you be deprived of composting, if you really like it, you will want to do more so start small like any hobby and there are these indoor compost bins they make also. One could even go in a garage.
Bokashi is the name of one company that makes an indoor bin. I saw one once that you like plug in and it heats your compost to make it go faster in a small bin.

This post was edited by tropical_thought on Sat, Sep 27, 14 at 18:15

Organic_all-the_Way - when I say 'garden' I'm using the Brit meaning i.e. all the land I own around my house. There is no driveway, no paths and no patio. In fact the central area is all paved, so the actual area of earth is about 1/3 of the total - but there is room for my compost bin. Can you see it? No - because it fits in behind the shrubs at the end.

We had someone on here a couple years back who couldn't have compost bin because of silly neighborhood covenants or some such, and they hid their compost inside big pots and a big plastic storage box/bench made to sit on a patio. I remember her evil delight at composting in spite of The Man.