Organic, Ecological, or Biodynamic?
Organic, Ecological, or Biodynamic?
As a grower you naturally want your end product to be as healthy and sustainable as possible. Organic and biological are two words that play a major role in this. But what do they actually mean? And what about Ecological and Biodynamic? And can cannabis be grown in any of these ways? With a name like Organic Earth we can tell you something about it.
Organic
Organically produced food refers to the farming method used. Organic cultivation methods take the environment into account: plants, humans and animals. For organic farming, among other things, only organic feed is used for the animals, no chemical pesticides, preventive antibiotics and fertilizers are used, and no genetic modification is used during the entire process. Crop protection also takes place through the use of natural enemies. Sometimes the term biological is used but there is no difference: organic is perhaps a more modern term to use and also sounds a lot cooler than biological.
Ecological
Although ecological is closely related to organic, ecological goes one step further. While organically produced food takes into account the environment, people and animals, with ecologically produced food the importance of the entire planet, including soil, water and air, is put first. Anything that can harm the ecosystem is avoided during the ecological process.
There are two clear differences between organic and ecological and that is A) biological pays particular attention to the relationship between environment, people and health and B) ecological takes very consistently into account the entire ecosystem in which we live and avoids anything that can harm this system.
Today we often use the word ecological in combination with sustainable living. In that context, ecological means the same as organic. The main similarity between the systems is their sustainability; these methods can be continued and recycled for several years, in contrast to working with fertilizers, where the soil depletes and requires more fertilizers and even has to be replaced regularly.
Biodynamic
Soil fertility and enhancement of natural growth are central to Biodynamic agriculture. Biodynamic agriculture is a form of organic agriculture, and therefore meets all standards that apply to organic food. On top of this are the additional standards set by the Demeter International organization, named after the goddess of fertility. In biodynamic agriculture, at least 80% self-produced organic feed must be used, a certain crop may be grown on the same piece of land once every five to seven years, cows may keep their horns and chickens their beaks, and stricter food processing rules apply. If a product carries the Demeter quality mark, the soil, plants and animals, and people are central to the production.
Biodynamic farming is a form of organic farming based on the anthroposophical principles of the philosopher Rudolf Steiner. A holistic view of nature and farm life is used. Everything is interconnected, agriculture with the climate, soil fertility, water pollution, biodiversity, air quality and so on. This form of agriculture emerged in the 1920s in response to concerns about the invention of the fertilizer.
The connection with cannabis
If you would like to make a tasty and healthy product, especially if you want to consume it yourself, then “organic” is the only logical choice.
For the best results, go for organic. If you want to leave the smallest possible ecological footprint on our planet, then you go for bio-dynamic.
In the latter cultivation method there is no room for artificial light: the natural light of the sun and the influence of the seasons are of great importance for the end result. Then you can grow your cannabis plant outside in the ground and possibly put the head of a dead cow in the ground to boost the biological life in the soil.
Opinions are divided when it comes to whether you can grow cannabis (or other plants) organically at all if you work with artificial light. But if you disregard the technical aspects of air and lighting, it is certainly possible to produce organic weed indoors. The most important factors are, as mentioned above, that you do not use artificial fertilizer (also no so-called bio-minerals and with indications such as 100% natural you also have to be careful) and only use natural enemies to protect your crop and control pests.
Which fertilizers can you use in an organic indoor garden
Over the years we have had many different fertilizers in our range at Organic Earth. What is striking is that many people give too much and thereby ruin the end product. This is mainly due to the frequent use of liquid fertilizers, which quickly saturate the soil.
If you use a biologically enriched and well-balanced soil, you do not or hardly need to feed. The most suitable supplement is the use of a compost tea.
When soil is reused, you will also use compost tea, if you want to prevent the soil from becoming depleted.
The nutrition that we advise you for this:
Greenhouse’s bio feeding is made from feather meal, bone meal and molasses, enriched with mycorizea and beneficial bacteria.
The Biotabs range revolves around the pressed tablet of pure fertilizer such as bone meal, blood meal and fish meal. Bacteria and micorizea are again used for optimal absorption of the slow-release fertilizers. These are regularly fed with a molasses extract (Orgatrex)
New in the Organic Earth range is Lurpe: in addition to ingredients for making your own super soil, they also have various mixtures of pure raw materials to make compost tea.
It is of course always possible to use your own compost for making tea. That compost heap in the garden regularly releases moisture that is extremely suitable as fertilizer. But Bokashi is also an option for reusing your vegetable and / or fruit peels.
If you have any questions, feel free to ask us.