That was a pretty good post............up until the last part. Anti-biotics? Vitamins? Amino acids? I wasn't aware that beneficials provided these things. If you have a link or something to back that up I would be most interested in reading it. I think I know what you are trying to say but the way you've worded it seems very misleading to me.
You only heard??? Didn´t make the effort to read the thread then??
Organics is a bit confusing to most, no thanks, in part, to all of the inflated or bogus claims made by snake oil salesmen and hucksters in both the medical mj and food industries. Chemistry, biology, botany are subjects most people I knew either slept through or just simply did poorly at. I was always interested in this stuff so I took all the classes and read all the books on these subjects that I could. It's complicated, confusing, and we still don't know everything. As far as modern science has brought us, we are just beginning to understand the symbiotic relationships between plants, fungi, and bacteria. Learning the basics of how a plant functions would go a long way to dispelling many of these myths. Unfortunately most people only care about results. Results are indeed important but I like knowing the "hows" and "whys' and I believe it has made me a much better gardener as a result. Happy growing to all and keep it green!
OH YES IT IS !!!!!!!!!!!
Yeah! You came back to share some knowledge! Thank you!
Time some was injected.
Chemicals are everything! We are surrounded by chemicals. The air we breathe, the water we drink and the food we eat are all chemicals. For some reason there is a negative connotation with the word and most people often equate "chemicals" with something man made or harmful. We are nothing more than a mass of sentient chemicals.
Absolutely water is a chemical! A vital one, but that is for a different thread.
The title refers to styles of growing. One takes advantage of organic waste products from decaying plant and animal matter, utilizing the naturally occurring phenomenon of symbiosis. This is where beneficial microbes and fungi live in and on/around the roots. These complex communities perform specific functions which have some benefit to each other such as breaking down organic molecules into inorganic forms the plant can use, in exchange the plants provide sloughed off root cells and secretions of sugars and proteins which feed the microbes. In nature these things mostly work in a natural harmony, but indoors, in containers, we are trying to mimick nature in an efficient manor. Our crops grow quickly and require massive amounts of nutrients compared to many other plant species. It can be difficult and messy to maintian a true organic style of growing, but certainly it can be done especially if a gardener really knows what he/she is doing. Indoors, I prefer using both organic and "chemical" methods because I have better control and can quickly fix any deficiencies. I don't have a lot of time to be preparing a lot of teas and all the stuff that goes along with true organic gardening. Outdoors, I wouldn't even consider using chemicals, er synthetic.............inorganic chemical compounds for fertilizers. lol! Here is a little article that talks about the Rhizosphere and how the uptake of different ions affects the pH of the Rhizosphere. Fascinating stuff. 
J/K. It's not that long at all. 
This guy, lol. Pepper, yes, in my horticultural oil infusions. Black peppercorn, pink peppercorn, white... they all work.i said "salt". lololol. i have actually learned A LOT from this so called troll thread. if this is how troll threads go, we need more of them. anyone ever use "pepper"?
Finally, someone with common sense around here. Way to acknowledge what this all means in reality.
Great points you bring up... everything is relative.I just don't want people to think that one way is totally without disadvantages or negative consequences.
My hort professor said the same thing. "Think of how it grows in nature."
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That is what I studied. Sleeping through class... oh man... not at my school. Classes were <20 students and sleeping was way off limits.
Great post and I'd agree with everything but that last part; Epsom salt is definitely a salt! lol!I see your point... Quite clearly in fact. It can be difficult to find truly sustainable methods, but sustainability is more the goal than the reality. Even for myself - I can't even start to make compost until next year and when I do, I can't use kitchen waste because I might end up with a bear in my back yard. Right now I can't really do any of the sustainable practices I've written about yet, but it's all good, I do what I can, where I can, when I can.
Everyone has their own set of circumstances. It would be unfair to expect people to do things that would be impractical in their situation or know things which they have yet to learn. Does this mean that we may inadvertently do harm? Yes. But if we as growers can produce a product that is healthier for people by looking closely at what goes into it, whether chemical or organic, haven't we done our part?
Humus Joe,
No argument here, just a discussion of ideas. I think the education part of it comes from others who read these threads and build their own thoughts on the subject and hopefully read up on the points presented. This is why I came to this site - I wanted to find out if "cannabis specific" fertilizers were actually better than say PlantProd, so I came, I lurked, I learned (and still do).
I think the lack of basic plant knowledge stems (No pun intended.) from the fact that for a lot of rookies, this is the first plant they've grown, and the hydro industry tries to imbue weed as some very unique plant unlike any other and that only their products work. This leaves new growers over-complicating something relatively easy with things like 80 part fertilizers when they ought to simply focus on the basics, like how a plant grows, or reading a book on gardening.
My hort professor said the same thing. "Think of how it grows in nature."
I guess I'm getting off on a bit of a tangent here. I think we've come to a bit of an agreement on some points, though: The terms 'Organic' and 'chemical' have different meanings when applied to horticulture and chemistry respectively; Neither Organic or Non-Organic(?) practices can truly claim superiority to the other, as the choice to grow either way is personal, and a healthy plant can be produced by either method, which is always the goal; The terms 'organic' and 'sustainable' are not synonymous; Heavy Metals are a concern, and as growers, we ought to try and limit their presence in our buds where possible; Epsom salt may or may not be a salt
Am I right?
I went to public school and while it was a pretty good one we didn't have any crazy ass nuns with rulers smacking the sleeping student's desk, sending him through the acoustic panels on the ceiling! lol!
It was pretty laid back for the most part and if a student wasn't interesed in his/her own education then most of the teachers, especially in the science dept., just said fuck it and focused on the ones who actually wanted to be there. 
What about safety from the patient/gardener perspective? Wanna do a "whoops spilled my products all over myself" test: organic plant based tea vs synthetic gardening products.