What Does It Do- Learn about the registration of General Organics
General Organics is our new product line of nutrients and supplements. Our blog has recently focused on introducing each product, and the questions have been pouring in. Today I want to explain as much as I can about regulations, the definition of organics, and the General Organics (GO) line.
Regulations that govern fertilizer products are very complex. Each country, and each US state has its own requirements for fertilizer labeling. These rules govern what information must be printed, including guaranteed analysis, ingredients, or warnings. They also govern what cannot be printed, including any statements that cannot be completely proven with scientific facts.
Instead of printing 50 different labels for 50 different states, with an extra one for Canada, General Hydroponics adheres to the most strict of all the rules, some of the most strict rules happen to be in our home state, California. We always desire to provide the state and our customers with the most accurate data. And we are glad to participate in the safeguards to consumers and the environment.
Compliance is not effortless though. It requires diligence and the process is long and involved. We often print new labels with new data, to stay current with the law and sometimes the label compliance holds up the release of new formulas. We have also seen products in this industry pulled from shelves, or production stopped because companies are in violation. Compliance is difficult and expensive and time consuming, and we pride ourselves in our adherence.
So, enter organics into this equation.
In California, products labeled organic have been independently certified by a third party. In the case of fertilizers, one of those parties is OMRI- Organic Materials Review Institute. General Hydroponics is partners with OMRI listed products, including AzaMax. But, presently, the General Organics line of products are not OMRI listed. Because of that, we cannot say that our products are %100 Certified Organic, even if every single ingredient is able to be certified.
General Hydroponics has not listed the products in the GO line for many reasons. OMRI requires our exact recipes. We are not willing at this time to release our exact formulas to anyone, beyond what we already share with the state officals. Also, the process would have delayed the release of these nutrients and supplements for an indefinite amount of time. Additionally, we have seen other players in the industry go on and off the list, and provide false information that undermines the entire system. Eventually we do intend to begin the process, we do want their stamp of approval. Hopefully in the next few years we will achieve this.
Any product in California that is %50 organic is legally allowed to be called “organic based.” Some voices here that are deeply involved with the organic movement consider the phrase organic based to be almost a slur against true organics. Ultimately, we believe that our line will be met with success, that it will help gardens thrive, and that the market will tell us what it wants. So, in the absence of an OMRI certification, and not wanting to use the phrase “organic based” to classify the products as less than completely organic, the decision was made to release the General Organics line with no claims beyond our listed ingredients. The ingredients reflect the contents of the bottles, and those contents reflect our breakthrough in the organic fertilizer market.
I am very happy with the responses to our new line, and I am interested in answering any questions you have about these products. Please leave us your feedback! The nutes and supplements are truly amazing, and I will be providing you with more and more information in the future. Cheers.
Posted: July 8th, 2009 under Organics.
Comments
Comment from Ragnar
Time July 10, 2009 at 1:49 am
If the customer is informed wholeheartedly most of them would go without any certifications at all.
Comment from Pro Gardening Systems
Time July 28, 2009 at 9:02 am
Thanks for this great information! Really explains allot of whats on peoples minds!
Comment from Mike M
Time August 28, 2009 at 3:09 pm
Tigerlilly, what would you say the TDS would be in a fully fortified grow & a fully fortified bloom hydro-organic solution…. I saw that you (Tigerlilly) posted that you were using these new products…Do you have a TDS meter & can you test the resevior ?….and post your test results ? that is, if your using reverse osmosis water..and can get 0.0 ppm reading as a control for a comparison . I am going to say I hope it’s about 0.0-0.09 …..but it’s not a perfect world …I know.
TYIA ….Mike
Comment from GC
Time August 30, 2009 at 12:49 pm
Hi,
I’m very interested in going organic with Genhydro , as I’ve had great success with FloraNova. Will this line up be suitable for Ebb and flow using Hydroton/Higromite mix ( 50/50) as the medium ? I do aerate the res.
Thanks
Comment from Tiger Lilly
Time September 3, 2009 at 9:20 am
Hi! Yes, you can use the General Organics with your system. If you aerate the res with a pump that makes big giant bubbles, there could be issues with foaming. This is because the oxygen causes the microbes to reproduce, and the foam is made up of the actual excess microbes. If the foaming is a problem, try modding your pump or switching to something that aerates with smaller bubbles. Or, add a drop or two of our Bio-Marine. Just like with a pot of pasta water that’s overboiling, adding a drop of oil will bring down the foam. Good luck!
Comment from Chase
Time September 16, 2009 at 2:20 pm
So are these products 100% organic? They seem great, but I just want to make sure.
Comment from Tiger Lilly
Time September 22, 2009 at 4:31 pm
Chase, thanks for asking, sorry it’s so confusing. The only thing I can say that is legally correct is that the state and regulators do not consider them legally organic because they are not registered as such with the appropriate agencies.
Comment from pat
Time October 28, 2009 at 6:09 pm
that was such a crock of s***. your product is not omri quality so they aren’t gonna certify it for you since it’s not good enough to be…… 
………. oh wellllll at least it’s organic and probably still worth it …….
Comment from heyheyhey
Time November 4, 2009 at 4:49 pm
yeah omri certification is a pain in the neck they make you do all these trivial details and charge you an arm and a leg….
Comment from chris
Time November 23, 2009 at 9:56 am
Can you use the new GO line in a aeroponic application. I have a Aerojet system and am interested in going organic but dont want to try and have to replace some of the hardware if the system clogs my lines. Sounds great keep up the great work. Good luck with the political BS. Love your products, wish the AeroFlo used sprayers instead of those lines.
Comment from Tiger Lilly
Time November 24, 2009 at 6:24 pm
Sorry to say, but, no, the GO line is not suitable for aeroponics or deep water culture. It is raw and is not available to plants without being broken down by microbes. But you should totally let us know what kind of recipe you are rocking with your aeroponics!
Comment from James
Time February 9, 2011 at 8:12 pm
How long can I keep my GO brew in the resevior? N i tryd mixing my GO line with the GH line and checked the res two days later n found it stank n had white and brown foam on my bubblers… This concerns me. My nutrient mix was
10ml GO grow
5ml CaMg
5ml Diamond Black
1ml of Floralicious Plus
5ml FloraMicro n Flora Grow
10ml Florablend
I havent fed this to my plants yyet and was about to throw out my nutrient mix but decided to ask wat was happening first… And another question… Wat is a good organic way to germinate seeds?
Comment from Tiger Lilly
Time February 10, 2011 at 8:37 am
Hey James! For optimum results, we only recommend letting GO sit in a reservoir for about 24 hours. Because it’s a living product, it’s best to mix and feed right away. The foam that you’ve got is bacterial breakdown from the microbes reproducing and then dying. And the stanky smell is the raw organic compounds breaking down and starting to ferment.
If you are growing in soil, your formula is great- just mix and water right away. And you can even use the nutes that you’ve already mixed. If you are rocking hydro, discard the funky solution, then simplify by just running Flora Series in your reservoir and then adding the General Organics CaMg+ and Diamond Black as supplements. While lots of growers are experimenting, at this point, GH is not intending BioThrive to be a base for hydroponics.
Comment from kim hanna
Time March 24, 2011 at 10:29 am
I saw bottles of GO that don’t have vegan on the label. Did you change the label?
How come?
Comment from bob
Time April 10, 2011 at 6:44 pm
Vegan, right on!!
I’ve been wanting to grow Vegan for a while now.
Although if i use the liquid squid and wormcasting tea–it’s not “true” vegan i guess.
Are there no carbos and or sugars,.i.e.molasis to use with the Vegan bloom?
It seems awful simply??…..I can get a great grow just using the three indegredents in your G.O. line??–WOW.
It seems adding almost a dozen additives plus the base nutes have been all the rage for the past several years??
QUESTION—it would be great to see a complete feed scheadule for soil/soilless using
Comment from PennyWize
Time April 22, 2011 at 12:49 pm
Hello,
Yes, the Bio Marine is not a vegan product. However, there are no worm castings in any of the General Organics line. So, if you want to go strictly vegan, avoid the Bio Marine (plants love it though). When you say “complete feeding schedule”, do you mean one that includes Bio Marine and Diamond Black? Those two products are not essential to the program so we did not want to include them on the schedule. We were afraid people might be put off by the smell of the Bio Marine and therefor not use the line for fear that it would not work without it. It is mainly a N-P-K booster. The Diamond Black (Humic acid) is also optional. You can use it every time you water or periodically. It is not a make or break situation. It will increase growth rates and improve disease resistance so I recommend using it.
Thank you,
Comment from PennyWize
Time April 25, 2011 at 1:00 pm
Hello,
No, the formula did not change. The change to the label was made in order to satisfy some states fertilizer regulators. Some states are very particular about what you can put on fertilizer labels. Rather than have different labels for different states, we make the labels so they comply in all 50 states.
Thanks,
Comment from Cdhopw1
Time January 24, 2012 at 11:38 pm
Hello I have just bought the bio G O . I am using rockwool drain to waste. I also mix perlite in the rockwool . I was wondering if anybody has a good recipt for the grow and the bloom cylce . I have used them for a little while but some of my plants look to me that there under fed and some look great . All of the watered with the same water . I also was wondering how long can I keep nutirents in a Round up bottles . Thanks for the help.
Comment from pennywize
Time January 25, 2012 at 9:31 am
Plants are as individual as we are. I would go ahead double up on your application rates. The healthy ones will be able to handle it and the underfed plants will perk up. I have never heard of anyone burning their plants with G.O. and in fact many growers use two to three times the recommended rates. Also, if you are not using beneficial bacteria, use it now. They will turn the raw organic compounds into usable food for the plants.
Comment from cdhopw1
Time January 26, 2012 at 12:55 am
Thank you for the advice, pennywize . I have a question for you, is that like the same thing as hydrozine . Is it a G H brand . Also do you think since I am in rockwool should I double it up all the way through . I was worried about over feeding them. I also have the whole line of the GH org, and was scared of the bio bud. I thought it might burn the plants. I do like this line the only thing I wished it didn’t stink so bad. Oh, and my friend told me not to use the cal mag all the time he said it will burn them , is he crazy?
Thank you for all the help.
Comment from pennywize
Time January 26, 2012 at 2:47 pm
You certainly can double the application rates all the way through. I would not double the cal/mag though. Use it every time but at the regular recommended rate. If at an time you see any signs of tip burn, stop feeding and go with fresh water for the next two irrigation’s. I wouldn’t say he is crazy. If he has had that experience, then who am I to say he is wrong. However, I have no reason to believe it was the cal/mag that caused the burn. Calcium and magnesium typically do not burn plants. An overabundance of calcium can cause lock out of other micro nutrients.
Comment from W L
Time July 9, 2009 at 3:51 pm
I got my GO and I’m very happy.