Mr Greenthumb aka Stan de Freitas of Willow Tree Nursery in St Petersburg, Florida is so clever when it comes to horticulture that it’s scary. In a video just 1 minute and 34 seconds long he explains the techniques of organic tomato growing.
What is organic? asks this bon vivant and provides an instant answer: It’s growing plants without using chemicals.
Which doesn’t mean you aren’t going to use anything at all. Instead you are going to use nursery products that are friendly to the environment and not harmful. Of course these will contain chemicals, but of the natural kind and not out of the factory.
Mr Greenthumb says you should use Black Kow cow manure, which is not very high power when it comes to fertilizing, with a make-up of just .5 (N), .5 (K) and .5 (P). But it’s very good at “keeping the good stuff in the soil”. Also you should use peat moss to retain the moisture and the good stuff, and you should also use fish emulsion “because it’s organic”. Presumably none of those fish were contaminated in any way by chemicals.
Stan then puts a positive spin on organics by asserting that the Amish have wonderful gardens because they improved the soil with organic matter. So save all those grass clipping, kitchen waste, coffee grindings and feed them into your soil like a man in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, says Mr Greenthumb. He ends by adding that you should start your plants healthy with Hi-Yield Dipel Dust. What is that stuff? Hope it’s organic.