Glossary of Organic Growing Terms

Definitions for terms used across this site, with the regulatory ones stated as they are actually defined rather than as they are commonly used.

Certification and labels

Certified organic — A production-method certification under the USDA National Organic Program. It describes how something was grown. It makes no claim about pathogens, disease status, or safety. See Organic Gardening, Actually.

Certified disease-free / virus-indexed — A plant health certification, administered separately from organic certification through state nursery inspection programs. It tests whether a plant carries specific pathogens. It says nothing about production method. See Certified Organic vs Certified Disease-Free.

Planting stock — Defined at NOP §205.2 as any plant or plant tissue other than annual seedlings, including rhizomes, shoots, leaf or stem cuttings, roots, and tubers. Strawberry crowns and bramble canes are planting stock. This classification is what puts them under the perennial rule below.

The 12-month perennial rule — NOP §205.204(a)(4). Non-organic planting stock used to produce a perennial crop may be sold, labeled, or represented as organic planting stock after twelve months of organic management.

Commercially available — In NOP terms, the ability to obtain an input in appropriate form, quality, or quantity. Price is explicitly not a valid reason to claim something is unavailable.

OMRI Listed — Certifies that an input is allowed in certified organic production. It does not certify that the input is safe, non-toxic, or harmless to pollinators.

"Natural" — Not a regulated marketing term, and not permitted on EPA-registered pesticide labels.

Strawberries

June-bearing — One concentrated crop, mid-June to early July. Highest total yield. Heavy runner production.

Everbearing — Two crops, early summer and early fall.

Day-neutral — Fruits through most of the season, produces few runners. Best choice for containers and raised beds.

Matted row — Growing system for June-bearers. Plants 18–24 inches apart, rows 3–4 feet apart, runners allowed to fill in the row.

Annual hill (plasticulture) — Fall-planted system at 12 × 12 inch spacing with runners removed and the planting discarded after harvest. Standard in the Southeast because of anthracnose pressure.

Renovation — Post-harvest reset of a matted row bed: mow the leaves above crown level, fertilize, narrow the rows, thin the plants. Next year's fruit buds form in September and October, so renovation sets next season's yield.

Frigo — Bare-root stock dug in early to mid winter and held at −1.5°C. Storable 5–6 months, which is why supply typically ends around June.

Plug — A rooted runner tip, grown on under mist. Ready to plant at 3–5 true leaves and at least 1 cm crown diameter. Establishes faster than bare-root and costs more.

Crown — The short compressed stem between roots and leaves. Planting depth is judged by it: the crown sits level with the soil surface. Too deep rots, too shallow dries out.

Brambles

Primocane — A first-year cane, green and unbranched.

Floricane — A second-year cane, woody and brown. It fruits, then dies.

Summer-bearing (floricane-fruiting) — Fruits on second-year canes. Remove spent floricanes after harvest.

Fall-bearing (primocane-fruiting) — Fruits on first-year canes. For a single fall crop, all canes are mowed to the ground during dormancy.

Tipping / summer-topping — Cutting the growing point of a primocane to force lateral branching.

Chill hours — Accumulated hours between 32°F and 45°F during dormancy. A variety that does not meet its requirement will not break dormancy and fruit reliably. See Blackberry Chill Hour Requirements.

Soil and pests

Bray-P — A soil test method for available phosphorus, reported in parts per million. Relevant because repeated compost application drives it well past what plants use. See Can You Use Too Much Compost?.

IPM — Integrated Pest Management. Identify, monitor, act at a threshold, and choose the least disruptive effective intervention. Spraying is the last step, not the first.

Reproductive diapause — A suspended reproductive state. It is why wild-collected lady beetles released in a garden do not lay eggs there. See Do Store-Bought Ladybugs Work?

Systemic (of a disease) — Present throughout the plant rather than localized. Orange rust in brambles is systemic, which is why the plant has to come out rather than be pruned.

Last frost date — A probability threshold, not a fixed date. Sources publish 10%, 50% or 90% thresholds and frequently do not say which. See Your Last Frost Date Is a 50/50 Coin Flip.