Organic vs. regular fertilizer /sprays

Have patience with organic methods it takes time for nature to strike a balance. Composting, manuring will improve the soil structure and provide nutrients for strong plants.
Garlic liquidised and sprayed on the plants does deter blackfly and greenfly
companion planting helps deter pests too.
If you have a nettle patch near you soak till leaves are liquid in a big bucket and hey presto - free fertiliser.
grow comfrey and it can be used in the same way, be careful not to get the invasive type.

Thanks Tussiemussie, I do try to keep it organic, though I would say it's only about 60% organic at the time...alas no, I have no fields nearby (I have a container garden on a balcony) but i wish I did! i did try companion planting, with garlic chives near the red rose, and I do think it helped to deter pests.

Hi Marguerite: Lots of questions! which is good - I live on the third floor of a garden-style apt building and have only the balcony and the landing to have a container garden - the plus is I get lots of sun and light, the negative is that this is Houston where the sun can de a hazard to plants and humans alike!! LOL Not one of my direct neighbors has plants, not even across the courtyard on the other side. However, the courtyard does have plants and the area I live in is very green - lots of trees and flowers and a park - Memorial Park - where I often go walking, since I have type II diabetes and walking is my exercise of choice (except right now that I have a bad case of heel and toe pain!) So the area does have birds and wasps and bees, and Wabash even sells ladybugs! Since strating my garden, I've noticed an increase in wasps - one even built its nest under the one of the banana leaves - and depending on the plants, a bee or two visiting, and very occassionally, a butterfly. But mostly it's the wasps that I've attracted most so far. =) I would love to see more butterflies and birds, and bees, but butterfly plants tend to grow quite tall and my balcony is quite windy, but we'll see next year. With everything so expensive, I might just plant cerry tomatoe sin a basket and maybe some squash in a pot....Of course I don't want to kill the beneficial insects, but right now, if I don't put something on the plants, they will not recover (I lost a rose that way). The spray I was using is based on geranium oil, and it's by Green Light. But with prices escalating, I now plan to make my own onion and garlic spray. I've put garlic - the mashed up cloves - at the base of the roses, and I think it helped them to recover when they were looking like poodles - ie being attacked by aphids and powdery mildew! Garlic in general has antiseptic qualities, it's anti-bacterial and anti-fungal and perhaps even anti-viral, though I would have to check on that.