The National Organic Program (NOP) regulation makes a distinction between the definitions of “annual seedlings” and “planting stock.” Planting stock includes "any plant or plant tissue, including rhizomes, shoots, leaf or stem cuttings, roots, or tubers, used in plant production or propagation" and so includes items like garlic bulbs, potato tubers, and sweet potato slips. These must be organic unless not commercially available (see 205.204.a.1-2). Annual seedling is defined as, “a plant grown from seed that will complete its life cycle or produce a harvestable yield within the same crop year or season in which it was planted.” Annual seedlings must be organic. The only exceptions are in cases of natural disasters, as approved by the USDA, or for phytosanitary reasons. Perennial crops must come from organic sources or else managed organically for 12 months prior to harvest. The National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) has advised that when strawberry or other similar crops are managed as annual crops, they should be considered the same as planting stock (can be non-organic if organic sources are not commercially available).

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