Organic Fanatic Collective

This is a method of inoculating your plants with beneficial fungi. You can make your own from your own local soil. The soil that you make will be rich in beneficial fungi. This will be the ‘inoculum’. It takes about an hour or less to set up and is very simple to maintain.


Introduction

What are mycorrhiza?
Mycorrhizal fungi are a group of soil fungi that infect the roots of most plants. The fungi is not a pest or parasite as it supplies the plant with nutrients like phosphorus, copper and zinc, as well as increasing water availability. The plant supports the fungus with carbon in the form of sugars. This symbiotic relationship does not affect the plants, as they produce excess carbon. In fact, lack of water and nutrients is more often the limiting factor to plants’ growth and establishment. Mycorrhizal fungi are found in most environments, although their importance is greater in more extreme environments, where nutrients and water may be limited. There are very few plants that do not form mycorrhizal associations at all, although most can grow without it. In plants that have been infected by mycorrhizal fungi, the fungus is actually the chief method of nutrient uptake, not the roots.

There are several types of mycorrhiza, the type that we are interested in are by far the most common and are called arbuscular mycorrhiza (AM). This type of mycorrhiza is invisible to the naked eye but forms a fine mesh through the soil. They enter the cells of the roots where they form branched arbuscles within these cells, this is where the exchange of nutrients and carbon occurs.

How do you know if a plant species can be a host to this type of fungus?
The vast majority of plants do form AM. This includes the majority of domestic and wild plants. However some species do not form this association, these include pines, firs, spruce and oaks. It would be impossible to list all the species and their mycorrhizal associations, so if you are in any doubt then contact us and we can confirm if this species will benefit from the inoculation method.



Results that you can expect
The most notable improvement should be an increase in survival rate. It has been shown that mycorrhizal plants cope better with stresses such as dry conditions and disease than non-mycorrhizal plants. Depending on your conditions and the species that you are using you may also notice an increase in growth. This is due to the plant accessing more phosphorus from the soil (this varies from just a few percent to double the normal growth). There are other benefits that mycorrhiza can bring to the soil. Its fine structure helps stabilise the soil structure, slowing both sheet and subsurface erosion. Under the soil, invisible from above, a network of fungal hyphae will start to spread from your plant, gradually colonizing other plants and in effect starting to rebuild a healthy ecosystem. The underground structure is the key part of restoring the ecosystem. The plants then act as fertility islands, with increased organic matter, better soil nutrient levels and with increased nutrient cycling.


Get involved!
The results so far have been very positive showing faster growth and better survival in the most arid areas of Spain and Tanzania where we have been trying this method. However, we are still at the trial stage and we want to know how it works in different locations, climate, soil type, and with a variety of species.

If you are interested in producing your own inoculum for your own use and/or running some trials we have constructed this methods page, with a step-by-step guide to setting up your own experiment using a mixed mycorrhizal inoculum made from your own soil. This also instructs you on how to set up your own trial with different target species, be it trees or crops, seeds, seedlings or established plants.



METHOD OF MAKING A MYCORRHIZAL INOCULUM

Mycorrhizal inoculum can be produced either in pots or in a ‘trap-trough’. The method is virtually the same for both.


If you decide to try this method, we would like you to tell us how you get on and what sort of results you get. We want to know how useful you found it, if the rewards were worth the effort, etc.

The first step would be to fill out a trial proposal form. You can also see a sample completed form for our trial in Tanzania. Once completed, this will give us vital information about the conditions in which your trial will be carried out, including climate and soil type, and the species that you will be attempting to grow in the trap pot. It will also enable us to make sure the proposed trial is viable.

Once your trial is established we would like you to keep us informed of its progress.

We are always contactable and able to give advice and support on the phone, by post or by email.

We can give you information and support on the following:

1. Where to collect your starter soil
2. How to set up a trap-trough to make your own inoculum
3. How to maintain your trap-trough
4. How to harvest the inoculum
5. How to use the inoculum
6. How to set up a trial
7. How to record the progress of your inoculated and uninoculated plants

Before you start you will need….

* An area to dig a trench or set up some pots
* Plastic sacks or other waterproof material sheeting/plastic pots (5 litres or larger)
* Spade or other digging implement
* Seeds
* Water



1. Collecting your ‘Starter Soil’

Materials needed: spade, sacks and/or wheelbarrow to move soil.

Where? Around 80% of vegetation forms mycorrhizal associations. The infected plant roots and the spores and hyphae of the beneficial fungi are in the soil and can colonize new plants. You can be pretty sure of getting a good starter soil from any undisturbed area containing native vegetation including most grown trees, woody shrubs and perennial grasses.

The best place to collect your starter soil is from under local native vegetation that is growing well in an area that has not recently been cultivated. It is good if you can collect some of the soil from under the same species as that on which you plan to use the mycorrhizal inoculum (i.e. your tree, shrub or crop species).

Method: Clear away about 0.5m2 of the vegetation underneath your target plant. Dig down to a depth of about 25cm collecting the soil and as many fine roots as possible. It is better, but not essential, to collect from under several different trees and shrubs. With stony soil it is best to sieve it to get rid of large stones. Collecting Starter Soil under a Retama Bush
Collecting starter soil from under a Retama Shrub


2. Multiplying the mycorrhiza
To multiply the mycorrhiza from your starter soil we use a ‘trap-pot or 'trap-trough'’. This method grows mycorrhizal dependent annuals in the collected soil. These plants, often called “bait plants”, will become infected with the mycorrhizal fungus causing the fungal population to multiply. Often two bait plant species are grown together to enhance different mycorrhizal fungal species multiplication. One of these will be a species of graminacae or allium, and the second will be a species of legume. Examples of these species are shown in the table below. Combining maize and beans, for example, is a good choice as they grow well together. It depends, however, on what you know to grow well in your area and on what you have available.

Select Species 1

Graminacae

* Maize
* Millet
* Sorghum
* Wheat
* Oats


Allium species

* Leeks
* Onions



Select Species 2

Leguminacae species

* Alfalfa
* Beans
* Clover
* Peas
* Lentils



Materials needed: spade, plastic sacks/pots (5 litres or larger), seeds of your two selected species, water.

Where? The best place is in a site that will not be needed for at least three months and where you can keep an eye on it. It will need regular watering, adequate light and protection from herbivores.

Method: Take your starter soil to the site you have chosen and then either fill one or several plastic pots/basins (depending on how much inoculum you need). Alternatively, a trench can be dug into the ground and lined with the plastic sacks or other material available. This is what we call a ‘trap-trough’. The pit should be dug about 100cm x 50cm to a depth of 50cm and then lined with the plastic sacks. Plastic sheeting, bin liners or sugar sacks will be fine. Perforate the plastic to allow for drainage. Make sure that it covers the whole basin with an overlap. Place stones on the overlap and fill the trough with the soil. Soak the seeds of your two chosen species overnight. Plant them closer than normal, alternating the species.

Note: the soil that you dig out of the trench can be used to fill in the holes where you extracted soil from under the local vegetation.

How much inoculum do you want to make? This depends on what size container you will be planting in, but estimate about 1/6 of each pot to be filled with the inoculum. If using on crops see ‘inoculating crops’ below.



3. Maintaining your trap-pots or trough
Once you have set up your trap-pot or trough you can more or less forget about it. Just keep it regularly watered. In this time the roots of the bait plants will be developing and forming the association with the mycorrhiza. Depending on the season you might need to shade it or protect it from frost. If growing trap-pots then they can be moved into a more sheltered area.


4. Three months later…
Ten days before you are ready to use the inoculum, the bait plants should be cut at the base of their stem and watering should be stopped. This kills the plant, and tricks the fungus into producing reproductive spores. Then, after the ten days, the inoculum is prepared by pulling up the roots of the bait plants which should be chopped into roughly 1cm pieces and then mixed back into the soil from the trap-pot or trough. This mixture of roots and soil is the inoculum.



5. Using the inoculum
The inoculum can be used on a wide range of different trees, shrubs, crops and garden plants. In all cases the plants should be given the same care as normal. A small amount of compost will complement the addition of mycorrhiza but no artificial fertilizers or herbicides should be added.

There are a few things to consider if setting up a trial. See below section on ‘setting up a trial’.



Inoculating trees, growing them from seed:

Materials needed: inoculum, seeds, growing tubes or plant pots, soil, compost.

Method: As shown in the diagram below, two thirds of the pot or growing tube should be filled with normal soil, with a little compost mixed in, if available. Then add a layer of inoculum and finally another layer of normal soil into which the seed is sown. The inoculum layer need only be a couple of centimetres deep. This means that when the roots grow down the tube they will come into contact with the fungus, and quickly become infected. The trees are then cared for as usual, and planted out at the same time as normal, to coincide with the growing season. The trees that have been infected with the fungus should be much better equipped to cope with shortages in rainfall, and will also improve the mycorrhizal potential of the surrounding soil.





Inoculating pre-grown trees:

Materials needed: inoculum, trees, spade.

Method: dig the hole where you will plant your tree and throw in a spade-full of the inoculum. Place the sapling in the hole and sprinkle a little more of the inoculum around the edges as you fill it in. If you are adding compost then dig the hole slightly deeper, add the compost, cover over with normal soil and then add the spade-full of inoculum.

Inoculating crops:

Method: Put a pinch of inoculum into any hole that you are about to plant into. Or mix a couple of handfuls of the inoculum with seeds that you are about to sow and plant as usual. If transplanting then soak the root ball in water and then dip in the inoculum. The root ball will then have a coating of inoculum. Plant as normal.

When you have used as much of the inoculum as you need, the trap-pot or trough can be topped up again with more starter soil, re-planted with bait plants and the cycle repeated. This ensures that there is a ready supply of inoculum all through the year.



6. Setting up a trial – things to consider


Labelling your plants

1. Keep a careful note of where each plant was planted and what treatment if any it was given. It is useful to give each plant a number.
2. Label each plant in a way that will not be destroyed by the elements. You are unlikely to remember which plants are where months later. We usually label the plants either mycorrhizal (M) or non-mycorrhizal (NM)


1. Do not plant too close together. Spacing them will reduce the chance of the fungi spreading to non-inoculated plants.
2. It is preferable but not essential that the treated and non-treated plants are laid out randomly. This reduces environmental factors that might affect the results. One way of doing this is a randomised block design (see below).


Designing the trial

It is worth spending some time considering where and when you want to set up the trial. How much space you have as well as the amount of care that you can give the plants. The trap-pot or trough needs to be set up three months in advance of your scheduled planting in order for the mycorrhizal population to fully mature.

For whatever planting you are doing try incorporating the mycorrhizal method. But if you have a blank area and would like to set up a more rigorous test of the method then below are a couple of examples of how you might lay out a trial. The first is non random (see diagram below), this has the advantage of giving a direct and easy to see comparison. However, with this layout external factors might well influence your results. For example, factors such as wind direction, shade, and soil variability could induce better growth in one side regardless of the treatment. Using a randomised block design is a fairly simple way of reducing the risk of these factors influencing your results. An example of a randomised block design is shown below.


If you have the time and resources to set up a trial we will give you all the support we can. So contact us and let us know what you have in mind.



7. How to record the progress of your inoculated and non-inoculated plants

To help you record data we have produced data sheets for measuring both survival and height. At first sight this spreadsheet may look overly complicated but don’t panic! There are full instructions for filling out all the information. Along with the data sheets we have also included an example data sheet of measurements from trials in Tanzania. The data shown in these examples is not real data, but should give a good idea of how we would like your data to be presented. If you have any problems at all then contact us and we can help.

You will need to keep a regular check on the plants that you are growing. In particular there are two key measurements that we would like to receive information on: ‘survival’ and ‘height’.

Survival is simply a matter of recording the number of inoculated and control plants surviving. This is less time consuming than taking height measurements.

We would only expect height measurements to be taken if you are growing small numbers of plants, or if you feel you have sufficient time and labour. The system for measuring the plants needs to be consistent, using the same unit of measurement (preferably millimetres), the same instrument and if at all possible, by the same person.

The frequency of measurements is up to you, the more regular the better. Here, we measure height and survival in the nursery every two weeks, and decrease that to once a month after the plants have been planted in the field. It is recommended that the measurements be taken with an interval of not more than a month.

In addition to measurements, we would encourage additional comments on the data pages, to record information relevant to specific plants (e.g. eaten by insects, broken by children etc) and any other information about the trial and external factors in general (e.g. bad rains, widespread diseases etc). This will all be useful information for us.

We appreciate all the information that you send to us. Our aim is to trial this method in as many situations as is possible. We would not publish your results without prior permission first, and you would be acknowledged in the publication.

All completed trial proposal forms and data sheets should be sent to the Mycorrhizal Research Coordinator. Please contact us with any queries or problems with entering data on the sheets provided or if you have any problems or suggestions on how to improve this site or how to make it more accessible.

Copyright © 2004 Sunseed Trust, blue LEVEL Media Ltd

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Kelp is any of a variety of large, brown seaweeds
that grow underwater and on rocky shores. Kelps are
found in cold waters throughout the world.

Kelps vary widely in size and form. One type of kelp,
called giant kelp, may have hundreds of branches, each
of which has hundreds of leaves. Giant kelp may reach
over 200 feet in length and will create entire forests
of kelp. Other kelp consists of only a single branch
and may be less than 3 feet long. But what they all
share is that it is hard to tell the stems from the leaves.

The role of kelp in agriculture dates back thousands of
years, and has been an integral part of coastal farming.
It can be said with honesty that kelp is the most effective
additive next to quality fertilizer.

The kelp that has the most importance for our needs is a
kelp that grows in the cold canadian waters of the Atlantic
Ocean, it is called Ascophyllum Nodosum. There are many kelps
that have great benefits for agriculture but this particular
kelp has the gold medal.

Ascophyllum is harvested by collecting from either the rocky
shores or using a type of dredge or seine to catch it. It is
then washed with fresh water to rid it of excess sea salt and
then it is dried and powdered. It is very important that they
harvest it at just the right time to ensure that the cytokinin
levels are at their peak (cytokinins are growth hormones
responsible for cell division in plants).

Kelp contains many wonderful things such as over 70 minerals
and trace elements, growth hormones, vitamins, enzymes, and proteins.

It has been proven that kelp or what is in kelp can accelerate growth,
increase fruiting and flowering, provide resistance to disease, insects
and frost. There are a couple of things that are important in regards
to the benefits of kelp and how they work. The first one is all of the
trace elements and minerals which are aided by a carbohydrate mannitol
that chelates or makes available certain minerals. One of the problems
of modern farming is enabling the plant to take up all of the nutrients
to complete a healthy life cycle. Chelates are very important in
allowing plants to take up certain essential elements. What researchers
have discovered is that with so many trace elements and minerals as
well as vitamins and enzymes not to mention growth hormones, kelp
aids in building and or supporting the plants natural immune system.
If you can keep a plants immune system high it will have the ability
to resist disease, insects, frost, and drought.

The second important and perhaps the most important aspect of kelp
is the growth hormones. Kelp contains ample quantities of auxins,
gibberellins, and cytokinins. All growth hormones play a part in
how a plant functions, and are more accurately called growth
regulators. Kelp has very high amounts of a particular hormone,
cytokinin. Cytokinins are responsible for cell division, cell
enlargement, differentiation of cells, development of chloroplasts
as well as a delay in aging.

When kelp is used regularly you will notice that the overall health
of the plant will increase and that when applied at certain times
major growth will occur.

There are many ways to use kelp with foliar spraying being the most
effective. You can improve specific growth stages by applying kelp
with a specific response in mind. For example, if your tomatoes or
peas are starting to bud, you can apply kelp to promote additional
buds. If you require more root growth then you would apply it to
the root zone after transplanting. Cytokinins respond within what
ever stage that the plant is in. Spray in vegetative then you will
experience more vegetative growth, spray in flower then you will
experience more flowering etc...

There are several forms that kelp comes in and some forms offer
more benefits than others. Granular kelp is often mixed in with
other fertilizers and doesn't contain as high concentrations of
ytokinins as liquid concentrate. If you are looking to supplement
your present fertilizer regime then you would probably add
powdered kelp. If however you are trying to promote more
flowering or budding sites then you would use a concentrated
liquid kelp product such as Growth Max or Growth Plus which
both have a cytokinin level of 400 ppm.

Foliar spraying is the most effective way of applying kelp,
since leaves are up to 8 times more effecient in taking in of
nutrients than through the root system. When foliar spraying
try to apply in the early morning when the plant is the most
active and the stomata are open to their fullest, avoid
praying before it rains, use high quality water with a ph
of 6.0, and any foliar spray benefits from a non ionic wetting
agent such as Mega Wet.

In conclusion, kelp can help germinate seeds quicker, improve
taking of cuttings, encourage rooting, build immunity, add more
colour and flavour, give a longer shelf life, produce more and
larger buds and flowers, counter any nutrient defiencies,
and fight off insects and disease. Kelp is truly mother natures
gift to the modern gardener.

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Lacto Bacilli

One of the major workhorse beneficial indigenous microorganism used in natural farming is lacto bacilli. This particular beneficial microorganism is popularly used in composting that specifically arrest foul odors associated with anaerobic decomposition. Lactic acid bacteria thrive and feed on the ammonia released in the decomposition normally associated with foul odors. So if you need to decompose or ferment wastes less foul odors, lactic acid bacteria is the specific bacteria to use. Its application in organic farming is enormous. In aquaculture, one of the problem is related to water quality. Poor water quality stresses the fish which in turn stunts their growth and affects their health. This is very evident specially on high density and tank aquaculture. The ammonia produced through fish excretions pollute the water and stress the fish. With regular addition of this beneficial microorganisms to the water, this ammonia problem is minimized, if not fully arrested. It helps hasten or complete the denitrification or converting wastes into forms not harmful to fish.

Spraying diluted solution of lactic acid bacteria serum to the plant and soil helps plant growth and makes them more healthy. As it is applied to the soil or the leaves, these beneficial bacteria aid in the decomposition process, thus allowing more food to be available and assimilated by the plant.

Lactic acid bacteria is also known to produce enzymes and natural antibiotics aiding effective digestion and has antibacterial properties, including control of salmonella and e. coli. To farmers, what are observed are the general health of the plants and animals, better nutrient assimilation, feed conversion and certain toxins eliminations.

Here’s a simple method of collecting this type of microorganism. Lactic acid bacteria can be collected from the air. Pour rice wash (solution generated when you wash the rice with water) on a container like plastic pot with lid. Allow air gap at least 50-75% of the container. The key here is the air space. Cover the (not vacuum tight, allowing air still to move into the container) container with lid loosely. Put the container in a quiet area with no direct sunlight. Allow the rice was to ferment for at least 5-7 days. Lactic acid bacteria will gather in 5-7 days when temperature is 20-25 degrees C. Rice bran will be separated and float in the liquid, like a thin film, smelling sour. Strain and simply get the liquid. Put this liquid in a bigger container and pour ten parts milk. The original liquid has been infected with different type of microbes including lacto bacilli. And in order to get the pure lacto bacilli, saturation of milk will eliminate the other microorganisms and the pure lacto bacilli will be left. You may use skim or powdered milk, although fresh milk is best. In 5-7 days, carbohydrate, protein and fat will float leaving yellow liquid (serum), which contain the lactic acid bacteria. You can dispose the coagulated carbohydrate, protein and fat, add them to your compost pile or feed them to your animals. The pure lactic acid bacteria serum can be stored in the refrigerator or simply add equal amount of crude sugar (dilute with 1/3 water) or molasses. Do not use refined sugar as they are chemically bleached and may affect the lactic acid bacteria. The sugar or molasses will keep the lactic acid bacteria alive at room temperature. One to one ratio is suggested although sugar, regardless of quantity is meant simply, serving as food for the bacteria to keep them alive. Now, these lactic acid bacteria serum with sugar or molasses will be your pure culture. To use, you can dilute this pure culture with 20 parts water. Make sure water is not chemically treated with, like chlorine. Remember, we are dealing with live microorganisms and chlorine can kill them. This diluted form 1:20 ratio will be your basic lactic acid bacteria concoction. Two to four tablespoons added to water of one gallon can be used as your basic spray and can be added to water and feeds of animals. For bigger animals, the 2-4 tablespoons of this diluted lactic acid bacteria serum should be used without diluting it further with water. Lactic acid bacteria serum can be applied to plant leaves to fortify phyllosphere microbes, to soil and compost. Of course, it will help improve digestion and nutrient assimilation for animals and other applications mentioned before. For any kind of imbalance, be it in the soil or digestive system, lacto bacilli can be of help.

One of the popular beneficial microorganism innoculant sfrom Japan (EM) contains lactic acid bacteria as its major component, including photosynthetic bacteria, yeasts, actinomycetes and fermenting fungi. These are pure culture imported from Japan and can be subcultured through the use of sugar or molasses. These other microbes can be cultured in several ways by farmers themselves.


Forest Beneficial Microorganisms

One technique in culturing other beneficial microorganism is getting them fro your local aged forest. One way is finding a healthy old robust tree in your local forest. Check the humus litter around the tree. The tree should have accumulated real deep humus, litter, compost of at least 2 feet to 1 yard deep. In this area through observation, we can deduce that soil fertility and microbial biodiversity are high. Our goal is to trap and culture these diversed, aged beneficial indigenous microorganisms. The technique that we use in trapping these microorganisms is the use of carbohydrate like cooked rice. Microorganisms will be attracted to food. So generally, what we do is to put the cooked rice on a flatter container with lid. For example, you can use a plastic lunch box and add about an inch of cooked rice allowing air space in the container. What is important here is a larger area to trap those microorganisms. It is suggested that you cover this container with metal netting or equivalent protecting it from animals like rats that may undig your container once you bury it in the litter, humus of your local forest. In 2-10 days (relative to temperature), you may undig your container and will notice contamination of microorganisms like white and other color molds on the cooked rice. The cooked rice has been infected now with microorganisms of your local forest. The next step is to add 1/3 amount of crude sugar or molasses to the infected cooked rice. After a week, the concoction will look like sticky, liquidy rice. You may then add equal amount of crude sugar or molasses to keep it for storage, arresting microbial activities, in a cooler area. To use, you may dilute this serum with 20 parts water. This diluted form shall then serve as your basic forest microorganisms. You may strain it and put in a container.

Another version of trapping similar forest microorganisms is simply getting the litter, humus and spreading them sparingly to the top your cooked rice. Forest leaf molds can also be used. The same procedure will be followed as described in the culture of local forest microorganisms.


Bamboo Microorganisms

Another method of gathering microorganism is through burying your container with cooked rice on bamboo plants litter. Apparently, bamboo through observation and experience in the East, attracts powerful beneficial microorganisms as the roots of the bamboo exude sugary substances that attract beneficial microorganisms. The same procedure is followed as described before in its culture.


Plant Specific Microorganisms

An equal specific method is trapping beneficial microorganisms of specific plants you want to grow or growing. For example, if you want to trap and culture beneficial microorganisms from rice, you should then select healthy, vigorous rice plant, cut them and put inverted cooked rice container over the cut rice plant. Again, beneficial microorganisms specific to rice will be attracted to the cooked rice. You can use this technique to any other plant of choice and the same procedure of culture will be used as previously described.


Rhizobium Nitrogen-Fixing Bacteria

One of the most popular nitrogen-fixing bacteria is rhizobium. It is amazing that when we coat our legumes with these specific bacteria, legumes grow well and more nitrogen is fixed on the soil. Amazingly enough, basic culture of these beneficial bacteria is simple. Once we have seen those nodules created by the bacteria fixing nitrogen on the roots of the legumes, we can assume that there are lots of these rhizobia and nitrogen fixed. Just pull out the legumes plants on a very specific stage, especially towards their flowering/fruiting stage. A simple method of culture is simply get the soil with these leguminous bacteria and mix with crude sugar with equal ratio of crude sugar. Rhizobium bacteria will proliferate feeding on the sugar and thus can be mixed with your next batch of legume seeds for inoculation. Our concoction or recipe of beneficial indigenous microorganism (BIM) is 50% lactic acid bacteria and the rest is 50% of the other microorganisms cultured. So you may use 1part forest microorganism, 1 part bamboo microorganism and 1 part specific plant microorganism mixed with 3 parts or 50% lacto bacilli. The more diversed microbes, the better. However, we will still use 50% of the total beneficial indigenous microorganisms to be lactic acid bacteria. The rest you can experiment and make your own observations and formulations. I cannot really tell you specifically what microbes we get from the different sources we have mentioned. As a rule, I only use the above BIM for plants. For animals, I use just pure lacto bacilli for we have isolated this as described. We have used the bamboo microorganisms for fermenting feeds to be fed to animals.

Different type of microorganisms thrive on different type of foods. As you can see, we use principally carbohydrates and sugars. But it will be equally important that we provide these beneficial indigenous microorganisms with other nutrients. In fact, we mix or add fermented plant extracts (fermented plant and fruit juices), ginger-garlic nutrients, brown rice vinegar and fish amino acid. That’s why in most instances, we mix these beneficial indigenous microorganisms with bionutrients to make it more effective.


Bionutrients

In the creation of biological nutrients, bionutrients, the basic process is the traditional fermentation. Fermentation process is a better system than simple extraction like boiling the plant materials, through infusion like making tea. In the United States, where compost tea is getting popular in organic agriculture, compost is made into tea, sugar or molasses are added, fermented to increase microbial population. A simple general formula or recipe in fermentation can be done for plants. For example, seaweeds. If you simply infuse seaweeds (which are quite difficult to breakdown, therefore hard to extract active ingredients), you may not get a more potent extracted active ingredients. If you ferment the same materials by adding sugar or molasses, it is easily broken down (biologically) by microorganisms and thus making nutrient more available. Microorganisms get their energy from sugar in fermenting the materials. Most healthy foods are fermented foods. Through fermentation, food are easily broken down, enzymes created, nutrition improved. That’s the reason why fermented foods like yogurt or kimchi (Korean pickles) are more nutritious than plain milk or vegetables.

In making bionutrients, the simple formula is to add 1/3 crude sugar or molasses and mixed with materials to be fermented and extracted. For example, let’s take papaya fruit fermented extract. We chop as thinly as possible ripe papaya, unwashed and unpeeled. We then add 1/3 crude sugar or molasses to the total weight or approximate volume of the papaya materials. Put the materials with at least 50-75% air gap and cover loosely with a lid and let it ferment for at least a week. After a week, you will notice some molds and microbial infections and will start smelling sweet, sour and alcoholic. The materials are then strained and liquid generated will be your pure fruit papaya extract. You can dilute this with 20 parts water. This diluted form can be used as bionutrient, using 2-4 tablespoons per gallon of water. Again, this extract can be added to animal drinking water and feeds, to compost pile or sprayed/watered to plants leaves and roots. This will be a good source of nutrient for plants or animals, and also for our beneficial indigenous microorganisms. Papaya extract is good source of enzyme pappain, beta-carotene and Vitamin C for example. So extract any plant material and just try to find out what kind of nutrients they have you can use for animal and plant nutrition. Should the materials you intend to use for extraction do not have much moisture (as compared to our papaya fruit example), you may add water enough to the level that will moisten all the materials.


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Specific bionutrients, fermented plant and other material extracts we have used to a great success and you can adopt for their specific use:


Kangkong (water spinach) Fermented Extract

This is essentially used as growth promotant. Kangkong is sometimes called water spinach. It is a kind of vegetable that typically grows in fresh water. It can also grow in highly moist soil. It s basic characteristic is it grows very fast, similar to the rapid growth of kelp in the seas. To the natural farmers, this kind of plant or similar plant for that matter have natural growth promotant. In the scientific agricultural parlance, we speak of natural growth hormones like gibberellins, auxins and cytokinins. Plants that grow fast will have a better concentrations of these natural growth hormones. By observation, kangkong or kelp or even mugwort will fall on this category. Thus, axillary buds of kangkong, plants like cucumber, squash and watermelon will be good materials to ferment for this purpose. Once these are fermented, active ingredients extracted, you may use this to spray and/or water your plants. You will notice a great improvement in the growth of your plants.


Banana-Squash-Papaya (BSP) Fermented Extract

One of the major fermented extract we use for plant flowering and fruiting, specially for vegetables, are extracts from banana, squash and papaya. Apparently, these materials have high level of potassium especially banana, and beta carotene. Although I have not tried a similar recipe using materials readily available here in the US, I will presume that materials substitute can be used. For your own experimentation, you can possibly use comfrey, squash and carrot. Le me know if they will work. In the Philippines, when we induce flowering of mangoes, conventional agriculture use potassium nitrate. We have tried with success natural materials high in nitrogen and potassium. Interesting enough, our local organic farmers have experimented using seaweed extract in inducing flowering of mangoes. Isn’t it seaweed extract have lots of natural growth hormones and trace elements, and good source of nitrogen and potassium? Check out the kinds of materials you can ferment and use to induce growth, flowering and fruiting.


Fish Amino Acid

As a general rule, the higher the protein of the materials, when composted or fermented, the higher the nitrogen. We use a lot of fish scraps to generate high nitrogen on our fish extracts. Here in the US, fish emulsion is pretty popular. Again, on basic fermentation of this material, we use crude sugar or molasses, third ratio of the fish scraps. I personally like using molasses than crude sugar not just for cost considerations, but molasses minimizes those fishy odors. I have added lactic acid bacteria in fermenting these fish scraps that arrest the foul odors very evident of fish emulsion foliar fertilizers.


Calcium Phosphate

A lot of agriculture advisers have used calcium phosphate for better plant growth, health, pest and disease controls. Natural farmers use this bionutrient very specific. Under the theory of Nutrioperiodism developed by a Japanese horticulturist, Yasushi Inoue in the 1930’s, plants and animals need a very specific nutrient relative to the stage of their development. In the plant, there is the essential vegetative growth , changeover and the reproductive periods. In animals, like humans, there is the infantile, juvenile and adulthood. It is not only critical to provide the right nutrient at the right stage of the development, but also critical to use or apply specific nutrient of calcium phosphate in the juvenile or changeover period. For the plant, for example, we know that nitrogen is critical on the vegetative stage as potassium is critical in the flowering and fruiting stages. It is however, the changeover period that is most critical that will determine the quality of the final reproductive stage. At this stage, an additional nutrient is badly needed by the plant. And this is calcium phosphate. Calcium phosphate is good for plants’ “morning sickness”. It is the stage that additional baby needs to be fed or the process where flower/fruit is about to come. Ash made from soybean stems are excellent for this purpose.

Here is a simple, natural method of generating calcium phosphate. Get eggshells and roast them enough to generate some good ashes. Afterwhich, dip these roasted eggshells on about equal visual volume of vinegar. Allow it to sit for a couple of weeks until eggshells are practically broken down by the vinegar acids. You may use this diluted 20 parts water and can be sprayed or watered to the plants during the changeover period.

When this is applied to that changeover period, it will improve plant health and productivity. The use of calcium phosphate is important to natural farmers. This however, does not mean that we shall forget the nutrient timing application of other critical nutrients for plant growth both macro and micro nutrients, given at the right stages and combinations.

We consider this very important bionutrient needed by the plants used by natural farmers.


Ginger-Garlic Extract

The original recipe of the natural farmers of Korea use not only the ginger and garlic materials, but also Chinese herbs like Angelica acutiloba, Glycurrhiza uralensis and Cinnamomum loureirii. These Chinese herbs have one basic common denominator, they are good for digestion. We have used simply equal amount of ginger and garlic, less these Chinese herbs. This is our natural antibiotics we use for plants and animals.

Remember the high level of sulfur on garlic? It is a good fungicide. The ginger-garlic extract is quite different from the plant extracts we have discussed. We soak the chopped up ginger and garlic in beer or wine overnight or 12 hours. Then we add 1/3 crude sugar and let it ferment for a couple of days like 5-7 days. They we add alcohol which stabilizes and arrests fermentation. The alcohol should be at least 40% proof. The active ingredients of the ginger and garlic is extracted in finale with the use of alcohol similar to herbal tincture we are familiar with in homeopathy. Remember that ginger and garlic are highly medicinal and highly nutritious. We have used them as natural antibiotics and in preventive medicine. We have used this concoction on chicks and chickens and have made them healthy throughout. Of course, we also use them when we see animal weakening and when they are sick. We have used them on fungal problems of plants. We have used them for rheumatism. The uses are enormous both for plants and animals. The potency of your plant extracts are relative to active ingredients that are available from the plants you are extracting. Most importantly, the part of the plants. For example, the energy on the plant part is most concentrated on the seed, fruit, leaf and other parts of the plants, to that general order. Seed is where the plant procreate itself. By simply adding moisture and heat, seed will germinate and will derive its nutrient for growth from its own seed. What natural farmers are saying is that the energy or nutrition is more potent on the seed, fruit will be second and on the leaf third. That’s the reason why when we ferment seeds like grain, our dilution for use is 1:1000 instead of 1:500. This is just a guideline.

Sometimes, you can use more diluted form but with more frequent applications. There is really no clear cut rule. Things have to be based on experimentations, experiences and observations.


Designer Compost

Improved, more potent, otherwise know as bokashi in Japan is essentially naturally fortified with macro and micro nutrients, or bionutrients and biodiversed beneficial indigenous microorganisms.

Here is a typical recipe we use in the Philippines:
• Rice Bran 10 kilos
• Copra Meal 20 kilos
• Coco Peat 20 kilos
• Chicken Manure 30 kilos
• Charcoal Dust 20 kilos
• BIM (Beneficial Indigenous Microorganism) 1 liter
• Molasses 1 kilo
• Bionutrient 1 liter

Similar recipe can be adopted here in the US, replacing or substituting similar materials above. A basic formulation that I use is very similar to the general formulation I use for animal feeds. Basic formulation consists of 80% carbohydrate, 17% protein and 3% Vitamin/Mineral. When we apply this formulation to our designer compost, we likewise find 80% carbon source, 17% nitrogen and 3% trace elements, as a matter of rule.

For the rice bran, you can substitute wheat or any inexpensive grain bran. Our copra meal or the materials residue after extracting oil from coconut can be substituted with corn meal or inexpensive meal that has ample amount of protein. Soybean is a good substitute or any other legumes. Coco peat can be substituted with peat moss. I will probably use sawdust or any materials high in carbon and lignin. Any kind of grain hay can also be used. Any kind of animal manure can likewise be used. It is however ideal to use chicken manure because of its more potent ingredients as far as macro nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium and calcium, not to mention its good source of micro nutrients. Charcoal dust is used for it is a basic carbon which natural farmers find a good media or substrate for proliferation of beneficial microorganisms. And of course, the use of molasses (as sugar source) that really improve the population of microorganisms since it is a basic food source for them. Bionutrient will be a concoction of high level of macro and micro nutrients. Depending on your goal, like higher level of potassium for example, we kind of emphasize our bionutrient with fermented extract high in potassium. Likewise, if your intention is to have a more potent level of nitrogen, our bionutrient shall emphasize high level of nitrogen source like fish emulsion or plant leguminous extract. You can likewise add and ferment rock dusts. The general key however, in this designer compost formulation or bokashi is potent biodiversed beneficial indigenous microorganisms and bionutrients. You may adjust this basic recipe relative to your requirements and observations. When you try to analyze our Philippine basic recipe, you will notice that it is pretty much satisfying the general formulation I have mentioned as to carbohydrate-carbon, protein-nitrogen and vitamin/mineral-micronutrients ratios. The real key to this recipe is providing a greater population of biodiversed beneficial indigenous microorganisms and bionutrients, with lots of carbon and organic matter. I bet you, it will make also good compost tea.

I have deliberately included this bokashi in this presentation to show that we natural farmers consider beneficial indigenous microorganisms and bionutrients of great importance for soil fertility and animal health. As we establish a healthy fertile soil, we observe healthy plants, animals, community and planet. Living soil is dependent on biodiversed microbial populations and nutrients that create a stable, balance and harmonious soil that determines healthy plants and animals. As we “farm with air, water and sunlight”, and nutrient, we likewise farm with microorganisms vital to soil fertility.

As sustainable agriculture is based on soil fertility to perpetually sustain production, so is soil fertility is determined by diversity and balance of microbial ecologies.

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A. 1. Benefits of a Healthy Food Web

A healthy foodweb occurs when:

1. All the organisms the plant requires are present and functioning.

2.Nutrients in the soil are in the proper forms for the plant to take-up. It is one of the functions of a healthy foodweb to hold nutrients in non-leachable forms so they remain in soil, until the plant requires the nutrients, and then the plant “turns-on” the right biology to convert the nutrients into forms the plant can take-up (but which are typically very leachable).

3.The correct ratio of fungi to bacteria is present, and ratio of predator to prey is present, so soil pH, soil structure, and nutrient cycling occur at the rates and produce the right forms of nutrients for the plant.

The functions of a healthy foodweb are:

1.Retention of nutrients so they do not leach or volatilize from the soil. Reduction or complete deletion of inorganic fertilizer applications is possible.

2.Cycling nutrients into the right forms at the right rates for the plant desired. The right ratio of fungi to bacteria is needed for this to happen, as well as the right numbers and activity of the predators..

3.Building soil structure, so oxygen, water and other nutrients can easily move into the soil and into deep, well-structured root systems. Current concepts of plant root systems as being at the surface of the soil is the result of current agricultural and urban practices, not a real condition of plants. Roots should go down into the soil for at least several to 10’s and perhaps 100’s of feet, but the compaction that humans impose on soil results in toxic materials being produced, preventing good root penetration. The only way to deal with this is to have the proper biology build the structure in the soil again, so oxygen and water can move into the soil. When the biology is functioning properly, water use is reduced, the need for fertilizers is reduced, and plant production is increased.

4.Suppression of disease-causing organisms through competition with beneficials, by setting up the soil and foliar conditions to help the beneficials instead of the diseases.

5.Protection of plant surfaces, above or below ground by making certain the foods the plant surfaces release into the soil are used by beneficial, not disease organisms, making certain that infection sites on plant surfaces are occupied by beneficial, and not disease-causing organisms. And by making certain predators that prefer disease-causing organisms are present to consume disease-causing organisms.

6.Production of plant-growth-promoting hormones and chemicals can result in larger root systems, although whether forcing larger root systems on plants is a positive results needs to be understood.

7.Decomposition of toxic compounds

Organisms exist in populations that are

* Balanced according to optimal growth conditions for your type of plant

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jaykush said:

hell yea good shit suby, ill deff be chillin round here. never any good organic spots. ill try to add my fair share of info along the way always fun to help.

this lady was fed ewc,kelp,compost (homemade), guano, and some extra trace stuff. i use only fresh mountain stream water for all my teas and foliar sprays. they just LOVE it when i give them a good guano tea made from this waterfall i get it at.

3 days flowering \/ \/ \/


basic feeding schedule:
s: ewc,compost,alfalfa tea
m:ewc,compost tea, foliar with source of MG and kelp
t:ewc, guano (10-3-1), kelp,
wlain mountain water
t:ewc, compost, vitamins
f:ewc, kelp, compost foliar
s: guano tea good feeding.

im in a hurry ill add later. got TONS of info.

let er rip




ps: outdoors + organics =

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minds_I said:

Hello all,

JK, from this I gather you feed everyday?

minds_I

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