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Effective Microorganisms, aka EM

Trichgnomes

Member
I searched the threads and could not really find one dedicated to EM. There are a lot of good ones, obviously the OFC, CT guides, as well as the application of rock dust, etc., but I thought it would be nice to have a place to compile some information/personal experiences with the use of EM.

Here is something I found somewhat interesting,

[excerpted from a letter from Matthew Wood, co-founder of SCD:] "Comments on the question, "what organisms are in EM?":
This is a very difficult question to answer.

First of all, EM is produced using different methods, different raw materials, different equipment and different environments in many different countries. Therefore, the actual groups of organisms in EM are different in many different countries. They are even differen from batch to batch from the same manufacturing facility. Some critics say this is a problem for EM, because it can produce inconsistent results. However, Dr. Higa teaches that there are many species of organisms that, if combined in a specific way, can create a mixed culture that will have similar effects of EM. He teaches that the "key" is to have a combined culture containing beneficial lactic acid bacteria, beneficial yeasts and beneficial phototrophic bacteria. This is "EM". For example, in Dr. Higa's patents, he lists many many species that could be used to represent these three key groups.

EM is "officially" manufactured in Japan by two companies and "unofficially" manufactured by at least one other company. Each of these companies produce distinctly different EM-1, EM-2 and EM-3. Many variables are different among the methods of the different groups. Yet, Dr. Higa teaches that they are "functionally" all similar. Many people prefer the EM-1 manufactured by EM Laboratory. This company is a part of the International Nature Farming Research Center (INFRC). This is not an organization started, owned or controlled by the EM Research Organization (EMRO). However, EMRO has a "Know-How" agreement with INFRC so that they will receive a royalty for the use of Dr. Higa's technology. In fact, INFRC has been around for much longer than EMRO. INFRC was started, and is
controlled by, Sekai Kyusei Kyo (SKK), which is a religious/philosophical organization founded on the teachings of Mokichi Okada. Another branch of the SKK religion is Mokichi Okada Association (MOA). SKK, through INFRC, is what launched syntropic antioxidative microbe technology to the world during the mid to late 1980's.
This occurred because one of Dr. Higa's students (who was studying EM) was a member of SKK and introduced Dr. Higa and EM to SKK as a tool that fit their philosophy and could be used in "Nature Farming". EMRO was not founded until somewhere around 1994.

Now, back to the organisms in EM. It is as much about the process, as it is about the organisms themselves. Dr. Higa teaches that the process will ensure that only "beneficial" organisms survive.

Most, if not all, manufacturers of EM do not grow EM from "pure culture". They do not grow EM in a sterile environment and they do not use sterile media. So, the dominant species can "drift" over time, largely effected by the substrates used. For example, one of the materials often used is fish emulsion (basically ground up fish parts). If this is pasteurized before using as a culture media, it will not contribute many organisms (depends on how it is "pasteurized"). However, if it is not paseurized, the species of
organisms living on that batch of fish guts will likely grow and be present in EM, if they can survive the process and compliment the other beneficials in "seed EM". As you may imagine, this makes EM-1 a "nightmare" to manage for regulatory and labelling issues. It also means that many of the EM
labels from around the world are often not accurate.

Some of the more advanced producers of EM, such as EM Laboratory in Japan, will regularly "spike" their batches with species from pure culture. They call this "renewing" the cultures. This is probably the best way to maintain consistency (certain species always present in predictable populations), while also getting the species richness obtained from purposely not growing in pure culture. Dr. Higa taught his students that EM made from pure culture is not as effective as EM made naturally from high quality ingredients.

I have taken EM from different manufacturers and had it cultured out on various media, purified to pure culture and then identified each different species. They have never matched the species on the labels or in the literature.

It is because of these issues that many manufacturers have decided not to put species on the label. The less specific they can be, the less chance of "misbranding".

It can also be noted that because of these complex issues (only summarized here), there is no accurate and up to date patent on EM. I think this is because there are so many versions of what is functionally the same thing.

Our company, Sustainable Community Development, LLC (SCD) is committed to providing as much information about syntropic antioxidative microbe technology as we can afford to. Actually we have hundreds of research papers, case studies and reports on file in our office. Unfortunately, we have not had the resources yet to
scan all of this and make them available to the public.

When looking for EM products, please consider buying from our small grassroots company. Your purchase from us support our effort to provide education, research and development with syntropic antioxidative microbe technology. You can buy products from our on-line store at www.emtrading.com.

If you have EM products to sell, please send us an email. We may be happy to offer your EM product at our on-line store." [end of excerpt from letter by Matthew Wood]




I also wanted to quote something concerning the PNSB discussion from the CT thread. However it is from Vinny Pinto, so I am not claiming this to be truth or heavily scientific based, merely that it is his opinion, and something that could be discussed.



(This quote is immediately following the Matthew Wood excerpt on Pinto's website) http://eminfo.vmicrobial.info/moreem1.html#Culture


Incidentally, the above discourse also illustrates why you cannot simply extend or re-activate EM forever by simply making a string of never-ending serial batches of Activated EM with molasses. While the lactic acid organisms and/or the yeast may survive and thrive well (assuming that other stray organisms do not eventually contaminate the culture) across successive serial "activations", some of the helper organisms, along with the phototrophic organisms may not be allowed to awaken and reproduce efficiently or sufficiently,, and thus may suffer successive serial attrition or attenuation, to the detriment of the whole culture, if you attempt to continually serially "extend" consecutive batches of Activated EM (AEM.)

EM is not simply cultured from a batch of older EM on molasses and water, as is done with Activated EM. Rather, to ensure the purity and count of all the species of organisms, EM is separately brewed in three vats, one each for:

EM2, which is the yeasts
EM3, which is the phototrophic organisms
EM4, which consists of lactic acid bacteria
(these three "sub-cultures" are the three component groups comprising EM) each with its own nutrients (for example, the vat of phototrophic organisms does not use molasses as a nutrient, but rather a more suitable foodstuff for such organisms, and the yeasts do not feed on molasses alone.) When these three batches are complete, they are the mixed in a vat in a pre-determined ratio to form EM stock, which is then cultured as a synergistic culture with water and molasses (and a few minor ingredients) prior to bottling, distribution and sale.



Obviously this is the opinion of Vinny Pinto, however an interesting one, and it would be nice to hear some insightful theories/input.
 

Microbeman

The Logical Gardener
ICMag Donor
Veteran
There is a large thread on EM. I posted a photo in it but doing a search for it, I get this message;

"The following words are either very common, too long, or too short and were not included in your search : EM"

Brilliant software ICmag.
 

mad librettist

Active member
Veteran
well this is a good idea. now we have a process thread and a theory thread.

ping if you can read this.

Vinny Pinto: he is pretty good. most EM people are way crazy, beyond science altogether and into the realm of religion or cult. Vinny Takes it with a grain of salt.

In his E-book, he also gives a recipe for EM you can extend more than once. It starts with a 1.5:1 EM:molasses ratio.

In general, I find the EM people unhelpful. Sort of the faux news of microbes. I keep my expectations down by discounting the consortium thing. To me:

1)it's acid fermentation by facultative anaerobes, and also some PNSB, and some yeast (white stuff floats after a while)
2)it can contain many individual species that are good to have around if they "take"
3)local wild organisms, as well as organisms from the blackstrap molasses are a good thing
4)acid fermented material is recognized by many in the animal kingdom as a food that feels good (anaerobic ensilage of corn makes corn loved by cows and easy to digest), and is easy to digest. Further, the energy is acid fermented plant matter is easier to extract, by animals and aerobic bacteria. In other words: this stuff is very hot.

My own practice is shotgun: to add every organism I can to the soil, give some food, and see what survives (actually I don't see). EM is just a very good mother culture to start with, and has PNSB's you can't culture from the air. We just had some warm days and now it's snowing again. On the warm days, I went out to spray my rasied beds at home, and some spots in the yard, like the one where the dogs poo. As the snow melts it will spread the EM.
 

mad librettist

Active member
Veteran
my reasoning, btw, includes: if it can't compete in your kitchen in a soda bottle, how is it going to compete on the ground outside. inoculants need to be matched to their food souces and environment.
 

guest2012y

Living with the soil
Veteran
Nice reads,I've really been needing to sit down and burn my eyes out on some good EM information. Thanks guys....... I was just starting to wonder if the IC search engine sucks,am I wrong?
 

VerdantGreen

Genetics Facilitator
Boutique Breeder
Mentor
ICMag Donor
Veteran
so EM is something from a bottle that all you bottle-dodgers would actually recommend? ;) :D

my question is this. - if i'm mixing my soil using topsoil, mushroom compost(well leached and aged), worm castings, peat, guano etc, will this EM bring anything extra to the life in my soil that isnt provided by the rest of the ingredients?

or is it just a time saver?

V.
 

mad librettist

Active member
Veteran
Verdant,

EM is a multi-use "product", or seen more simply, a fine motherculture containing many helpful species replicated mostly via acid fermentation (PNSB's and yeasts excepted). Gardening is just one of its uses. It does come in a bottle, for about 25$ a liter. That liter can easily last a year, because if I start with EM:molasses:water at 1.5:1:20, I can actually use the second fermentation to make another, and another. Just like sourdough starters, it eventually has to be refreshed or it becomes local wild stuff. This product is the cheapest I have ever used.

Some uses (very short list):

1)gardening, as a soil treatment at the start of the season/in winter to speed the decomp of surface litter. If it encounters fermentable material in a fermentation friendly environment, it will do the job instead of bad anaerobes (the kind that release methane). also aids in humus formation according to someone I can't recall.
2)acid fermentation of kitchen scraps/yard waste. This is called bokashi. I like to think of it as turning kitchen scraps into manure, and I treat it as such. It will compost VERY hot, and can burn roots if too close. I run it all through my wormbin.
2.5)reduction of landfill by composting cooked food, oils, meats, cheese, whatever (I realize you are vegan)
3)Composting - inoculated bran, or just a strong solution of activated EM and water is great for the pile
4)laundry/dishwasher/greasy dishes, etc... a soak in EM really reduces scrubbing. Keep it away from dark clothes, carpet, or upholstery. Reduces soap use 1/3 to 1/2.
5)deodorizing the above.
6)maintaining your drain esp. if grease is the issue
7)maintaining your septic
8)feeding to animals, including humans, as a probiotic. animals are nuts for acid fermented foodstuffs, and it is very good for them. My dogs have good breath if i put a capful in their water. gargling with straight EM makes my mouth feel very clean.
9)there are versions of the product approved for the cleaning of nasty aromatic hydrocarbons, with PNSB's love to munch on.
10)the making of certain "raw foods", like papaya slices fermented, or a salad dressing recipe I saw. I quite like the taste of EM fermented molasses. Barley malt is ok. Grape juice concentrate is next

and many more. think of it as a digestive for the planet. or a technology.

Do you think this is something that would be better done locally (in my kitchen)?

which part? the mother culture making? that really depends. I like to use a commercial culture, but then I use microbe loaded molasses, and I allow some air to enter the bottle periodically. If something wild can survive in there and not mess up my brew, I say it is welcome. LAB make the environment pretty tough to accept for all their competitors an prey. The final pH of a brew is lose to 3, and the oxygen is very low. Microbeman recounted on another thread that adding EM to his ACT resulted in half dead ACT. He must have used a pretty high dose, but can you imagine at full strength what it does to aerobes? It pickles them, that's what.

I may not understand the consortium thing, and I suspect it's a partial scam. But if we do use the sourdough example, I can at least tell myself it is cheap enough to keep buying motherculture.
 

mad librettist

Active member
Veteran
lol didn't think you would challenge it. I'm searching but having trouble. Some stuff seems to be missing.

I thought it was in the lignin thread. Maybe not? I had asked how EM affects soil, and there were theories bandied about involving colonization of anaerobic pockets. I am pretty sure you answered that EM microbes make humus. let me search a bit...

Edit: can't find it, which leaves me back at not knowing exactly what it does to soil, only that it helps make it spongy.

Edit: I edited the post as I can't find the post. can you please explain again what it does for soil? how (if) it cleans up excess salts, etc...
 

Microbeman

The Logical Gardener
ICMag Donor
Veteran
I have stated that AEM is a great soil amendment/builder (can't recall that word...) in that it helps restore aggregate quality ability of soil. [e.g. crumbs stick together but with spaces; becoming spongy; retaining moisture] This observation may tell us (be evidence) that humus has been formed but I know of no definitive. It could be something which Mr. Pinto or Mr. Din stated.
 

mad librettist

Active member
Veteran
there is actually a word for that, but I can't remember what it is.


wait... lethologica!


lethonomia is forgetting names - and possibly giving credit to the wrong person for an idea the don't agree with.
 
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