Botanicals

[S4703W]

So i've been doing some personal health research lately and recently ordered a Gotu Kola(Centella asiatica) plant from horizon herbs. I was wondering if anyone has tried this herb in teas or foliars etc?

I looked for a while this morning for more information on it but was rather unsuccessful in finding more than the basics about this plant. Although somewhat pertaining to this thread i found an article on treatment of alcohol and drug addiction with this herb and others: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/02791072.1981.10471891 . I have a close family member recovering from alcoholism and i saw a few pages back mention of heroin and junk so i thought this might be of some use.

 

[ClackamasCootz]

triterpenoid saponins & sapogenins

 

[Scrappy4]

Hey been on another comfrey hunt....this is what Ive been doing with it....(Pictures are from different batches)

This:
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To This:
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To This:
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Have you tried making comfrey syrup yet? I just put fresh leaves in a jug and let it sit. You can find other methods to make it but I like simple. Anyway the leaves rot and leaves a rich gooey liquid in the jug. This makes for a potent liquid fertlizer as its so concentrated. One draw back is it does stink though, but it works very well.

Kind of along these lines last summer for my veggie garden I took three 5 gallon buckets and put in a third or so of horsetail chopped into chunks, alfalfa in another and comfrey in a bucket. I filled them with water, put on covers and let them rot in the shade on the north side of a shed.

Roughly weekly I used about two cups per 5 gallons of this stinky stuff as fertlizer on my garden and had what I think was my best garden ever.

As I used the fermented teas I added more water and plant materials to the mixes and used them all season....scrappy

 

[S4703W]

I have another question, it might seem simple but i'm just fuzzy on whats going on. When we make a botanical tea and dump it on the rootzone do the secondary plant metabolites and other substances get directly absorbed by the roots or are we feeding the soil or both?

 

[mapinguari]

So i've been doing some personal health research lately and recently ordered a Gotu Kola(Centella asiatica) plant from horizon herbs. I was wondering if anyone has tried this herb in teas or foliars etc?

I looked for a while this morning for more information on it but was rather unsuccessful in finding more than the basics about this plant. Although somewhat pertaining to this thread i found an article on treatment of alcohol and drug addiction with this herb and others: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/02791072.1981.10471891 . I have a close family member recovering from alcoholism and i saw a few pages back mention of heroin and junk so i thought this might be of some use.

Here's a breakdown of C. asiatica, per Dr. Duke's database:

Chemicals in: Centella asiatica (L.) URBAN (Apiaceae) -- Gotu Kola, Pennywort

Chemicals

3-GLUCOSYLKAEMPFEROL Plant: DUKE1992A
3-GLUCOSYLQUERCETIN Plant: DUKE1992A
7-GLUCOSYLKAEMPFEROL Plant: DUKE1992A
ALPHA-ALANINE Plant: DUKE1992A
ALUMINUM Leaf 2,060 ppm; DUKE1992A
ASCORBIC-ACID Leaf 40 - 374 ppm DUKE1992A Plant 138 ppm; DUKE1992A
ASH Leaf 16,000 - 150,000 ppm DUKE1992A
ASIATIC-ACID Plant: DUKE1992A
ASIATICOSIDE Plant 700 - 1,200 ppm DUKE1992A
ASPARTIC-ACID Plant: DUKE1992A
BETA-CAROTENE Leaf 66 - 615 ppm DUKE1992A
BETA-CARYOPHYLLENE Plant: DUKE1992A
BETA-ELEMENE Leaf: DUKE1992A
BETA-FARNESENE Plant: DUKE1992A
BETA-SITOSTEROL Plant: DUKE1992A
BETULIC-ACID Plant 1,100 ppm; DUKE1992A
BETULINIC-ACID Plant 1,100 ppm; JAD
BICYCLOELEMENE Plant: DUKE1992A
BRAHMIC-ACID Plant 970 ppm; DUKE1992A
BRAHMINOSIDE Plant 1,600 ppm; DUKE1992A
BRAHMOSIDE Plant 3,700 ppm; DUKE1992A
CALCIUM Leaf 1,700 - 15,888 ppm DUKE1992A
CAMPESTEROL Plant: DUKE1992A
CAMPHOR Essential Oil: DUKE1992A
CARBOHYDRATES Leaf 69,000 ppm; DUKE1992A
CENTELLIC-ACID Plant: DUKE1992A
CENTELLINIC-ACID Plant: DUKE1992A
CENTELLOSE Plant: DUKE1992A
CENTELLOSIDE Plant: DUKE1992A
CENTOIC-ACID Plant: DUKE1992A
CHROMIUM Leaf 10 ppm; DUKE1992A
CINEOLE Essential Oil: DUKE1992A
COBALT Leaf 73 ppm; DUKE1992A
ELAIDIC-ACID Plant: DUKE1992A
EO Plant 3,000 - 6,000 ppm DUKE1992A
FAT Leaf 6,000 - 56,000 ppm DUKE1992A
FIBER Leaf 20,000 - 187,000 ppm DUKE1992A
GERMACRENE Leaf: DUKE1992A
GERMACRENE-D Plant: DUKE1992A
GLUCOSE Plant: DUKE1992A
GLUTAMIC-ACID Plant: DUKE1992A
GLYCINE Plant: DUKE1992A
HYDROCOTYLINE Plant 16 ppm; DUKE1992A
INDOCENTOIC-ACID Plant: DUKE1992A
INOSITOL Plant: DUKE1992A
IRON Leaf 31 - 290 ppm DUKE1992A
ISOBRAHMIC-ACID Plant 9,000 ppm; DUKE1992A
ISOTHANKUNIC-ACID Plant: DUKE1992A
ISOTHANKUNISIDE Plant: DUKE1992A
KAEMPFEROL Plant: DUKE1992A
KILOCALORIES Leaf 340 - 3,180 /kg DUKE1992A
LIGNOCERIC-ACID Plant: DUKE1992A
LINOLEIC-ACID Plant: DUKE1992A
MADASIATIC-ACID Plant: DUKE1992A
MADECASSIC-ACID Plant: DUKE1992A
MADECASSOSIDE Plant: DUKE1992A
MAGNESIUM Leaf 3,200 ppm; DUKE1992A
MANGANESE Leaf 277 ppm; DUKE1992A
MEDICASSIC-ACID Plant: DUKE1992A
MESOINOSITAL Plant: DUKE1992A
METHANOL Plant: DUKE1992A
MYO-INOSITOL Plant: DUKE1992A
N-DODECANE Essential Oil: DUKE1992A
NIACIN Leaf: DUKE1992A
OLEIC-ACID Plant: DUKE1992A
OXYASIATICOSIDE Plant: DUKE1992A
P-CYMOL Plant: DUKE1992A
PALMITIC-ACID Plant: DUKE1992A
PECTIN Leaf: DUKE1992A
PHOSPHORUS Leaf 300 - 2,804 ppm DUKE1992A
POTASSIUM Leaf 4,140 - 38,693 ppm DUKE1992A
PROTEIN Leaf 16,000 - 150,000 ppm DUKE1992A
RAFFINOSE Plant: DUKE1992A
RHAMNOSE Plant: DUKE1992A
RIBOFLAVIN Leaf 1.4 - 13 ppm DUKE1992A
SAPONIN Plant 11,000 - 80,000 ppm DUKE1992A
SELENIUM Leaf: DUKE1992A
SILICON Leaf 140 ppm; DUKE1992A
SODIUM Leaf 1,040 ppm; DUKE1992A
STEARIC-ACID Plant: DUKE1992A
STIGMASTEROL Plant 40 ppm; DUKE1992A
THANKUNIC-ACID Plant: DUKE1992A
THANKUNISIDE Plant: DUKE1992A
THIAMIN Leaf 1.5 - 14 ppm DUKE1992A
TIN Leaf 12 ppm; DUKE1992A
TRANS-BETA-FARNESENE Plant: DUKE1992A
VELLARINE Plant: DUKE1992A
WATER Plant 893,000 ppm; DUKE1992A
ZINC Bark 34 ppm; DUKE1992A

 

[W89]

Have you tried making comfrey syrup yet? I just put fresh leaves in a jug and let it sit. You can find other methods to make it but I like simple. Anyway the leaves rot and leaves a rich gooey liquid in the jug. This makes for a potent liquid fertlizer as its so concentrated. One draw back is it does stink though, but it works very well.

Kind of along these lines last summer for my veggie garden I took three 5 gallon buckets and put in a third or so of horsetail chopped into chunks, alfalfa in another and comfrey in a bucket. I filled them with water, put on covers and let them rot in the shade on the north side of a shed.

Roughly weekly I used about two cups per 5 gallons of this stinky stuff as fertlizer on my garden and had what I think was my best garden ever.

As I used the fermented teas I added more water and plant materials to the mixes and used them all season....scrappy

I've not tried fermented extracts or syrups. just botanical teas, just coz my soil has all the NPK ect I'm just using the teas for the other benefits like acids/hormones/ vitamins that kinda thing.. As I think once you start fermenting they all break down

 

[Seandawg]

Bumper cars!!!

Anyone got anything new and fun to share?

 

[BlueJayWay]

I have so much extra dried cannabis leaf/stem, I may try messin around with cannabis/kelp tea, like we do alfalfa/kelp ya know.....if anyone's interested in hearing +/- affects I see on the plants.....I'd like to see what the leaf has to offer, most info on the plant in that regard is in relation to hemp seed content.....

.....or I could just keep mulchin away!

 

[ICMaggotMe]

Anyone got anything new and fun to share?

My new North American wish list item perhaps?

http://www.dalmiagreenfields.com/neemshield.htm

 

[Seandawg]

I have so much extra dried cannabis leaf/stem, I may try messin around with cannabis/kelp tea, like we do alfalfa/kelp ya know.....if anyone's interested in hearing +/- affects I see on the plants.....I'd like to see what the leaf has to offer, most info on the plant in that regard is in relation to hemp seed content.....

.....or I could just keep mulchin away!

Jay

I am a firm believer in using a plant to feed itself. I use banana leaf mulch for my bananas, same with papayas, and just about everything else in my yard. I figured that if plants themselves create microbial ecosystems for the soil they would use the leaves that drop off to attain their desired microbial "dominance" or preference rather. And using the fan leaves as a tea only makes sense in my opinion!

Good luck with that! Please share your results as well!

My new North American wish list item perhaps?

http://www.dalmiagreenfields.com/neemshield.htm

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ICME

Looks like you've got a solid looking product! The only thing that concerns me is the mustard. I know that mustard itself while growing exudes through the rhizosphere enzymes that kill or push away mycorrhizal fungi. Could those compounds also be throughout the seed meal? Yes? No? Potentially? I really don't know. But It could be something to caution maybe...

SD

 

[ICMaggotMe]

ICME

Looks like you've got a solid looking product! The only thing that concerns me is the mustard. I know that mustard itself while growing exudes through the rhizosphere enzymes that kill or push away mycorrhizal fungi. Could those compounds also be throughout the seed meal? Yes? No? Potentially? I really don't know. But It could be something to caution maybe...

SD

I'm not sure about that. I know there are several species of mustard in both the brassica ans sinapis genera. The mustard in this meal is brassica campestris (syn brassica rapa) and is related to canola, rapeseed and turnips amongst others.

I believe rapeseed / canola meal are pretty safe to use as an amendment although I have no experience using them.

Not only that....its on my wish list...not in my supply shed

 

[Seandawg]

Botanicals

I'm not sure about that. I know there are several species of mustard in both the brassica ans sinapis genera. The mustard in this meal is brassica campestris (syn brassica rapa) and is related to canola, rapeseed and turnips amongst others.

I believe rapeseed / canola meal are pretty safe to use as an amendment although I have no experience using them.

Not only that....its on my wish list...not in my supply shed

Great observation and research!
If by chance you do pick it up please bring back some feed back!

SD

 

[Scrappy4]

It's been a loooonnnggg winter in the heartland kelp kid. Spring is still a dream.

I do have a field of rye to play with though. Next summer I will compost some, make teas, and ferment. But first build new rooms, I hope to get something going late summer. Did I mention it's been a long winter?

 

[Seandawg]

Botanicals

It's been a loooonnnggg winter in the heartland kelp kid. Spring is still a dream.

I do have a field of rye to play with though. Next summer I will compost some, make teas, and ferment. But first build new rooms, I hope to get something going late summer. Did I mention it's been a long winter?

Scrappy, there's still room in the 808 state for a mellow mannered man like yourself. Have you ever seen the movie endless summer? Lol

SD

 

[Scrappy4]

Scrappy, there's still room in the 808 state for a mellow mannered man like yourself. Have you ever seen the movie endless summer? Lol

SD

Dunno can't remember shit.....was there nude female kelpers?

 

[Seandawg]

Botanicals

Dunno can't remember shit.....was there nude female kelpers?

There were but not in the "official" release lol

 

[ClackamasCootz]

Surf Biter

If you really want to extend a helping hand when Scrappy moves there, you could offer to take him shopping for new clothes so he'll fit in with the locals...

Maybe a colorful pair of flip-flops, bermuda shorts (with a white belt), a white shirt and a bow tie and those really cool hats with the propeller on top to spin around with your finger on one hand while clutching a fried Spam sandwich with the other hand!

That way he won't appear to be a newbie when he drives around town......

CC

 

[Seandawg]

Surf Biter

If you really want to extend a helping hand when Scrappy moves there, you could offer to take him shopping for new clothes so he'll fit in with the locals...

Maybe a colorful pair of flip-flops, bermuda shorts (with a white belt), a white shirt and a bow tie and those really cool hats with the propeller on top to spin around with your finger on one hand while clutching a fried Spam sandwich with the other hand!

That way he won't appear to be a newbie when he drives around town......

CC

Lmao

Maybe I'll get him a hula skirt and a grass hut to live in too lol.

 

[ClackamasCootz]

Surf Biter

If you get to Southern California sometime you should try a Mexican nieve raspada which is usually shortened to raspada - pretty much a Hawaiian ice but with real fruit. Not to worry though because there's still plenty of sugar to kill the taste of the fruit but if you dig around with a spoon can see some 'kibbles 'n bits' in the ice. Pretty refreshing in the summer at the So-So-Cal beaches.

There's a potential business concept for you - Durian raspadas! Check into it - could be a big career move for you!

 

[Seandawg]

Botanicals

Surf Biter

If you get to Southern California sometime you should try a Mexican nieve raspada which is usually shortened to raspada - pretty much a Hawaiian ice but with real fruit. Not to worry though because there's still plenty of sugar to kill the taste of the fruit but if you dig around with a spoon can see some 'kibbles 'n bits' in the ice. Pretty refreshing in the summer at the So-So-Cal beaches.

There's a potential business concept for you - Durian raspadas! Check into it - could be a big career move for you!

Hawaiian ice. That's actually the first time I've heard that. We call it "shaved ice" same thing really. Real fruit huh? But is it organic? Lol