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Cam Yeast In Pineapple Vinegar, Thrips On Potted Plants

Drake answers two questions this week. Cam yeast forming on fresh pineapple vinegar is a harmless film yeast, the kind that also turns up on kombucha and lacto ferments. Leave it alone. Shaking it off will only disturb your colonies.

A grower with thrips on potted plants asked about making a microbial pesticide with JMS and potassium hydroxide. Drake said skip it. Use lactic acid bacteria and Bacillus with calcium phosphate to harden the plant instead. Thrips are "janitors" that show up when plant nutrition is weak, so fix the plant, not the bug.

Most of the episode is Drake weighing whether to keep doing a live Sunday show. He cited views under 200 an episode, about 16 live viewers, and $217 in YouTube income over roughly five months, under two dollars a day. He's considering switching to emailed questions and short topic clips instead.

On sponsors: he has none besides Pure KNF Foundation itself, and turned down the idea of a compost company sponsor. KNF teaches you to make compost and inputs yourself for free, so a sponsor selling you the same thing isn't something he'll shill.

Questions answered

  • 11:45 Cam yeast is forming on my pineapple vinegar — is that natural in KNF fermentation? — It's a harmless film yeast; leave it alone, it's fine on vinegar, and shaking it just messes up your colonies.
  • 20:48 My potted plants have thrips — should I make a microbial pesticide with JMS and potassium hydroxide? — No — feed plant nutrition instead: lacto and Bacillus with calcium phosphate to harden the plant, since thrips show up when nutrition is weak.
  • 25:03 Can you put out recordings of the Sunday live event for people who miss it? — The shows are recorded but hard to find; best time to watch is live, second best is before it gets taken down.
  • 36:19 Why are you talking about changing the show's format? — Views are under 200 an episode and only 16 people watch live, so Drake wants to reach more people with clips instead.
  • 38:30 How much does the live show actually earn? — About $217 over roughly five months, under two dollars a day, which is part of why Drake is rethinking the live format.
  • 40:44 Can you make more money on Instagram or TikTok than on YouTube? — Maybe, if he cuts the content into short clips instead of running a weekly live show.
  • 41:30 How do you compare to other KNF YouTubers? — Probably the most experienced, but he admits the community around the show has gotten a bit cult-like and hard for newcomers to enter.
  • 44:52 What sponsors do you have? — None except Pure KNF Foundation itself; an outside sponsor would mean pushing a product instead of teaching people to do it themselves for free.
  • 49:13 Shouldn't a compost company sponsor you? — No — KNF teaches you to make your own compost for free, so he won't shill a product people should just make themselves.

Topics: cam yeast, pineapple vinegar, fermentation, thrips, lab, bacillus, calcium phosphate, plant nutrition, potted plants, pest control

KNF Office Hours is a free live Q&A every Sunday at 9 AM HST. Bring your question to pureknf.org/learn/questions or join live.

In this episode

  1. 0:00 Stream restart, tech issues
  2. 1:46 I Ching: Gathering Together
  3. 4:14 Catching up: Maui trip, apprentice program
  4. 5:49 Considering a format change
  5. 7:14 Chocolate festival, upcoming Hilo bee day
  6. 11:45 Q&A: cam yeast in pineapple vinegar
  7. 14:04 Why live is hard to clip
  8. 17:28 Answering repeat questions, Mother's Day
  9. 19:24 Membership platform login trouble
  10. 20:48 Q&A: thrips on potted plants
  11. 25:03 Are episodes recorded for later viewing
  12. 36:19 YouTube view counts under 200
  13. 38:30 Income: $217 over five months
  14. 40:44 Instagram, TikTok vs YouTube money
  15. 41:30 Comparing to other KNF YouTubers
  16. 42:08 Plan: short topic videos, email questions
  17. 44:52 Sponsors: none but Pure KNF Foundation
  18. 49:13 Why no compost company sponsorship

Transcript

Auto-transcribed with Whisper. Click any timestamp to play from there.

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