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Root Nutrient Columns, IMO Box Ratios, Tillage and Soil Carbon

January 5, 2025 · by Drake Weinert

Drake opens 2025 with the I Ching hexagram Kan, water, then recaps a month-long class he taught a five-acre kava farm crew in ʻŌnōmea. He walks through Master Cho's solution vocabulary (seed IMO, KNF medicine, cleanser, reproduction, protectors, minerals) instead of acronyms like WCP and WCA, and explains the three levels of knowing: manaʻo, opinion; naʻauao, knowledge; ʻike, wisdom earned through repetition.

Most of the show covers building nutrient columns in poor soil: auger a hole three to four feet deep every five feet across a field, fill it with microbes, compost, cinder, and wood chips, so roots have a reason to grow down. In rocky ground like Puna, skip drilling and pile 8 to 16 cubic feet of IMO-inoculated wood chips on the surface instead, planting around it. He gives a spray schedule (daily is best, weekly is great, biweekly is good, less than monthly causes problems) and cites a lecture claiming tillage burns off 1 to 2 percent of soil carbon in temperate climates versus 10 to 12 percent in the tropics, with biochar and terra preta as long-term carbon storage.

The second half plays footage from Pure KNF Basic Poultry Training 6 of 10, shot at Master Lee's farm in Muju, Korea. It covers building an indoor IMO box: hard-cook rice with three cups water to four cups rice, fill the box two-thirds full, use a woven bottom rather than wood or plastic, and dig into the dark soil layer under leaf mold rather than just collecting surface leaves.

Master Cho also explains that sugar cane juice and molasses come from the same source, discusses good, bad, and neutral microorganisms, and traces EM (effective microorganism) to a Japanese religious group, noting it works best in Okinawa where it originated. He recommends collecting indigenous microbes about 100 meters higher in elevation than your farm, from drier ground rather than wet, since trees in harsher, drier spots grow smaller but bear better fruit.

Questions answered

  • 8:32 Jadam vs Master Cho's solutions for a kava farm crew — He taught solution vocabulary instead of Jadam acronyms, and the student finally understood the cost and reasoning behind each one.
  • 10:53 Young kava plants with soft-leaf eaters and weak growth — Feed the plants seawater and ferments made from hone-hone grass, comfrey, and banana to build structure and health.
  • 12:19 How do you get roots to grow into hard red clay soil? — Auger a hole three to four feet deep and fill it with microbes, compost, cinder, and wood chips so roots have a reason to reach down.
  • 18:23 How often should you spray KNF solutions on crops? — Daily is best, weekly is great, every two weeks is good, and anything less than once a month causes problems.
  • 23:34 What if your soil is rocky instead of deep dirt? — Don't drill into rock; pile 8 to 16 cubic feet of IMO-inoculated wood chips on the surface and plant around it instead.
  • 27:08 Does tilling hurt your soil's carbon? — Tilling can burn off 1 to 2 percent of soil carbon in temperate climates and 10 to 12 percent in the tropics.
  • 39:12 How do you build an IMO box indoors in cold weather? — Hard-cook rice with three cups water to four cups rice, al dente, and fill the box two-thirds full.
  • 41:20 What should the bottom of an IMO box be made of? — A woven natural material, not solid wood or plastic, so microbes can reach the rice from the soil below.
  • 42:35 Should you collect just leaf litter for an IMO box? — No, dig down into the dark soil layer under the leaf mold, not just the surface leaves.
  • 46:00 Is sugar cane juice different from molasses? — No, boiling sugar cane juice down is what makes molasses or brown sugar; it's the same source.
  • 50:13 How do good, bad, and neutral microorganisms interact? — Build up more good microorganisms so the neutral ones side with them instead of the bad ones.
  • 51:39 What is EM and should you use it? — EM is tied to a Japanese religious group and works best in Okinawa where it originated, so use your own indigenous microbes instead.
  • 55:22 What elevation should you collect indigenous microbes from? — Collect roughly 100 meters higher than your farm's own elevation for stronger microbes.
  • 57:00 Does a wetter growing spot produce better fruit? — No, trees in dry mountain areas stay smaller but produce better fruit than ones grown in wet areas.

Topics: imo, kava, tillage, soil carbon, biochar, em, indigenous microorganisms, root growth, molasses, poultry, microbes

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 Intro and welcome to 2025
  2. 2:51 I Ching reading: the abysmal, water
  3. 6:53 2024 farm recap
  4. 8:32 Teaching a kava farm class on KNF solutions
  5. 11:34 Building nutrient columns for root growth
  6. 18:23 How often to spray KNF solutions
  7. 23:34 Rocky soil alternative: surface piles
  8. 27:08 Tilling and soil carbon loss
  9. 32:18 Biochar and terra preta
  10. 34:01 Three levels of knowing: manaʻo, naʻauao, ʻike
  11. 36:07 Poultry training video: Master Lee's farm in Muju
  12. 39:12 Building an IMO box indoors
  13. 41:20 IMO box bottom material
  14. 46:00 Sugar cane juice vs molasses
  15. 48:35 Liquid solutions and shortcuts
  16. 50:13 Good, bad, and neutral microorganisms
  17. 51:39 EM and the Okinawa connection
  18. 55:22 Collecting indigenous microbes by elevation
  19. 57:00 Harsh conditions build stronger microbes and fruit
  20. 1:01:51 Sign-off

Transcript

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

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