Skip to main content
← Back to Office Hours

Vinegar Brix Ratios, FAA Staging, Slight Yellowing Phase

Drake opens with an I Ching reading on innocence, then works through fish amino acid (FAA) and vinegar questions. FAA needs only equal weights of sugar and fish, layered in a 5-gallon bucket — adding IMO strips the oils that make it work as a pest deterrent, and lactic acid bacteria should be left to colonize on its own rather than seeded in. For vinegar, brix needs to sit between 9 and 14 before fermenting or it won't convert properly; a splash of live mother vinegar (like Bragg's) helps start it, and vinegar gnats pooping acetic acid speed the process along. The simplest vinegar recipe is one part fruit or vegetable ferment to two parts water, filled two-thirds full under a breathable lid.

On fuel, Drake walks through Master Cho's ratio chart — 1:3000 for most stages, 1:1000 for seed and leaf growth — and warns that pushing the ratio higher (1:500, 1:250, 1:10) makes plants top-heavy and "obese" rather than stronger. He explains the slight yellowing phase plants go through before blooming: it looks like nitrogen deficiency but is actually a demand for calcium phosphate (KNF structure) as the plant shifts into reproduction, and adding nitrogen here can stall fruiting.

Other questions cover OHN extraction — pour the full batch into a collection jar, then reseed one-third back from that combined pour-off each time rather than leaving one-third in the original jar — and IPMO working better than IMO for seeding FAA. The episode closes with a Master Cho field video from Muju: a soil sampling tool, broadcasting IMO and biochar soaked in KNF nutrients before roller crimping a rye cover crop, and a tangent on keeping a welder on the farm for self-sufficiency.

Questions answered

  • 7:53 Added IMO to a fish amino acid (FAA) batch along with OHN — is that okay? — Unnecessary — IMO microbes eat the oils in FAA and kill its use as a pest deterrent; FAA only needs equal weights of sugar and fish.
  • 11:42 Vinegar starts fine but goes questionable after two to three months and loses its bite. — Keep brix between 9 and 14 before fermenting, add a splash of live mother vinegar like Bragg's as a starter, and let vinegar gnats do their job.
  • 23:30 Brown sugar in a KNF protectors (LAB) batch is floating instead of sinking — normal? — No, sugar should sink and oversaturate to the bottom; floating sugar means something is off in the process.
  • 24:15 Can FAA be built up in stages instead of all at once? — Yes, just weigh each new fish layer and add an equal weight of sugar on top every time you add more.
  • 26:09 Can the fuel formula ratios (1:500, 1:250, 1:10) be changed? — You can adjust them if you understand why, but overdoing fuel makes plants top-heavy and obese instead of stronger.
  • 33:29 Added LAB to a two-month FAA and got white fuzz on top — is it ruined? — Not ruined — LAB is the main microbe in FAA anyway, just don't skimp on sugar and ignore surface fuzzies.
  • 35:44 What is the best vinegar recipe ratio? — One part fruit or vegetable ferment to two parts water, filled two-thirds full with a breathable lid, gets brix in the right zone.
  • 37:53 Leaves are yellowing before flowering — is that a nitrogen deficiency? — No, it's the slight yellowing phase going into bloom puberty; add calcium phosphate (KNF structure), not nitrogen, or you'll stall fruiting.
  • 42:02 Can multiple jars of the same plant food be combined and super-saturated again? — Yes, if they're from the same crop; keep different crops separate.
  • 42:45 When making OHN, should you pour back one-third or two-thirds after each extraction? — Pour the whole batch off into a collection jar first, then reseed one-third back from that combined pour-off each time.
  • 45:16 Is IMO or IPMO better for seeding FAA? — IPMO works better for seeding FAA than IMO.
  • 1:00:40 When using cover crop with IMO, should IMO go on before or after roller crimping? — Broadcast IMO before roller crimping so the microbes can start breaking the material down and feeding it into the soil.

Topics: faa, imo, ipmo, lab, ohn, vinegar, fuel, knf protectors, cover crop, calcium phosphate, roller crimping, fish amino acid

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 I Ching: innocence
  2. 7:09 Community shoutouts, members roll call
  3. 7:53 IMO in fish amino acid — unnecessary
  4. 9:24 Pure KNF Foundation membership
  5. 11:42 Vinegar troubleshooting: brix, mother, gnats
  6. 23:30 Sugar floating in KNF protectors
  7. 24:15 Building FAA in stages
  8. 26:09 Altering fuel ratios — plant obesity warning
  9. 33:29 LAB and white fuzz in FAA
  10. 35:44 Vinegar recipe: one part food, two parts water
  11. 37:53 Slight yellowing phase before bloom
  12. 42:02 Mixing jars of plant food
  13. 42:45 OHN pour-off and reseeding
  14. 45:16 IMO vs IPMO for seeding FAA
  15. 46:02 Master Cho field video: Muju soil sampling
  16. 1:00:40 IMO before roller crimping cover crop
  17. 1:02:05 Welding and farm self-sufficiency
  18. 1:03:45 Sign-off and time zone note

Transcript

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

Share