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Yeast Solutions, Seawater Dilution Ratios, FPE vs FPJ

August 10, 2025 · by Drake Weinert

Northern Thai guy asks about a dry yeast fertilizer made from sugar, yeast, and water. Drake explains yeast breaks down sugars into alcohol and carbon dioxide, then resynthesizes decomposed matter into amino acids, hormones, and vitamins for the crop. It's already present in Master Cho's plant juices, which is why he doesn't teach it as a separate core solution, but you can isolate it and dilute it 1:1000 for weak plants, disease, storm damage, or livestock that have lost their appetite. Don't wash fruit, especially grapes and strawberries, before fermenting — the yeast lives on the skin.

A viewer asks how to dilute seawater correctly. Natural seawater runs about 3% salinity; to make it at home, mix 30 grams of sea salt per liter of water. For spraying plants, dilute that 1:30 down to 1:10, landing between 0.1% and 0.3% salinity. Before harvest, strengthen the mix: 1:20 two weeks out, 1:15 one week out, and 1:10 two days out for sweeter, more mineral-dense fruit. Coconuts can handle the strong 1:10 mix regularly.

Drake calls fermented weed juice "disgustingly cheap food" — pack a barrel with grass and weeds, cover with water, add some soil or IMO, and let it break down. Dilute at least 1:100 before use, and keep it away from your eyes and mouth. On FPE (Fermented Plant Extract), Drake isn't a fan: he considers it a misunderstood shortcut, just a lactobacillus extract with plant matter thrown in, and prefers Master Cho's methods or the cheap Madago approach instead.

Drake also retires the FFJ vs FPJ debate — call it all plant food, and match the material to the plant's stage: growth tips when young, flowers and unripe fruit in transition, ripe fruit when finishing. For his own drone spraying, he uses the same nine core solutions at standard dilutions, mixed by the barrel. The episode closes with Master Cho's chicken footage: feeding chicks bamboo and egg to build appetite and gut capacity, plus a cold-climate trick — block the sunlight in the evening so chicks think it's dark and go inside before they get chilled.

Questions answered

  • 12:20 What's your opinion on dry yeast fertilizer — sugar, yeast, and water until it blooms? — Yeast is an important, often overlooked part of KNF, already present in fermented plant juices, which is why he doesn't teach it as a separate core solution.
  • 21:01 Should you wash fruit before making plant juice? — No — yeast lives on the fruit's skin, especially grapes and strawberries, so washing strips it away before you can ferment it.
  • 27:18 Where do you get purple non-sulfur bacteria? — Pull water from a puddle that's sat two to three days, or use water from a natural creek or stream.
  • 31:05 How do you mix seawater correctly, from 3% down to spray strength? — Make artificial seawater with 30 grams of sea salt per liter, then dilute that 1:30 to 1:10 for plants, landing between 0.1% and 0.3% salinity.
  • 34:51 When do you use stronger seawater ratios before harvest? — Two weeks before harvest use 1:20, one week before use 1:15, and two days before use 1:10 for sweeter, more mineral-dense fruit.
  • 36:48 Have you used JLF (fermented weed juice) on crops or grass? — Yes — he calls it "disgustingly cheap food," packed from a barrel of grass and weeds, diluted at least 1:100 before use.
  • 41:37 What's the deal with FPE (Fermented Plant Extract)? No recipes online. — He doesn't recommend it — it's really just a lactobacillus extract from people who didn't fully understand KNF.
  • 48:53 What solutions do you load into your spray drone? — The same nine core solutions at his standard chart dilutions, mixed by the barrel and pumped into the drone.
  • 50:20 Does comfrey work in the tropics? — Yes, comfrey grows well even in the tropics and makes a great plant juice.
  • 50:58 What's the real difference between FFJ and FPJ? — None that matters — throw out the acronyms, it's all plant food made from growth tips, flowers, or fruit depending on the plant's stage.
  • 1:01:21 How do you keep chicks from freezing in cold climates? — Master Cho's trick: block the sunlight in the evening so chicks think it's dark and go inside before they get too comfortable and freeze.

Topics: yeast, seawater, sea salt, purple non-sulfur bacteria, fpj, ffj, fpe, jlf, comfrey, chickens, bokashi, grazing

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 roll call
  2. 3:14 I Ching: the hexagram of Duration
  3. 5:32 Trading the mower for rotational grazing
  4. 10:41 Chat Q&A begins
  5. 12:20 Yeast's role in KNF solutions
  6. 27:18 Getting purple non-sulfur bacteria
  7. 31:05 Mixing seawater: 3% down to spray strength
  8. 36:48 JLF, the "disgustingly cheap food"
  9. 41:37 What is FPE, and why Drake skips it
  10. 48:53 Drone spray solutions and dilution app
  11. 50:58 FFJ vs FPJ: it's all plant food
  12. 54:09 Master Cho video: feeding chicks bamboo and egg
  13. 1:01:21 Master Cho's tip: block sunlight for chicks
  14. 1:02:29 Wrap-up

Transcript

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

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