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Fermented Seawater, IMO4 Chicken Feed, Anthracnose Control

Drake walks through Master Cho's fermented seawater recipe: skim the top three centimeters of seawater for microbes, ferment until it turns whitish and hazy, and use it fast once it goes bad (haze clumping like a cotton ball). Dilute 1:20 for onion, leek, and garlic seedlings, and 0.2% (not 2%) for salt water to boost sugar content. Once fermentation is done, add liquid IMO4 and water-soluble calcium phosphate to lift microbial activity and fight anthracnose.

Trembling Thomas asked about persimmons with roots drowning in Florida's rising groundwater and a leaf blight that may be anthracnose; Drake suggests mounding the roots or getting oxygen to them, plus treating the foliage. On brewing liquid IMO4, Drake says skip the sugar — simple sugars feed bacteria, while harder starches like ground oatmeal or potato favor fungal growth.

Footage from Master Cho's poultry farm covers fermenting cheap feed to the right moisture, a Goldilocks amount, not too wet or too dry, so it heats properly, growing dry rice instead of white rice to feed the flock, and why the farmer skips his noisy cement mixer since it scares the chickens.

Other notes: fermented plant juice from unripe papaya reportedly eases gout, a Stihl adjustable hedge trimmer makes short work of cutting bamboo, and Drake nurses a swollen, arthritic hand from fixing his water system, with an IMO bath planned for it.

Questions answered

  • 6:26 Persimmons with roots drowning from rising groundwater and leaf blight in Florida — Mound up the roots or get oxygen to them, and treat the tops of the plants; it looks close to anthracnose.
  • 7:50 Does fermented plant juice help with gout? — A fermented plant juice made from unripe papaya reportedly helps a lot with gout, per Drake's Filipino friend.
  • 11:02 How do you make fermented seawater and why skim the surface? — Gather from the top three centimeters where microbes swarm; deeper water just gives you minerals.
  • 16:06 How do you know fermented seawater is ready or gone bad? — It's ready when it turns whitish and hazy, and bad when the haze clumps like a cotton ball, so use it fast.
  • 17:36 What's the dilution rate for fermented seawater on seedlings? — Apply at 1:20 for onion, leek, and garlic seedlings; plain salt water should be diluted to just 0.2%, not 2%.
  • 19:51 What do you add to fermented seawater once it's finished fermenting? — Add liquid IMO4 and water-soluble calcium phosphate after fermentation for more microbial activity, not during.
  • 20:36 Do you add brown sugar equal parts when brewing liquid IMO4? — No — sugar grows bacteria; feed it something like ground oatmeal or potato instead to favor fungal growth.
  • 27:52 pureknf.org shows a database connection error — Drake rebooted the server live on air to try to clear the error.
  • 41:22 What's a good tool for cutting down bamboo fast? — A Stihl adjustable hedge trimmer (HLKM) attachment on an FS1 trimmer, around $300, made short work of it.
  • 46:43 Advice for someone wanting to grow a chicken farm further — Master Cho recommends planting dry rice, not white rice, since it needs plenty of rain and cuts feed costs.
  • 51:02 Why won't fermenting chicken feed heat up? — Moisture has to hit a Goldilocks sweet spot — too much or too little water and the mix won't heat.
  • 52:33 Why doesn't the poultry farmer use his cement mixer to mix feed? — It's too noisy and the chickens don't like it, so he mixes by hand instead.
  • 1:01:35 What happened to Drake's hand? — He tore up his finger fixing the water system and has swelling he thinks is arthritis, so he's planning an IMO bath for it.

Topics: fermented seawater, imo4, fpj, anthracnose, persimmons, poultry, chicken feed, compost tea, bamboo, rice, gout, arthritis

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 Welcome and Hawaii Farmers Union Oct 25 Kona
  2. 3:22 I Ching: The Abysmal (Water)
  3. 6:26 Persimmons, Florida groundwater, anthracnose
  4. 8:36 Fermented seawater recipe from Master Cho's book
  5. 19:06 Adding IMO4 and calcium phosphate to seawater
  6. 20:36 Sugar (or not) in liquid IMO4 brewing
  7. 23:50 Common Ground conference footage, compost tea
  8. 27:52 pureknf.org database error, live fix
  9. 41:22 Stihl hedge trimmer for cutting bamboo
  10. 43:37 Master Cho's poultry farm footage begins
  11. 46:43 Dry rice for chicken feed
  12. 51:02 Feed moisture and heating
  13. 52:33 Cement mixer too noisy for chickens
  14. 54:04 Chicken run and pen design
  15. 58:22 Thanks for superchats and community
  16. 1:01:35 Drake's hand injury and IMO bath plan

Transcript

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

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