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Whitefly Soap Spray, Lemongrass in Pots, Bone Char Calcium

December 14, 2025 · by Drake Weinert

Drake opens with news from the Hilo membership meeting on December 9, the first in-person gathering there since 2018, with 60 to 80 people going over Master Cho's legacy and the new second-Tuesday monthly meetings.

Two hands-on questions: tiny white flying insects (whiteflies or thrips) get a Dawn soap spray, made as sudsy as possible and applied midday while it's hot to coat the leaves. The same soap, plus lemongrass oil, killed fleas on Drake's dogs. Lemongrass itself grows well in pots, makes a good border or indoor plant, needs little water in Hawaiʻi, and reaches about three feet at seeding.

After screen-share trouble, Drake switches to never-before-shown footage from the Pure KNF archives: Pastor Lee's last workshop before he passed, on what he called SARM farming, healing the soil first. Topics include IMO collection, manure as the core of the farm, a feed-mixer cart system that automates chicken operations, brooding chicks over a compost pile for heat, and charring bones for water-soluble calcium, testing doneness by sound, a glass-tingling ring versus a dull thud.

Drake announces in-person training at the farm January 26 to February 4, 2026, and floats interviewing Josiah Hunt about biochar's effect on worm gut health for a future membership meeting.

Questions answered

  • 5:19 What happened at the Hilo membership meeting? — First in-person Hilo meeting since 2018, 60 to 80 people, went over Master Cho's legacy and solutions.
  • 15:28 Tiny white flying insects, whiteflies or thrips, what do I spray? — Dawn soap is all you need; make it very sudsy and spray midday when it's hot to coat the leaves.
  • 16:59 How do you get rid of fleas on dogs? — Sudsed the dogs up with Joy or Dawn soap, then added lemongrass oil to kill the fleas.
  • 18:25 What is office hours for? — It's support time for anyone to ask questions, separate from the membership meeting.
  • 19:08 How do you grow lemongrass? — Grows really well in pots, makes a great border or indoor plant, about three feet tall when it seeds.
  • 20:38 What are lemongrass's water requirements? — Low water needs; it thrives in Hawaiʻi's rain without any watering from Drake.
  • 24:33 What footage is Drake introducing? — Never-before-seen Pure KNF archive footage of Pastor Lee's last workshop before he passed.
  • 25:20 What is SARM farming? — Healing the soil first, mixing animals and plants; the name faded out but Korean natural farming remains.
  • 26:52 Why is manure central to KNF? — Manure is the core of the farm; Pastor Lee's operation rotated around making animal feed from it.
  • 38:53 How did Pastor Lee automate his farm? — A mixer loads feed onto a cart you wheel straight to the animals, letting him run the farm alone.
  • 39:38 How did he brood baby chicks? — A compost pile under the brooder box kept the chicks at the right temperature, exactly as Master Cho taught.
  • 47:51 How do you know bones are properly charred? — Listen for the sound: properly charred bones tingle like glass, unfinished ones thud.
  • 51:01 Any in-person training coming up? — In-person training at the farm runs January 26 to February 4, 2026.
  • 56:37 What does biochar do for worms? — Biochar purifies and buffers, improving the worm bin's gut health.

Topics: dawn soap, whiteflies, thrips, fleas, lemongrass, imo, water-soluble calcium, biochar, chickens, manure, poopology

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 & I Ching: Influence
  2. 5:19 Hilo Membership Meeting Recap
  3. 15:28 Whiteflies & Thrips: Dawn Soap Spray
  4. 16:59 Flea Treatment With Soap & Lemongrass Oil
  5. 18:25 Office Hours Q&A Time
  6. 19:08 Growing Lemongrass in Pots
  7. 24:33 Pastor Lee's Last SARM Farming Workshop
  8. 25:20 SARM Farming: Heal the Soil First
  9. 26:52 Manure as the Core of the Farm
  10. 38:53 Farm Automation: Feed Mixer Carts
  11. 39:38 Brooding Chicks With Compost Heat
  12. 47:51 Charring Bones for Calcium
  13. 51:01 In-Person Training Jan 26-Feb 4 2026
  14. 56:37 Biochar and Josiah Hunt

Transcript

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

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