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Weak Cleanser Fixes, Rhino Beetle Grubs, Drone Spray Altitude

February 15, 2026 · by Drake Weinert

Dr. Drake Weinert and guest Mark Armbruster Throckmorton open with the I Ching hexagram for Influence, then recap the second Tuesday KNF potluck and class in Hawaiʻi, where students brought homework batches of cleanser made from January's food scraps for troubleshooting. Mark is planning his own classes in Santa Cruz for mid-to-late March, six to ten students at a time, starting with lactic acid bacteria (LAB), then food, then cleanser, with IMO work likely co-located at Green Valley Refuge.

Vinegar comes up repeatedly: fixing an under-soured cleanser batch with mother vinegar and a little sugar, making fresh vinegar from abundant fruit like strawberries, and a story about Drake's sister correcting an overly alkaline pH. A caller's LAB serum foamed over after sugar was added to an under-saturated month-old batch — Drake explains the leftover free water made it ferment harder instead of stabilizing it.

On pests and animals: Drake pushes back on plans to strip leaf litter to two inches to fight coconut rhinoceros beetle grubs, comparing it to ripping a scab off a healing wound, and describes bathing a dog in lemongrass oil and soap to kill fleas without poison pills. He and Mark also cover applying IMO to a new quarter acre — "the best time is today" — and note that a class member's organic coffee farm has visibly improved a conventional neighbor's rows near the fence line through KNF runoff.

The back half turns to drones: using LoRa radio for a mowbot, radio frequency effects on plants and people, and a plan to fly IMO collections over wildfire burn areas to re-inoculate soil and speed forest recovery. They debate spray altitude — 60 to 80 feet for a light, frequent mist versus low and concentrated at 25 gallons per acre — and float using KNF drones for fire-abatement brush and to cut cesspool runoff near Hāpuna and Puakō.

Questions answered

  • 6:52 How do you gauge a new class's enthusiasm and ability to absorb KNF material? — Drake judged it by how many students did their homework and brought real batches to troubleshoot as a group.
  • 18:21 What's the plan and timeline for Mark's new Santa Cruz KNF classes? — Mark is aiming for mid-to-late March, six to ten students a class, starting with lactic acid bacteria before food and cleanser.
  • 22:41 What's a good first solution to teach kids? — Drake said start with reproduction — toasted eggshells and vinegar — since the fast bubbling hooks kids right away.
  • 31:35 What is vinegar good for, and how do you start making your own? — People use apple cider vinegar for digestion, heartburn, and gout; Drake said start fresh vinegar from whatever fruit is abundant, like strawberries.
  • 33:44 Can too much alkalinity in the body cause problems? — Drake said his sister tested too alkaline, not acidic, and her symptoms resolved once she brought her pH back into balance.
  • 37:00 Is stripping leaf litter to two inches a good way to fight coconut rhinoceros beetle grubs? — Drake said no — stripping leaf litter is like ripping a scab off a wound, and it damages the ecosystem instead of letting it heal.
  • 40:30 Why did a caller's LAB serum foam over after adding sugar? — Drake explained the batch was under-saturated with free water still in it, so adding sugar just fed the fermentation harder.
  • 42:36 When is the best time to apply IMO to a new quarter-acre of land? — Drake said the best time is today, the second best was last year — use whatever stage of IMO you have and get it on the soil.
  • 44:09 How do you get rid of dog fleas without poison pills? — Drake bathes the dog in lemongrass oil and soap, which kills the fleas without dosing it with systemic poison.
  • 49:13 Could drones help forests recover faster after a wildfire? — Drake proposed flying an IMO collection over burned ground, then spraying the cooled burn area to re-inoculate soil microbes.
  • 51:33 Is it better to spray low and concentrated, or high and misted more often? — Drake and Mark discussed flying 60 to 80 feet up for a light, frequent mist instead of 25 gallons per acre low and slow.
  • 53:07 Does KNF runoff actually help a neighboring farm? — Drake said a class member's organic coffee visibly improved a conventional neighbor's rows near the fence line through KNF runoff.
  • 56:06 Could fire-abatement or county money fund KNF drone spraying? — Drake floated greening dry brush near subdivisions for fire abatement and cutting cesspool runoff near Hāpuna and Puakō.

Topics: cleanser, lab, imo, vinegar, reproduction, coconut rhinoceros beetle, fleas, lemongrass, drone spraying, wildfire recovery, kids classes, fire abatement

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: Influence
  2. 3:30 Second Tuesday potluck and class recap
  3. 6:52 Reading a class's enthusiasm and absorption
  4. 10:08 Potluck food tour
  5. 13:22 Building community without politics
  6. 17:35 Mark's Santa Cruz class plans
  7. 19:46 Teaching kids not to fear dirt
  8. 21:53 Class curriculum: LAB, food, cleanser, IMO
  9. 27:35 Pure KNF Foundation automation update
  10. 28:13 Fixing a low-acid cleanser batch
  11. 31:35 Vinegar for digestion, heartburn, gout
  12. 36:14 Coconut rhinoceros beetle and leaf litter
  13. 39:09 LAB serum foaming after sugar
  14. 42:36 Best time to apply IMO
  15. 44:09 Lemongrass flea bath for dogs
  16. 44:55 Radio: LoRa mowbot and RF effects on plants
  17. 49:13 Drone-assisted wildfire soil recovery
  18. 51:33 Spray altitude, rate, and neighbor runoff benefits
  19. 56:06 Fire abatement and cesspool runoff ideas
  20. 58:51 Closing prayer

Transcript

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

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