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JADAM Sulfur, Humic Acid From Compost, C90 Seawater Ratio

Drake answers a batch of emailed and live questions. He explains that IMO4 bed prep should happen any time soil gets disturbed, but after two or three seasons of natural farming a healthy orchard often stops needing it. He walks through nutrient cycling: fermented plant juice (FPJ) from fast-growing tips for leafy greens and juvenile plants, unripe fruit or flower FPJ for the flowering changeover, and ripe-fruit FPJ for finishing.

On IMO, he says microbes gathered close together with similar rainfall mix fine, but batches collected on separate days should be diluted and combined together at IMO3, not mixed straight into stored seed IMO. He covers JADAM: the potassium-hydroxide wetting agent is cheap, helps sprays penetrate leaves, and can smother soft-bodied pests, while JADAM sulfur works as a fungicide but can build up and make fruit taste sulfury. He also gives a rough C90 seawater reconstitution ratio (about 30g sea salt equivalent per liter, or 1g per liter for straight dilution strength).

Other topics: judging year-old refrigerated fermented fruit juice by smell and taste, adding turmeric to KNF medicine (OHN), why brassicas skip mycorrhizal fungus but still benefit from soil fungus, and starting KNF in a UK winter by saving eggshells and bones. He also explains making free humic and fulvic acid by running water through a holed bucket of compost or a worm bin, and contrasts Master Cho's IMO with JADAM Microbe Solution (JMS), which he compares to feeding land microbes after briefly turning them into water microbes and back.

He closes with tips on fish amino acid (KNF fuel): a yeast-and-alcohol smell is normal, it can be used as soon as it's liquid, and he now seals the lid instead of leaving it breathable. The episode ends with a silent video demo of building soil foundation with biochar and IMO4 around a lychee tree.

Questions answered

  • 11:58 How often should IMO4 bed prep be redone each year? — Do IMO4 soil foundation any time you disturb the soil; after two or three seasons of natural farming, healthy soil may not need it anymore.
  • 16:06 How does the nutrient cycle differ for leafy greens vs. fruiting plants? — Use fermented plant juice from fast-growing tips (KNF fuel) to bulk up leafy greens, then oscillate back to the skinny formula.
  • 17:40 Do maintenance solutions change at different growth stages? — Yes: tip FPJ for juvenile plants, unripe fruit or flower FPJ during the flowering changeover, and ripe-fruit FPJ for finishing fruit.
  • 20:07 Can IMO be collected from far-apart locations and combined? — Only combine IMO gathered from similar climates at the same time; never mix a new collection into an already-stored seed IMO batch.
  • 25:00 What is the best brand of sea salt? — Any real, thoughtfully sourced sea salt works fine; skip Morton's since it isn't true sea salt.
  • 26:40 Is JADAM wetting agent or sulfur good for a market garden? — The wetting agent helps sprays penetrate leaves and smothers soft pests, but JADAM sulfur can build up and make fruit taste sulfury.
  • 33:00 How do you turn C90 into regular seawater? — Roughly 30 grams of sea salt equivalent per liter to reconstitute, or about 1 gram per liter for straight dilution strength.
  • 35:45 Is year-old refrigerated fermented fruit juice still good? — Smell and taste it; it should not smell or taste like alcohol or vinegar, and it gets smoother the longer it sits.
  • 40:18 Will adding turmeric overpower KNF medicine (OHN)? — Turmeric is bitter, so add it sparingly and separately rather than mixing it into the main batch.
  • 43:14 Do brassicas connect with fungi the way other market greens do? — Brassicas skip mycorrhizal connections as pioneer plants, but soil fungus still matters for building soil aggregates.
  • 47:01 How should someone in the UK start KNF in winter? — Start collecting eggshells and bones now for KNF structure and reproduction, and culture lactic acid bacteria from milk.
  • 50:33 Can you make humic acid with potassium hydroxide and charcoal? — Skip that; instead run water through a holed bucket of compost two or three times, or run a small worm bin, for free humic acid.
  • 55:30 Should JADAM microbe solution be used after tilling and before IMO? — JMS works early in bed prep, but it mostly feeds existing biology as a prebiotic rather than delivering Master Cho's actual IMO microbes.
  • 1:01:20 How long should fish amino acid (KNF fuel) ferment, and is a yeasty smell bad? — A yeast-and-alcohol smell is fine; use it as soon as it's liquid, and seal the lid instead of leaving it breathable.

Topics: imo, jadam, fpj, ohn, fish amino acid, seawater, c90, humic acid, mycorrhizae, brassicas, sea salt, soil foundation

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 I Ching: Keeping Still (Mountain)
  2. 3:48 Farming feels like punishment for doing right
  3. 12:22 Q&A begins - email your questions to drake@pureknf.org
  4. 16:06 Nutrient cycle: leafy greens vs. fruiting plants
  5. 17:40 Do maintenance solutions change by growth stage?
  6. 20:07 Combining IMO from different locations
  7. 25:00 Best brand of sea salt
  8. 26:40 JADAM wetting agent and sulfur for a market garden
  9. 33:00 Making seawater from C90
  10. 35:45 Shelf life of refrigerated fermented fruit juice
  11. 40:18 Adding turmeric to KNF medicine (OHN)
  12. 43:14 Brassicas and mycorrhizal fungi
  13. 47:01 Starting KNF in a UK winter
  14. 50:09 Bio Nutrient Food Association and sensor
  15. 50:33 Humic acid from compost and worm leachate
  16. 53:15 Making KNF fuel (fish amino acid)
  17. 56:02 Master Cho's IMO vs. JADAM Microbe Solution
  18. 59:27 Troubleshooting fish amino acid smell
  19. 1:01:20 Video: building soil foundation on a lychee tree
  20. 1:06:00 Closing thoughts

Transcript

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

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