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OHN for Cold Soil, Sprayer vs Atomizer, and Slug Control with IMO4

June 23, 2024 · by Drake Weinert

Drake opens with the I Ching hexagram Kun, the receptive, then moves into questions. For cold, dry planting at 3 degrees Celsius, he recommends KNF medicine (garlic, ginger, cinnamon, licorice, angelica) to warm up grasses and speed their metabolism, plus biochar to help with dry soil. On sprayers, he walks through his own setup, the Maruyama MS-75E, a 50-gallon diaphragm pump, and his Agras T40 drone (eyeing an upgrade to the T50 for more spray volume), and says he does not recommend atomizers except for very small areas.

He explains why KNF structure solution shows up in every recipe: food, cleanser, medicine, and structure map to the basic physiological needs in Maslow's hierarchy, and per Master Cho you always need them except right before harvest. He points members to his 2021 FAM class videos on his YouTube channel for a full walkthrough of the recipe book, and confirms his own Pure KNF book, at knfsupport.com or naturalfarming.net, is the go-to reference.

The back half is Madadg (Jadam): the history of Cho Han-kyu's father starting natural farming after the Korean War, a critique of Jadam's cost-savings claims and the loss of creativity and autonomy in conventional ag, and the idea of amplifying indigenous microbes from your own region instead of buying commercial inputs. He ties this to the idea that pests are janitors that show up on unhealthy plants, not healthy ones.

For slugs, Drake says too much bacteria (common with heavy Jadam use) causes them, and the fix is building IMO up to IMO4 to bring in fungus and balance the bacteria; short term, he shares Young Song's caustic soap-and-sodium-hydroxide recipe with a warning to use extreme care. He points a question about seaweed in a large Johnson-Su bioreactor to Richard Noonan in Australia, and for earwigs suggests direct removal or Stonemason's recipe, with better plant health as the real long-term fix.

Questions answered

  • 11:23 Cold, dry planting season for Mediterranean plants at 3°C on arid sand, any suggestions? — Use KNF medicine (ginger, garlic, cinnamon, licorice, angelica) to warm and speed up metabolism, and get biochar into the soil for the dryness.
  • 12:55 How does Drake feel about spraying microbes through a sprayer or atomizer? — He favors pump and drone sprayers like the MS-75E; atomizers rarely help and only make sense on very small areas.
  • 22:16 Christoph says KNF medicine, structure, reproduction, and fuel are making his plants perk up right away — Drake says it works fast because the solutions go directly into the leaves.
  • 31:00 Update on tomatoes after overwatering last week's advice — Drake says the KNF sprays cleared up the sick, likely powdery-mildew leaves while new healthy growth came in.
  • 31:53 Why is KNF structure solution in every recipe? — Structure is a basic physiological need, like food, cleanser, and medicine, in Master Cho's method, needed at all times except right before harvest.
  • 35:29 Looking for the video series covering the whole KNF recipe book page by page — Points to his 2021 FAM class presentation videos on his YouTube channel that go through every solution.
  • 39:30 What is the go-to book for KNF? — His own Pure KNF book, available at knfsupport.com or naturalfarming.net.
  • 57:03 What would you recommend for gazillions of slugs eating my vegetables? — Slugs come from too much bacteria, so build IMO up to IMO4 to bring in fungus, or use Young Song's short-term soap and sodium hydroxide recipe with extreme caution.
  • 59:12 Has anyone used seaweed as greens in a large Johnson-Su bioreactor? — Talk to Richard Noonan in Australia, who specializes in Johnson-Su bioreactors.
  • 1:01:09 Dealing with earwigs eating flowers and swimming in the kid's pool — Kill them directly if needed, but usually more plant health is the real fix, and follow Stonemason's recipe.

Topics: ohn, biochar, sprayer, atomizer, imo4, slugs, jadam, johnson-su, seaweed, earwigs, knf medicine, structure solution

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
  2. 1:47 I Ching: Kun, the receptive
  3. 5:47 Facebook group and KNF support updates
  4. 11:23 Cold, dry planting season: OHN and biochar
  5. 12:55 Sprayers vs atomizers
  6. 22:16 KNF medicine results from a member
  7. 25:16 Spray technique demo
  8. 29:43 Drone sprayer wishlist
  9. 31:00 Tomato recovery update
  10. 31:53 Why KNF structure is in every solution
  11. 35:29 Where to find the full recipe walkthrough
  12. 39:30 The go-to KNF book
  13. 42:50 Madadg history: Cho Han-kyu's father
  14. 48:31 Jadam critique: cost and autonomy
  15. 53:33 Ask Nature: indigenous microbes and pests
  16. 57:03 Slug control with IMO4
  17. 59:12 Seaweed in Johnson-Su bioreactors
  18. 1:01:09 Earwigs
  19. 1:02:36 Wrap-up and next week preview

Transcript

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

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