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Bacterial Wilt on Kale, Gator Sprayer Setup, IMO Ammonia Fix

Fresh back from teaching on Maui, Drake covers a farm consult where kale had bacterial wilt. His fix: vinegar for leaf waxiness, lactic acid bacteria to fight the bacteria, and calcium to harden leaves against cabbage moth caterpillars. He also pitches a $500 gator setup with a 25-gallon tank so a whole farm can be sprayed and cleaned up in under an hour.

A viewer's question about differences between the app, the printed guide, and Master Cho's original Korean nutrient cycle documents leads Drake to admit Cho's own literature is inconsistent across time and translation. He pulls out Cho's original crop charts for pear and apple, peach, pepper, and rice, showing how nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus, and calcium needs shift through the season for each crop.

George asks about an IMO pile that smells like ammonia heading into IM04 and hasn't passed 45°C. Drake says ammonia means the pile went anaerobic, tells him to keep turning it, and recommends blending in 10 to 20 percent wood chips or biochar to add carbon and slow it down.

Drake closes with Master Cho's natural farming methodology: no pesticides, no herbicides (glyphosate started life as a boiler descaler), no tilling, no chemical fertilizers, pollution-free livestock barns with no artificial heating, and locally made feed. He ends with a piglet update, including one lost to a UTI after a first-time castration.

Questions answered

  • 11:38 How do you treat bacterial wilt on kale? — Spray vinegar for leaf waxiness, lactic acid bacteria to fight the bacteria, and calcium to harden leaves against cabbage moth caterpillars.
  • 13:31 What sprayer setup covers a whole farm fast? — A gator with a 25-gallon tank and power sprayer lets you mix, spray, and clean up an entire farm in under an hour for about $500.
  • 18:59 Is right after the full moon a good time to gather FPJ material? — Yes, that window is called the Laude, the perfect time in the morning to gather medicine.
  • 20:50 What helps with slugs? — Put out more IMO and fungus to mitigate slugs, plus chemical controls, seawater, and salts.
  • 21:17 Why do the app, the book, and Master Cho's documents show different dilution rates? — Even Master Cho's own literature changed over time and in translation, so treat the ratios and formulas as guidelines, not fixed law.
  • 31:33 Does the nutrient cycle timing change by crop? — Yes, Master Cho's charts show different growth stages and shifting NPK and calcium needs for pear-apple, peach, pepper, and rice.
  • 52:07 George's IMO pile smells like ammonia going into IM04 and hasn't passed 45°C, what's wrong? — Ammonia means the pile went anaerobic; keep turning it, and the material may be too rich in starch and need more carbon.
  • 57:52 How much wood chips or biochar should be added to fix that pile? — About 10 to 20 percent of the pile by volume, blended in even after the fact.
  • 58:46 Why does natural farming avoid herbicides entirely? — Glyphosate was developed as a boiler descaler that strips minerals from whatever it touches, and cover crops and rotational mowing handle weeds instead.
  • 1:15:39 What happened to the piglet that died? — A first-time castration led to a UTI, and it died despite three days of trying to nurse it back to health.

Topics: kale, bacterial wilt, imo, fpj, dilution rate, nutrient cycle, pigs, biochar, glyphosate, slugs

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 Count Down
  2. 4:19 Intro and Welcome
  3. 5:22 I Ching Reading: Fu, Return
  4. 7:40 Maui Teaching Trip Recap
  5. 11:38 Bacterial Wilt on Kale
  6. 13:31 Spraying Setup: Backpack vs Gator
  7. 15:35 Teaching KNF on Maui: FPJ and Cheap Microbes
  8. 19:33 Kudzu and Slugs
  9. 21:17 Dilution Rate Guidelines
  10. 31:33 Cho's Crop-Specific Documents
  11. 41:02 Master Cho Nutrient Cycle Videos and Age of Rocks
  12. 43:29 Free Cho Lecture Videos
  13. 45:05 Pure KNF Website and Community Platform
  14. 52:35 IMO Pile Ammonia and Temperature
  15. 55:52 Cho's Natural Farming Methodology Intro
  16. 56:36 No Pesticides
  17. 58:46 No Herbicides
  18. 1:02:37 No Tilling and No Chemical Fertilizer
  19. 1:06:09 Livestock Barns, No Heating, Local Feed
  20. 1:12:57 Piglets Update

Transcript

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

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