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Seed IMO Black Spots, IMO Tea Dilution, 72lb Peach Tree

September 10, 2023 · by Drake Weinert

Drake opens with the I Ching reading on conflict, then talks about the God-given right to ferment and steward the land. A viewer asks about feeding microbes: molasses breeds more bacteria, while potatoes and oats add starch that favors fungus. Diluting IMO tea comes up too — Drake brews five gallons and dilutes it 10 to 100 to 1 in a 55-gallon drum before spraying his farm.

Several questions cover seed IMO (#1) collection. Black dots at the tips of white mycelium are normal air exposure, not a problem, and the whole rice collection gets mixed 50-50 by weight with brown sugar to make IMO2. If 80 percent of a collection looks good, keep it. Too much black can mean a wet spot went anaerobic, or the collection sat too long and started sporulating.

On KNF food, Drake says to avoid oranges since they're too acidic, and explains Master Cho's habit of using odd numbers of fruits (one, three, five, seven) in a ferment, a practice he traces to Japanese sushi-making. He also warns against using just one solution like fruit food alone long-term without cleanser, medicine, structure, fuel, and the protectors to keep things balanced.

Updates include Stonemason's apple tree, revived with IMO4 and Ts solutions for about seven bushels, and Rainbow Possum's peach tree going from 24 lbs last year to 72 lbs this year with its fungal issue gone. Drake also shows his drone spraying log: 115 flights, 470 gallons of solution sprayed, spraying every 7 to 10 days. He closes with photos from Sarah and Garrett's KNF garden and bamboo forest in Wenatchee, Washington.

Questions answered

  • 13:58 Used IMO2 + leaf mold + molasses for a microbial solution, anaerobic — did I do it right? — Molasses feeds mostly bacteria while potatoes and oats add starch that favors fungus, and anaerobic is fine for the first 24 hours.
  • 21:34 Have you seen Matt Powers' soil microscopy webinar with epifluorescence gear? — Yes, it's cool — Matt studied under Elaine Ingham and repackages her material well.
  • 22:50 Stonemason's sick old apple tree came back to life — what did he use? — IMO4 plus the T solutions brought it back to about seven bushels after years of no apples.
  • 28:12 How do I search past office hours for a topic like microscopes? — Drake fixed KNF Support's search so capitalized text shows up too — both text answers and video timestamps are searchable there.
  • 34:30 Can I grow an indoor garden and make good KNF food from those plants? — Yes, a plant is nutritionally complete wherever it grows, and reapplying its own ferment in a loop makes it even better over time.
  • 37:17 Do you dilute your IMO tea 10 to 1 with water, like JMS? — Drake dilutes it more, usually 10 to 100 to 1, brewing 5 gallons and adding it to a 55-gallon drum before spraying.
  • 41:03 Can I use fermented fruit KNF food (from bananas) alone as a foliar spray? — You can, but relying on one solution alone long-term can cause imbalance — pair it with cleanser, medicine, structure, fuel, and protectors.
  • 46:35 My seed IMO has white cotton-candy fuzz with black dots at the hair tips — is that right? — Yes, the black dots are just mycelium starting to collapse from air exposure once the box is opened.
  • 49:05 Any fruits to avoid when making KNF food? — Avoid oranges, they're too acidic — three-fruit ferments work great otherwise.
  • 50:04 Why does Master Cho use odd numbers of fruits (1, 3, 5, 7) in KNF food? — It comes from the Japanese tradition of combining ingredients in odd amounts, like in sushi-making.
  • 55:05 When black dots cover the whole IMO collection medium, is that just atmosphere exposure? — Not necessarily — it can mean a wet spot went anaerobic, but if 80 percent looks good, keep the collection.
  • 1:03:07 What actually causes black spots on a seed IMO (#1) collection? — Usually too much moisture in one spot going anaerobic, or normal aging and sporulation — collect a day earlier if it keeps happening.
  • 1:04:33 How's the peach tree doing this year? — It went from 24 lbs of fruit last year to 72 lbs this year, and the fungal issue it used to have is gone since starting KNF treatments.
  • 57:18 How's the drone spraying documentation going? — 115 flights and 470 gallons of natural farming solution sprayed so far, roughly every 7 to 10 days across the farm.
  • 1:06:55 Sarah shared photos of her KNF garden — how's it going? — She and her husband Garrett turned four acres in Wenatchee into a thriving garden and bamboo forest using the Pure KNF recipes.

Topics: imo, seed imo, knf food, fpj, dilution rates, molasses, drone spraying, peach tree, apple tree, balance, wenatchee, fruit ferment

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 Countdown
  2. 3:43 Welcome and Introduction
  3. 5:20 I Ching Reading: Conflict
  4. 8:15 Your Right to Farm and Ferment
  5. 13:58 Feeding Microbes: Molasses, Potatoes, Oats
  6. 21:34 Matt Powers' Soil Microscopy Webinar
  7. 22:50 Sick Apple Tree Revived with IMO 4
  8. 23:25 Problems with Grant-Funded KNF Studies
  9. 28:12 Searching KNF Support for Past Answers
  10. 34:30 Indoor-Grown Plants for KNF Food
  11. 37:17 Diluting IMO Tea Before Application
  12. 41:03 Fruit KNF Food Alone vs Balanced Solutions
  13. 46:35 What a Good Seed IMO (#1) Looks Like
  14. 49:05 Avoid Oranges in KNF Food
  15. 50:04 Why Master Cho Uses Odd Numbers of Fruits
  16. 53:00 Balance Is the Key to KNF
  17. 54:29 Pig Face Plant KNF Food from Australia
  18. 55:05 Black Spots on Seed IMO: When It's Fine
  19. 57:18 Documenting KNF Drone Spray Flights
  20. 1:04:33 Peach Tree: 24lb to 72lb, Fungus Gone
  21. 1:06:55 Sarah's KNF Garden in Wenatchee, WA

Transcript

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

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