Collecting IMO in southern california
Forgive me if this is a stupid question but I am just starting out with korean natural farming. I have watched quite a few videos on how to make the different solutions and I think I am about ready to start trying them out but my biggest concern is collecting IMO here in southern california. We generally have 90-110F days right now and almost never have rain. Where I am I don't have a forrest to go into to find the microorganisms like in the videos. I have looked around my area in some of the lesser maintained areas and have not been able to find any mycelium growing under the leaves anywhere. My question is do you guys have an recommendations on where to go in a desert like climate to collect IMO? Also from my understanding you can essentially use the strongest fastest growing weeds I can find to take and make FPJ then just mix it with brown sugar and let it ferment to extract the "blood" then use that on my plants to help give them those desirable characteristics. Is this Correct? One last question do you have any good places to get brown rice vinegar? I can find regular unseasoned rice vinegar everywhere but I have still not found Brown Rice Vinegar anywhere. Is it the same thing? I apologize for the long post but I am very interested in this and want to do it right. Thank you in advance for any help!
Sean
Top answer
I just had the pleasure to go to one of Drake's workshops and asked him a very similar question. When collecting in a desert it helps to apply the maintenance solution on and around the collection area 3 days before you begin the IMO collection. Water the collection area in the evenings or mornings during this 3 day period.
Maintenance Solution (1 Gallon of water):
OHN (medicine) : 4ml
BRV (Stimulator) : 8ml
FPJ (Food) : 8ml
Fall is a good time to collect in the desert, but it won't hurt to get a summer collection to :). Also planning your collection around retrieving your collection during the full moon is beneficial. The moon's gravitational pull pulls the ground water higher, helping the topsoil to have more moisture.
Healthy broad leaf trees with the leaves accumulated beneath are a good place to collect from.
- Push the leaves aside until you get to the native soil.
- Line the native soil with the leaf litter or the broken down leaves. Or anything thing that has mycelium growth.
- Place Collection box on top and leaf litter and cover with surrounding leaf litter and leaves.
From the KNF library
From the KNF library
Drafted by Claude from Office Hours and the books
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Sep 2026
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6 sources
Drake's sources answer the site question. Look for ground left alone for at least a year, with deep leaf litter or visible white mycelium. (Cho's Solutions, p. 16) Either sign will do. (Cho's Solutions, p. 16)
- Barren ground is fine. Master Cho prefers it over rich ground, because it breeds tougher microbes suited to your actual soil. (Office Hours Ep. 56, 34:00)
- Broadleaf trees and leaf mold are common collection sites. (Unravelling the Mysteries of KNF, p. 57) Dig the box into the soil under a broadleaf tree. (Office Hours Ep. 45, 42:28)
- A field with plenty of decomposed leaf litter also works. (Unravelling the Mysteries of KNF, p. 73)
- Stay within a mile of where you will apply, at equal or higher elevation. (Cho's Solutions, p. 16)
- If anaerobic microbes dominate, try again in a drier spot. (Cho, Theory, p. 51)
The library does not cover making FPJ from fast-growing weeds. It also says nothing about where to buy brown rice vinegar, or whether plain rice vinegar is the same thing. Those two need Drake.
Sources
- 42:28 Office Hours Ep. 45 (Aug 2022) — Pig Feed From Dairy Waste, IMO Collection, Water-Soluble Calcium · “Dig the box down into the soil under a broadleaf tree so you collect soil microbes, not just surface ones.”
- 34:00 Office Hours Ep. 56 (Nov 2022) — Collecting IMO, Preserved IMO2, Propagated IMO3 Explained · “a barren site breeds tougher microbes suited to your actual soil, so Master Cho recommends collecting there over rich ground”
- p. 16 Cho's Solutions · “Gather IMO1 from an area that has not been disturbed for at least 1 year.”
- p. 51 Cho, Theory · “if the anaerobic microbes are in the majority, it is better to try again to collect IMO in areas with less moisture.”
- p. 73 Unravelling the Mysteries of KNF · “IMO can be collected from other areas such as a field or a site where decomposed leaf litter is in abundance”
- p. 57 Unravelling the Mysteries of KNF · “In addition to bamboo, broadleaf trees and leaf molds are other commonly used sites”
1 more answer
Thank you very much for the info! I will try that out once i get all of that stuff made!
