Imo?
- So i have some tomatoes that look like Imo on them as i was drying them out for next year. If so, can i innoculate some rice? Will they develop in a jar? I currently dont have pile of leaves to create an environment.
Top answer
A good collection will be a thick mass of microbes that hold the rice together in a tempe like fashion. The top may have white wisps that look like spider webs or even better white cotton ball looking growths. There should be a minimum of tie-dye looking microbes as these indicate anaerobic microbes, but use the 80/20 rule where 80% should be good, and consider that an excellent collection.
You can see a great collection in this short clip:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZusosfz9RA
From the KNF library
The Student's Manual collects IMO by cooking rice, putting it in a box under a breathable cover, placing the box in the forest, and collecting it after three days. (Student's Manual, Basic Course, p. 44) Cho buries the box in a bamboo field or in leaf mould. (Cho, Recipe, p. 11) The jar comes after collection. The manual mixes the collected rice with an equal weight of brown sugar and fills the jar 2/3 full. (Student's Manual, Basic Course, p. 44)
Cho says leaf mould that is too wet turns anaerobic, and leaf mould that is too dry collects little IMO. (Cho, Recipe, p. 11) The box does not need to be cedar. Drake says a cleaned woven basket works. (Office Hours Ep. 29, 41:11) To judge the result, look for wispy gray growth. Toss anything with red. (Office Hours Ep. 138, 46:48)
The library does not cover starting IMO in a jar from mold on dried tomatoes. It also does not cover collecting without leaf mould.
Sources
- 41:11 Office Hours Ep. 29 (May 2022) — Red Dirt for IMO4, Storing IMO3/IMO4, Spotting Bad KNF Ferments · “a cleaned woven basket, like the lauhala baskets Drake uses, works fine”
- 46:48 Office Hours Ep. 138 (Aug 2024) — JADAM Microbial Solution, IMO Grading, No-Smell Pig Pens · “You want forest fungal aerobic microbes, wispy gray growth; avoid mostly-yellow anaerobic collections and toss anything with red.”
- p. 44 Student's Manual, Basic Course · “Cook 6 cups of rice in 5 cups of water. Place in box and cover with breathable material. Place box in forest, according to the guidelines your instructor provides. Collect box after three days”
- p. 11 Cho, Recipe · “Bury the lunch box in the local bamboo field or leaf moulds nearest the working field.”
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