Asked by coolguytrev ·July 5, 2021 ·4.98k readers

IMO Collection in Dry climate

Hey fellow microbial farmers... I see there's not much traffic on here... But want to try keep the discord alive...this could be an awesome place to discuss trials and errors, successes and failures...We just gotta use it. Anyway I live in Nothern Alberta, Canada, It can be very very dry here and hot in the summer... Like 30-40% humidity and maybe up to 60 if its about to rain. Temps can range 20 degrees C to 40 C... I have only tried one collection but it failed, I had heard a Chris Trump interview about using more water to cook the rice with when in less humid climates... can't remember exactly where he is now, Idaho or something? I left my rice up on the mountain top for a week, I had almost nothing but dried out rice, had a spec or two of like a grey ish microbes. I'm not going to give up but wanted to see if anyone else out there in a similar climate has had any positive results?

imo

From the KNF library

From the KNF library Drafted by Claude from Office Hours and the books · Sep 2026 · 6 sources

The library adds these points to the answers above.

Drake's office hours advice for rice that dries out: insulate the box better and cook the rice with a bit more water. (Office Hours Ep. 123, 54:40) Cho's texts point the other way. They call for hard-cooked rice to keep moisture down. (Cho, Theory, p. 49) Those two sources disagree.

Timing may be part of your failure. Cho gives 4 to 5 days in summer. (Cho, Theory, p. 49) You left the box a week.

For arid ground, Drake's method has steps:

Spray diluted maintenance solution on a 10-foot area for 3 to 5 days to wake up microbes. (Office Hours Ep. 12, 11:00)
Set a moist rice box. Stop spraying. The microbes migrate into the rice. (Office Hours Ep. 12, 11:00)
Water the leaf moulds around the box. (Cho, Recipe, p. 11)

A student collected beautiful IMO in his dry Phoenix backyard with a round basket trap. (Office Hours Ep. 64, 9:21)

Grey, dusty rice could be actinomycetes, or just drying out, which is normal. (Office Hours Ep. 35, 25:43)

The library says nothing about the Chris Trump interview or Northern Alberta conditions.

Sources

54:40 Office Hours Ep. 123 (May 2024) — Root-Tip FPJ, OHN Substitutions, IMO4 Temperature Limits · “Insulate the box better and cook the rice with a bit more water so it holds moisture.”
9:21 Office Hours Ep. 64 (Feb 2023) — Desert IMO Collection, Pasture Regeneration, FPJ Sugar Ratios · “Yes, student Ben collected beautiful IMO right in his dry Phoenix backyard using a round basket trap.”
25:43 Office Hours Ep. 35 (Jun 2022) — Gray IMO, Protector Overuse, Chicken Feed Ratios · “Could be actinomycetes, which smell like wet asphalt, or it could just be drying out, which is normal.”
11:00 Office Hours Ep. 12 (Dec 2021) — Desert IMO Collection, Lawn Biochar, WCA Bone Ratios · “Spray diluted maintenance solution on a 10-foot area for 3-5 days to wake up microbes, then set a moist rice box with no more spraying”
p. 11 Cho, Recipe · “weather, water the leaf moulds around the lunch box.”
p. 49 Cho, Theory · “Hard-cooked rice (less moisture to collect aerobic microbes)”

1 more answer

dagoofman · Jul 8, 2021

theres a few diff ways to collect imos id try in your area to find a good shady tree with lots of activity and semi burry the collection box in the ground and cover well to hold in moisture ...i do this in upstate NY to help not dry out as fast also u might have just waited to long to go back up the mountain and get your box ruffle 3 days is all it takes for me to get a good collection .... happy imo hunting