Emmie's Backyard Fermented Plant Extracts From Dandelions!

[UIHuigh]

Don't get me wrong i get some of the microbial activity in living soil symbioses etc. It's the atmosphere, the by products of fermentation are co2 and alcohol for lacto to thrive and ferment fish solids not sugars to something other than smelly waste amazes me! so many things ruin good ferments. It's a science like botany ... way to many things are happening in soil so repeatability is why i asked about numbers details and such. I didn't learn you could make honey oil from buds until i did. Your watering explanation is not overthinking yet very repeatable . many thanks

 

[Timmo]

I guess this is why they warn against too much headspace in the jar:

That was my cannabis flower brew yesterday morning. I washed the lid and wiped the sides of the jar down with a paper towel, and then topped it off with water to about half and inch from the top. I just gave it a shake, and it rewarded me with a nice overflow of bubbly goodness through the not-quite-tightened lid. I opened it up and gave it a good sniff. I must say, it smells really, really good. Like cannabis champagne, almost.

I added a long drizzle of molasses (2 Tbsp maybe?) to my leaf brew and took it out of the fridge. It's got quite a bit of solid stuff in it still--mostly fine particles, but there were some big leaf bits stuck to the lid that I didn't notice until I shook the jar up and they swam out into the juice. The jar is in a mostly dark closet with the others, and it's bubbling away nicely again. What's your opinion about having it in the light? I've read elsewhere to keep it in a dark place. Mine seems to be working fine in the dark. I don't know enough to even posit what the difference might be.

I'm going to try the leaf brew as a soil drench on some of my expendable plants that will be ready for water tomorrow, and, if I get really brave, as a foliar on one of my mothers, who I've been trying unsuccessfully to kick into a growth spurt so I can take cuttings. I might go a tad stronger than 1:1000.

 

[Emilya Green]

I guess this is why they warn against too much headspace in the jar:



That was my cannabis flower brew yesterday morning. I washed the lid and wiped the sides of the jar down with a paper towel, and then topped it off with water to about half and inch from the top. I just gave it a shake, and it rewarded me with a nice overflow of bubbly goodness through the not-quite-tightened lid. I opened it up and gave it a good sniff. I must say, it smells really, really good. Like cannabis champagne, almost.

I added a long drizzle of molasses (2 Tbsp maybe?) to my leaf brew and took it out of the fridge. It's got quite a bit of solid stuff in it still--mostly fine particles, but there were some big leaf bits stuck to the lid that I didn't notice until I shook the jar up and they swam out into the juice. The jar is in a mostly dark closet with the others, and it's bubbling away nicely again. What's your opinion about having it in the light? I've read elsewhere to keep it in a dark place. Mine seems to be working fine in the dark. I don't know enough to even posit what the difference might be.

I'm going to try the leaf brew as a soil drench on some of my expendable plants that will be ready for water tomorrow, and, if I get really brave, as a foliar on one of my mothers, who I've been trying unsuccessfully to kick into a growth spurt so I can take cuttings. I might go a tad stronger than 1:1000.

lol, I am not worried about a little bit of ugliness in the jar, it's all about microbes after all. I shake mine a couple of times a day to get the stuff off of the sides and the lid. I like the smell of these too, even the roots smelled good!

regarding the light... the source that I read said to put it outside, just not in direct sunlight. I don't think it matters though, since nothing else wants to grow in there if you are doing it right, and the microbes don't care if it is light or dark. I would think that light, or the energy from the sun, would add to the reaction... but I don't know.

As far as being brave... look at me! I am documenting the heavy use of all of this DIY stuff, on 6 active plants in my journals. I am trying to document how well this is working, so that you can feel more comfortable using it too.

 

[Timmo]

As far as being brave... look at me! I am documenting the heavy use of all of this DIY stuff, on 6 active plants in my journals. I am trying to document how well this is working, so that you can feel more comfortable using it too.

And it's working! Your posts are definitely making me feel better about trying it out on my plants that matter.

 

[Timmo]

I did it. I mixed 40 ml of the leaf juice into 1.5 gallons of water--approx. 1:140, just a little more dilute than yours. I decided just to do a foliar this time. I squeezed a few inches of aloe leaf into the mix, then sprayed it on all the stepchildren and three of my six mothers. I didn't add any extra food. My mothers got a shot of blood meal about 10 days ago and some bat guano a few days ago, so they should have plenty to work with. The stepchildren... we'll just see what happens.

 

[Emilya Green]

I did it. I mixed 40 ml of the leaf juice into 1.5 gallons of water--approx. 1:140, just a little more dilute than yours. I decided just to do a foliar this time. I squeezed a few inches of aloe leaf into the mix, then sprayed it on all the stepchildren and three of my six mothers. I didn't add any extra food. My mothers got a shot of blood meal about 10 days ago and some bat guano a few days ago, so they should have plenty to work with. The stepchildren... we'll just see what happens.

Let's see if you notice a difference after a day!

 

[electro gypsy]

The glass containers are a good idea. I do all my ferments in glass. There is some truth to the plastic containers being processed by the microbes. Certain mushrooms can eat aluminum foil and used oil lol. Paul Stamets has done some incredible work with Bio-remediation from the mycology standpoint. Cleaning up toxic waste and water supplies. Much of the same type work is being done with bacteria. At this point I seriously doubt there is anything to panic about, but it's something to work on. There's not much to fear from the alcohol being generated either. It's actually good to a degree. Plants do have a certain amount of tolerance to it and they do see it in nature. Most symbiotic cultures have microbes that break it down as well. Non-distilled ferments rarely generate and store enough alcohol to become an issue to plants.

.. there was more but I got too stoned at lunch

 

[Timmo]

After two days, no appreciable difference between the plants I sprayed and the others. We've had a couple of very nice sunny days, so they all look happy (other than that my mothers still can't seem to shake the N deficiency I've been working on), but no one seems extra happy. Most of these plants, including all my mothers, are as of this afternoon at the dry end of their wet-dry cycle, so maybe things will accelerate when I water. (Maybe?) I have a batch of compost tea brewing and also have been soaking a bag of alfalfa pellets in water for the last 24 hours. I'm a novice with compost tea and have never used alfalfa tea before. Any thoughts on which I should water with?

 

[Emilya Green]

After two days, no appreciable difference between the plants I sprayed and the others. We've had a couple of very nice sunny days, so they all look happy (other than that my mothers still can't seem to shake the N deficiency I've been working on), but no one seems extra happy. Most of these plants, including all my mothers, are as of this afternoon at the dry end of their wet-dry cycle, so maybe things will accelerate when I water. (Maybe?) I have a batch of compost tea brewing and also have been soaking a bag of alfalfa pellets in water for the last 24 hours. I'm a novice with compost tea and have never used alfalfa tea before. Any thoughts on which I should water with?

I would have added the alfalfa into the tea along with lots of other things, including a good all purpose fertilizer and a good fish emulsion if you are having an N problem, bat guanos, molasses, kelp meal, earthworm castings... Also, there is nothing wrong with combining ideas, and I always add some of my FPE to each watering during the critical growth periods, even if that watering happens to be the AACT that I try to do every other time, or once a week once the watering needs increase in flower. Your plants showing you an N yellowing problem are telling you that they want to do more for you, but they can't... their nutrient needs are just not being met.

I was hoping that even with a foliar application you would see what I am seeing here. Since my last watering with FPE, Cal-Phos-Mag, and fish emulsion, my plants have gone completely ape guano crazy, and decided that even though they are still solidly in veg, they now want to start stretching. Bud site development seems to have gone into hyperdrive, and if I don't calm down this early stretch I will have troubles. The scissors are coming out again tonight... but I do need to report that the flowering extract from dandelions appears to be working extremely well, and doing exactly what I hoped it would do. The plants are now all thinking about going to flower.

 

[Timmo]

My compost tea does have hydrolyzed fish, molasses, kelp, castings, oat bran, fulvic acid, and probably something I'm forgetting. I have six mothers who all look about the same, so maybe I'll try some different combinations of ACT, alfalfa tea, and my leaf brew.

I'm looking forward to seeing plants do what you describe. Are your girls getting some pretty hefty trunks from all that trimming?

 

[Emilya Green]

My compost tea does have hydrolyzed fish, molasses, kelp, castings, oat bran, fulvic acid, and probably something I'm forgetting. I have six mothers who all look about the same, so maybe I'll try some different combinations of ACT, alfalfa tea, and my leaf brew.

I'm looking forward to seeing plants do what you describe. Are your girls getting some pretty hefty trunks from all that trimming?

Oh good, you are making some great teas then... I do add an all purpose 5-5-5 organic fertilizer in my late vegging teas... this gives the plants something immediate to work on, while the microlife that you breed in the AACT have a chance to get to work breaking down the raw materials you provided. Remember, without something immediately available, such as the 5-5-5, any water soluble nutrients or FPE you add later on, you are breeding and feeding the microlife that will process the raw materials you are adding to your teas into a form the plants can use. You are feeding the microlife... they feed the plants. It however is not a sin in an organic garden to add organic nutrients at the appropriate times too. This was my first big lesson in organic growing... that it is not just one system or the other... there is still a place for nutrients, a place for teas, and a place for FPEs... and by using the full range of tools you have available to you as an organic farmer, your plants will have everything they could ever need.

Yes, the trunks are getting wider here all the time as the girls all settle down into the 7 gallon containers and as the root systems continue to expand, so will the size of the trunks and feeder branches that have been created here. I just checked on the girls and they are looking amazingly well tonight... not much trimming that I can do yet... they just got taller... everywhere. All the leaves are pointing up at the light in joy... these are some happy plants. I suspect too that some of the heavy flowering push I am seeing after two days from the last watering, is coming from the cal-phos-mag extract too. Whatever is going on, deep green abounds around this overflowing tent, there is absolutely no yellowing or burning, even at the tips, and Emmie is warily eyeing the yet unclaimed vertical space and wondering how long she can wait before flipping the switch, with this sort of craziness going on.

 

[Emilya Green]

i was looking at my yard and all dandelions perished last week. The neighbors has gone to seed already so I will wait a few weeks. would sunflower roots work the same way? and you say you add all purpose fert as well?

For all of your dandelions to have perished sounds like you used some sort of weed killer on them, and I would not want that stuff anywhere near my plants, extracts or eventual smoke. Sunflowers are not dandelions and have a completely different chemical makeup and not nearly as robust as the mighty dandelion, one of the most nutritious plants on the planet. Gone to seed is no problem either... use the seed pods too... the more the better. My flowering extract is from the stems, flowers and seed pods, both open and closed.

Also, all dandelions have roots and leaves, even if regularly mowed. Each of those can be used to make their own extracts... that is, if they havent been killed off by some weed killing lawn builder.

 

[Emilya Green]

and you say you add all purpose fert as well?

Happy Frog ORGANIC All Purpose Fertilizer 5-5-5.... 1 tablespoon per gallon goes in my tea's to give the plants an immediate boost and give the microbeasties time to get moving with all that they do.

 

[Timmo]

Emilya, you're articulating what's been slowly dawning on me. I still need to feed the plants.

You reminded me, it wasn't bat guano that I gave them after the blood meal, it was Earth Juice Grow. I also just gave a bunch of my younger plants a seaweed foliar to try to stop a K deficiency, so I am catching on.

 

[Emilya Green]

All of the dynamic accumulators deserve special attention when we see them growing around us. Out of the 17 known elements to promote plant growth, dandelion contains more of them than almost any other plant out there... and we can release all of these through fermentation. Because of this, dandelion extract is a more complete nutrient than just about anything else that could be produced. Granted, the sunflower is also a great grower and would probably contain a lot of good nutrients too... I just cant find my list this morning to compare them against each other. Any fast growing green plant will work however, and the closer you can get to the plant you are trying to grow, the better you will do.... for instance, the very best FPE for tomatoes would be made out of tomato plants... the best fertilizer for a weed.. from other weeds.

Regarding lacto... it is incredibly useful and just as easy to make. Simply wash some white rice with distilled water, and let that wash water set out for a week to separate into 3 layers. Inject the middle layer into a gallon of milk and wait another week for it to separate out and produce your lactobacillus serum. I have a thread dedicated to just this process. This lacto can then be used all over the garden, but my favorite use for it is to create fish hydrolysate. Simply grind up some fish, add sugar and add a couple of tablespoons of lacto, and in a couple of weeks you will have the very best fish fertilizer you can get. The lacto will completely break it down to the point that it doesn't even smell any more!! That is impressive!

 

[Emilya Green]

can you recommend a prefered source?

I don't use a single source for anything that I do. Google is my friend, and I read everything I can get my hands on before starting a project, knowing that one source rarely contains all the information needed. That being said, there are a lot of good sites out there, and I would recommend googling The Unconventional Farmer, one of my favorites on this subject matter.

 

[electro gypsy]

I don't use a single source for anything that I do. Google is my friend, and I read everything I can get my hands on before starting a project, knowing that one source rarely contains all the information needed. That being said, there are a lot of good sites out there, and I would recommend googling The Unconventional Farmer, one of my favorites on this subject matter.

Gil's Bokashi Bin! It's been on the TDD list for a while now lol. I second the recommendation

 

[Timmo]

Deprivation, there's a spreadsheet that shows the nutrient breakdown of a number of different plants. I found it at The Facts about Dynamic Accumulators - The Permaculture Research Institute. The link is about nine paragraphs down in the article. My quick peek at it shows that sunflower seeds have a variety of nutrients but aren't particularly bursting with any of them. I didn't see any reference to the other parts of the plant. The first page of the spreadsheet is a list of some of the big winners in the accumulator department.

In the same paragraph with the spreadsheet link, there's a link to a "Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Database," which has more info on the chemical makeup of plants than you can shake a stick at.

 

[Emilya Green]

This is a shot of one of the healthiest organic gardens I have ever had going into flower. I would say that without a doubt, the organic substitutes for growth supplements are working well, and noting the rapid development of bud sites and the stretching even while still in 12-1, I would say that the flowering specific extract is doing its special job well. The homemade fish hydrolysate and cal-phos-mag+ also seem to be doing a remarkable job. The plants are all standing up, in the dark, sucking up the last of their water, and now checking in at about 20" high. Any leaf damage that you might spot is simply leaf against leaf battles in the wind. Emmie is very pleased. This experiment has been a tremendous success. Thank you everyone for going along with me on this journey!

Summertime blessings from my garden to yours,
Sense Emilya

 

[AngryBird]

Hi they are indeed looking beautiful
I have another idea for you. banana peels?! It is a K factor and I am using it in my compost.. but any ideas on how to make it into fertilizer?
( i would PM you about the question..if I could... but I haven't reached 50 posts yet need to spam some hehehe just joking