Making your own Lactobacillus Serum

[Skybound]

Yep, they’re all designed for foliar use from what I can tell. I just called the folks at biomin and described the use case, what I’ve been told (not always reality) is that the 1-0-0 pictured below will satisfy what I’m after. Problem is I can only find it in 5 gal buckets

@Emilya i have no doubts your recipe works and works well, my issue is a wife who will go nuts if I introduce yet another (what she considers) bad smell into our house. LOL that’s the reason for my search elsewhere, just as an fyi.

If you're in the states, you can buy 4 lbs of calcium carbonate powder from Kelp4Less for $18, but like I said, it is a strong base, even after converting it to calcium acetate by mixing it with vinegar for a day and just extracting the liquid.

FWIW, if you look over that flyer/ad you posted, nowhere does it mention hydroponic use, just foliar and soil amending. I mean it will mostly dissolve in water which makes you think it's safe to use, till 10~ days later you start getting Ca def in your leaves and you're like WTF?

 

[Emilya Green]

I've not read the thread, but is it where you mix egg shells with vinegar and convert that into calcium acetate? If yes, it is still a strong base.

but that is the purpose of the 20 days of fermentation... this drives the pH sharply to the acidic side and the resulting pH of the mixture ends up being quite acceptable.

 

[Newfun]

Great read, Emilya. I have learned so much. I will start this as soon as I can this week. My organic soil and worms will be here so I can set up in house composting. Do you recommend adding it directly to the composting bin?

 

[Emilya Green]

Great read, Emilya. I have learned so much. I will start this as soon as I can this week. My organic soil and worms will be here so I can set up in house composting. Do you recommend adding it directly to the composting bin?

definitely

 

[Newfun]

I am in the curdling milk phase. Not too stinky yet on 48 hours since I added the milk.
The worms are happy. The milk is curdling. My fish fertilizer is stinking up the back corner of my yard. By spring, we will be pretty much self sufficient for the garden soil and food.
This is fun.

 

[Newfun]

Question. Can I use my composted soil from start to finish or will I need to mix it with some store bought?
I have already over nutes plants. That wasn't a great experience. So I want to make sure.

 

[Emilya Green]

I would suggest using your composted soil as the bottom 1/3 of your container and regular potting soil in the rest. This will allow the roots to "find" the good stuff, and they are less likely to be shocked by the strength of that soil since they will start adapting as soon as they get into it.

 

[Newfun]

Thank you. That's what I thought.
I am having so much fun doing all of this. I am try to plan ahead. Due to my husband's illness I never know when things could change. I bought some soil that was my starting soil. I have the rest to work with on new plants and some Coco since one of my pending grows requires 1/3 Coco.

 

[Newfun]

One other question. I have a bunch of oyster shells from my husband clamming this spring. How should I break it down as a stand by calcium additive?

 

[Emilya Green]

One other question. I have a bunch of oyster shells from my husband clamming this spring. How should I break it down as a stand by calcium additive?

It will take months in a compost pile to break these shells down into a usable form, even if ground up. I would recommend that you ferment it, much as I do the eggshells in this recipe, and then you can have it in a ready to use calmag+ suppliment:

Emmie's DIY CalMagPhos+ From Eggshells

This is an awesome product to use during the changeover period from growing to flowering/fruiting on all of your plants. For most of us, by using molasses we are able to get the magnesium that our plants need, but for our calcium needs, most of us have to fall back on a commercial product, and...

www.420magazine.com

 

[Newfun]

Thank you. I was wondering if that was best so I just have them put aside. I am so glad I can make and store these to keep handy. We have an outdoor garden and now we can be organic completely.
Compared to our vegies that supply us with mostly pick and eat, cannabis is an adventure from seed to smoke, oil, tincture, food stuff. It is an inspiring grow.
Your help is so appreciated. I feel like a kid at Christmas. Lol

 

[Emilya Green]

Thank you. I was wondering if that was best so I just have them put aside. I am so glad I can make and store these to keep handy. We have an outdoor garden and now we can be organic completely.
Compared to our vegies that supply us with mostly pick and eat, cannabis is an adventure from seed to smoke, oil, tincture, food stuff. It is an inspiring grow.
Your help is so appreciated. I feel like a kid at Christmas. Lol

I am glad you are having fun with it! I don't think that it ever ends once this gets in your blood... there are always new strains to try, new methods of curing, innovative gardening techniques... it goes on and on!

 

[Newfun]

The thread on the cal/mag is great. I am half way through. Thanks fir all your great experiments and postings.
New question today: do I add molasses to the leachette from my compost if storing it for future use?

 

[Emilya Green]

The thread on the cal/mag is great. I am half way through. Thanks fir all your great experiments and postings.
New question today: do I add molasses to the leachette from my compost if storing it for future use?

yes, I would, but I add molasses to just about everything. Remember, the point is to give the microbes food so they stay active and don't go into a hibernation mode. Cool temps also slows down the metabolism rate quite a bit and allows for even more long term storage.

 

[Rows Of Green]

Today it is day 6 since putting the bacteria in the milk. I have not seen much change over the last 3 days or so, there is just about the same amount of yellow liquid as there was then. I think at this temperature and these conditions, this process was done in 3 days.

One change I will make next time is to use less of everything. The liquid produced from 1 quart of whole milk would have been sufficient for the vitamin water bottle amount of serum that I wanted to produce. After all, this stuff is going to be diluted 20:1 or more when it is used... If I had a farm, I would process a gallon of this stuff. My little bottle is going to last awhile in my tents.

So today we harvest our serum. It was poured through a screen (probably not necessary) and funneled into my water bottle to the point I marked because that corresponded to how much molasses I happened to have on hand today.

An equal amount of molasses was added to the bottle, and it was well shaken.
Presto... room temperature stable Lactobacillus Serum. If I felt I needed to store more of this, it can be stored in the fridge without the molasses.

What can we use Lactobacillus Serum for? I will be using it to break down organic materials for fertilizers, and it will be especially useful when making my homemade fish hydrolysate fertilizer.

Here are more uses for this stuff, copied from the web:

Lactobacillus bacteria used in Composting


One of the major workhorse beneficial indigenous micro-organism used in natural farming is lactobacillus. This particular beneficial microorganism is often used in composting for stopping foul odors associated with anaerobic decomposition. Lactic acid bacteria thrive and feed on the ammonia released in the decomposition normally associated with foul odors. So if you need to decompose or ferment wastes and stop foul odors, lactic acid bacteria is the specific bacteria to use. Its application in organic farming is enormous.


Lactobacillus used in Aquaculture


In aquaculture, one of the problem is related to water quality. Poor water quality stresses the fish which in turn stunts their growth and affects their health. This is very evident especially in high density and tank aquaculture. The ammonia produced through fish excretions pollute the water and stress the fish. Regular addition of lactobacillus beneficial microorganisms to the water, minimizes the ammonia problem, if not stopping it completely. It helps hasten or complete the denitrification by converting wastes into forms not harmful to fish.


Spraying a diluted solution of lactic acid bacteria serum on to the plant and soil helps plant growth and health. As it is applied to the soil or the leaves, these beneficial bacteria aid in the decomposition process, thus allowing more food to be available and assimilated by the plant.


Lactic acid bacteria is also known to produce enzymes and natural antibiotics aiding effective digestion and has antibacterial properties, including control of salmonella and e. coli. Farmers see an improvement in the general health of the plants and animals, better nutrient assimilation, feed conversion and certain toxins eliminations.

This whole post of yours was very well written and easy to understand.
Thanks

 

[Modest Grower]

Great write up! I have my rice water at home ready to go so I will be mixing with milk tonight. I thought I may have waited to long but it looks just like yours and smells ok? Excited to try! Thanks for the write up.

 

[BakedARea]

I add molasses to just about everything. Remember, the point is to give the microbes food so they stay active and don't go into a hibernation mode.

Awesome thread! Thanks for sharing. I will be doing this very soon. I need to get my butt into gear and get my homemade CalMag too. Question about molasses. I just recently ordered some of the "Earth Juice: Hi Brix Molasses". Is this a sufficient molasses to use? I see you use the food grade molasses which is much more expensive. Just curious if the stuff I got is just as good for our horticultural needs. Thanks!

 

[Emilya Green]

Awesome thread! Thanks for sharing. I will be doing this very soon. I need to get my butt into gear and get my homemade CalMag too. Question about molasses. I just recently ordered some of the "Earth Juice: Hi Brix Molasses". Is this a sufficient molasses to use? I see you use the food grade molasses which is much more expensive. Just curious if the stuff I got is just as good for our horticultural needs. Thanks!

It is the sulfur in molasses that is harmful to our grows... so any unsulfured molasses will work. I try to get blackstrap unsulfured for my work and just about any brand will work. The Hi Brix stuff will also be just fine.

 

[DeanWest89]

Hey em so this is my next project here , now what kind of rice do I have to use anything specific here ? Really love reading your educational side projects , sure keeps me out of trouble . Thank you for all of your hard work and time you put into this community

 

[Emilya Green]

Hey em so this is my next project here , now what kind of rice do I have to use anything specific here ? Really love reading your educational side projects , sure keeps me out of trouble . Thank you for all of your hard work and time you put into this community

I just use cheap grocery store white rice... there is no need to get fancy with this stage. Glad I am keeping you out of trouble! lol