Emmie's Backyard Fermented Plant Extracts From Dandelions!

[Emilya Green]

no worries, it is a very good question. Many people put bananas in their compost, because of the heavy K in them. Fermenting could unlock that nutrient into a potent supplement, although I think the eggshell fermentation produces a better all around product for our plants. If I were to ferment banana peels, I would be aware of fruit's natural byproduct, alcohol... and I would use a combination of fermentation with sugar, while also using lactobacillus serum to eat up the alcohol. Plants can stand a bit of alcohol, because it does occur in nature... but you wouldn't want to pour a large amount on them. Lacto can be used to create a more pure nutrient supplement and break down the organic components into their base elements in a container or in the compost pile, and deal with nasty odors and alcohol production. It is for this reason that lactobacillus serum is considered to be the workhorse of the natural organic gardener.

 

[AngryBird]

no worries, it is a very good question. Many people put bananas in their compost, because of the heavy K in them. Fermenting could unlock that nutrient into a potent supplement, although I think the eggshell fermentation produces a better all around product for our plants. If I were to ferment banana peels, I would be aware of fruit's natural byproduct, alcohol... and I would use a combination of fermentation with sugar, while also using lactobacillus serum to eat up the alcohol. Plants can stand a bit of alcohol, because it does occur in nature... but you wouldn't want to pour a large amount on them. Lacto can be used to create a more pure nutrient supplement and break down the organic components into their base elements in a container or in the compost pile, and deal with nasty odors and alcohol production. It is for this reason that lactobacillus serum is considered to be the workhorse of the natural organic gardener.

Well funny side alcohol in cannabis..?? psychedelic effect
But seriously.. I was thinking like one piece of peel ( 2 cm) in one pot without fermenting them.
and I understand you correctly.. (and I have already collected eggshells lol) when I use eggshells.. I don't need anymore/anything else?

 

[Emilya Green]

Well funny side alcohol in cannabis..?? psychedelic effect
But seriously.. I was thinking like one piece of peel ( 2 cm) in one pot without fermenting them.
and I understand you correctly.. (and I have already collected eggshells lol) when I use eggshells.. I don't need anymore/anything else?

The problem with both of those is what happens and doesnt happen in the soil when you add them. As I understand it, adding a lot of calcium to the soil can affect how nitrogen is able to be stored and available, and it will cause deficiency problems if you add too much calcium... and the eggshells do not break down very fast either, so the plants can't use any of their goodness by simply adding it to the container. Adding eggshells to a compost pile will work over time as long as it isnt done to excess, but be very careful what you add to your soil. Even things that sound like a good idea, can actually get the soil out of balance if added to excess, and unless you know what you are doing, it is best to do as I do and just stick to a known soil recipe. Extra nutrients that are only needed during a portion of the grow are best not added to the soil, but provided in compost teas and organic supplements when they are needed.

You have the same problems with a raw banana peel... it takes months to break these down too, and first it has to rot, which also can attract bugs because of the methane that it vents, and of course it still produces some alcohol as it breaks down, but without any additional benefit until months later when the material breaks down to the point where your plants can get the potassium.

This is why we ferment. We use concentrated natural microbes and solvents to rapidly break down these products into their base minerals, making the raw minerals immediately available to our plants.

 

[AngryBird]

The problem with both of those is what happens and doesnt happen in the soil when you add them. As I understand it, adding a lot of calcium to the soil can affect how nitrogen is able to be stored and available, and it will cause deficiency problems if you add too much calcium... and the eggshells do not break down very fast either, so the plants can't use any of their goodness by simply adding it to the container. Adding eggshells to a compost pile will work over time as long as it isnt done to excess, but be very careful what you add to your soil. Even things that sound like a good idea, can actually get the soil out of balance if added to excess, and unless you know what you are doing, it is best to do as I do and just stick to a known soil recipe. Extra nutrients that are only needed during a portion of the grow are best not added to the soil, but provided in compost teas and organic supplements when they are needed.

You have the same problems with a raw banana peel... it takes months to break these down too, and first it has to rot, which also can attract bugs because of the methane that it vents, and of course it still produces some alcohol as it breaks down, but without any additional benefit until months later when the material breaks down to the point where your plants can get the potassium.

This is why we ferment. We use concentrated natural microbes and solvents to rapidly break down these products into their base minerals, making the raw minerals immediately available to our plants.

Thank you for clearing it up for me

 

[Mike420husker]

Hi have you ever tried willow tea?
Thx Mike

 

[Mike420husker]

Heres A link.
Willow Tea: Natural Root Growth Hormone For Permaculture Gardeners - Natural Family Today
Thx Mike

 

[Emilya Green]

Hi have you ever tried willow tea?
Thx Mike

Willow tea has been used as a rooting compound for a long time and I experimented with this early in my cannabis career. Never have tried adding it to one of my grows since then though, thanks for the thought! I will have to try it.

 

[Mike420husker]

Thx for the comment I just have more willow trees the dandylions. It is a great root starter. And left over and be used too.
I have 2 willow trees that 10 foot in dia. So lots off branchs.
Great growing all

 

[hawtway]

Hey Timmo,
You said Could it be that I've finally found a use for all that infernal Canada thistle growing in my veggie garden (and everywhere else)?
Great thought but Canada Thistle blended with water and sprayed on other plants will often kill them. Did you ever see anything other than Can thistle growing in a Can thistle patch. Nope. But I have seen horses gingerly nip off the fuzzy thistle blossoms as a taste treat.
Happy growing

 

[Mike420husker]

Sorry for the spelling Just toked some of last of my 2015 fall crop. I got 32 qt. cars of cured weed. Now out. I grow outside. So Starting a indoor grow. Kind of outside what I know.
Thx
Mike

 

[jonhova]

Willow tea has been used as a rooting compound for a long time and I experimented with this early in my cannabis career. Never have tried adding it to one of my grows since then though, thanks for the thought! I will have to try it.

This thread is super interesting. Do you still use Dandelion extract for veg flower and rooting hormone?

Would you recommend this instead of bottled nutes like biobizz grow, bloom and root juice?

Really forward to your response and hope you are doing well.

 

[Emilya Green]

This thread is super interesting. Do you still use Dandelion extract for veg flower and rooting hormone?

Would you recommend this instead of bottled nutes like biobizz grow, bloom and root juice?

Really forward to your response and hope you are doing well.

Hey Jonhova,
Thank you for your interest and yes, for over a year my personal extracts were my primary nutrients throughout at least 3 major grows. I have never used the bio line, so I can not compare it to what my backyard super accumulators provide to my plants, or how much of my success is related to the dandelion extracts rather than the many other things I do to provide nutrients during and before the grow, but it is hard to argue with success and I can see that my plants love what I am doing. I have zero nutritional issues during my grows and my plants appear to be producing quite well, so I think that things are ok... but I still have one experiment to do yet. I still want to try following a verified growth system in a kit, made by a doctor, and talked about quite a bit on this board. Before I can claim total success in what I am doing here, I want to compare my best results to what can be achieved by using that High Brix Kit... and I am convinced that Doc still has something to teach me. Biobizz... not so much, although I am sure it is a good way to go too.

Doing quite well here, glad to see you resurfacing. You have me for a month... I am traveling in April. Philippines and China on the agenda. Wrapping up the grows now.

 

[jonhova]

Thanks for the reassurance. I will be making my own 3 part line of from Dandelions and report back
Did you make a thread on creating fish emulsion? Sorry if i missed that one.
Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

 

[jonhova]

nvm i found it

Fish Emulsion recipe:

"For instance, I use lacto to process liquid fish. Grind up the fish with a bit of distilled water, add 1/3 the weight in sugar, and add 2 tblspoons of lacto serum per liter of fish material. Given the sugar to feed on, the lactobacilli will ferment that fish in about 3 weeks. My liquid fish doesn't smell, and it has tons more beneficials in it than that smelly stuff you buy at the store... the only problem is its hard to bottle... the stuff is very active.

As far as all the other stuff, except for the plastic thing which I will work on fixing with some glass containers, you are overthinking this. The goal of my backyard fermentation project was to make this easy, and reproducible for pennies on the dollar when compared to the commercial stuff. I don't measure and I have no idea of the concentrations of what I am producing, this is seat of the pants gardening at its rawest form."

 

[Emilya Green]

Thanks for the reassurance. I will be making my own 3 part line of from Dandelions and report back
Did you make a thread on creating fish emulsion? Sorry if i missed that one.
Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

Sorry... don't think I followed up on it, and only mentioned it in my lacto thread.

It is easy... basically

1. make the lactobacillus serum
2. grind up a fish. The messier the better and discarded fish parts would be perfect.
3. add 3:1 non chlorinated water
4. add 1:3 unrefined sugar or molasses
5. add 2 tbl lacto serum per fish
6. let it sit until the smell goes away... when it smells sweet in about 2 months, it is done, and much better than anything you can buy commercially.

 

[Swagymcfly88]

@Emilya do u make your own lactobacillus serum ? And nvm lol found it

 

[Emilya Green]

@Emilya do u make your own lactobacillus serum ? And nvm lol found it

Sorry... was in an out of town meeting and could not respond in time. Glad you found it. Lacto is my main workhorse in my nutrient manufacturing process, and it is so easy to make, its a shame more people don't use it. You will maybe have noted that I used some of it in a foliar spray early on this my current journal... its amazing how much vigor it can add to the leaves, putting the correct bacteria on there.

 

[Swagymcfly88]

Haha I'll be picking up the ingredients after school today should be fun wonder where I'm gonna put it if it smells so bad thought lol and btw thanks a lot ur guides are all aswsome my friends won't stop bugging me cuz the last two weeks since I started talking to you I haven't gotten off my phone reading

 

[DeanWest89]

I am mindblown @Emilya I really need to get on board , my lst grow was bottled nutes and I switched to gaja green for simplicity and of course organic , but this has opened my eyes to a whole new world in the garden and as far as I am concerned this is a game changer. Yet again your work is astounding, I have my work cut out for me trying to ready everything I can from you. You should be very proud of this, for years I have pulled dandelions and wasted them , I am going to start and try my own grow with using these methods , now can I ask , what is your opinion on gaja green organic’s as an organic grower like yourself is it frowned apon?? Like I said I just switched from soiless medium and bottled nutes , to organic supersoil , molasses and organic dry amendments , also compost tea when I have the time to brew one up . But I keep the tea simple to just boost microbial life. Thanks for the read , you are one of the most informative growers I have followed.

 

[Emilya Green]

I am mindblown @Emilya I really need to get on board , my lst grow was bottled nutes and I switched to gaja green for simplicity and of course organic , but this has opened my eyes to a whole new world in the garden and as far as I am concerned this is a game changer. Yet again your work is astounding, I have my work cut out for me trying to ready everything I can from you. You should be very proud of this, for years I have pulled dandelions and wasted them , I am going to start and try my own grow with using these methods , now can I ask , what is your opinion on gaja green organic’s as an organic grower like yourself is it frowned apon?? Like I said I just switched from soiless medium and bottled nutes , to organic supersoil , molasses and organic dry amendments , also compost tea when I have the time to brew one up . But I keep the tea simple to just boost microbial life. Thanks for the read , you are one of the most informative growers I have followed.

Thank you for you kind words @DeanWest89 and I am very happy that you are going to follow along. Not only will you grow the best pot ever using organic methods, but your cost of production should go way down, not having to make the nutrient companies rich in the process.
Regarding the Gaia Green 4-4-4 fertilizer... it is not necessary if you do this right and especially if you start using dandelion extract as a replacement and determine to go with more natural enhancements to your garden, such as liquid fish fertilizer, that you can also easily make at home for pennies on the dollar compared to the commercial products. There is nothing inherently wrong with Gaia Green except that using it is relying on an outside company and a supply chain to get that nute to you... when a little work prettying up the yard will get you enough dandelion extract to last for a year or more.
You said something key up above... talking about making teas when you have time. I run into the same problem since I have a full time job, and I have found a great shortcut... two actually, one way more expensive than the other. The expensive one is Voodoo Juice and the cheap alternative is RealGrowers Recharge. Check them out... a fully activated, well fed, and highly specialized set of microbes that you can add to your grow easily and without the hassle of brewing an aact. There still is a place for brewing aact specifically for the stage of growth you are, but inbetween times, or even as a last minute addition to a home brewed tea, these microbe pack products have become the organic gardeners secret weapon. Now I can easily give even my tomatoes out in the backyard the advantage of organic gardening.