Fuzznutter
New Member
Sue, I hope you don't mind my putting this here!
Root Balm
So first you want to clean the roots. This is the worst part of making the root balm. I've never tried it with soil grows, only with perlite from Hempy buckets, but I imagine they'll clean in similar ways. What I like to do is gently massage the root mass to break it up some and then put it in a trash bag and give it a few gentle shakes to get big chunks of perlite off. Then grab any large chunks of roots that broke off in the trash bag, gently shake off the excess perlite again and set them aside.
Next fill a bin with water and submerge the roots in the water. Swirl them around and the perlite will start separating from the roots. Scoop out and trash the perlite and put any cleaned roots off the to the side in a bowl or something. Gently massage the roots with your fingers and the perlite will separate. Once you've got most of the perlite off the roots, I like to put clean water in the bin and give them one more good rinse. Don't panic if you can't get every last piece of perlite off the roots. It won't hurt anything and will get strained out in the end.
Now grab a knife or scissors and cut the cleaned roots into small-ish pieces. Put the root pieces in a slow cooker and add 1 to 2 cups of coconut oil per plant (depending on how large the root mass was). Add enough water to cover the roots. Cook this on low for 2 to 4 days, adding water as necessary if too much evaporates off.
Now would be a good time to mention the smell. It's...sort of earthy and mushroom-ish. It's not the most appealing scent, but whatever you do, be careful about trying to cover the scent up by adding essential oils or anything. I tried that once with lavender before I jarred. It smelled horrible! I made a mildly unpleasant thing MUCH worse.
Ok. So you've cooked it for a few days on low. Now you're going to strain out the plant roots. You can juice them to get all the goodies out or just squeeze them well and throw them away. Take the oil/water mix and pour it into a large bowl. Place the bowl in the refrigerator or freezer until the oil sets. You can then poke a couple holes in the oil and pour the water off.
Now I like to melt the oil again over low heat to evaporate out any remaining water and then strain through cheesecloth into a glass jar. You can freeze or refrigerate this and it will store for quite some time. I have some in the refrigerator that's at least 2 years old and still effective. So long as it doesn't smell like the oil has gone rancid, you're golden.
I wish I could give credit to whomever I learned this from, but it's been so long, I just don't remember anymore.
I'll be right back. I have a defective light panel to get shipped back for repairs. 
