How do I make DIY nutrients? Crafting your own liquid nutrients out of local items for your garden.

Why is it important for us to be conscious of our food and herbs?

Growing ganja is fun. It brings us closer to nature, allows us to slow down, helps us get in touch with the more nuanced aspects of life, and it really adds a great fragrance to the air. No matter the method, growing your own low cost medicine has benefits that are holistic in nature, and can help bring balance to one’s life.

As we seek to find balance with cannabis, we may find ourselves on a path to wholeness through our diets, our exercise, choices of transportation, and choices or recreation, we may also find priority in how our food and medicine was grown.

The notion that conventional agriculture has a destabilizing and likely detrimental effect on the ecosystem of our planet Earth is not new. For the past 60 years in the United States, and around the world, large-scale industrial agriculture has been prioritizing cultivation over natural ecosystems while ignoring the balance with nature that must be attained if life as we know is to be sustained on this planet. Here in Illinois we are at the center of global agricultural markets and innovations, and the cannabis space is not going to remain separate for long.

Through research and innovation, long practiced methods of sustainable and organic agriculture are beginning to be exposed to the masses, and practices to scale up these ancient techniques are being developed. We cannabis consumers must be mindful of who is bringing us our herb, and we need to be assertive in our desires for more responsible local and planetary environmental stewardship.

We can do this by demanding transparency in cultivation techniques by our suppliers with a demand for energy efficient lamps and renewable energy when supplemental lighting is used, by consuming sun-grown herb whenever possible (not only is this responsible, but it is just better medicine), and by purchasing herb that has been grown organically with as many local and regenerative resources, when possible. We can also do this by practicing regenerative gardening by closing waste loops (composting, foraging, livestock, cover crops, animal byproduct after harvesting meat), by growing larger yielding outdoor crops that last us the year at dollars to the pound, and by using and extracting clean concentrates via solvent-free extraction. Cannabis cultivation has been an influence in efficient agricultural innovation and practices, and it is time that we, as canna-people, help to encourage overall stewardship in agriculture by using cannabis as the driver for these next steps in holistic planetary health.

Free nutrients from local plants

While growing outdoors under the sun is preferred, many of us cannot grow outdoors, or just simply also love growing indoors and being master of one’s domain. In this article, I will detail how to make shelf stable liquid nutrients and bio-stimulants with foraged and cultivated ingredients found across Illinois. These DIY nutrients can be used indoor or outdoors, as a foliar spray, and as a root drench. They can be used in conjunction with indoor conventional cultivation, but it is highly recommended to use in an organic low-till/no-till environment, indoors or out.

This method of extracting nutrients and bio-stimulants involves anaerobic fermentation of locally sourced ingredients. The product is called a Fermented Plant Juice, or FPJ, and is one part of the multi-faceted “Korean Natural Farming” (KNF). This type of farming has been practiced in Asia for centuries and until recently was a tradition taught through the ages. Master Han Kyo Cho of the Janong Natural Farming Institute in South Korea began detailing it, writing and teaching a system based on many inputs that when practiced can prove that a sum is greater than the whole. By using this low-cost and highly nutritive system that encourages life rather than destruction of it, farmers are becoming more profitable, saving money, and encouraging balance of life that benefits in many ways.

Making FPJ is just one input of many within the KNF system, but I have found that it fits in perfectly within my particular situation, and I think that it can have universal application within agriculture and horticulture.

How to make FPJ

With this instructional I will be making multiple FPJs in order to apply to my ganja at different stages of life.

• Plantain for its high nutrient content along with its highly active microbial populations present on the leaf surface. This is to be applied during the vegetative stage.
• Unripe Sumac fruit, to encourage prolific budsite developement during the changeover phase from vegetative to flowering stage. This is also called an Fermented Fruit Juice, and these are applied during transition stages in a plants life. (Apply between Aug. 1-14 or a week before switching to 12/12 light cycle indoors for 10-14 days after switching.
• A blend of Celendula, Bee Balm, Queen Anne’s Lace, Clover, and Bachelor’s Button to encourage bract and calyx developement. For this FPJ, be sure there are plenty of unopened flowers in your wild crafted ingredients as these buds will contain high amounts of auxins and gibberellins (Apply between Aug. 14-Sept 14-21 or Week 4-5 after switching light schedule indoors.
• A blend of mostly Bee Balm and about 1/3 Tulsi. This will help encourage ripening and terpene development while helping to serve as an anti-microbial against fungi and anti-feedant against pests. (Apply between Sep.14-21 to a week before harvest.)

First we begin by foraging plants before sunlight has burned off the dew. KNF encourages collection of fast growing, prolific and abundant plants. Find healthy plants in a healthy patch and be sure to follow basic etiquette while foraging (use scissors or a knife/don’t tear, don’t trespass, don’t over harvest/take no more than 10-20%, don’t take roots, leave no trace/pack out garbage). In KNF, the notion is that by taking abundance from our surroundings, we can capture and redistribute in a balanced and healthy way.

1. Next we take our foraged items and weigh the items.
2. Note the weight of the plant matter.
3. Chop up your plant matter into small pieces. They don’t need to be minced but small enough to allow plant juices, sugars, and microbes to assimilate into the solution well.
4. Add your chopped plant matter to a bowl or bucket and add equal weight in brown sugar.
5. Mix the brown sugar and plant material until there is adequate coverage on the surface of the foraged items.
6. Put the mixture into a glass or ceramic vessel. Be sure to stuff it pretty tight up to about 3/4 the way up. I like to use 64 oz. mason jars.
7. Fill with water until the plant matter is just barely covered. If some materials begin to rise you may want to try stuffing it back down with a spoon, or weighing down with a rock, but generally it is not a huge concern.
8. Using a bit of cheesecloth and the jar lid ring cover the top. This allows for plenty of air exchange and acts as a filter at the end of the process.
9. Place in a spot outside of direct sunlight and a place where healthy indigenous micro-organisms may be assimilated to the ferment. I prefer in paper bags lightly folded under the roof of an open barn, but this could be on a shaded deck, under a great oak, or even in a garage or basement. The ferment will likely attract some insect pests, so be mindful of this while selecting a location.

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Check on your jars after a day, and whenever you feel, making sure to avoid prolonged direct sunlight. Take note on the looks and aroma. If your jars smell rancid or appear unhealthy, safely discard the contents away from the garden and thoroughly clean your vessel.

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After about 3-5 days in the summer, or 6-8 days in the winter, your fermentation and extraction should be nearly complete. If there is plenty of effervescent action happening, then let the ferment continue until it has slowed considerably. The smell should be reminiscent of vinegar, alcohol, and/or wine (depending on the ingredient).

Completion is necessary as this means that any pathogenic micro-organisms will be killed off, a sufficient extraction of nutrients and stimulants has occurred, and it will help prevent your jars from exploding once they are sealed.

Pour the liquid through the cheesecloth filter into another clean jar. If bubbles are still abundant, then let the filtered mixture sit for another day or two unsealed with cheesecloth and the lid ring or paper/towel and a rubber band to prevent fruit flies from entering.

Using the FPJ is as simple as diluting at a strength of 1000:1-800:1 dilution of water:FPJ (about 1 1/4 oz per ten gallons of water) to be used as a foliar spray, or as potent as 500:1 (1 1/4 oz. per 5 gallons) as a root drench when used in conjunction with living soil, compost, earthworm castings, compost teas.

To store, simply keep in a cool, dark place, sealed to discourage visits from pests.

Thanks for reading, and I hope this has served as some inspiration into becoming more mindful and responsible inhabitants on this planet. Remember that this is just a starting point to finding greater connection with your garden and nature around you, and that this is just a tool that can be used in a self-tailored system that addresses your specific needs based on your specific variables. Please be sure to share your ideas/recipes/questions with us in the comments or via email to john@illinoiscraftcannabis.com.

For more information regarding Korean Natural Farming and fermented plant juices, be sure to visit…

Chris Trump Natural Farming Hawaii

Cho Global Natural Farming

Natural Farming Hawaii

…And check out the book that details Master Cho’s system of natural farming here.

Have fun, and keep it with Peace!