All Answers

Azolla is a water based fern. One thing I have noticed about it is that it will put a little droplet of water above it to act as a lens to concentrate sunlight and will also use its deep roots in the water below to handle the extra heat as a cooling system, which I surmise is how it is able to grow so quickly.

Most azolla will just grow great with fish in the pond below that will create manure in a sort of aquaponics type of situation, but the fish can also nibble on its roots which can slow growth. So if you want to grow without fish then I suggest adding the Leaf Formula to the water on a weekly basis. This can be much more dilute than the usual ratios used for plants as it will float around and encourage other water-borne biology to thrive which will also create nutrients for the azolla.

The key is to get a diverse and healthy biome thriving in the water, and the azolla will convert sunlight into nutrients and the biology will make other things and get a positive feedback loop going. So, when you harvest, I recommend only taking 1/3 of the azolla at a time so as not to upset this loop once you get it going.

KNF works really good in this format being that its a foliar feeding system and no need for irrigation …i myself use a kinda “dry farming” method i have ruffle a 20x20ft(6x6m) garden and a few other small beds for flowers and such i use 20-30gal (75-113L) of soil prep formula at the start of the season and only use 5-10gal (18-36L) of water a week, i do fertigation through a hose end sprayer to spray my KNF formulas in my gardens that is when i water …there is a couple weeks out of the year we see high 90F (32C) and i will give the garden a lil extra water on really hot days ….the key is in the starting soil prep we want to add lots of organic material to the soil for water retention by adding compost, biochar, coco coir and/or peat moss into the soil also by using hügelkultur and/or core gardening and deep mulch methods we hold onto a whole lot of moisture then adding IMOs and creating a healthy thriving soil biome we reduce the need to water, using these methods we are recreating the way nature makes the forest floor (who waters the forest?)   …the only  disadvantage i could see might be the time or money spent in the setup depending on what all is done but in my opinion the return on investment we would get by reducing water usage and cost of nutrients by using KNF methods will greatly outweigh the setup in the end

Happy Experimenting – May The Force Be With You

Great question! I love the appearance of mold because it is a sure sign that the fermentation step is complete. White mold tends to be bacillus subtilis and is nothing to worry about. Black and brown mold… I have no idea. However, I wouldn’t worry about it. Scoop it off before you strain the liquid and go on from there. I am sure the juice below is just fine, especially since the mold has only appeared on the surface of the plant material. next time you ferment papaya you can try a little less time. a slight smell of alcohol is a good early indication of the fermentation step being complete and this always occurs before mold.

Happy fermenting! The next step is Supersaturation

Pick something that is fast growing ,not poisonous, and readily avaliable. I’m not in a semitropical environment, but one of my favorites it comphrey. I also use nettle ,yarrow,thistle, dandelions. I use an assortment of fruits  later on in plants life. during its reproduction phase.play around do your research and find out what nutrients each plant contains.

I assume any variety of WHITE/POLISHED rice would be good for LAB, however I have not tested every variety to compare if they are equal in their quality and amount of starch. I can however, vouch for jasmine, basmati, and calrose as these varieties I have used to make LAB with equal success.

You can’t go by weight, crunch up your eggshells and char email up. Whatever volume of eggshells you have after that, put it in a container at least w0 times that volume. Then add 9 times the volume of eggshells as vinegar.

i would guess that honey has to much water in it same as molasses and would not be suitable for use in KNF methods i have seen other natural farming methods that did rely on molasses u might be able to sub out honey in those ….happy experimenting =)