Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
How to Apply
Most of the products in this chapter are combined in water and sprayed onto plants, with
some going onto the soil and perhaps being lightly incorporated into the top few inches.
The water should be as clean as possible, and ideally not too cold. This spraying is prefer-
ably done in the morning or evening. I use a backpack sprayer for this, although a hose-end
sprayer or irrigation system works, too. You can experiment with the products that sound
good to you. You certainly don't have to use them all.
I generally use a base mixture of ⅓ cup of EM or another microbial product, either 1 cup
of sea minerals or 1 cup of liquid fish hydrolysate, with 4 teaspoons of liquid kelp and ⅓
cup of molasses all together in 4 gallons of water. This covers 1,000 square feet. The mix-
ture could be allowed to sit for a few hours before spraying in order for the microbes to
start breaking down the other ingredients. The measurements will be different for the brand
of each product you buy, so be sure to check the label.
Optionally, you can include any or all of the following: 2 cups compost tea or more, ½
teaspoon humic acids, ½ teaspoon soil conditioner, ¼ cup yucca extract, ½-1 mg of vitamin
B12 or even a full vitamin B complex, 2/3 cup liquid calcium and any specific micronutri-
ents you're using. Never mix phosphoric acid with liquid calcium, as you may get jelly, al-
though the phosphoric acid is okay in small quantities as part of liquid fish or soda.
Specific micronutrients may be toxic to the microbial inoculants, so you may want to ap-
ply them separately, but EM is so inexpensive that it doesn't hurt to include it anyway. A
powder form of mycorrhizal fungi that goes through a sprayer can also be used in this mix-
ture if you're doing a soil drench, but there's no use in applying it to leaves.
When you're mixing this together, start with the water, add any chemical fertilizers and
micronutrients you're using, followed by molasses and biostimulants and then microbial in-
oculants and vitamins. It helps to first dissolve the molasses in warm water.
