KNF FORMULA APPLICATION

Spray Weekly in KNF with Edible Formulas

KNF FORMULA APPLICATION

A free, downloadable, and printable formula dilution chart will be available soon in the shop. In this article, we will cover Biochemical Signaling Technology (BST), KNF FORMULA APPLICATION, and best practices.

In the previous article, we covered the basic formula for misting plants. Since this is Natural Farming and we are following the patterns of Nature, we know to use the correct Fermented Plant Juice (FPJ) for each stage of growth. We give the plant what we want it to do. We are giving plants biochemical signals to direct their growth. I refer to this process as Biochemical Signaling Technology (BST).

BST application follows the Nutritive Cycle, which is the natural succession of the life cycle of plants. We use the appropriate active ingredient (FPJ) in our basic formula to give the plant hormones, enzymes, and cofactors that interact with the plant’s biology to bring about the desired results.

APPLICATION CHECKLIST

Formulas for misting should be mixed before use and not stored in a mixed state. Adding water to the inputs brings everything to life, including latent microbes. We want to keep the biology intact and only activate it when it is applied. This concept holds for all of Korean Natural Farming inputs. Water, the source of life, is kept out of the inputs until use.

You want to verify the quality of your inputs before you add them to water. This is done using smell and taste. If any input seems ‘off’, don’t use it. Everything we use is edible. Avoid using inputs that you wouldn’t want to consume. And be sure to use clean, non-chlorinated water.

Know which plants you're treating and choose the appropriate formula for their stage of growth. There is no multipurpose formula. You need to have a specific goal in mind. If you don’t, there is no reason to spray. 

You want to apply once a week (no more) at the right time of day. Apply the misted formulas an hour (or two) before sunset. This avoids using the inputs during photosynthesis (when the plants cannot utilize the formula's biochemistry), it avoids the heat of the day, and it gives the moisture time to evaporate, so that plants don’t go to bed wet, which can entice molds and blights to form.

APPLICATION CHECKLIST

Mix with water just before application

Test the quality of each input by using smell and taste

Use the appropriate formula for each stage of plant growth

Direct plants by giving them what you want them to do

Apply an hour (or two) before sunset

Apply to plants in soil that has a good Soil Foundation (IMO)

Apply as a light mist, avoiding overapplication

Keep good records

FERTILIZER FRIDAY

In calling this section “Fertilizer Friday,” I must first remind you that these formulas are not meant as fertilizers. While they do contain small amounts of nutrients, they are negligible. In KNF, fertilization occurs in the soil in conjunction with the microbes introduced through the installation of Indigenous Micro-Organisms (IMO) and the Soil Foundation. You need the Soil Foundation for BST to work.

There are two ways you can set up your weekly chores to apply BST. When I started using KNF, I was only applying small amounts to a limited number of plants. I could mist everything in less than an hour. In the beginning, it took only a few minutes.

I would start with a sprayer containing a growth formula, then rinse and mix a formula for cross-over or fruiting, whatever else was needed. I would do this once a week and started calling it ‘Fertilizer Friday’ so that it was a solid reminder for my weekly calendar of chores.

This is the first method. It is easy. You will always remember. (It doesn’t have to be Friday.) But it only works with small operations.

As I developed KNF across the farm (20 acres), including my commercial crops, it started to take more than an hour to apply everything, which meant I had to start applying too early, or work into the dark.

So, I switched to applying different formulas on different days. One day I would apply growth formula, the next would be cross-over, the next fruit set, then another day for fruit ripening. This approach made it possible to keep the application hours within the proper time of day, but it did require better record keeping.

This didn’t necessarily mean I had to spray every day. Depending on the state of the crops, I only applied what was needed that week. As part of evolving my KNF practice to a commercial size, I needed to start using larger, more commercial spraying equipment. Bigger spraying equipment allowed me to cover a larger area in a shorter time, making the investment worthwhile.

I know of one commercial flower farm that struggled with formula applications, as the application timing coincided with when the employees went home, rather than conveniently during the day. We had them split up the formula types by day and add in commercial equipment, which they already owned, to speed the process. Sometimes that meant having an employee come in later rather than having all employees show up early in the morning.  

That worked for them. You will have to arrange your management to best suit your needs.

While large operations will likely require some commercial equipment, KNF was created for farmers with little to no resources. The sustenance farmers I worked with in the South Pacific were lucky to have a repurposed bucket to hold the formula. We had them dip their fingers in the formula and flick the droplets onto the plants. That is really all you need.

APPLICATION RATE

How much you use will depend on your crops. Small plants will need very little, while trees, of course, will need much more, depending on size. Start with a small batch. Keep good records. After a few applications, you will know how much you need to mix up and how long application will take.

BST APPLICATION

When applying the formula using a sprayer, walk at a moderate pace and lightly mist each plant. This is not a drench. You do not need to apply to the undersides of leaves. Some of the formula will drip onto the soil, and the soil biology will respond as well, but don’t go out of your way to apply it to the soil. The drips are sufficient.

As we've often emphasized, these formulas are not fertilizers; they are biochemical signals. Hormones, which are signaling molecules, function in extremely small amounts. Applying too much can actually trigger plants (and microbes) to shut down the very processes we intend to activate, due to biology’s elegant feedback mechanisms that regulate activity once a signal has been received.

Apply a formula once a week and adjust it to match the plant's life cycle stage. The idea is not to give the plant what it is doing, but to bring the plant along to the next stage. Give the plant what you want it to do. And this is the hard part of KNF. It requires constant observation.

Once you start using BST to activate stages of plant growth, you will see dramatic results. These can only occur if you have a sufficient Soil Foundation. BST can be expanded to do much more. You can create formulas with special functions, such as a rescue formula or a crack prevention formula.

Furthermore, you can use the feedback mechanisms to do things like prevent flowering by giving plants a flower formula that tricks them into thinking they have already flowered. But this is all next-level stuff. Learn to use BST in a straightforward method first.

Playing around with flower formulas can have unintended consequences. I have had plants shut down flower production for a season or a year. I even had the genetic expression of fruit negatively changed for the life of the plant. Wait until you have some experience, and always test your ideas before you use them widely.

PATTERNS

KNF cannot be practiced using formulaic recipes and schedules. It always depends. While this may seem overwhelming to people accustomed to recipes and schedules, it becomes easy once you learn to read plants, interpret the landscape, and understand weather patterns.

You can grow the same crop on the same land, but get different rates and timing of growth from year to year as plants respond to environmental signals, some of which you can see, and some you cannot. 

You need to learn to see things like tomato plants that will grow blossoms once it has reached five sets of leaves.  That way, you can give them a cross-over formula before you see the flower buds. This helps the flower buds develop before they can be seen.

Flower clusters on tomatoes, depending on the cultivar, usually appear after the 5^th to 7^th true leaf node, often on or just above the 7^th node in indeterminate types. Knowing this, you can start with the cross-over formula once you reach five sets of leaves. If it takes until the 7^th node to flower, that is okay. You are still helping support the development of flowers at the appropriate time, before flowers develop.

Using BST in this way can naturally increase the yields of your plants, as well as their health and vitality.

Think of human pregnancy. Babies can be born with serious, sometimes fatal birth defects if they don’t have enough folic acid (vitamin B9) during early pregnancy, the first 3–4 weeks. This is before most women know they are pregnant. That is why women of childbearing age are advised to get at least 400 micrograms (mcg) of folic acid daily through diet or supplements.

Women need folic acid before they get pregnant. This is a pattern. We work with plants in a way that allows them to obtain what they need before you realize they need it. Prevention is always more effective than a cure.

AFTER APPLICATION

If you are using a sprayer, it is important to keep it clean. After each use, and between formula changes on the same day, rinse the sprayer well with fresh, clean water. If you experience problems with clogging or residual growth, you can add a little white vinegar to your rinse water, not living, fermented vinegar, but white, distilled, “dead” vinegar. Distilled white vinegar is used as an herbicide, so it will help kill any residual growth in your sprayer. Be sure to let it dry out before using it again.

Ensure that any inputs you use are properly stored, kept out of direct light, and protected from extreme heat and cold. A cabinet that stays at room temperature and is protected from vermin is ideal.

Record what you sprayed. List the full formula. You will find that the formula you actually use is often different from the recipe. When listing FPJ, be sure to add what the FPJ was made from. List what plants were sprayed. Note the time you sprayed and any appropriate weather information. This will help keep your spraying schedule on track and help you see any patterns that emerge concerning weather.

Come back in a few days or a week later, and record any effects you see from your sprays. This will teach you how things are working, what is effective, and what may not be.

As we continue our series of How to do KNF for Beginners, we look more closely at patterns and observations.