Bio Oregon fish meal

Stankie

Fruit juices (organic, no preservatives), fruit purees (apple sauce, smashed banana, et al) are always good sources. Especially the tropical fruits (mangoes, papayas, pineapples, et al) because of the high enzyme component of these fruits.

At a Middle Eastern food store you could consider date molasses, carob molasses, grape skin molasses, et al. Watch for preservatives (sodium benzoate and citric acid (in high levels) are the ones to avoid).

Blue agave nectar (organic only!!! because of the chemical extraction process on non-organic products), honey, apple juice concentrate, etc.

The reason that I will not use molasses is that the reason that molasses must be 'unsulphured' (vs. desulphured) is that sulphur dioxide (acid rain stuff) is added to the mix when processing sugar cane. This facilitate the removal of the 'molasses' but it poisons the product which is why is has to be 'unsulphured' vs. 'desulphured' - adding a product that has had poison added to it and then it's removed seems to be a weird consideration - at the very least.

Especially when one considers that we're only looking for simple sugars here to feed the bacterial microbe colonies and some (limited) feeding of fungi hyphae - why toss the dice and add an agent that may be harmful when it's not mission critical?

That's my read on it anyway.

HTH

LD

 

Was wondering if herring would make good fertilizer. There are huge runs of herring up here and the price paid to fishermen is really cheap...maybe $200 a ton..for the largest herring on the West Coast.

 

Thanks much for your reply but I think you misunderstood the coconut. I have wondered about coconut juice too but what I was asking about is coconut CRYSTALS, dried crystalized SAP of the cocount tree not a product of the coconuts or the coconut juice. Here is a quote from their websit:

"When the coconut tree is tapped, it produces a naturally sweet, nutrient-rich inflorescence (juice or "sap") that exudes from the coconut blossoms. This sap is very low glycemic (GI of only 35), diabetic-friendly, contains 17 amino acids, minerals, vitamin C, broad-spectrum B vitamins, and has a nearly neutral pH Small batches ensure that our organic, Crystals sweetener, made from this natural sap, is a raw product, minimally evaporated at low temperatures for 90 minutes (to remove excess moisture and allow for crystallization)"

I really want to try this as a molasses substitute and also interested in the 17 amino acids and what they do. Yakon has Fructooligosaccharide, (or FOS) too so is that good for soil bacteria?

 

Bonsai Bob

The specific compound that you're looking for in using coconut water is an auxin called "IAA" (Indole-3-acetic acid) which is one of the agents found in seaweed and seaweed extracts which facilitates cell elongation vs. cell creation - 2 different functions as things turn out.

IAA facilitates root development which is why kelp extracts are used to move root development forward.

When applied as a foliar application, this hormone (all hormones are auxins - not all auxins are hormones) or to put it another way, all phytoauxins are hormones but not all hormones are auxins (i.e. phytohormones) these agents will create any number of benefits to a plant, i.e. extensive root development, foliar development, et al. creating a healthier garden paradigm .

You can see this effect when you 'top' a plant - this forces the plant to produce specific auxins which hold down the canopy height but elongates the side branches. You can see this dynamic when using SCROG and FIM techniques - you're forcing the plant to create these specific auxins to maximize your efforts to create the goal of an even canopy.

Something like that.

HTH

LD