Indigenous Microorganism Cultivation (IMO’s)

[BaysideHaze]

Using knowledge shared by Master Cho in the field of KNF and passed onto me by Mr Heavy Dayze I cultivated some IMO’s using some old forest soil that I sourced locally.

 

Basically you’re using a medium, in this case rice, to draw microbes out of the dirt which will then be used to enhance the microbe life in your dirt through a number of ways.

 

I basically stop at the IMO1 stage which is what I’ve got pictured and then add that to my compost pile but there are a number of ways to skin this kitty. You can even skip this step entirely and just add your indigenous dirt to a compost tea to accelerate your microbe population but I was pleased with my results from the IMO1 so I’ll detail that method.

 

 

Okkkk.

 

First step is to find some nice humus-rich earth from a local nature reserve etc. and collect a good few handfuls/spadefuls. I collected mine from inside a rotting stump of a tree that had been in my local area for hundreds of years.

 

Cho’s method calls for burying the box in the earth and leaving it for a week or so and coming back but HD reasoned that the same thing could be achieved in your backyard in a covered bucket.

 

You start off with your rice. Preferably organic though the rice I used was just one of those uncle bens satchels and that worked fine. Cook it normally and weigh it after and place it into a wooden box. I purchased mine for 3$ from Kmart it’s a simple bamboo box roughly 300mm x 200mm without a lid.

 

Shake the box so the rice sits evenly and cover with paper towels and rubber bands. You then place the box Into the tub/bucket and cover with the collected dirt.

 

Check every few days for signs of mycelium and when a thick white carpet of fungus has formed you are ready to move onto the fermenting stage.

 

Mix the remaining dirt into your potting mix or compost pile and proceed.

 

Remembering the weight of your rice is important here but it’s just as easy to weigh your inoculated rice at this stage too.

 

Combine equal parts organic brown sugar and rice-blend in a glass or ceramic vessel and cover with a clean cloth or paper towel.

 

After 5 days to a week or so you should have witnessed fermentation happen and the sugars will have largely dissolved although a few chunks may still remain. At this stage you can go ahead and proceed to making IMO3/4/5 etc. or simply place your ferment into your compost pile or soil mix and watch the fuzzy magic take over!

 

This is extremely useful when starting a new run of pots and wanting to add a microbe boost or simply accelerating your compost pile and one of the little organic tricks I like to use every now and again after a particularly hot and dry summer to bring some life back into the garden.

 

I don’t take any credit for any of this all the info you’re reading is just stuff I’ve picked up from Chris Trump or Master Cho’s writings furthered by info passed on by HeavyDayze so thanks to those guys for spreading the organic knowledge.

 

 

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