October 2021 - Research Gardens

FPJ (Fermented plant juice) - the KNF terp booster for Cannabis

1. What is FPJ and why do I need it?

Many people make little to no use of their green waste or weeds. The highest of feelings is the compost pile, which for most is a slow rotting compost. This requires long waiting periods. A thermophilic compost is faster, but also destroys important enzymes and amino acids through temperature exposure.

To preserve these essential plant nutrients, an enzymatic or fermentative conversion is excellent. This gentle, cold process is not only fast (less than two weeks) but also space-saving and odorless.

The amino acids obtained in this way, such as glutamine, can be used directly by the plant and do not first have to be synthesized from nitrate with an energetic (ATP) effort. This feeds the plant and provides it with energy-rich food.

1: Assimilation of amonia

Enzymes such as glucanases and amylases help to convert the contained secondary nutrients, like polysaccharides and amino acids, into usable substances.

Furthermore, a broad spectrum of probiotic microbes is present in the finished FPJ. These colonize the plant surface and the soil. In doing so, they displace pathogens and promote beneficial nutrient converters such as PSB (phosphorus solubilizing bacteria).

2. What plants are suitable for FPJ?

First we need to collect plants or plant in the garden for specific use. Care should be taken that the plant is very watery, otherwise complete fermentation will not occur.

Examples would be fresh, pathogen-free cuttings of tomatoes or dandelions.

Both are particularly suitable due to their nutrient accumulation in the tissue. Other plants are Beinweil, hemp leaves (only large, thick awnings) or flowers of heavy eating plants like zucchini, eggplant or bananas

If you want to make it more specific, you can just look online to see what nutrients are included. However, the water content and other categories must of course be respected there.

An important point with collected plants is the time of collection. Here you should go out early in the morning to be able to harvest the plants with morning dew. This will give you the greatest density/diversity of microbes. (Source 2)

3. How FPJ is made

The production is very simple and cheap. For 0.5L FPJ you need the following utensils:

1x 1L jar
Approx. 500-800G brown unrefined sugar (can also be made with normal sugar)
- Note: Unrefined sugar still contains its molasses content
- Note: Approx. weight because you need the same amount of sugar as plant matter
Enough plant matter to fill your ¾ glass jar.
Mixing bowl
1-2 tablespoons of LAB serum (speeds up the process, but is not essential).
Paper towel or a tissue that breathes
Rubber band
Dark storage space

Now that you have collected your material, you will need to chop it into thumb-sized pieces. It is best to shred the plant tissue directly in your bowl so that no juice is lost. This is essential for complete fermentation. Tearing provides a larger surface area for the sugar to attach to. Now we add the same amount of sugar as plant material and mix vigorously. It sucks the water out of the tissue and provides an excellent food source for our microbes. Then we add a shot of LAB, this stimulates the degradation processes by starting the homofermentative Lactic acid fermentation. Pour the resulting pulp into our jar until it is ¾ full and press it down evenly so that there is no air left in the mass. Make sure you really get everything out of the bowl, otherwise you will lose valuable juice.

On top of the pressed down parts of the plant, we add another 1-2cm layer of sugar to seal it and prevent the growth of unwanted fungi.

Tie the paper towel or a coffee filter (if the jar is small enough) with the rubber over the opening of the jar to allow gas exchange to continue. After all, CO2 is produced during fermentation. The rims must be clean, otherwise flies will be attracted. The best and most microbe-friendly cleaning you get with vinegar. This should be in the repertoire of every Korean Natural Farmer.

4. How is FPJ applied?

Like most Korean Natural Farming remedies, FPJ should be given in combination with others. A table on this can be found in the first part of the article series.

FPJ is mostly given as a "Maintenace Spray". This includes FPJ (1:500), OHN (1:1000) and BRV (1:500).

FPJ acts as the nutritional part here, OHN as pathogen prevention and terpene stimulant (Source 3). The vinegar contains many important amino acids and buffers the PH on the leaf surface. It thus ensures the rapid conversion of the remaining sugar on the leaf.

Therefore, BRV is indispensable in the administration of FPJ, otherwise pests will be attracted.

5. At what stage of my cannabis plant do I give FPJ?

Maintenace spray can be given from the end of the seedling phase until the second week of the flowering phase. The application is done by foliar fertilization. It is important not to use an atomizer but a normal pump sprayer, otherwise the microbes will burst due to the pressure and the small openings.

Spraying should not be done during full light or high temperature, otherwise there is no possibility of transpiration. This leads to overheating of the plant and corresponding reduction of photosynthetic performance.

It is also possible to apply with the help of watering, but not as efficient as via foliar fertilization. The concentrations remain the same.

6. The importance of local raw materials

Now we have gone through the topic FPJ, which can be meanly called Vegbooster. We will deal with the flower counterpart in the next article.

As a small conclusion, I would like to emphasize again the importance of local ingredients. The plant material must come from your area or at least your climate zone, otherwise the microbes are not optimally adapted. This will cause you to lose tremendous potential. Bought plants are also often contaminated with pesticides, which destroys the whole concept of KNFs.