Lavender Tea Stankie I have a good friend who is an organic farmer and uses strict bio-dynamic process (Rudolf

Steiner's work). he 'fringe end' of the organic world some would say - !"! #t any rate I took one of his recipes and gave it a run - lavender tea. !avender has many insecticide and icide properties - much like neem$karan%a seed e&tracts and meals. !avender works in a different way but that's another story. ake about '.( handfuls of the lavender flowers and put into a ' gallon %ug of clear) pure water. !et it brew for only *+ to ,- hours - you do ." want it to ferment) i.e. you still want a strong lavender aroma. /i& '$+ cup of this tea to ' gallon of water and spray your plant's leaves and branches until the leaves are hanging because they're too heavy from the amount of tea$water that you've applied. Re-apply in + or ( days and again + or ( days after that. 0nd of mites - period. I'm in the process of finding legitimate scientific studies to e&plain how it works. 1ortunately there's a plethora of information available. 2ou can used dry lavender flowers - %ust make sure that they're organic3 I have a couple of sources if you have trouble sourcing it in your part of the world. !et me define a couple of terms - not that they're accurate but it will e&plain my answer. 1ermented 4lant 0&tract (140) - a process where plant material is mi&ed with water and lactobacillus strains are added and you end up with a fermented li5uid that has the 0!0/0. S from the plants contained. 6otanical eas - a prices where plant material is mi&ed with water and the microbes from the plants) the air and water) etc. results in an anaerobic 'tea' which will have 'some' minor levels of lactobacillus that arrived from the atmosphere. his is the best method to use to e&tract both 0!0/0. S and the plant 7"/4"8.9S which) depending on the plant) can provide a pesticide) funguicide) growth enhancers (4:R)) ones which activate the plant's defense mechanism (S#R)) ma&imi;e erpine production (like <7)) etc. 140's don't smell during the fermenting process. 6otanical teas are almost weapon-grade in this area. 1rom my e&perience) the 6otanical eas pretty much sh=t on 140 concoctions. "thers will have different e&periences to share. 1lowers that have strong aromas come from compounds produced by the plant (7arbon) <ydrogen > "&ygen) and some of these attract pollinators (bees) butterflies) etc.) and other compounds keep herbivore insects away (Spider /ites) #phids) etc.). Some of these compounds provide a natural defense against 4owdery /ildew (et al.) /any of these compounds are alcohol erpenes) erpenoids) etc. and you do ." want to let them

sit in a water tank for , or + weeks to breakdown like you do with 7omfrey) 2arrow) Stinging .ettles or 9andelion) et al. :et aeration out of your head - aeration is ".!2 needed or used for brewing microbial teas (##7 ) - botanical teas are created from anaerobic action. ##7 is an aerobic process. 7ompletely and totally different in method and the final goal. 1lowers should be removed from the plant) placed in a "steri;er or food processor with enough water to make a slurry. '& slurry ,& water !et it sit for , days ma&imum. Strain and drain. 8se * - + tablespoons to ' gallon of water along with '$+ #loe vera %uice. ?ills insects on contact and causes the eggs to e&plode. If you let it 'ferment' like 7omfrey you'll have levels of alcohol that will kill any plant. @uickly. horoughly. 7ompletely. If you make a fair amount) add ' tablespoon 7itric acid (grocery store item) to each gallon of tea. his will arrest the fermentation but even then you want to store it in the refrigerator. 6efore you use it down the road) smell it. 2ou know what fermented smells like - dump it. !et me try and answer 5uestion this way. !et's say that the only thing easily sourced is 9andelion. #nd let's say that you only picked enough to make * cups of a slurry after running it through a food processor or "steri;er. ake that * cups and add to that + cups of pure water and allow the material to break down and there will be some fermenting going on but nothing approaching the levels if one were adding 0/-' or something similar. So now you have - cups of concentrated tea. #t an application rate of say '$+ cup to ' gallon of water and you would want to add that something like every 'A - '+ days. 1rom * cups of 9andelion slurry you now make *+ gallons for watering and +B gallons to apply as a foliar spray. If you have limited materials to work with then I would go with the foliar application route through the veg cycle and then switch to using it on the soil during the flower cycle. 6ack to the basic recipe) if you follow :il 7arandang's suggestions you might want to add a couple of teaspoons of palm sugar and the same amount of kelp meal. o minimi;e the odor factor) at least in the case of 7omfrey which is different from most of the other plants used for these teas - it contains very little lignin meaning that it will break down almost completely. 9andelion is similar in this regard. Stinging .ettle and 2arrow will never break down completely in this process. he leaves and flowers will be gone but you'll have 5uite a bit of stalk) branches) etc. If you're using 7omfrey or 9andelion plants then you can make a syrup which involves very little odor. 6asically what you do is take a bucket with small holes drilled in the bottom) place the

chopped plant material inside and weigh it down. I've seen videos where they used small stones in a plastic bag) plastic bags filled with water) whatever. 2ou %ust want some weight. #s the material breaks down it turns into a li5uid and will begin to leach through the holes in the bottom of the bucket. "h yeah - put the bucket with the holes inside a bucket without holes. his syrup will store for several months. 2ou simply add the syrup to water an apply as usual. If you don't want to go through all of that then simply dry your plant material e&actly like you do your //C. he compounds in these plants are e&actly the same molecular formulas (elements anyway) as <7. 9ry carefully) store away from light and air and most of compounds and all of the elements will remain intact. So which is the better methodD he method that fits your lifestyle. If you have a barn several feet from the house then go with the tank of water. If your garage is attached to the house with an access door then drying the material) storing it and using it as needed may be a better way to go. he syrup is another option. here is very little smell involved - in fact the bags of composted chicken manure has a stronger smell. I wouldn't get too hung up on the harvest and processing details. Cust having this material in whatever form$version will give you spectacular results) I/<" # ma%or component of !avender flowers is a compound called !inalool (7'AE<'BE") with the culinary varieties at *FG and the medicinal varieties (generally) come in at (AG on the !avender "il. his is a compound that is e&tracted commercially from a number of plants and is a registered biopesticide by 04# and can be approved for organic food production under 8S9#. here are a lot of plants that contain high levels of !inalool that you can purchase at your local grocery store - mints (all of them which includes /ar%oram) 6asil) hyme) et al besides Spearmint or 4eppermint)) several (most) culinary herbs (especially 7ilantro)) 7innamon) 7love) etc. It ain't hard to find something to use. I would consider the following and in this orderH ERosemary - big time E7ilantro E/ar%oram (there's another reason besides !inalool with this herb specifically) E#ny /int E!avender - if you don't have access to a medicinal variety then pass on this one ake the plant material and put it into a food processor with enough water to turn it into a slurry. Rosemary is a bit challenging on this one but worth the effort. 2ou definitely want either Rosemary and$or 7ilantro and one of the /ints. o each cup of slurry add , cups of water (' 5uart). 4ut this into a container (glass is best on this one - !inalool is a terpine alcohol) and let this ferment for a couple of days. Strain the material and now you have a concentrate.

2ou want to add '$+ cup of the concentrate to ' gallon of water. #dd the same amount of #loe Iera %uice and begin spraying. # couple of things to consider - this is a basic carbohydrate meaning that it will begin to breakdown when e&posed to light and air. 2ou can't do much about the air but if you'll apply this immediately before the garden lights turn off you'll have far better results. It works - 0co rol out of 7anada is made from Rosemary and one of the mints - it's either "regano or /ar%oram < < !9 I found nettles)dandilion root and comfry in the bulk tea section at a semi local health food store when I went to get agave and #loe. here each less then J* an o; and that fills a sandwich bag with the greens) a little less with the root since its heavy. I put * tbls in a 5uart %ar filled with water and let sit several days before use(the longer the smellier). I've been e&perimenting with dilution ratios) but usually start with +o; of 140 to 'ltr of water. he only thing I know for sure at this point is) the 140 makes them grow like cra;y and smells the worst. :ranomadre kelp # typical 'veg cycle' tea that I apply about '& per week is ' cup of organic alfalfa meal and '$+ cup of kelp meal into ( gallons of water. #erate for a day or two and apply as a soil soak as well as a foliar spray. I won't bore you with the benefits of either ingredient as the web is loaded with articles and viable studies but suffice it to say that this mi& will shorten internode distances) make your plants about as green as anything you've ever seen (even the retouched photos so popular with cannabis seed vendors333 hat's 5uite an accomplishment) ehD) !9 I would drop the application rate of this product to (AG of what one would normally apply regular fish meal at. I'd go with no more than ' tablespoon per gallon of mi&ed potting soil. !9 9o as /icrobeman instructed with the worm castings. #dd ,-+ cups of castings in a gallon of water) shake the hell out of it and pour it on both plants soil) leaving the castings residue divided between the two plants. #lso) get some kelp meal soaking to both water and foliar spray your plants with. #dd an '$B to a 5uarter cup to a gallon of water) or a cup worth in ( gallons. #erate this tea or keep mi&ing for a couple of days) again) watering with it and strain it to spray all over your plants. I would definitely add kelp meal to your soil mi&. '$+ cup per ( gallons of soil is all that you need to use. !9 Organic pH issues I hear a lot of people asking or talking about the p< of their organic soil mi& or organic nute

solution and how they might correct or ad%ust it. p< in organics is not an issue like it is in synthetic growing. he best place to settle the p< issues in organics is within the grow medium. # medium rich in humates (humus) is the place to start. <umates work to KbufferK the p< of organic mediums and the nutes you pour (or mi&) into it. <umates come from compost) worm castings and bottled humus. If you use a peat based medum) use dolomite lime to raise the p< of the acidic peat. 9olomite should be used in any soil or soiless medium to provide magnesium and calcium. 6ut since we are talking about p< here) I'll mention dolomite lime's p< correction benefits. # medium of coir has a p< near neutral (or L.A). 6ut humates are still neded to allow uptake of organic nutrients that are outside a near neutral p< range. Mith an active medium rich in humates you can pour in nutes like 4ure 6lend 4ro) 0arth Cuice and guano teas way outside the optimum p< range without worry. he humus will allow the nutes to be taken up through the roots) even at such an e&treme p< reading. So throw those p< meters away folks and en%oy the ease and safety of organic gardening.

4eat moss - +AG 7oir (inoculated version) ,AG 4erlite - 'AG Iermiculite - 'AG 4umice - 'AG 9olomite lime to balance the peat moss deal (sometimes I use oyster shell flour %ust to relieve psychic boredom) 2ucca e&tract as a wetting agent hen begin figuring in the organic material and soil amendments. #bout J(.AA per ' cf. which includes all of the above plus compost) earthworm castings) seed meals) fish bone meal) 7anadian glacial rock dust) kelp meal and dis and dat. EsquejesH L(G organic 0M7) *(G organic Sphagnum peat moss and wetted down with a kelp meal tea (or soluble seaweed e&tract). '* - '+ days N massive roots in a Solo 'B o;. 7up. Since the "4 asked about 'organic' I didn't list the gel that I've use for inoculating the potential root ;one with endomycorrhi;al fungi. It's a carbo&ymethyl cellulose based product that when mi&ed with water is very thick and viscous. I add the endomycorrhi;al strains into the gel along with humic$fulvic acid) soluble seaweed e&tract with li5uid silica treated water as the base of the gel. he cellulose product comes as a dry powder so the water that you add to activate it can contain the kelp meal tea) humic and fulvic acids as well as the li5uid silica. 'AAG guaranteed results - consistently. #lways. 0ver. .ever fails. !9 #ll of the seed meals are organic and where appropriate they are non-:/" sources. #ll of these are sourced from an organic farm store in 4ortland and they've been in business for over L* years. .ot a bad track record. ,& alfalfa meal ,& linseed$fla&seed meal '& soybean meal '& canoa$rape seed meal '& sunflower meal (this had to be sourced from an organic dairy as it seems that sunflower meal is

used to increase milk production. 9on't bother - !"!) '& organic fish meal (nitrogen) '& organic fish bone meal (phosphorus) .(& kelp meal .(& neem seed meal .(& crustacean ." 0H he addition of neem seed meal is two-fold. "ne is that it has a very strong '.' profile as well as high-profile in the '?' profile and specifically with regard to micro-nutrients - almost on par with alfalfa and kelp meal. he main reason for using neem seed meal along with crustacean meal ('chitin' content) is to provide systemic defenses against insect and anaerobic molds (powdery mildew). he addition of both of these products insures that you will not have gnats or other insects flying around. 7hitin e&tracted is sold under the trade-name of 7hitosan (something like that). his mi& isn't cast in stone. I reali;e that I'm in the uber-minority about the use of bat$bird guanos in general but you could certainly add that to the mi&. Same with fertili;ers derived from slaughterhouses - philosophically I will not use bone and$or blood meal - again I'm in the minority hose products might be something that others would want to add. Same with feather meal - lots of folks use that product. <aving visited a commercial chicken processing plant several years ago I'll pass on that product as well. 0ven with this mi&) I only add about * cups to ' c.f. of my potting soil mi&. I depend on the 5uality of humus to be the driving source. he potting soil is pretty much the same - I start with Sunshine :rowers "rganic /i& as the base. It comes in *.B c.f. loose bags - not the compressed bales like the Sunshine O+ /i& - no big deal %ust e&plaining the difference in pack si;es. his mi& is +AG organic coconut coir) ,AG organic peat moss) 'AG each of perlite) pumice > vermiculite and is 4< ad%usted at the packing facility and the mi& is treated with a wetting agent organic yucca e&tract. I currently pay J'F.AA for this bag. .e&t up is the organic humus component. #fter doing a ton of e&perimenting with various products easily sourced around these parts as the e&pression goes) I settled on a mi& that includes e5ual parts (by volume) of homegrown earthworm castings) /arwest 7ompost (an organic compost from Scio) "regon that is loaded with microbial activity - it's JB.AA for '.( c.f.) and #laska <umus. his one is pretty e&pensive by my standards (I'm really) really cheap$thrifty) and it's running J*+.AA per c.f. from the good folks at the Soil 1ood Meb in 7orvallis. I mi& all of the humus products together and set that aside. Into the 7raigslist cement mi&er goes ' c.f. of the humus mi& and the appropriate amount of the fertili;er mi&) mineral mi& and B cups of bokashi bran. I let this run for '( minutes or so to insure that the amendments are thoroughly mi&ed with the humus. he Sunshine /i& is pretty much inert for the sake of this discussion. .e&t in is a bag of the Sunshine /i& and about '$* pail of organic rice hulls to get up to , c.f. - let that run for '(-*A minutes and there's + c.f. of potting soil that costs far less than 11"1) 6otanicare) Roots "rganic) etc.

It can be a 'water only' growing paradigm - though I've been known to thrown in some kelp meal teas) some humic and fulvic acids) 140 (fermented plant e&tracts) and 0/-'. Cust to keep things interesting and probably little else. #nd I always add li5uid silicon every application of teas) water) foliar sprays) etc. I cannot stress enough how much you can change your plants using li5uid silicon. I was skeptical at first but I was wrong. Iery wrong. #lmost all of the actual work is on the front-end - the rest simply involves keeping them hydrated and systemic use of neem seed products along with kelp products as a foliar application to insure the health of the microbe colonies on the branches and leaves. < < !9 It's pretty easy to make you own soil and you have most of the ingredients already. ake * c.f. of peat moss or coco coir) ' c.f. of perlite (or pumice) and ' c.f. of earthworm castings. here's + c.f. or 'about' ,A gallons. hese numbers are for ' c.f. ('about' L.( gallons) of your potting soil mi&H ' cup of kelp meal ' cup of alfalfa meal '.( cups of #;omite (that's usually the easiest to find for most folks) ' cup bone meal (steamed is usually easier to breakdown by the microbes) '$* cup of limestone or oyster shell powder (calcium carbonate - no magnesium) If you opt for dolomite lime then others will be better able to give you the appropriate amount. #dd some mycorrhi;al fungi to your mi& and Iiola3 2ou now have a viable soil that can be 'recycled' over and over by amending with earthworm castings) seed meals) etc. 4retty cheap and far better than grow store bags of dirt. < < !9