Ranunculus Update & New Methods
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- čas přidán 13. 09. 2024
- Hi Folks! In this longer than usual episode we talk about how our approach to growing ranunculus has had to change from previous years. We discuss what has gone wrong over the past couple of years and how important it is has been for us to work on soil biology to reduce soil compaction. Upfront, we are no experts in KNF (Korean Natural Farming) but have found the philosophy and solutions useful this year in enhancing the ranunculus crop-- so far. Ultimately how things perform between now and harvest will be the final test.
The formula for Fermented Sea Water or FSW is: for 1 gallon of rainwater or non-chlorinated water
1:300 dilution of FPJ(Fermented Plant Juice) or 2.5 tsp
1:700 dilution of LAB (Lactic Acid Bacteria) or 1 tsp
1:30 dilution of Seawater or sea-salt. or 4.5gms fine grain sea-salt or 3/4 tsp if using seawater 125 ml.
This is applied at the rate of 1 gallon per 250 sq ft as a foliar feed light soil drench. If the soil is dry water the area well several hours before application. Apply only when light levels are low at the end of the day or a cloudy day. Don't apply outdoors if rain is imminent in 24 hrs. Don't apply this more often than 7-10 days apart. We tended to look at the plants and went conservatively using it once every 4 weeks.
Just a note on adding Sea-salt as a mineral supplement to plants and soil. A liter of sea water weighs 1000 grams. Average salinity of seawater is 3.5% or 34.8 gm of dissolved solids per liter. Approximately 30 gm of the dissolved solids are NaCl (salt) The remaining is K, Ca, Mg, S and many other trace minerals vital to plants. When diluting seawater on a 1:30 basis the salt component is reduced to 1 part per 1000 parts water or 1gm dry sea-salt per liter fresh water gives the same result. The other minerals are diluted too, however plants require very low amounts of most of these elements at any one time and this dilution is perfect. (Note if you have high sodium levels in your soil you may want to be cautious about using this as a mineral supplement)
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This was the most helpful youtube video I've 'consumed' in a LONG time! Thank you so very much for taking the time to show this process. I'm a flower farmer and I'm having similar troubles with my ranunculus.
Glad it was helpful! @Joy Holway
You guys are my heroes! I love the grassroots, science-based, hands-on experiments that focus on problem-solving. It's the real world. It seems like our culture is so used to someone "handing them" THE answer... they have forgotten how important it is to do our own research and report back (good and bad) the results.
For 10, 000 years we, mostly, have practiced the 'strip the soil and then move on to a new patch of land' method of farming. Well, not exactly but you get my meaning. Instead, now I'm seeing the approaches to working with the soil & microbiome and it is heartening. Learn to live within our environment and take advantage of what it has already worked out.
Small farmers really should share their various approaches; everyone benefits with shared knowledge. Even something that does not solve the whole problem... just seeing how to approach a problem, is very useful. I love the group, (www.ascfg.org) American Specialty Cut Flower Growers because of the tremendous amount of information that is shared freely.
Hi @Amy Crawford Thanks for the support! Yeah, I remember learning about the Three 'R's of resource management as practiced in the late years of the 1800's and early 1900's. The 'R's stood for Rape, Ruin, and Run. Thankfully things have progressed greatly since those days. I think we all have to be citizen scientists to some degree. Sharing our experiences benefits all!
Good luck and thank you for sharing your acquired knowledge!
People who claim to always succeed, whether in the garden or elsewhere, are a) lying or b) not learning and growing. Thank you for sharing your experience with the rest of us! I'm glad to hear that the sea water stuff is working for you, I'll have to check out your videos on it.
Should have waited to finish the video before commenting lol. I agree that compaction is killer though
Hi @Ashlee We have lots of challenges every season. Its always something new to work on. we have never encountered success in a straight line. Guess we need better pixie dust! 😉
Thank you for sharing all the info! I will be checking out the website.
You are so welcome!
Great video. I love your honesty. We all strive for the best results in our plantings sometimes things work out, sometimes they don't. I propagate and grow perennials and shrubs in pots. As this is a foreign environment for the plant, I'm going to try this. I continue to strive for optimal aeration and nutrient balance. Any thoughts?
Hi @Tom Jessmore. planting in pots is always a challenge due to nutrients leaching. I guess you'd strive for a more fungal based compost/potting mix. Things like aged leaf mold or really well aged wood chips would be a good basis.
So happy to see they are growing wonderfully this season. I've had trouble myself with ranunclus past two years. This year the one's I've planted are looking good. They sure are one the most sensitive corms I've come across. Exited to see another updated from you guys. And a quick question.. Will it be okay I fertilize them with diluted seedweed extract?
Hi @dreamon I Would think seaweed extract would be great for minerals. Watchout for the nitrogen though. a couple of years ago we used SeaKelp extract a little too much and ended up getting aphids. We found that too much nitrogen creates an imbalance with phosphorus and makes the plant attractive to insects.
@@BareMtnFarm Hi. Thank you for letting me know that. I'll definitely keep this in mind and not go overboard with the seedweed extract.
Thank you for this video. How do you know when it is time to water when you are watering monthly?
I would love to try this ASAP on my tunnel ranunculus and anemone, but is there a substitute for FPJ? I won’t be able to make it until plants are growing in summer. Thanks for sharing your expertise!!
Hi @Erin Rice you could substitute 2 tsp of unsulfured molasses for the FPJ. It's then just basically a food source for the LAB. Another possibility is making FPJ out of fast growing winter weeds like purslane, chickweed etc. Use only the top fastest growing parts of the plants.
Thanks! I will try the molasses!
Thanks for sharing! Thinking of giving it a try.
Hi there! I've grown Ranunculus on my farm for the last few years, always soaking, then presprouting in an open flat at 50 degrees in darkness, THEN I bumped them up to 50 trays in my greenhouse before planting in my tunnel. My question is whether I can skip the pre-sprout step and just take the awakened corms right from their soak to 50 trays in the greenhouse? Would they be missing this step in between? Thank you for your amazing videos!
Hi @Sarah Barkhouse We now just presoak the corms in an aerated bucket with an aquarium bubbler until plump, usually about 2 hours and then directly plant them in the cell trays an allow them to germinate naturally without the presprout. We have noticed no difference in skipping the presprout step. So I believe it should work just fine.
@@BareMtnFarm oh that is so awesome. I felt like it may be a dumb question but I'm so glad I asked it. It felt redundant to me and also added a week of time to their timeline. Thank you again! You guys are truly wonderful! Also getting really excited about my foray into KNF this season thanks to your videos. ~Sarah
may I know where or how do you sell them? I from them in California but its difficult to sell them!
We used to sell in a Farmer's Market and then directly to florists. We have since retired from commercial flower growing and just grow for ourselves. Thanks for your comment and for watching.
would you suggest that there is an iron (or some sort of metal) deficiency in your soil? I say this because my leaves look like yours (a little spotty and not a consistent green). Thoughts?? I'm looking to fixing mine also. Thank you for your video
We are just starting to see white spots and some yellowing leaves at the base of our Ranunculus. Is there anything we can do once we already start seeing this issue? If we put the fermented seawater on it can it help reverse some of those white spots?
Hi @Molly Fay Flower Farm Its interesting that you mention white spots or veining on ranunculus leaves. Although there are many varieties of ranunculus out there, if you notice that there are many different leave shapes and types out there as well. Some varieties such as Labelle White picotee naturally have a white spotting or veining and this is perfectly normal part of their coloring, while others like Amandine Pastel have a highly lobed leaf that is lighter green with no white spotting and this too is perfectly normal. The yellowing or even desiccating of some of the older leaves at the base of the plant is also normal. What is not normal is if this is excessive and these older leaves show a browning or even slightly sliminess at the base crown of the plant that is affecting the crown or the formation of new leaves. This would be rot and could quickly kill the plant. We have found it important to keep the tunnels well vented and good airflow around the plants and to not over water. Watering such that the soil around the plants is always saturated and never gets a chance to dry out some between watering can encourage rots. The use of Fermented Seawater once or twice in when the plants are in the vegetative stage will help strengthen the healthy foliage and would slow rots from spreading to otherwise healthy plants but it will not cure plants if they are infected with rot. Those plants infected with rot should be rogued out. Hope this helps!
How much sea water would I use for 1 gal
Do your drop tape waterlines ever freeze?
After watering our drip tapes drain out at the end of the runs. However, we use frost blankets to prevent freezing near the plants so we haven't had any issues.
Would i be alright to do the worm tea & not the other stuff? (I don't have access to the other things) I'm afraid to use the worm tea honestly. I've been gardening for about 15 years, always used a sterile seed starting mix, well last year I added some worm castings to my seed starting mixture & had some issues. I know with worm bins you always have a few little mites and things & I noticed a couple in there when mixing the material... I had a lot of issues with things not germinating, or it would germinate & then die & in wondering if something was eating the roots/seeds. I dont think it was a damping off issue but I guess its possible...
Hi @Creatively Candace Usually good worm castings from a bin that was in balance, meaning healthy fed worms in bins that didn't go anaerobic produce worm castings with a broad variety of bacteria, fungi etc. that tend to keep pathogens in check. If your purchasing worm castings many times the materials have been in plastic bags and have been exposed to anaerobic conditions which may negatively affect their quality. If you have access to your own worm bins and have fresh casting materials even if you do detect mites or spring-tails etc in the bin, don't despair. Many times these critters in the bins are indicators that the bins are out of balance, too much moisture, or food, or the pH is off neutral, and too little carbon sources being used to offset it. Also, you may find that using the worm tea from these castings is still the best alternative to getting a good boost for your plants without adding the other critters to your potting mix. As always with seedlings watching for excess moisture is essential. My experience has been when moisture in the potting mix is too high and airflow around the growing medium is stagnant is when most problems develop.
@@BareMtnFarm ok thanks for your feedback! I wondered about making the tea but was afraid the more may end up in the mix through the tea... (But they'd probably drown I suppose! 😄)I have my own bins which are in pretty good balance, as I've gotten pretty good at keeping the moisture levels in check, but there are some instances in which I add a little too much coffee grounds, & that's when I notice the mites. I always notice them if I look hard, but not in great numbers)
I started using seaweed solution and the difference is insane. What do you think about the seaweed stuff? I am going to use your CaPO₄³⁻ for the blooming stage. I noticed they also grow much better on sandy soil compared to no dig clay.