"The Wonders of Wood Vinegar"

[drtreelove]

Cooked was on to it all along!  

 

When Graeme Sait speaks, I listen.  New blog article:

https://blog.nutri-tech.com.au/activated-char-condensate-acc-the-wonders-of-wood-vinegar/?utm_source=Nutrition+Matters&utm_campaign=bcc4f55d89-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2023_05_25_07_16_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-14a95eae32-[LIST_EMAIL_ID]

 

[cooked]

Thanks! I didn't realise that this was privileged information. Recommended dosage varies from situation to situation, took me some time to get it going. 

[Pogust]

I been using wood vinegar for some years now. There are different producers with what I guess different  "strength". Tried one highly refined clear liquid, but trees didn't appreciate that. 1:100 dilution with the black stuff seem to work OK on fruit trees. I mix in 1:200 detergent also to suffocate some bugs.

 

[drtreelove]

2 hours ago, Pogust said:

I been using wood vinegar for some years now. There are different producers with what I guess different  "strength". Tried one highly refined clear liquid, but trees didn't appreciate that. 1:100 dilution with the black stuff seem to work OK on fruit trees. I mix in 1:200 detergent also to suffocate some bugs.

 

Good points!  Yes concentration of the mixture matters. Vinegar in higher concentrations is an herbicide. 

 

Don't get carried away, I would use this and other bio-pesticides only as a last resort. Anything that we spray or drench on foliage, woody stems and soil will affect the microbiome that exists there, and which is mostly beneficial, and is the first line of defence. Be aware that it's not only pests that become the target.

 

I've come to trust the cultivation and protection of the benefical biology in the soil and the foliar crown as the primary pest and disease control measure, along with plant nutrition as the key to building natural resistance. "Healthy plants don't get pests and diseases" principle.  I shelved my biopesticides long ago, including wood vinegar and neem products, in favor of methods and materials for building soil organic matter and beneficial biology, soil aggregate structure, mulching, and inoculating with forest-floor soil that I forage where I hike and mountain bike. 

Edited July 1, 2023 by drtreelove

[Pogust]

10 hours ago, drtreelove said:

I've come to trust the cultivation and protection of the benefical biology in the soil and the foliar crown as the primary pest and disease control measure, along with plant nutrition as the key to building natural resistance. "Healthy plants don't get pests and diseases" principle. 

Yes I have found the trees to get less bug problem for every year I supply them with more nutrition. I had to start with fill up material on the land, crushed rock mainly where not even weeds were growing. I'm in durian land and good earth is very expensive here. Didn't know anything about growing in the Tropics either, and the shallow rich soil in Tropical forests. Started with whatever I could find of organic material, sawdust, grass, water hyacinths that I spread on the land. With plenty of cow manure on that I started to grow sesbania and other fast growing legumes that shaded the land and gave grass a chance to cover the dirt. Shop and drop of the legumes gave some more organic matter to the soil and slowly a thin layer of living soil built up. Different "weed plants" moved in, was regularly cut and contributed to the soil buildup.

 

Sesbania, leuceana, moringa, pigeon pea, gliricidia, samanea etc covered the ground and gave shade. I started planting some hardy trees, jackfruit, mango, bananas, papaya etc between them. On your advice I did a soil sample and got a suggestion on what to ad to the land. It made a huge difference that could be seen in a few months after spreading a ton of bone meal, stone meal etc.

 

After 6 years I now have a fast growing food forest with around 200 fruit trees coming up. Almost 2 cm thick black soil on top, earth worms moving in and trees getting happier. Understory of cocoa and coffee between larger trees. Can't plant tubers yet as they need deeper good soil but getting there too in maybe another 6 years. Bought  a small excavator and dig a deep hole where I mix in manure and rice husks for every new tree and bush I plant, creating environment for the soil food web, internet of the ground that distribute nutrition around.

 

4 years ago I was nursing this leucaena along among the stones.

 

Today that part of the land has grown up. Still 50% support nitrogen fixers, but I cut them away as the fruit trees grow up. Will end up with 10-20% shade trees/nitrogen fixers.

 

Last part of the land to develop. Avocado, cocoa, coffee on the way up under shade from leucaena.

 

I still have to use some sprays but need less over time. Mealybugs love papayas, but so do I and the ducks.... Try to work after Permaculture principles, but it's not easy when surrounded by commercial durian farms that spray all the time. All their bugs come to me instead.

[drtreelove]

On 7/1/2023 at 6:59 PM, Pogust said:

 

I still have to use some sprays but need less over time. Mealybugs love papayas, but so do I and the ducks.... Try to work after Permaculture principles, but it's not easy when surrounded by commercial durian farms that spray all the time. All their bugs come to me instead.

Great story and pics, with the reality of challenges and successes. 

 

This is a brilliant approach:

"Started with whatever I could find of organic material, sawdust, grass, water hyacinths that I spread on the land. With plenty of cow manure on that I started to grow sesbania and other fast growing legumes that shaded the land and gave grass a chance to cover the dirt. Chop and drop of the legumes gave some more organic matter to the soil and slowly a thin layer of living soil built up. Different "weed plants" moved in, was regularly cut and contributed to the soil buildup."

 

Mealy bugs are challenge for certain plantings and conditions. Avoid high salt index, high NPK chemical fertilizer like 15-15-15 (which creates foliar biochemisty that is a pest magnet), and keep up with the building of soil fertility.  I've found that blast-washing off of heavy mealybug infestations can be fairly easy for small plantings, papayas, plumeria and other succeptible plants, and significantly knocks the numbers down, where you can reach the plants with a water hose with jet nozzle. For larger commercial plantings it may not be practical unless you have a mobile sprayer.  As with any pest control method, start early with prevention and early intervention, don't wait for a heavy advanced infestation to develop, which can be much more difficult to control . 

 

https://www.planetnatural.com/pest-problem-solver/houseplant-pests/mealybug-control/#:~:text=Found in warmer growing climates,sap out of the tissue.

 

Beauveria bassiana, is available in Thailand

You can make your own insecticidal soap.

Homemade Insecticidal Soap Recipe.docx