Korean Natural Farming – “IMO 2”

IMO-2:

IMO 1 is the collection of the Indigenous Micro Organisms from your environment on the cooked rice (rice and microbes).  IMO 2 is the fermentation process of the organism in a sugar source (rice, microbes, and sugar).

Supplies Needed:

IMO-1

Brown Sugar

Gloves

Small Container (no lid)

Cheese cloth with string

Recipe:

-measure out equal parts (1:1) brown sugar to the amount of rice and microbes (IMO-1)  *estimating equal parts by sight is fine.

-mix the brown sugar thoroughly into the IMO1 with your hands (gloves recommended)

-mixture is complete when you can easily form a mass with the rice and sugar with your hands.

-cover the mixture with cheese cloth and string and let ferment for two weeks in a cool, dark, and very dry location.

(The microbes are developing by eating the sugar and fermenting. It was found beneficial to pick up the container and rotate it to mix it frequently during the fermentation process.)

-here in the jungle, ants are attracted to the sugar and rice, so we put a container inside a larger container with a few inches of water at the bottom.  This keeps the ants from getting to the container.

STABALIZING IMO 2

Once IMO2 is complete in fermentation (2-3 weeks) it can be stabilized and stored for use.

Recipe:

-put finished IMO2 in a larger bucket.

-Add 3 times (1:3) amount of non chlorinated water to the IMO2.

-mix with wooden spoon or bamboo.

-strain out liquid mixture to remove rice and other particles.

-Finished strained IMO2 can be stored in bucket (with air lock) in a cool, dark place for up to one year.

Usage:

Finished IMO2 can now be used in soil and garden beds and sprayed onto plants as a foliar spray.

-use a ratio of 1:500 of the IMO2 to non chlorinated water in a sprayer to treat garden bed soil, compost piles, and foliar spray to growing plants.

(mixture can be made with all inputs at once to be sprayed)

-treating plants and soil should be done before the sun comes up.  The plants pours are wide open in the dark and will consume the foliar spray versus in the sun when the pours are closed.  Also spraying in the dark allows the microbes to softly enter the soil without getting fried and killed from the hot sun during application. These microbes are alive and direct, hot sunlight will kill them.