Each month V.D. Kaviraj answers questions about plants and plant problems. Kaviraj is one of the foremost pioneers of Agro-homeopathy and author of the book, Homeopathy for Farm and Garden.
The completely revised and enlarged edition with an additional 176 pages is now available:
Send your questions! (with pictures when possible – JPG or GIF format) to [email protected] with the subject “Plant Doctor”.
Note: When I refer to treating plants with homeopathic remedies, this is the standard dosing procedure: Put 20 drops of a 6X potency in a litre of water. Succuss the bottle 50 times. Put this litre in the watering can,fill it up with 19 litres of tap water and stir. If the watering can is smaller, the amount of remedy put in must be proportionally smaller. Thus a 10 litre can needs only ½ litre and just 10 drops of the remedy. Apply the contents of the watering can to the roots of the plants to be treated. –V.D. Kaviraj
Dear Dr Kaviraj,
Congratulations for your service to Homoepathy and to Agriculture. My black pepper plants in the nursery are affected with ‘wooly aphid’ (or mealy bug I don’t know-picture attached)
Dr. George
Kerala
India
Kaviraj: Hi Dr George,
You can use Coccinella as the best remedy for these kind of problems. It is made from the natural predator and works almost always – 95% of cases are covered with it. If it fails, Staphysagria is the best alternative.
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Dr. Kaviraj,
At the beginning of each newsletter you give directions to make a solution for treating plants, using 20 drops of 6X potency of the remedy in water. Would I be able to use the dry 6X pellets in water to make a solution? If so, what would be the ratio of pellets to water? Thanks so much for your help.
Barbara
Kaviraj: Hi Barbara,
According to everything we know, pellets also work. I would recommend about 80-100 pellets as an approximate equivalent.
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Dear Dr. Kaviraj,
Thank you for expanding treating homeopathically in an exciting new direction. Two of the plants grown on my window sill indoors got infested with tiny white yellow creatures; a photo is attached. First off it was the chilli plant, which I then moved away from the others. The basil plant got infested a few weeks after that. The plants are in the sun through the closed window for a good part or the day.
What are the right things to do to get and keep them healthy?
Kind Regards,
Roger Walti
Australia
Kaviraj: Hi Roger,
This looks much like aphids and the best remedy for that is Coccinella. In case that fails, Staphysagria is the best alternative remedy. The latter remedy is also used to rid humans of headlice and works just as well.
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Dear Doctor,
Thank you so much for your help in agriculture. I am a big fan of Homeopathy and my family’s diseases and discomforts are helped by Homeopathy only. Two years ago we bought our first house in North Carolina , USA and are greatly challenged by the lawn (an acre lot ).We tried to fertilize the lawn with city compost last year and as a result we got different kinds of weeds all over. We are not thinking of herbicides or round-up till now. We do not know how to get rid of the weeds. Also we are ready to overseed the lawn. My questions are:
1. How can we get rid of the weeds by using homeopathy?
2. What grass seed would be compatible in an organic environment?
Last year I had greatest success in my organic kitchen garden using information from your blog. Thanks for all your love to the planet and its people.
Razia Sultana
Kaviraj: Hi Razia,
To get rid of weeds, it is recommended to use Juglans nigra. If the lawn is so full of weeds, it may be better to turn it over and start anew. Then after turning the sod, use Juglans nigra to inhibit all the seeds. 72 hours later, you can sow the new seed for the new lawn. Any grass is basically compatible. I would choose a type that is low maintenance. Never use sewage sludge – it is also full of toxins.
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Dear Dr. V.D. Kaviraj,
Recently silverfish appeared in my bathroom and now are spreading to the whole apartment. I’ve read that boric acid usually works for them, but apparently for mine it does not. So I thought of using homeopathic acidum boricum, what do you think, will it help? Can you suggest any other remedies?
The second disaster is a food moth that lay eggs in grains, and the worms eat the grains. We’ve already thrown away all bad grains, but then it appeared from somewhere again. Any remedies that can be used against these flying little monsters?
Thank you,
Anna
Kaviraj: Hi Anna,
I have recommended to others to use Ledum palustre, preferably in tincture form. Mix 30-40 drops in a litre of water. Shake well and then add some oil and some liquid soap to make it stick. That should get rid of them.
As to insects in the grains, use Thuja 6X in the cupboard and see how they disappear. 20 drops in a litre, as with all remedies, and like with the ledum add liquid soap and some oil to make it stick.
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Dear Dr. Kaviraj,
Thanks for offering your help. As I understand, you mainly suggest 6x. Why? Do you recommend other potencies too and what potencies are these and why would others be used, and in what cases?
I have a big problem on my field. I have slow growth of the veggies any veg grows badly (does not reach archetype shape of plant), apart from Salad (salad grows slowly, but reaches near archetype shape). There is little fruit formation in pumpkins/squashes etc, but beans are ok. Herbs do not have a strong taste, as all other veggies. I use biodynamic methods and have applied all sprays quite often. Worm activity is good. The field was a field that has not been used for 15 years only grass growing, not cut and harvested.
Can you suggest any remedy for this situation?
Kind regards,
Volker Steins
Kaviraj: Hi Volker,
I would have my soil tested for its pH. If too acidic, plants have a hard time to grow and then you need to make it more neutral with Calcarea carbonica. If too alkaline, the same problem occurs and the same remedy is useful to neutralise the pH. I also would give Silicea 6X to all plants that fail to thrive.
Thank you for the nice tips.
Manfred, I would like to give longer and more extensive answers – it is all a matter of time available. The effort is at present to give practical tips. But there is so much more and the subject so vast, compared we know very little as yet.
There is hardly a day that goes by, when I look at some problem for which it seems there is no solution and just leaf through human materia medica and suddenly I have the answer. Sometimes, some homoeopath in the audience shows to be a better observer than me, because they see something I overlooked.
So then I have to find a condition that fits it and see if that works. Sometimes, it does. Sometimes not. There are days I scratch my head, because I don’t get something. Then suddenly, I see a program on TV, or read a line in a paper or an article in a magazine and it hits me like a ton of bricks.
Volker,
I see now I did not answer your first question.
I use the 6X mainly because of the presence of pheromones, which to use are not noticeable, but which insects are perfectly aware of. If for a moment you consider that a fruit fly can smell a banana from 10kms distance, you begin to get an inkling into the subtleties of nature.
Also, everything follows the law of similars and so small plants should have small potencies and high plants, such as trees can handle the 200C very well. My first attempt at agrohomoeopathy was with apple trees full of rust, for which I gave Belladonna 200C and which worked like a charm.
I have once rescued a palm tree, which likes arid soil and which was having wet feet for a couple of months. So I began with Carbo veg – which suffers loss of fluids, which is the opposite of the condition. But plants have a few more things in opposition with us – they have their mouth in the soil and I see the remedies as polychrests – meaning producing a very broad range of opposite symptoms. So starting with a 30C, I gave it 200C a month later, a 1M a month after that and a final 10M, which she was a good as cured.
But, wet feet may also be Dulcamara. Or even Pulsatilla, Rhus tox – there are so many possibilities.
In general the potency is adapted to the plant.
Haribol Vaikunthanath,
We are going to be growing organic vegetables and fruits in a field in a dry area of BC Canada that is pH 8.0, and full of minerals and organic matter for the most part. There are equal amounts of Mg and Ca and I have read that there should be a minimum 2 parts Ca to 1 part Mg for best results, and that this may be part of the reason the pH is so high. From what I have read gypsum might be helpful in a soil like this. Some plants we have tried growing look possibly iron, manganese and/or nitrogen deficient. Thank you for your time.
And because the remedies do activate soil bacteria and change the pH, you will find that elements not available at such pH will become available as a result of a change in acidity. Just as phosphor will lock up potassium when given in excess, soil pH has similar influence on nutrient availability.
Bill Mollison also seemed to think I was “just a chemical head”, but I always view things systemic. Within the system we find specific bacteria inactive in certain pH states and the remedy, since it works also systemic, will not just do something for the plants, but affect the entire structure of the soil, since it penetrates inside and exerts its action on every living being.
Soil pH is as much dependent on bacterial and microbial activity as it is on compost and other organic matter. So what I wonder about in this case is if the compost has such a high pH or if it is the soil itself? Regardless, the remedy will do its necessary work.
Hi c-ray,
Use Calcarea carbonica to neutralise the soil pH. That should solve a lot of problems with the 8.0 pH. If the plants seem deficient in a certain element, it is possible to give those elements in homoeopathic form, which will activate the soil bacteria processing them. Since homoeopathy works systemic, such solutions are of course better than supplying those elements as fertilisers.
DEAR KAVIRAJ
I have read your book and am also studying other Homeopathy literatures. I am also trying to figure out how can we apply Homeopathy in agriculture. I have high regards for your deep knowledge and the progress you are making and particularly for your help to the growers. I realise that, ‘the Plant is the end product of so many factors involved in its production – both internal and external’. This statement which I have summarised is the outcome of the little knowledge that I have gained studying various subjects since my early days. This statement has deep seated meaning which may require explanations, but this is not the platform to write in details.
Suffice it to say, that while we grow a plant, all angles must be considered. Balancing of any physical difference of any substance needs to be balanced with the physical input only. If a proper balance of K:Mg is required, that will need physical dose of either K or Mg. But, instead of using the chemical source (which is done by those who use chemical fertilizers, the same could be attained by allowing the responsible microorganisms to do their job and that is what one gains when one follows organic farming). We also try to bring in the influence by using the Biodynamic science. But, even while following BD, we use BD compost which carries the required minerals, recycled during the process of composting. The BD preps. helps in assimilation of certain minerals and other growth factors. I also acknowledge the fact that in Nature, there are microbes who plays a vital role in solubilising all the minerals that a plant may require. There is hardly any need of any chemical source. But, if we do not behave like a fanatic, there is no harm if one uses any chemical alternative too as long as it is given only in required does or stimulative does, which can rightly be determined possibly only by the soil scientist – not by the technically unqualified grower. Hence, it is safer to adopt the Organic, Biodynamic or Homeopathy alternatives.
I have almost started to be convinced that, the Five Elements that we often refer has two forms: 1) The Physical Form and 2) their Elemental Forms. The physical forms are the manifestation of their Elemental Forms. The imbalance of any Physical Form needs to be balanced by the Physical form only and the imbalance of the Elemental Form could be restored only by their Elemental forms. For example, the physical water can be dried by application of only physical Air (such as by switching on the fan), we cannot dry it (the physical water) by using any kind of BD preps (like BD501 -the silica preparation related to Air) or any Homeopathic preparation falling into the category of Airy element. Similarly, the excessive water of a person suffering from Edema, cannot be cured by placing him under a fan. He needs to be given a Homeopathy or Ayurvedic medicine that is within the realm of Airy element.
Now, coming to your advice, often related to replenishment of minerals by using Homeopathy drugs does not seem convincing. You give an impression that all problems could be solved by Homeopathy. I am a strong believer in Homeopathy and am also trying to understand it and would like to use it in agriculture. But, can we ignore the need of minerals also, the soil chemistry, the soil microbiology, the physical status of the soil, the need of activated organic matter, etc. which are required in physical doses, to be effective in producing a healthy crop? I understand that if the soil is having the necessary minerals, the soil microbes would render them available to crops. Only in extreme cases, the mineral applications may be necessary.
I am now drawing a conclusion that every branch of medicine is trying to restore the balance. While in the Allopathic and the Biochemic medicines, physical doses of various chemicals and biochemicals are required to restores the balance, in Homeopathic, it is the restoration of the balance of the Forces -using the potencies of the various medicines and in Ayurveda, by balancing of the Five Elements using various ayurvedic preparations. I humbly request you to correct me please, if my understanding is wrong anywhere.
Therefore, homeopathy is not basically to restore the needs by their physical doses but works to restore the balances of forces and that is what we usually achieve by higher potencies, when the existence of the crude drug is not traceable. Homeopathy is also not a substitute to the requirements of minerals or biochemicals or the various organo chemicals and biochemicals, enzymes, vitamins, etc. required to build a ‘healthy’ plant.
Homeopathy should instead be looked as an answer to restore the immune system of the plant or restore the imbalance of the forces.
There is a great need to run blind or double blind tests to record the provings of various medicines on plants. Only then we will be in a better position to create a suitable Materia Medica.
I do not think, in case of Hi c-ray, Calcarea carbonica in homeopathy dose will help neutralise the soil pH, which as you know is a matter of soil chemistry. I wish I could have tried your prescription, but unfortunately, I do not have a case similar to check if Homeopathy remedies can alter soil pH. I would like to share the experience of Ray.
Ray thinks Gypsum should help him which is used one the soil is Saline. He needs to also check the Electro Conductivity of his soil. He needs to first determine whether he has an Alkaline or Saline soil. Only then a proper guidance can follow.
Dear Pawan,
It is normal to live in the knowledge that the circle of knowledge that we may have is inscribed by a circumference of darkness of the unknown, that is of unknown proportions. Within it lays the understanding of homoeopathy. It should not be surmised that we have at present reached the limit of the knowable. And since that which is unknown and unknowable is preponderant beyond compare, it must certainly be determinant and controls the sphere of finite or so-called knowledge. The reason is it “so-called” is because it can only be apparent or incomplete knowledge, for the unknown lies not only outside but also within everything. Inside our homoeopathic remedies lies something unknown, but from what has been discovered so far, it is certainly not unknowable. Thus the practical application through inference – which is a valid way to come to knowledge – shows that the inference is right, backed up by NMR, RLS, piezo-electric values and other methods of determining whether something is there or whether nothing is there. The conclusion is that something is there, although we cannot see it.
This is our position. One may like to think that nothing is superior to oneself. But this is certainly mere egotism. It is moreover the stance of scientism, where instead of openminded cooperation, appearances must be kept and ranks be closed against the supposed “outsider”. Our honest position is that we are finite beings trying to maintain our existence, know our real purpose in life, and to find fulfillment, which is the definite discovery of the homoeopathic mechanism in objective, scientific terms. We have come a long way, but admittedly, we have not yet been able to explain to everyone’s satisfaction. Philosophy teaches us to acknowledge both the finite and infinite worlds that constitute reality. It is really a matter of humility and sanity. Agrohomoeopathy is in the same or very similar position.
This is the beginning. Agrohomoeopathy is mainly still in the nappies, but almost far enough to be toilet trained. Some colleagues are in the toddler stage and that is about as far as we got, in developing this discipline. We already have a relationship with the finite reality. What is missing for many is their relation with the infinite that is above and beyond them. This kind of scientific knowledge will be complete, real knowledge. And that is the message that I am trying to deliver through this note.
So far as “evidence base” is concerned, it is still not a scientifically validated ideology that has always been observed, either in medicine or agriculture, since conditions in the field always differ from those in the lab. The evidence is lacking, and sorely, as the latest JAMA and BMJ state. BMJ goes so far as to say none can be trusted. In conventional agriculture, this is exactly the same. Where then is the evidence base? It is imaginary and visible on the numbers on a machine although the machine has nothing to do with the diseased man, animal or plant. Scientists continue trying to impose their idea on Nature, rather than observing Nature and letting her present her evidence to us. We don’t observe suppression. We are blind to the facts. The facts are that our society is a society of suppression. It begins with ideology, regardless whether this is religious or atheist. Then follows scientific education, which is meant to make you a memory bank, engaged in classification, enumeration and calculation. We have effectively been reduced to bookkeepers, if we succumb to the demand for numbers as a solitary sign of proof.
We shall provide an example that shows the fallacy of this type of reasoning. If we look at the elections and we see a voter turnout of 30% and we note that their affiliations for leftwing or rightwing politics is split approximately down the middle. 70% have declared not to agree with the votes and the voted for and so these need do nothing but go home. Yet nobody will accept this as the outcome, because not voting is declared to have no voice. From an objective point of view, the nonvoters are right – the government has been rejected by 70%. That would be real democracy, when all the votes – also the non-vote of “no confidence” – would be counted. That is scientific, because it does not leave out uncomfortable data. Nonetheless, we have excluded the non-voter although as a sign of proof for “no confidence” it has easily carried the day. The numbers can be easily twisted and turned to manipulate what you wanted to say. I bet the bookkeepers are past masters and I wait for someone to come and juggle the numbers. And let us not be split right down the middle like those dumb voters, but let us unite, since united we stand and divided we will fall.
We don’t observe anything other than similar either, when we look around us, either in society or nature.
Like produces like. Dogs come from dogs, humans from humans, etc.
Like attracts like. We don’t see that humans are attracted to monkeys, apart from a few exceptions and that in a very limited way.
Like imitates like. We don’t see the donkey playing lion.
Like cures like, as homoeopathy always proves.
Like neutralises like. The antidote will always neutralise the effect of the previous remedy. An acid neutralises and acid.
To try to fit Nature into some Procrustean bed made by the finite brains of scientists, is not science but scientism, and will not lead to any progress in science. To go back into “evidence based” is to go back into deep dreams that ultimately lead nowhere, as all dreams do. First we have to determine what is admissible as evidence. Photographic and video evidence is evidence too. No numbers needed, the images speak for themselves. Now at this juncture of our medical scientific revolution, it would be a good time to stop wasting time and daydreaming and go in the direction of some real science. This is my humble opinion.
From what I know about homoeopathy and agriculture – I have run farms myself and been a homoeopathy for 34 years, which is both well-tried. One could say that I know both subjects intimately. In homoeopathy, we aim at the totality of possible parameters within a given problem. That includes climate, habitat, and soil, which are determinants of the plants and other vegetation allowed to grow there and is of course inclusive of the bacteria, viruses and other agents of decomposition, which have their own reaction/reduction cycles.
I constantly find new remedies, which work all accurately because they are employed following the Law of Similars, of which you biodynamics people have little understanding. People often ask me, how do I find them? First, you have to understand that I do a lot of reading on insects, study the latest findings in plant biology and, of course, I always scour materia medica. Together with an intuitive understanding of nature aquired over a lifetime and an understanding of how things work in a specific habitat, derived from careful observation, I can find conclusions that would evade someone who lacks these skills. Naturally, I also have to work a great deal to integrate the knowledge obtained from treatment in humans into the treatment of plants. Many functions are the same for many remedies, such as female symptoms and metabolism, but anthropomorphising can only go so far.
Next, we know that when a plant or element has the capacity to do something in its crude form, it will act better and deeper in potency, which gives it a much wider range. The liberation of the medicinal power from the physical envelope, involves also the removal of limitations of that physical envelope. Thus I can envisage a vista of action not anticipated completely in the crude. Furthermore, I am helped by the companionplant principle, the predator principle and the definite analogue action of remedies in humans, animals, insects and plants.
Since we all follow the same basic blueprint of carbon-based lifeforms, we cannot but conclude that the remedies must work on all living entities and not just human beings. Hahnemann exclusively wrote his Organon, for humans, regardless the reports he received from veterinary doctors and Von Boenninghausen’s experiments on plants. While Hahnemann must have perfectly understood the fact it works on all living beings, his scientific mind refused to confude the reader with other than human medicine and focus. In our case, we simply took his notion a few steps further, using the exact same principles. We do have proof that remedies act on bacteria, viruses and other microscopic entities, from scientific tests in vitro, in many preclinical studies.
On the other hand, since plants are involved with so many living beings as daily part of their lifecycle, such as pests and pollinators, bacteria and viruses, fungi and worms, etc, I have replaced his notion of “every human being” with “every living being”, because in agrohomoeopathy we are departing from a different platform. The fact moreover that insects are simply disappearing under the action of the remedy, shows that any insect is affected as much as I say that bees will be affected and vice versa. We have seen over the years how the remedies have affected insects, gastropods, predators, pollinators, plants and the viral and bacterial entities alike, inclusive of profound changes in soil flora and fauna. Thus the conclusion that the remedies work on every living entity is self-evident and undeniable.
I think your view of homoeopathy is extremely limited and you should stick to your biodynamics and leave the homoeopaths to do their work. I have noted that seven generations of plants are sufficient to eliminate diseases they are prone to and produce plants that will not have these traits. Homoeopathy is of such fine nature, we can genetically modify plants, human beings, animals and even bacteria and viruses, since the genetic material is interactive.
Let me close by saying this.
Those who say it cannot be done, should not try to interrupt those doing it.
Oh and moreover, where have you ever seen that I do not recommend to use compost and dung? I have extensively explained several times that chicken and pig manure are acidic, horse manure is alkaline and cow manure neutral. I aways say that people must d the soil as much as they want to feed the plant since feeding the soil does feed the plants. I simply know from experience that most commercial growers in the world are conventional farmers and that is where the change needs to take place. I don’t need to help out much in organics and BD, because they already do so many things right, pests and diseases should be no problem there.
Your complaint sounds therefore a bit hollow and I seem to detect some jealousy perhaps? As I have said already, leave the homoeopaths doing their work. I do not come to BD websites saying you do it all wrong and I know better. So have the decency please to not come here to criticise and tell me how to do my work. You obviously have not enough knowledge about it to do so.
Dear Kaviraj
I am extremely sorry to upset you. I am not at all a staunch follower of BD, nor I have any jealousy about your work. Nor it was my intention to tell you how to do your work. In fact, I have all regards for what your work and am also trying to administer the remedies you suggest. Not to put you to any test. Please do not misunderstand me. Perhaps, while writing my comments, I have not made my presentation clear for what I actually mean and may have given you the impression that I know more than you. I request you not to get biased.
I am in fact a very open minded person and am open to learning. I do not mean to criticize you or demean you in any ways. I just shared my views, which may be wrong. Perhaps one day, we will discuss, with open mind, in personal meeting rather than conveying wrong signals in our writings.
I definitely do not claim that I know of Homeopathy more than you and my understanding of the subject may be also hollow, but please let me explain that i do study it deeply and am trying to understand it. Please rectify me and teach me the true knowledge instead of barring me from entering this site and put my views across. I do believe that, it is a very deep subject and quite complicated. Please let me confess, I myself am a patient of Homeopathy and much of my ailments are cured by Homeopathy. In fact, lately I have been thinking of writing to you regarding some problems with the hope of getting your prescription. Hope you will allow me.
Sorry again to give you a wrong impression and for hurtings your feelings.