Agro Homeopathy

The Plant Doctor – January 2022

Written by Radko Tichavsky

Radko Tichavsky, the Plant Doctor, answers questions this month about transplanting tomato seedlings, Western Thrips in a Chilly crop, Armyworm infestation, broccoli that grows too small, and much more.

Radko Tichavsky is a Czech born Mexican Agrohomeopath. He is a co-founder and director of Instituto Comenius in Mexico and author of Handbook of Agrohomeopathy, 2007 (Spanish) and Homeopathy for Plants, 2009 (Spanish), Organon de la Holohomeopatía and creator and teacher of Holohomeopathy.

He is now offering a one-semester virtual course in Holohomeopathy (in English). You can learn how to define and analyze holons and how to repertorize the specific homeopathic treatment beyond just disease or pest names. You can find out more here:  www.icomenius.edu.mx

Many readers asked about Radko Tichavsky’s books.  Below is a photo of them. They are available Spanish, Italian and Portuguese. For ordering or information: [email protected]

Editor’s Note: JT (Jenichen/Tichavsky) potency is often mentioned below. It is a centesimal dilution followed by 500 succussions or five hundred continuous turns with a wooden stick to the right and 500 turns to the left (if handling larger volume). The JT potency frequently has a better reaction in plants and it is very important in preparation of live bionosodes.

Greetings Mr. Tichavsky,
After raising tomatoe seedlings indoors, we replanted them in the garden, but they wilted and fell over. The stems were very thin and didn’t seem able to hold themselves up. We tried it again and the same thing happened.  My wife says we should give up and buy tomatoes at the grocery story.  Do you have any suggestions?  We’re in Pueblo, Colorado (U.S.) Postal code 81006. It’s hottest in July with temperature up to 94 F. We get 13 inches of rain but 25 inches of snow.
Thank you
Max Anderson

Radko Tichavsky:

Dear Max,
Don’t give up! Although tomatoes are plants that require more advanced agricultural management, if you study and experiment a little, with patience you will have a good harvest of tomatoes, If you have a small area you will probably not completely supply tomatoes for your family’s needs. Once you try holohomeopathic tomatoes, you will not want to eat others.

The adaptation of tomatoes to transplanting from indoors to outdoors depends mainly on the collaboration with the micro-organisms (beneficial fungi and bacteria) that accompany it on its roots and inside the plant, and are responsible for nourishing the plant, defending it from pathogens and producing growth hormones necessary for its development.

Ectomycorrhizal fungi Glomus clarum, Gigaspora spp. and the bacterium Bacillus subtilis are the key microorganisms that stand out. To give you an idea of the benefits of Bacillus subtilis inoculation:

-Inhibits and invades the growth of spore germination.
-Provides a physical barrier to pathogens from establishing on the tissue surface
-Acts as a biostimulant for root growth
-Promotes phytohormone secretion
-Improves water and nutrient assimilation
-Induces the plant to produce phytoalexins, giving plants resistance to fungal and bacterial attack
-Diminishes the effects of phytopathogenic fungi.

 Glomus clarum and Gigaspora spp. prolong the root system of tomatoes, improve water uptake and phosphorus availability, protect plants from fungal pathogens (which is probably what happened to your plants when you moved them outside and they were attacked by Fusarium oxysporum).

Look for a Quercus sp. or Populus tremulus tree in your community. These trees contain a large community of ectomycorrhizal fungi beneficial to tomatoes. Remove some topsoil under these two trees and dissolve it in water (one bucket for every 200 litres of non-chlorinated water). This water can be used for watering your seedlings).

As for Bacillus subtilis, extract some Aloe vera gel and prepare it as a 3 JT potency (in successive 1:100 dilutions followed by 500 succussions). You can also prepare live bionosode from the roots of Aloe vera. First clean some of the roots of the plant with a brush and tap water, then place them in 70% grain alcohol for two minutes and wash again in water.

Then blend the roots in a liter of non-chlorinated water, filter the contents and the liquid dissolves in 100 litres of non-chlorinated water, making 500 vigorous strokes with a wooden stick to the right and 500 turns to the left, forming a live bionosode at 1 JT potency.

In fact, Aloe vera is associated with several other beneficial bacteria of the Bacillus spp. family, such as Bacillus megaterium, Bacillus agri, but also Paenibacillus aglomerans, Paraburgholderia app. and Actinobacteria, among many others.

The live bionosode is applied on seedlings, adult plants, and also on seeds before germination to associate the beneficial bacteria to the tomato plants.

Finally, before moving the plants outdoors, they should be “dehydrated” a little by suspending watering for a few days, gradually exposing them to the sun and applying Calcarea carbonica 8 CH to harden the epidermis and thus minimize the stress of moving them.

It is also important to handle the plants very gently when grasping the trunk between the fingers. Applying too much pressure on the trunk often produces micro-injuries that are not visible to the eye but facilitate the entry of pathogenic fungi such as Rhizoctonia solani, Pythium spp., Fusarium spp., Sclerotium spp. and Phytophthora app. 

After transplanting you can apply Staphysagria once at 8 CH potency.

As you can see, a bit of technology and care is required for the production of healthy and non-agronomic tomatoes, but I am sure that with patience you will obtain results of rich and nutritious fruits and convince your wife about the benefits of holohomeopathy in agriculture and health.


Dear Radko Tichavsky,
I am from Guntur, India (mailing code 522005.)  Nowadays we are facing a lot of problems with Western Thrips in the Chilly crop. In Guntur, the wet season is hot and overcast and the dry season is very hot. Over the course of the year, the temperature varies from 65°F to 105°F and is rarely below 60°F or above 112°F. The rainfall is 38.0 inches.
Can you suggest how to get rid of this problem?
Thank you
Pavan Kumar

Radko Tichavsky:

Dear Pavan,
Chillies (Capsicum sp.) are susceptible to thrips (popular name assigned to several species of Thysanopthera including Frankliniella spp., Limothrips spp. ). They generally appear especially when nitrogen fertilization is overdone. The plants produce large, soft tissue, which makes it easy for sucking insects to work.

If possible, avoid fertilization with cow dung (I know it is a sensitive subject in India, but I have students in your country who already produce crops without cow dung and with very good results).

Often plants infected with phytopathogenic nematodes Meloidogyne spp. attract a large number of thrips and aphids to the plants, because this parasite is very common in degraded, clayey soils with low biodiversity of microbiota and mesobiota. It transforms the metabolism of the chilli plants by increasing the presence of CO2 in, and around the plant in such a way that thrips and aphids are strongly attracted to the plants.

As a preventive measure, we apply Calcarea carbonica 6 CH as a spray on the foliage of the plants, alternating with Berberis vulgaris 6 CH or Chenopodium album 6 CH on the soil.

As far as the ongoing colonization of thrips is concerned, we use a double strategy to achieve an effective and stable result: on the one hand we apply live bionosodes of various beneficial fungi such as Trichoderma harzianum, Pacilomyces lilacinus, Lecanicillium lecanii, especially Trichoderma harzianum is important. It eliminates the nematodes Melogidogyne app.

Trichoderma harzianum occurs in association with Eucalyptus sp. or Populus sp. (in their roots) and in many wood-decomposing fungi of the family of Ganoderma sp.

You can collect Ganoderma applanatum, or Ganoderma lucidum in your holon and prepare a hydrolate (in non-chlorinated water) and apply it at 3 JT potency on the soil. This will control the nematodes and facilitate the second therapeutic step.

The second step consists of the application of homeopathic preparations of plants rich in monoterpenes such as 1,8-cineole, carvacrol and thymol e.g. Rosmarinus officinalis 3 JT, prepared from oleate (in olive oil), Ocymum basilicum 3 JT prepared in hydroalcoholic mother tincture, Salvia sp. (from leaves), and Carum carvi (from seeds), prepared from hydroalcoholic mother tincture, Origanum majorana 3 JT (from essential oil).

Even Azadirachta indica 3 JT helps to interrupt the life cycle of thrips, although its efficacy in killing adults is relatively low.


Dear Dr. Tichavsky
My Belstar Broccoli didn’t do as well this year. The heads were all 4″ or smaller. I kept waiting for them to get bigger, but they started to go to flower (warmer weather?), so I had to cut them. Is there something I could do next season to get larger broccoli?
I live in Savanna, Georgia (Southern U.S.), ZIP 31403.  The summer high is around 90 F. We get 49 inches of rain.  It never snows.
Thank you
Charles B.

Radko Tichavsky:

Dear Charles,
Broccoli blooms accelerate under three conditions: First is the temperature, if this exceeds 26 C.  Second, if the nutrient content and when availability is low or the nutrient composition is inadequate. Too much phosphor can produce this imbalance. Third, if the soil conditions are dry or the water cannot be absorbed properly into the plant, for example with high salinity content in the soil or in the water, or both. To increase the water content of the plants, apply Calcarea carbonica at a strength of 6-8, applied by spraying three times a week.

Two bacteria are especially interesting for nitrogen fixation and proper nutrient balance in broccoli: Azospirillum halopraeferens and Bacillus amyloliquefasciens. 

The first bacterium can be found in the roots of Leptochoa fusca (a grass species of African origin) but also in several species of Salicornia sp. (a plant used in gastronomy) or in the roots of vetiver grass, wild rice, sweet potato, or corn.

Bacillus amyloliquefasciens is found in large quantities in the roots of Hedera helix and also in the roots of cotton plants. Both bacteria are producers of growth hormones so that the growth of immature flowers will be more prominent before flowering.

You have two possibilities. You can buy the bacteria already isolated on the internet (you will need a small quantity) which you can replicate by adding 250 g of rice cooked for a long time until a kind of rice soup is produced where the grains are indistinguishable.

This “soup” is added to 200 litres of non-chlorinated water together with the inoculum of the two bacteria and left for 36 hours at a temperature between 20-25 degrees Celsius for the bacteria to replicate. Before applying this live bionosode make 500 vigorous turns with a wooden stick to the right and 500 turns to the left.

After this, you spray the bionosode around the broccoli plants on the soil immediately after transplanting.

The second possibility is to isolate the bacteria directly from the roots of B. amyliquefacies plants of Hedera helix, and A. halopraeferens from the roots of vetiver grass (Chrysopogon zizanioides). Wash the roots with water and a brush, then suspend them for two minutes in 70% ethyl alcohol and wash them again in drinking water.

Liquidize the roots of both plants in a blender with a little carbonated water, filter the contents and add them to 200 litres of unchlorinated water with boiled rice. After 3 days of replication, and before applying this live bionosode on the crops make 500 vigorous turns with a wooden stick to the right and 500 turns to the left.

In this way you will correct the lack of water absorption of the broccoli plants, improve their nutrition and add to the growth hormones necessary for the robust growth of the immature flowers for an abundant harvest.


Hello Radko,
I planted some strawberries in my yard that produced lovely large fruit but a month later it just stopped producing. Can you suggest a holistic solution to this for next time?

I live in Los Angeles, California (U.S.) Zipcode 90007.  In August the high temperature is around 85 degrees. The January low is 46.  Rain: Averages 25 inches of rain a year.
Thank you
Tracy

Radko Tichavsky:

Dear Tracy,
Strawberries grow best on warm days and cool nights. Plants grown when it is too hot will probably not produce fruit, also if a cold snap occurs, especially while the plants are in flower, the open flowers will be damaged and produce little or no fruit.

Daytime temperatures of around 24 °C and night temperatures of around 15 °C are recommended for strawberries.  Excessively warm temperatures (> 30 °C) can damage plants and reduce productivity. Too much nitrogen limits fruit production and favours only leaf development.

A third cause has to do with watering; too much watering in hot weather causes the root system to become rather shallow. These plants absorb most of the water from the first layers of the soil, and stop producing fruit. It is good to cut back the stolons of strawberries, as this practice also increases fruit productivity.

It is also important to ensure an abundant presence of pollinators on your strawberries. You can apply propolis at 3 JT potency sprayed to attract pollinators (not only bees, but also bumblebees and other insects that do this important work).

The lack of pollinators due to the massive application of agrochemicals around your holon, forces some growers to do the pollination manually with a fine brush.

The nutrition of the strawberries can be balanced with the application of live bionosode from Bacillus subtillis.

Cut an Aloe vera leaf, extract a teaspoon of the gel inside the leaf, blend it in a litre of non-chlorinated water. Dilute this litre in 100 litres of water and make 500 vigorous turns with a wooden stick to the right and 500 litres to the left. Use this live bionosode at 1 JT potency to irrigate the strawberries.


Hello Mr. Tichavsky,
My lettuce and cabbage were destroyed by Army worms, which ate all the leaves. We’ll try again next year, but how do we deal with this hungry critter? I live in Etowah, Tennessee (U.S.) (Postal code: 37331. The summer temperature goes up to 88 F.  We get 55 inches of rain a year (plus 3 inches of snow).
Thank you
Clark Davis

Radko Tichavsky:

Dear Clark,
Army worm is a popular name that does not describe exactly the larvae involved, but is generally Mythimna unipuncta, but also larvae of other lepidopteran insects such as Spodopthera exigua for example.

As a general recommendation, Lepidoptera larvae frequently visit crops with too much nitrogen fertilization, for example in the form of vermicompost, young or incomplete compost, or the use of fertilizers based on poultry, cow, goat or horse droppings, or due to synthetic fertilization.

The first recommendation is to reduce nitrogen fertilization if this is the case.

The second recommendation is not to plant the same crops in the same places every year, and to interchange them with garlic, onions and carrots, in order to prevent the multiplication of Meloidogyne incognita, a microscopic root nematode of the plants, which creates a kind of gills, but also changes the metabolism of the plants, so that they attract Spodoptera exigua strongly, increasing its voracity and ability to multiply. In this case, the almost total destruction of lettuce and cabbage crops is characteristic.

The third recommendation is to apply live bionosode of Beauveria bassiana, an entomopathogenic fungus that you can get on the internet. You will need a very small quantity and it is prepared in the form of live bionosode at 2-3 JT potency and sprayed preventively in the period immediately before the larvae appear.

You will notice that the insect eggs and larvae will be covered with a white mycelium which will completely destroy them. One or two applications at an interval of two weeks is sufficient to solve the problem completely.

To support the process and to deter the adults from the crop you can apply Artemisia absithium 3 JT alternating with Azadirachta indica 3 JT sprayed on the leaves. In Mexico we also use Larrea tridentata 3 JT for the same purpose.


Hello Radko,
I am in Roorkee, India. In the Feb 2019 issue of your column you wrote:  “We also use bionosode made from the holon’s wild plants. These bionosodes help the cultivated plants adapt better to the climatic and nutritional conditions of the holon.”

  1. Can you suggest which plants I should look for in my holon to make bionosode. Or can I randomly use any wild (and unwanted) plant?
  2. Can I use a mixture of different wild plants to make a single bio nosode?
  3. What is the procedure to make this bio nosode. Can this bio nosode be made in the same procedure as soil nosode using saline water?

Thank you
V. Charan

Radko Tichavsky:

Dear V. Charan,
To select the sources of bionosodes from the plants in your holon cannot be aleatory (by chance), you have to observe these basic guidelines:

-Live bionosode from the same botanical family as the crop is not applied, e.g. live bionosodes from grasses are not applied to wheat as both plants belong to the same botanical family (Poaceae) and diseases (fungal, bacterial or viral) could be transmitted.
-Live bionosodes from plants with high metabolic similarity that do not belong to the same botanical family are used, e.g. Oryza sativa (rice) and Glycine max (soybean).
-Live bionosodes from plants of the different botanical family are not used if they suffer from the same diseases or pests as the cultivated plant.
-Bionosodes from plants with e.g. antifungal superactivity are used in metabolically similar crops but with lower fungal resistance.
– Bionosodes from drought resistant plants (Cactaceae or succulents but also some Papaveraceae but also some Brassicaceae like Lepidium virginicum for example) are used in plants with low drought resilience .
-Bionosodes from equivalent anatomical parts, e.g. living bionosode from the root of a plant resistant to pathogenic nematodes, is applied to solve nematode problems in the cultivated plant. There are also some exceptions in this rule.
-Tree species benefit generally from live bionosodes of herbaceous species and vice versa.
-Some fungi are excellent antagonists of pathogenic fungi, e.g. Trichoderma harzianum and Fusarium oxysporum.
-Some bacteria are excellent fungal antagonists, e.g. Bacillus amyloliquefasciens or Actinomycetes bacterias and Fusarium oxysporum or other bacterias for example Pseudomonas spp.

These are just some general basic criteria. To have more certainty in applications you would need to learn how to repertorize, i.e. how to determine potency, frequency, dosage, combinations (remedies that antagonize or potentiate each other) or alternations of remedies (remedies that follow each other well) and selection of adjuvants among other knowledge about metabolites, of plants and animals (and the micro, meso and micro-organisms, enzymology mVOC, epigenetic mechanisms) that cohabit in or around them.

We teach this in our Holohomeopathy diploma course (www.icomenius.edu.mx).

In relation to your question on water, the bionosodes are usually prepared with non-chlorinated drinking water. In the specific case of saline water as a remedy, homeopathic preparations of simple sea water or prepared in the form of “ormus” can be used.

Ormus is prepared from the sea water adding alkalis to raise the pH to 8.2, to precipitate and use the resulting milky liquid as a base for holohomeopathic preparations. In this case we use JT dynamization which consists of 1:100 dilutions followed by 500 succussions, until we reach the 6 JT potency which is sprayed on the holon.

About the author

Radko Tichavsky

Radko Tichavsky was born in the Czech republic. He has lived in Mexico for more than 25 years and is one of the most important agrohomeopaths in Latin America. He is the author of the book "Manual de Agrohomeopatia", a homeopathy book on plants. Radko teaches agrohomeopathy in several countries and regularly publishes articles in special journals and internet portals. He works as a researcher and teacher at the university and has already taught agrohomeopathy to many students. He is the director of the Comenius Institute (comenius.edu.mx). More details can be found in the following interview: http://hpathy.com/homeopathic-interviews/radko-tichavsky/

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