Editor’s note: This month’s column featured the collaboration of Radko Tichavsky’s students of holohomeopathy. Send your garden and crop questions to [email protected]
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
NEW BOOK: Organon de la Holohomeopatía
Six years in the making, it is the latest book by Radko Tichavsky, researcher on the application of homeopathy in agriculture. This Spanish language book covers homeopathic interventions in agriculture from the holistic view, allowing greater certainty in repertorizations. It addresses a novel concept of metabolic similarity, not only among plants, but also among different species of the animal and plant kingdom. It studies the formation and dynamics of attractors, areas of greater vitality within the holons and coexistence units of different living organisms Holohomeopathy is a fascinating contribution to the application of homeopathy to plants. It allows one to discover a universe of surprising relations in vital dynamism. It puts into the hands of the agricultural producer, a valuable tool for the successful handling of pests and diseases in crops of any size. For ordering or information: [email protected]
Dear Mr. Tichavsky
There are 10-year-old rootstock over 106 Amasya muskets on an area of 36oo m2. Planting spacing is 4×3.5. Fifty of 226 trees sometimes bear fruit, some do not. Flower eyes become small, not growing, turning into phyllos. What should be done for flower eyes to grow and produce fruit?
The altitude is 1020 m above sea level. The climate is warm and temperate. There is more rainfall in the winter than in the summer. According to Köppen-Geiger, the climate is Csa. Its annual average temperature is 11.9 ° C. The average annual rainfall is 537 mm.
Zülfikar Alkan
Radko Tichavsky:
Dear Zulfikar,
The pollination process of Malus sp. is induced on the one hand by the plant itself but also has a direct relationship with the semiochemicals emitted by the pollinating insects. That is to say, both the flower stimulates the labor of the pollinating insects and the pollinating insects stimulate a greater production and fruiting of their flowers.
We use in this case homeopathic preparation of propolis 6 JT (it must be propolis collected in boxes of bees that fed in a very productive apple orchard close to your orchard). It is also important to observe if your apple variety is adapted to the area and it is very important to count the hours of cold to achieve an abundant flowering)
Additionally, we use Ferrum phosphoricum 6 CH and Zincum metallicum 6 CH as cofactors for a good flowering; also, Kalium phosphoricum causes this effect.
On the other hand, the presence of some vegetative growth promoting hormones decreases flowering (gibberellic acid, auxins, indolacetic acid and others) while the presence of cytokinins that inhibit the first mentioned hormones, promotes abundant flower formation.
To induce a better blooming, some seaweeds are used, from which live bionosode is applied. It must be prepared from fresh seaweeds (not dehydrated). I leave you a small list of seaweeds with high cytokinin content of which you can get the one found in your region, for example: Ecklonia maxima, Laminaria spp., Fucus spp., Ascophyllum spp., Sargassum heterophyllum, Hypnea musciformis, and Gelidium versicolor.
The other possibility is to foliar apply live bionosode 4 JT of Bacillus subtilis (B. subtilis which can be found for example in Aloe vera gel). Bacillus subtilis is one of the bacteria that produces large amounts of cytokinin and once it is dispersed on the branches it promotes flower formation.
Another possibility is the application of bionosode vivo 4 JT from Paenibacillus polymixa, an important cytokinin producing bacterium. You can extract it from the tuber of Solanum tuberosum (organically produced).
It is also important to make a correct pruning (not too big) and remove diseased and damaged branches that are unproductive, in addition to removing some axillary branches. A better distribution of the production organs is also sought so that they do not interfere with the luminosity and generate competition among themselves.
Hello Mr. Tichavsky,
I am a florist in Portland Oregon (U.S.) and an urban flower farmer. Last year was the first year I tried homeopathy on my plants. I tried to tackle two problems which I struggle with each year. I tried to make a nosode out of the rust on my Snapdragons by crushing the parts of the affected leaves in a mortar, making a tincture out of that and percussing it to a crude 3c remedy. I’ve never looked at rust so closely until then, but I thought it had somewhat of an effect of drying out the patches of rust from the inside out. (I have lots of pictures to share if you are interested), however in the end it was not effective to get rid of the rust. I am not even sure if the progress I saw might be just the way rust behaves anyway.
The other homeopathic remedy I tried was Belladonna, and I used it on my Roses against blackspot, and there was no doubt that it helped a lot. There was a slow start to the effects of the treatment but after a month I noticed that my roses were clear of blackspot and they stayed that way for the rest of the summer. Way better than any other year!
This coming season I want to try again with the rust, I have struggled with it every year that I have grown Snapdragons. I’d be grateful for any suggestions. I would be happy to keep you informed of my experience going forward with agrohomeopathy and hopefully progress on battling disease in my flower garden.
En cuanto a las rosas
Thank you,
Marianna Smith
Radko Tichavsky:
Dear Mariana, the pathogenic fungi that generally attack Antirrhinum sp. are Phoma narcissi, Fusarium oxysporum, Phytophthora cryptogea, Pythium ultimum and Alternaria alternata, not only Puccinia antirrhini (Snapdragons rust), and the attack is almost always coordinated among several fungi.
All these fungi have an important antagonist called Paenibacillus polymixa. You can find it in the roots of Raphanus sativa, Taxus globosa, in potato tubers (Solanum tuberosum) or in living roots of Panax Ginseng, but also in some Pleurotus sp. e.g. Pleorotus geesterani.
Perhaps the easiest thing for you would be to get an organic potato tuber (on which no agrochemicals have been applied) as it probably has the bacterium Paenibacillys polymixa. Prepare live bionosode, i.e. the whole process of dynamization is carried out in water (not chlorinated) and apply it at potency 3 JT.
Each step of the JT dynamization consists of dilution of 1:100 and 500 vigorous succussions. In cool weather you can add after the last dynamization a small amount of Helianthus annuus oil, or if you apply it in very hot weather then you can use some Aloe vera leaf gel dissolved in some non-chlorinated water as an adjuvant.
You apply it on the Snapdragons plants and in this way a protective biofilm will form on the surface of the plants and their flowers, consisting of various bacteria and mainly of the fillum Firmicutes among which is Paenibacillus polymixa.
The black spot on roses is caused by the ascomycete fungus Diplocarpon rosae. Its main antagonists are Trichoderma viride, another fungus and Pseudomonas fluorescens a beneficial gammaproteobacterium. This bacterium can be extracted from fresh Lentinus edodes (known as shiitake and you can find it in oriental stores).
As for the beneficial fungus Trichoderma viride you can find it in the root system of many Pinus spp. and Quercus spp. or simply buy some inoculum on the internet. It usually takes 6-7 days after you apply live bionosode at 4 JT potency for it to have an effect on the plants.
Live bionosodes are an important tool of holohomeopathy, and their use is based in case of microrganisms on lists of metabolic similarity, i.e. it is a process based on scientific evidence and information.
In case of application of bionosodes, as the one you used in the control of rust, starting from the mother tincture made from the microorganism itself, it is used at low potency to induce the systemic response of defense of plants, ie does not work when the pathogen is already established, we only use it as a prevention.
As for Belladonna, it was visibly repertorized using an anthropocentric approach which sometimes works and sometimes not at all, since it was selected on the basis of similarity of human repertories and plant symptomatology.
The coincidence between the DNA of humans and plants is approximately 50%, which in practical terms means that the medicine repertorized under the anthropocentric approach (extracted from human repertories) has a 50% chance of being correct, which is equivalent to hazard…and in home conditions with a single plant can be used as anecdotal knowledge, but in professional work is not enough and does not have the necessary reliability to risk crops of great extension or high value in the market.
Hello Mr. Tichavsky
My last pumpkin crop was badly damaged by aphids. The leaves turned yellow, curled and died. I would like to avoid this problem next summer. We’re in Walland, Tennessee, U.S. 37886. The highest average temperature in Walland is 31°C in July and the lowest is 7°C in January.
Rainfall: average number of days
March -10 days April- 9 days May – 11 days June- 11 days
Thank you
Arnold Schmidt
Radko Tichavsky:
Dear Arnold,
There are two long-term strategies that would help to avoid aphid problems in the future: 1. Avoid using nitrogen fertilizers, and 2. Increase the diversity of your holon. The most common problem leading to emergence of sucking-piercing insects is excess of Nitrogen and lack of Calcium in soil and plants.
Nitrogen fertilizers accelerate growth, but produce soft fleshy leaves/stems that attract herbivores. Chemical nitrogen fertilizers cause environmental pollution and upset the balance of the nitrifying/denitrifying processes in soil: populations of nitrogen fixing bacteria diminish (no need to fix nitrogen), while denitrifiers multiply.
Result: the need for nitrogen inputs increases. Amendments of animal origin, even “organic”, have similar effect; they also contain large amounts of semiochemicals – signals that attract various insects including herbivores. Plant-based compost can be used, but it has to be properly matured and contain species from your holon.
Fertility of soil cannot be sustained by external inputs of nutrients that bring imbalance and cause dependency on ever-increasing inputs. Instead, it should be via cooperative work of diverse micro-, meso-, and macro – organisms that are capable of maintaining the delicate balance.
Amine nitrogen is the limiting nutrient controlling aphid population growth, so they thrive on nitrogen-rich plants, which are also easy to pierce. There are several species that feed on cucurbitae, most common are Aphis gossypii, Myzus persicae and Aphis craccivora.
Aphis gossypii has the greatest host diversity and geographical range than any other aphid. In warm climates it reproduces parthenogenetically; in your region the sexual phase is reported with Hibiscus syriacus and Catalpa bignioides as primary hosts (do not plant these around your crops).
Besides direct harm to plants, they can be vectors of viruses that cause diseases in cucurbitae: watermelon mosaic virus (WMV), papaya ringspot virus (PRV), cucumber mosaic virus (CMV), zucchini yellow mosaic virus (ZYMV), and others.
ZYMV-infected cucurbitae (via semiochemicals) affect A. gossypii behavior and alatae formation in a way that enhances the spread of the virus. The good news is that it spreads by non-persistent transmission (virus does not enter the body of aphids, only transferred by mouthparts), which justifies the use of borderline planting around the “target” crop.
Aphids land on the crop border, start feeding and lose their capacity to transmit the virus to the main crop. Also, due to the peculiarity of their visual perception, alatae/winged aphids are attracted to contrast between green (plants) and dark (soil), so they usually land on field margins and start feeding, thus reducing the population in the main field.
The most successful border plant of many tested for cucurbitae is Zea mays (23 common metabolites). The folk wisdom of the “three sister” planting (corn, bean and pumpkin/squash) has many levels, complimentary endophytic bacteria being yet another one.
Zea mays contains Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria PGPR that are demonstrated to be beneficial for cucurbits: Bacillus pumilus, Bacillus megaterium, Bacillus subtilis, Pseudomonas fluorescens. Border crop has to be planted a week prior to cucurbits.
The density of planting is 25000-45000 plants per hectare, inter-row spacing of 0.9m and in-row spacing of 0.25-0.45m produce the best effect. Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus pumilus also confer protection against WMV virus.
Helianthus annuus (18 common metabolites and cucurbitae PGPR Bacillus cereus and Bacillus subtilis) is another potential choice for border plants. Allium sativum can be interplanted as it is repellant for Myzus persicae and Aphis gossypii, and is metabolically similar.
Intercropping with Brassica rapa (6 common metabolites; Bacillus cereus, Bascillus megaterium, Pseudomonas fluorescens) also reduces aphid infestation. Turnips are planted 3-4 weeks before the cucurbits; they often become infested with Lipaphis pseudobrassicae (mustard aphid), and natural enemies of aphids (which are the same for aphids affecting cucurbitaceae) become numerous on the turnips and keep cucurbitae aphids from becoming abundant on the main crop.
You can prepare bionosode vivo 4 JT from the roots of Zea mays and Heliathus anuus and apply them both in irrigation system, this way you can even avoid the establishment of border crops.
Increasing the microbial diversity in your holon ensures the balance of nutrients in soil and plants, availability of PGPR and beneficial fungi. It also attracts natural predators and parasitoids of any potential pathogen of the target crop. Sugars from floral and extrafloral nectaries serve as attractants.
Aphidius sp. are tiny wasps that oviposit their eggs into aphids consuming them from within, leaving “aphid mummies” that can be seen on leaves; emerging adult wasps repeat the cycle and consume more aphids.
You can buy Aphidius colemanii eggs in paper bags, hang them among the affected plants and wait for adult emergence. A more sustainable solution however is to attract them to your holon by planting species that emit attractants, Linalool and Geraniol: Ocimum basilicum, O. gratissimum, Origanum vulgare, O. majorana, Coriandrum sativum, Salvia officnalis, Nepeta cataria, Thymus vulgaris, Daucus carota, Fagopyrum esculentum. The same species of plants also attract pollinators essential for cucurbitae.
Other genera of parasitoid wasps that work are: Aphelinus sp., Marietta sp., Diaeretiella sp., Lysiphlebus Sp. Coccinellids (Hippodamia convergens,
Harmonia axyridis, Coccinella septempunctata, Coleomegilla maculata and others) are voracious natural predators that can also be attracted by planting the same species (above).
Many other plants attract coccinellidae and thus are good to be dispersed among the main crop plants: Chamaemelium nobile, Descurainia pinnata, Trifolium Sp., Conium maculatum, Brassica rapa, Apiaceae, Veronica officinalis, Achillea millefolium, Taraxacum officinale, Asclepius syriaca, Hemerocallis fulva, Pelargonium graveolens).
Syrohid flies (hoverflies), Chrysoperla sp. (brown and green lacewigs), Orius (pirate bugs), Earwigs are other valuable allies. Aranae are always useful in the holon, especially to control aphids connected to ants (ants use their honeydew for food, and guard them against other predators): Phydippus audax. It is good to be familiar with the looks of your potential allies, adults, eggs and larvae – not to destroy beneficial species inadvertently.
Dear Mr. Tichavsky,
- I have a Cinnamon plant which looks unhealthy and has not been able to grow any new leaves or shoots for the past 8 months. It has discolored yellowish leaves, though it doesn’t seem to have any pest issue.
- Indian Jujube plant looks unhealthy and has extremely slow growth, along with unhealthy/drooping leaves.
I live in Roorkee, Uttarakhand, India and the temperature here currently is : Max 32C , Min 16 C. Humidity is 65%.
Mailing code: 247667
Radko Tichavsky:
Dear Gurucharan,
The community of microorganisms in the soil, rhizosphere and endophytes (bacteria and fungi inside the plant) play an important role in improving plant nutrition. Your Indian Jujube shows signs of devitalization, i.e. there is a lack of benefic microorganisms that through mVOC (microbial volatile organic compounds) communicate with another group of bacteria and fungi that provide the necessary nutrients to the plant.
In the case of Cinnamon sp., Iron is an essential micronutrient that participates in electron transfer reactions through donation and acceptance. Iron deficiency decreases photochemical capacity by reducing the number of photosynthetic units and disturbing the structure of chloroplasts.
Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR), mycorrhizae, and plant growth promoting fungi (PGPF), are beneficial rhizosphere microbes that can directly or indirectly stimulate plant growth. In addition, some can prepare plants for enhanced defense against a wide range of pathogens and insect herbivores and can also solubilize a number of plant nutrients, such as rock phosphate, Fe3+, Cu2+, Mn4+ and Zn, which may not be available to plants in certain soils.
The exchange of various signals between them through multiple stages of association appears to modulate growth and development on both sides and suppress plant defense to allow root colonization. The symbiotic association between ectomycorrhizal fungi (ECM) and roots of most tree species is essential for tree health and productivity.
Pseudomonas fluorescens is a gram-resistant bacterium resistant to high temperatures, which functions as a PGPR, also bioavailable nitrogen, phosphorus and iron from the soil to the plant, which acts in association with Bacillus pumilus (large + bacteria) and Glomus sp. (growth-promoting fungi) which, by means of exudates produced by the root and mVOCs, attract another group of bacteria and fungi creating a community in the rhizosphere that provides the necessary nutrients to the plant.
Cinnamon sp.: by metabolic similarity you can prepare a live bionosode from the root of Capsicum annum, Cucumis sativus, Brassica oleracea, Zea mays, Triticum aestivum, Ulmus, Panax ginseng, Curcuma longa, Zingiber officinal; these species host Pseudomonas fluorescens, as well as Bacillus sp.
In this case you can prepare a live bionosode. Cook a medium potato, let it cool down, remove the peel and liquefy the potato with any of the plants mentioned above, disinfecting the surface with 30% alcohol (e.g. disinfect the Zea mays root or clean the root of Panax ginseng with a brush and disinfect with alcohol) with a little tap water and leave it at room temperature for a day, then dilute this liquid in a ratio of 1: 100 and make 500 vigorous succussions (if the volume is large then 500 turns with a wooden stick to the right and 500 to the left) and spray the crops.
You can also add Ferrum sulfuricum at 6CH potency in foliar application to balance the lack of iron in the plant.
Indian Jujube: the plants that have metabolic similarity are Prunela vulgaris, Trifolium subterraneum and Quercus sp. (5 cm of soil of old trees) and are hosts of Glomus sp. and Acaulospora sp. AMF (arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi). You can make a live bionosode from roots of any of these plants as mentioned above and apply it to your plants.
After the application of the live bionosode you can apply an adjuvant of Aloe vera to fix the remedy, which also contains a great diversity of beneficial microorganisms. Disinfect the external part with 30% alcohol, extract the pulp, put it in water at a dilution of 1:100 and apply it on your trees.
Cinnamon Plant Indian Jujube
Thank you
Gurucharan
