The Plant Doctor – November 2020

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 Dr. Tichavsky,
I have two questions.  I have a small plum tree that has developed a canker. The tree is grafted with both Victoria and Czar plums. I contacted the supplier and they provided a link to advice on the RHS website here: https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=86

Basically, I have to cut the canker out. But if I do this, I will kill this tree because it’s so young and the canker is so big.  Is there a homeopathic remedy that can help me?

My second question is about a pear tree

Again, it is a grafted tree with Conference and Concord pears. It has developed pear rust. The seller pointed me to the following link. But I would again like to use a homeopathy treatment. I believe this is a strong case of Pear Rust.

https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=236

Will your book be published in English too?
Thank you
Tariq Chowdhry

Radko Tichavsky:

Dear Tariq,
The permanence of Pseudomonas syringae, a gram-negative bacteria belonging to the class of Gammaproteobacteria, is a quite common microorganism in all soils in the world. The solution of cutting the tumor would not solve the infection in the tree, where it was most likely produced from mechanical damage in the trunk of the tree.

Bacteria live in communities with marked affinities and also antagonisms. The antagonist group of the Gammaproteobacteria is called Firmicutes, to which bacteria of the Bacilli class belong, for example Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus amyloliquefasciens belong to this important group of gram-positive and aerobic bacteria.

To eliminate mechanically the carcinogenic formation in the tree is useless and in this case also impossible. But the application of a live bionosode 1 JT made from Aloe vera gel containing Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus amyloliquefasciens and Bacillus megaterium can stop the proliferation process of Pseudomonas syringae.

First you wash the Aloe vera leaf in water then in alcohol at 30% and then again in water, open the leaf and extract the gel by liquefying it in a little (non-chlorinated) water. Dilute the resulting liquid in a ratio of 1:100 and perform 500 succussions before applying it to the tumor and the soil around the tree.

This application can be done once a month for 6 months. It is also important to apply in the soil mycorrhizal fungi of the family Glomus sp. These in addition to protecting the tree against water stress can transmit bacteriophage viruses (asymptomatic in the tree and in the fungus) that on the one hand act by eliminating the bacteria and on the other hand shoot in the plant mechanism something called “virus-induced gene silencing” that reduces and modulates the sensitivity of the plant to attack by the Pseudomonas syringae.

Re: Your question 2. This indeed is Pear rust caused by Gymnosporangium sabinae that lives on living plants, with its life cycle lasting two years and infecting two unrelated hosts in a certain sequence: Pyrus communis as a secondary host and Juniperus sabinae as primary host.

In spring, teliospores form on Junipers (J.sabinae, J.communis, J. oxycedrus, J. chinensis, J. virginia),  following rain, resulting in basidiospores that spread by wind (up to 6km) to infect young leaves of Pyrus(85-91% relative humidity required). After 120-140 days aecidia form (seen on your picture). In 20 days they release aeciospores that spread by wind and infect Junipers, where in 18 – 20 months they complete the cycle.

Elimination of either host will control the disease; their distancing will slow it (within 30m from Juniperus up to 100% of Pyrus leaves affected, at 150m – about 50%), but either is rarely feasible. Fungicide applications have environmental consequences and provide only a temporary relief.

If you have Juniperus, cut the affected branches 5 cm below the damage, burn them and disinfect the cuts with Boswellia serrata MT or alcohol. The Pyrus trees usually have widespread damage to leaves, branches are not always affected.

Homeopathic remedies that can be applied to overcome fungal problems are Silicea terra 12CH, Zincum met.12CH, Acidum salicilicum 6CH and Jasmonic acid (make TM from garlic bulb, or Taraxacum officinale flowers or Helianthus annuus  seeds, dynamize to 6CH and spray on your tree).

Based on metabolic similarity, you can make TM from one of the following plants, and use them in 6CH potency: Vitis vinifera fruit (85 common metabolites, 32 fungicides, in this case we use root as material por TM); Apium graveolens  seed (77, 46); Citrus sinensis  whole fruit (78,32 + jasmonic acid), Citrus paradisi  (74, 31);  Urtica dioica (68, 19); Zingiber officinale root (63,43);  Glycyrrhiza glabra root (30, 40). Thymus vulgaris (44,29) and Rosmarinus officinalis (53,28) can be simply planted in the vicinity.

In order to build resilience of your tree you need to provide plant growth promoting rhizobacteria PGPR and arbuscular mycorrhizae fungi AMF. For PGPR you can prepare living bionosode made from Hedera helix root, Zingiber officinale root or Aloe vera root in 3-4 JT potency, described in previous issues.

Arbuscular mycorrhizae fungi beneficial for P.communis  are Glomus spp. and  Acaulospora spp. Glomus can be found in the rhizosphere of Quercus or around Geranium maculatum; Vitis vinifera, Podophyllum peltatum and Trifolium subterraneum have both. Make a bionosode from rhizoshere soil with sugar water solution, let it ferment for a day, dynamize to 3 JT and apply around your tree.  You can alternatively plant the above mentioned herbaceous plants around your tree, as well as Lamiaceae plants: Menta, Thymus, Rosmarinus, Salvia, etc.

The above strategies do not look at the root of the problem. G. sabinae has a very narrow host range, which limits its spread under natural conditions, unless the anthropogenic factors interfere. Both hosts were taken away from their native habitats: SW Asia/CE Europe for Pyrus.

Juniperus, originally from mountainous areas, now is a popular backyard ornamental plant (and its frequent pruning fosters fungal penetration). You did not indicate where you live, but I guess it is UK (link provided by your plant supplier).

The two distribution maps dated before 2000 (taken from different publications!) show J.sabinae (left, b/w) and P.communis (right, red) – they did not overlap for  of the UK territory, except a few small areas that coincide with higher population density. New habitat also has extended coastline and high humidity,  G.sabinae  just taking advantage of a created situation.

In different habitats plants alter their secondary metabolite profiles. While Pyrus pyraster (wild pear) is very high in various phenolics that provide its protection from fungal pathogens, hybrid P.communis  has a lower content of protective metabolites. It is also propagated in UK mostly by grafting, which leads to low genetic diversity, and given moist climate constitutes an ideal target for fungi.  Even for organic growers, G. sabinae is currently a major concern; a possible factor is excessive supply of N with compost that makes new plant growth susceptible to fungal attacks.

The hyperparasite of G. sabinae, Tuberculina persicina, has been employed for biocontrol (by spraying the suspension of its spores on P.communis leaves); later it was discovered that T. persicina is an anamorph of  Helicobasidium purpureum that causes violet rot in a number of plants, but can also be used to control G. sabinae .

Instead of direct application of spores, it would be a safer strategy to plant Mercurialis perennis or Urtica dioica (68 common metabolites, 19 antifungal compounds) in the vicinity of your Pyrus, since their living stems were shown to carry colonies of H.purpureum in the UK, and allow the tree to enlist the help it requires.

Dear Prof. Tichavsky,
My Papaya and Hibiscus plants were infected with white mealy bugs. I applied Sulphur 200c two doses but without effect.  I live in Guntur, South India. In Guntur, the wet season is hot and overcast and the dry season is sweltering, muggy, and mostly clear. Over the course of the year, the temperature typically varies from 65°F to 105°F and is rarely below 60°F or above 112°F.

Thank you
Pavan Kumar
Guntur, South India

Radko Tichavsky:

Dear Pavan, the mealy bugs belong to the family Pseudococcidae and are generally related to the collaboration of ants, with whom they develop a symbiotic relationship. While the mealy bug produces a kind of sweet nectar with hormones attractive to ants, the ants protect them against predators.

Especially when the pest attacks together with the ants, it is useful to apply diatomaceous earth on the plants, but these applications also eliminate a large number of beneficial spiders in the crops. Homeopathically it can be controlled by an application of Schinus molle 3 JT with a little potassium soap as an adjuvant.

There are also entomopathogenic fungi such as Metarhizium anisopliae that have the ability to defend plants by penetrating directly into the cuticle of living insects. These fungi are the common component of the soils in the fields of Walnut trees (Juglans regia) and in the roots of Quercus trees of 80-96 years old. Take a soil sample (first 5 cm approximately) of these fields, prepare bionosode at low potency (6 JT) and apply it in the crop.

The Beauveria bassiana, also has the capacity to infect insects and is found in the roots of Zea mays as symbiont. Besides being a plant similar metabolically with the Carica papaya it helps the formation of insecticide metabolites and larvicides.

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 the Zea mays root with a little bit of tap water and leave it at room temperature for a day, then dilute this liquid in a proportion 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.

Other metabolically similar plants with Carica papaya are Daucus carota (seed), Apium graveolens (seed), Ficus carica and Rosmarinus officinalis. You can apply any of these plants at 6CH potency on your crop.

There are also natural enemies of Paracoccus marginatus as the predatory beetle Cryptolaemus montrouzieri, a predatory diptera larva (Diadiplosis sp.) that feeds on the eggs of P. marginatus, the predatory caterpillars of Spalgis epeus (Lepidotera: Lycaenidae) attack the mealy bug in West Bengal (Chatterjee and Halder, 2017) and the parasitoids Anagyrus loecki, Pseudleptomastix mexicana and Acerophagus papayae. You can make a nosode of one of the natural predators at a power of 6CH and apply it in the crop.

Dear Radko,
I live in the south of Spain and we have a couple of almond trees that are looking quite sad this year. Also, they hardly bore any fruit. A couple of months ago their leaves were infested with tiny black insects, probably some sort of flies. A dose of Coccus cacti helped with that within a couple of days.

The leaves are now hanging down, with brownish spots on them and they’re drying from the tips toward the stems. Hardly any fruit, although the few almonds they carried tasted very good. I don’t see anything particular on the bark of the trees. This year is a bit drier than usual but nothing extreme. In the area here, farmers are having trouble and blame a bacteria called Xylella fastidiosa. I cannot say if there’s a proliferation of this bacteria present on my trees. Based on the few data I have, I gave Belladonna but it did not have any effect.

I attach photos of the current state of the trees and hope you can suggest something. Also, I’m curious to know where I can buy your books.

Thank you
Jost

Dear Jost,
Xylella fastidiosa is a gamma-proteobacterium transmitted through xylema by insects that target the tree trunk. At first sight your tree of Prunus dulcis doesn’t have a problem of Xylella sp. but of sucking insects and stingers that it can transmit bacteria, fungi or virus, but not to the Xylella sp.

The selection of Belladonna is without effect since its repertorization is made on the basis of human repertories by anthropocentric extrapolation, although some holohomeopathic remedies (above all those of mineral origin) coincide with few human remedies, the majority of the human remedies of vegetable and animal origin have little to do with those of the plants.

In this specific case it seems to be the fungus Coryneum beijerinckii Oudem, the cause of the typical leaf perforations. In organic agriculture is used the application of the antagonistic fungus Trichoderma sp. In agrohomeopathy is used the application of Cuprum metallicum 6 CH on three occasions per year and Sulphur 6 CH, that should be applied also three times a year, after the sun sets.

One of the characteristics of this fungus is that it attacks the leaves through the epidermis and never through the stomas.In holohomeopathy we use live bionosode of Glomus intraradices 3 JT.

In semiarid mediterranean prairies you can find this arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus in the following species of annual herbaceous plants: Hieracium vulgare, Stipa capensis, Anagallis arvensis, Carduus tenuiflorus, and Avena barbata and a perennial herbaceous species (Brachypodium retusum).

The roots of one of the plants are washed and from there the preparation of the dynamization is made at the potency of 3 JT in water and applied around the trunk of the trees in the autumn season.

Dear Radko,
We’ve harvested our peach trees for several years, but this year the crop was destroyed by the Plum Curculio (Cnotrachelus Nenuphar ) a snout beetle. Is there a way to combat this without chemicals?  We’re in York, South Carolina U.S.  Zipcode 29745.

This is a humid, sub-tropical climate, with long, hot summers and short, mild winters. In winter, temperatures generally average 5 to 7°C (40 to 45°F) in inland areas, and 12 to 15ºC (55 to 60°F) by the shore.
Thank you,
Malcolm Wright

Radko Tichavsky:

Dear Malcolm,
To control the larval stage of Plum Curculum (Conotrachelus nenuphar) you can apply live bionosode 3 JT from your garden soil. The easiest way to control the adult insect is by applying the entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium anisopliae.

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Dear Mr. Tichavsky,

I found a stem borer in a 4 months old Mahogany plant. Please advise me on homeopathic treatment / preventive measures. In neighboring farms a few old jackfruits trees are infested with stem borers.   I live in a place near Hiriyur, Karnataka state, India. where the average rainfall from 2009 to 2019 is 65mm and in 2020 it is 200mm and average temperature is 32 C (max 37 C MIN 27 C).

I planted 720 Mahogany (Sweteni Macrphyla) alternately with 720 drumstick, 20 jackfruit and 20 mango saplings on 6th July 2020 (row to row 20 feet and plant to plant 10 feet) in 2 hectares of land ( Irrigated with borewell water). Previously this land was a coconut plantation (>70yrs old 250 coconut trees) because of severe drought from 2013 to 2019, 90% of the trees died. They were cut into pieces and buried in the same land about 3 feet deep. Mahogany is very much new to my place.

Thank you

Nijalingappa

Radko Tichavsky:

Dear Nijalingappa,

The stem borer (Hypsipyla grandella) in Swetenia macrophylla can be easily controlled with the application of Bacillus thuringuensis, a bacterium from the class Firmitutes. You can buy it on the internet and apply it on your trees and on the soil once a year.

If you want to isolate the bacterium and replicate it without wasting resources, you can find it in the three-leaf Aloe vera sap. First cut the leaves and wash them externally in water, then in alcohol and then again in water. Then you cut the leaf with a knife so that you can extract the gel from the inside of the leaf and liquefy it with a little water (not chlorinated).

This liquefied one is added to 200 liters of water (without chlorine). On the other hand you cook ½ kg of potatoes without peel, well cooked and you liquefy it also with water to form a kind of pure liquid.

You add the pure liquid to the 200 liters of water, and you make 500 turns with a clean wooden stick on the right and 500 turns on the left, then you cover the container with cloth to prevent the access of insects and you leave it this way for three days approximately until a foam forms on the surface.

Mix the liquid well again making 500 turns to the right and to the left with a wooden stick and filter it through a textile. Dissolve it at a ratio of 1:100 in non-chlorinated water and apply it by spraying it on the trees and on the soil around them.

It is important to apply once a month the homeopathic preparation of Opuntia ficus indica 1 JT. This helps to maintain water in the soil and properly hydrate the plants and prevent a weakening by dissection which attracts the stem borer pest.

In a 200 liter container you put 10 stems (cladodios) of Opuntia ficus indica, cut into pieces with a knife. After 24 hours, remove the rest of cladodios from the liquid, dissolve the liquid in a ratio of 1:100 in water, make 500 turns to the right and the left with a wooden stick and apply the remedy to the soil under the trees.

The sap of Opuntia ficus indica prepared in this way forms kind of nano-bags in the soil that restore moisture around the roots of the trees even in very dry conditions, it also favors the presence of thermoresistant mycorhizal fungi and bacteria that collaborate in the fixation of nitrogen and availability of other macronutrients (K and P) for the plants.