 Alfalfa is an ancient seed that is one of the most beloved plants around the world. The main building blocks of any plant are carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. These are called structural nutrients. These primary structural nutrients are not provided by a healthy living soil like most macro and micro nutrients but rather, by the water and air. They make up about 91- 92% of the total dry weight of the alfalfa plant. Together, these nutrients form carbohydrate chains that constitute the cell and fiber portions of the alfalfa plant. Most plants we cultivate today obtain their nitrogen from the living soil, but alfalfa is in a class of plants called legumes. These unique plants get their nitrogen from the air, by harvesting and feeding rhizobia bacteria that form tiny nodules found on the roots. Even though Alfalfa will take up nitrogen directly from the living soil like other plants, it gets most of its nitrogen from this method, which is called “nitrogen fixing.”
When Alfalfa plants experience dormancy, like in times of severe drought, they will resume growth when conditions improve, making them an ideal plant to "chop and drop" in a living soil system. The triacontanol present in Alfalfa, when used correctly, will thicken overall root mass, and keep tighter and shorter internodal spacing within your plants! As a farmer or home gardener, we concentrate on making the plant lengthen/strengthen the branches, which allow it to support more substantial yields. The key is to time the sprouting process so that we can sprout and use as many alfalfa seeds as possible. Once you see the roots start to show, the seeds will be bursting with energy, all the while stretching out their earliest roots. It is at this moment that alfalfa seeds are packed with growth hormones, especially triacontanol, as they start growing faster. Now here is the secret you’ve been reading this article for: you can harvest those growth hormones and use them to give your plants a healthy and robust enzyme boost. These newly developed growth hormones will trigger your plants to put more energy into root development and plant growth.
Triacontanol unquestionably increases the amount of chlorophyll in leaves, improving the rate of photosynthesis. In root systems, cell growth is enhanced, creating more robust root networks, allowing for higher nutrient uptake.
Prepare this recipe and then add this mixture to 5 gallons of water, and you have one of the world’s most nutritious plant enzyme teas available for PENNIES on the dollar compared to conventional methods.
Another Option for Increasing Soil Enzyme Activity Don’t have the time or energy to make your own teas? Or are you overwhelmed by the prospect of making a whole bunch of different teas to provide different growth hormones and enzymes? Everflux makes Bioflux Fermented Plant Boost exactly for people like you. It’s one of the few products you’ll find in a bottle that is truly alive (we’ve tested it and found 11 billion organisms per mL), and it provides plants with a whole array of natural growth hormones and enzymes. You can check it out at the link below.
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 Sprouted Seed Teas (SSTs) are becoming popular as a home-made biofertilizer, especially among regenerative agriculture and living soil farmers. There is a lot of information and videos now circulating on the internet about how to make these teas, but how is one to know which recipe is best, or even correct? In this guide, our experienced farmers will walk you through the benefits of SSTs and provide a recipe that has worked wonders for them. The primary benefit of SSTs is that they can produce natural plant growth hormones. This is yet another way to create rapid growth in your plants without using chemical fertilizers. There are five main types of hormones that influence plant growth: 1) Auxin 2) Gibberellin 3) Cytokinins 4) Ethylene 5) Abscisic Acid Today our focus is on using corn to make the plant growth hormone Cytokinin. Organic blue corn is known to be very high in cytokinins, and so we can use it to make a tea rich in this particular natural growth hormone. In future articles, we will discuss how to create other SSTs that contain high concentrations of the other growth hormones.
The most commonly known form of naturally occurring adenine-type cytokinin is called zeatin, which has been isolated from corn. Valuable enzymes are present in the dormant seed, and they are activated only when the seed comes in contact with water. As the temperature begins to increase, the rate of metabolism and enzyme activity also increases. One way to measure this metabolism is by the amount of carbon dioxide given off and oxygen taken up. Cytokinins will increase the thickness and overall strength of the side branches, and more substantial branches will produce more significant and more robust flowers. Cytokinins are also known as the "Fountain of Youth Hormone." It can help plants repair themselves after being damaged as well as slow the natural aging process to allow more time for root growth. The benefits of cytokinins can be summed up in the following way:
Organic blue corn seeds produce a wide range of cytokinins on par with coconut water. The growing international market demand for coconut water is pushing the price higher and higher, so this is no longer an affordable source of cytokinins for growing plants. This is why our team at Everflux Technologies continues to research and test newer ways to produce natural plant growth hormones for crops. By using sprouted corn teas, farmers will get the benefits from the Cytokinins without the expense of having to purchase coconut water. You do not even need to order organic corn seeds online, just head over to an organic grocery store and buy organic popcorn. One thing about using blue corn seeds specifically is that we found it easier to emulsify the seeds once the tap roots grow out to one inch or so, which also allowed time to soften the original blue corn seed. Here is a tried and true SST recipe that the living soil community has embraced as one of the best:
Since blue corn makes a pretty strong tea, we use about half of the amount of seed as compared to other seed teas. Once your seed tea is finished, you can directly apply it to your soil with no further dilution. You should only apply it twice a month, just a few ounces at a time, sprinkled over your soil. A little goes a long way with this stuff. Next time we will discuss how to make an auxin-rich sprouted seed tea from alfalfa. Used together, these various sprouted seed teas can give the plant all the natural growth hormones and enzymatic activity it will need to produce big, robust plants. Used in conjunction with a good living soil, the results will blow you away.
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AuthorPatricia Sacha is a kick-ass vegetable, herb & flower farmer with three kids, dogs & chickens running around. Where does she find the time to write? Archives
October 2020
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