instruction: Given the logged field observation, state the KNF intervention applied and the observed outcome.

input: Date: 2026-07-12. Crop: Pechay. Growth stage: Early vegetative. Weather: Heavy rain previous 3 days. Symptom: Yellowing lower leaves. Soil condition: Waterlogged. Location: Nabua, Bicol.

output: Intervention applied: LAB + FPJ, dilution 1:1000, method foliar spray, time 5:30 PM. Result after 72h: leaf recovery, reduced yellowing. Notes: snail activity increased post-application. The waterlogged, likely anaerobic soil with lower-leaf yellowing was treated by rebalancing soil biology with LAB plus light vegetative support from FPJ, rather than a heavy nitrogen push into saturated ground.


instruction: Diagnose the substrate condition from the field reading and state what action is warranted.

input: Date: 2026-08-03. Unit: Bed 3 compost. Carbon source: bamboo leaves + shredded coconut husk. Age: approximately 2 weeks. Temperature: cool, not warm (stick method, no thermometer). Smell: wine / alcoholic, not putrid. Location: Nabua, Bicol.

output: Diagnosis: anaerobic fermentation active via the bokashi pathway, not aerobic thermophilic composting. The alcoholic aroma indicates yeasts and lactic bacteria converting sugars from the fruit inputs. The cool temperature is internally consistent rather than contradictory: thermophilic heat comes from aerobic bacteria consuming nitrogen-rich material with ample air, while bamboo leaves and coconut husk are high-carbon, high-lignin and slow, and fermentation runs cool by nature. Action: none. Do not turn or aerate, as that would push the pile out of the fermentation state it is currently holding. Monitor for a shift toward sour/vinegary, which indicates increasing lactic dominance and is also acceptable, or toward sulfide/ammonia, which would indicate putrefaction and require dry carbon plus aeration.


instruction: Record the state of this substrate pool and any action taken.

input: Date: 2026-08-03. Unit: azolla pool. Prior state: bed dry, compost plus bamboo leaves and grass, no standing water, no floating plants (June, photo evidence). Flooded 2026-07-08 to 07-11 by Typhoon Inday. Observation: near-total surface coverage, uniform bright green, no reddening or bronzing. No inoculation or reintroduction performed. Location: Nabua, Bicol.

output: Coverage approximately 95 percent or greater, uniform bright green with no stress pigmentation. Population re-established without any inoculation or reintroduction following flood inundation of a bed that had been converted to compost preparation. Action: none, observation only. Species identification provisional at this stage and requires close-range confirmation before the record is finalised.


instruction: Record the pre-intervention baseline state of this bed.

input: Date: 2026-08-03. Unit: Bed 1. Status: empty following harvest. Location: Nabua, Bicol.

output: Bare soil, volunteer weed seedlings emerging across the surface. No crop in place. Untreated, no inoculant applied. This is the pre-IMO baseline for a planned split-bed land preparation comparison: IMO to one half, the other half held untreated as control.


instruction: Record the state and function of this bed.

input: Date: 2026-08-03. Unit: Bed 2. Contents: dried coconut coir and leaf litter. Location: Nabua, Bicol.

output: Holds dried coconut coir and leaf litter. Functions as the on-site dry-carbon store: the material available for correcting anaerobic or over-wet substrate elsewhere on the farm without purchased inputs. No action taken.


instruction: Record the crop state and the competing conditions present.

input: Date: 2026-08-03. Crop: talong (eggplant). Growth stage: fruiting. Soil: KNF-managed. Location: Nabua, Bicol.

output: Fruiting with multiple fruits at harvest size. Heavy weed competition present: grasses and broadleaf species growing to the stem base. IMO was applied to this plot earlier by another operator; exact application date not yet confirmed and must be obtained from the applicator rather than estimated. Weed competition recorded as a plot condition affecting performance, not as an incidental nuisance.


instruction: Record the state of this transplant and the substrate context.

input: Date: 2026-08-03. Crop: Lakatan banana, transplanted approximately one week prior. Plot managed by another operator. No fresh inoculant applied at transplant. Substrate under IMO management approximately 8 to 10 years. Location: Nabua, Bicol.

output: Recently transplanted sucker, no fresh inoculant applied. Functions as a natural residual-substrate control: the question it answers is whether a long-established indigenous microbial population supports a new transplant without fresh inoculation. Deliberately left untreated, as applying inoculant would destroy the residual-effect observation. Transplant date to be confirmed with the operator; not estimated.


instruction: Record this harvest event and any plant-health observations.

input: Date: 2026-08-03. Crop: camote (sweet potato) tips. Purpose: FPJ preparation material. Location: Nabua, Bicol.

output: Approximately 5.5 kg gross harvested, whole growing tips including leaves and stems, weighed on a market dial scale using the tare method. Dark clusters observed on some leaves, identification pending: insect eggs, frass, or fungal spotting. Surplus beyond the fermentation batch diverted to Bed 3 as green nitrogen-bearing material, balancing that bed's high-carbon bamboo and coir mix.


instruction: Record the preparation of this fermentation batch at day zero.

input: Date: 2026-08-03. Batch: FPJ from camote tips. Location: Nabua, Bicol.

output: 250 g whole growing tips (leaves and stems), rough-chopped to 2 to 3 cm, combined 1:1 by weight with 250 g unrefined brown sugar. Material lightly mixed rather than strictly layered, then compacted to eliminate air pockets, with a dry sugar cap applied across the surface to suppress mould before liquid draws up. Food-grade plastic vessel, approximately two-thirds fill, manila paper cover string-tied with a loose plastic lid resting on top for rodent and ant protection, not sealed. Stored under roof, off ground, out of rain and direct sun. Day 0.


instruction: Record the preparation of this fermentation batch at day zero.

input: Date: 2026-08-03. Batch: FFJ from saba banana. Location: Nabua, Bicol.

output: 250 g peeled flesh, sliced into approximately 1 cm rounds, combined 1:1 by weight with 250 g unrefined brown sugar, layered with a thick sugar cap on top. Skin removed and diverted to compost, as banana peel is high in tannins and slows extraction. Material purchased rather than farm-harvested, as no fruit harvest was available. Approximately two-thirds fill, cloth cover, not sealed. Day 0.


instruction: Record the preparation of this fermentation batch at day zero.

input: Date: 2026-08-03. Batch: LAB stage 1, rice wash. Location: Nabua, Bicol.

output: Approximately 500 ml rice wash from NFA-grade standard milled rice, rinsed in purified station water rather than chlorinated tap water to avoid suppressing the lactic population. First rinse used, agitated by hand to release starch, poured off thick and cloudy. Food-grade plastic pitcher, baking-soda washed and air-dried, approximately half fill to maintain exposed surface area for ambient colonisation. Cloth cover, not sealed, room temperature, out of direct sun, still air. No sugar or milk added at this stage. Day 0. The rinsed rice was retained for cooking; only the wash water is used.


instruction: Assess these fermentation batches at day one and state what action is warranted.

input: Date: 2026-08-04. Batches: FPJ camote, FFJ saba, LAB stage 1. All at day 1. Location: Nabua, Bicol.

output: No action warranted. LAB is not yet expected to show separation or a distinctly sour aroma; 3 to 5 days is the normal window for stage one. Assessment at this stage is by smell alone: mildly sour and slightly sweet indicates the batch is on track, while a putrid or rotten aroma would indicate contamination requiring discard and restart. FPJ and FFJ assessed for liquid drawing at the base, surface film, and whether the cover has gone damp against the sugar cap, which is the most common cause of surface mould in tropical conditions.


instruction: Record this species identification and the evidence supporting it.

input: Date: 2026-08-04. Unit: pool previously recorded as azolla. Method: close-range lift test, clump removed from water and photographed in hand. Location: Nabua, Bicol.

output: Provisional identification changed from azolla to duckweed (Lemnaceae). Observed: flat, rounded, coin-shaped fronds sitting individually rather than branching; both bright green and deep burgundy plants present in the same clump; mat surface fine and granular rather than quilted. Confidence: probable, not confirmed. Outstanding test is tactile: azolla crushes to a fern-like green mush and feels velvety and spongy, while duckweed fronds stay intact and feel slick. Whether any individual plant branches to another at a visible joint is also decisive. Date precision for the identification: approximate pending that check.


instruction: Explain why red or bronze pigmentation cannot be used to distinguish these two floating plants.

input: Field question: can reddening be used as a decisive test for azolla versus duckweed?

output: No. Reddening is not decisive. Several duckweeds produce red-purple anthocyanin, notably Spirodela polyrhiza, which has reddish undersides and reddens under stress and high light in the same way azolla does. Root count is also unreliable on its own, since Spirodela carries multiple roots per frond rather than one. The reliable tests are frond architecture and texture: azolla fronds are small overlapping scales on a branching stem, giving a quilted, moss-like mat that feels velvety, while duckweed fronds are separate flat discs giving a fine granular mat that feels slick. An identification based on colour alone should be recorded as unconfirmed.


instruction: Record this input production event and its downstream destination.

input: Date: 2026-08-04. Event: coconut husk shredding. Equipment: mechanical shredder. Location: Nabua, Bicol.

output: Coconut husk processed to shredded coir by mechanical shredder and stockpiled at the compost pit. Carbon source class: high-lignin, slow to decompose, high moisture retention. Shredding substantially increases surface area relative to whole husk, so processed coir wets and breaks down faster than unprocessed material despite the same lignin content. This is an on-farm input production event: the carbon feeding the bed substrates is manufactured on site rather than purchased. Quantity and particle size to be recorded from video evidence rather than estimated.


instruction: Record this waste-stream decision and its reasoning.

input: Date: 2026-08-04. Material: uncooked rice, left wet approximately 24 hours at ambient tropical temperature after the wash water was drawn off for LAB. Location: Nabua, Bicol.

output: Rice spoiled and was not consumed. Diverted to Bed 3 mixed with dry carbon rather than discarded. Recorded as an input event for that bed rather than as disposal: spoiled rice is nitrogen-bearing material entering a deliberately high-carbon substrate of bamboo leaves and shredded coconut husk, which improves the carbon-to-nitrogen balance of that pile. Note that the LAB culture drawn from the same rice is unaffected and continues normally.


instruction: Summarise this disruption and regeneration sequence with its dates and precision.

input: Unit: azolla pool bed, Nabua, Bicol. Sequence spans June to August 2026.

output: June 2026: bed dry, holding compost with bamboo leaves and grass as carbon, no standing water and no floating plants, confirmed by photograph. Material had been under preparation for approximately one month and was staged for transfer to a rotary composter on a two-week cycle. 8 to 11 July 2026: Typhoon Inday, bed flooded before the transfer was executed; the transfer never took place and the material remained in the bed. Regeneration then occurred without inoculation or reintroduction. 3 August 2026: near-total surface coverage, uniform bright green. The propagules survived a drained, composted, mulched state rather than dormancy in standing mud, which is the harder survival condition. Species identification subsequently revised to probable duckweed, which would reframe this as colonisation following flood introduction rather than regeneration; both readings remain live pending tactile confirmation.


instruction: Summarise the phase history of this source substrate and its current use.

input: Unit: 2019 pig-litter pile, Nabua, Bicol.

output: Established 2019 as a Korean Natural Farming pig-litter floor with continuous biological activity from pig manure, organic inputs and microbial inoculants. Pigs were culled after approximately one year during the regional African Swine Fever outbreak, after which the site was partially inactive with reduced inputs while natural decomposition and moisture cycling continued. It then transitioned to a chicken-integrated organic substrate area with a different waste profile, scratching and aeration behaviour, and altered nitrogen dynamics, before returning to dormancy. Approximately 25 percent of the accumulated IMO soil has now been harvested for use as inoculant elsewhere on the farm, while raw compost is added back. The pile is therefore a source substrate under simultaneous depletion and replenishment, not a static archive.


instruction: Record this biological indicator observation and what it demonstrates.

input: Unit: 2019 pig-litter pile, Nabua, Bicol. Event: three earthworms found during a harvest dig, approximately two weeks prior to 2026-08-04.

output: Three earthworms recovered during the IMO harvest dig. Species unidentified, most likely common local earthworm. African nightcrawler ruled out: a separate ANC culture roughly 100 m distant was abandoned after typhoon flooding and presumed dead, and migration across that distance is implausible. The identification is recorded as approximate rather than inflated. Regardless of species, worm presence integrates several substrate conditions at once and indicates the pile remained aerobic, held stable moisture, and retained viable decomposed organic matter through seven years spanning ASF culling, dormancy, livestock change and repeated flooding. Worms were transferred to Bed 3 as a biological inoculant for the new substrate.


instruction: Compare these two disrupted biological systems on the same site and state what the contrast shows.

input: Site: Nabua, Bicol. System A: African nightcrawler culture, deliberately established, lost to typhoon flooding, abandoned, presumed dead, never recovered. System B: floating plant population in a composted bed, flooded by Typhoon Inday July 2026, re-established without intervention within approximately three weeks.

output: Same disruption type, opposite outcomes. The ANC culture was a managed population dependent on maintained conditions and did not survive abandonment after flooding. The floating plant population re-established from propagules or introduction without any intervention. The contrast indicates that resilience on this site tracks whether a population can persist without management input, not whether it was deliberately established. The failed system is retained in the record deliberately: a dataset containing only successful outcomes misrepresents how regenerative practice behaves under tropical storm conditions.


instruction: State the recorded storm events affecting this site and their date precision.

input: Site: Nabua, Camarines Sur, Bicol, Philippines. Period: July to August 2026.

output: Typhoon Inday (international name Bavi): entered the Philippine Area of Responsibility as a super typhoon on 8 July 2026, weakened to typhoon strength by 9 July, remained a typhoon through 11 July. Date precision: exact. This is the event that flooded the compost bed before its planned transfer. Tropical Depression Luis: formed 1 August 2026, the twelfth tropical cyclone of the year, ongoing at the time of record with Signal No. 1 raised over the northern portion of Camarines Sur. Date precision: exact. An earlier July cyclone preceded Inday, which was the second of that month; its name and dates remain unconfirmed and are recorded as such rather than estimated.


instruction: State the intervention decision made under these weather conditions and the reasoning behind it.

input: Date: 2026-08-03 to 08-04. Planned intervention: IMO soil application to half of Bed 1, with the other half held as untreated control. Conditions: Tropical Depression Luis active, scattered rain and thunderstorms forecast across the Bicol Region, local flood warning in effect.

output: Application deferred. Applying soil inoculant immediately before heavy rain risks leaching the microbial population out of the root zone before it establishes, so the intervention was held rather than executed on schedule. Reseeding of the bed was deferred on the same reasoning, as seed sown into intense rain washes out. The deferral itself is recorded as a decision with its reasoning rather than as a gap in the log. Session priorities were reordered to observation, fermentation setup and pre-event baseline photography, all of which are unaffected by rain.


instruction: Record the intervention applied to this bed and the experimental design used.

input: Date: 2026-08-05, 17:30. Bed: pechay bed beside house, approximately 2 to 3 m long, 0.5 m wide, empty following harvest. Available input: harvested IMO soil from the 2019 pig-litter pile. Weather: Tropical Depression Luis weakening. Location: Nabua, Bicol.

output: Bed split at a marked midpoint, boundary running straight across the width and marked with a labelled stick. Both halves raked identically so that soil disturbance is held constant. IMO soil broadcast on one half only at roughly one to two handfuls per square metre, then raked into the top 2 to 3 cm rather than left on the surface, since direct sun kills a substantial part of a live microbial population. Both halves watered equally. Treated half recorded by fixed direction rather than left or right. Confound recorded at the time of application: the harvested IMO soil carried an earthworm population, so the treated half received microbes and worms together and this is not a single-variable comparison.


instruction: Record this observation of predator activity and its implication for the trial.

input: Date: 2026-08-05, during IMO application. Observation: ants appeared and were taking earthworms exposed by broadcasting and raking the IMO soil. Location: Nabua, Bicol.

output: Ant predation on earthworms observed within the application session. Mechanism: broadcasting and incorporating the substrate brought worms to the surface, and ants responded to the disturbance. Implication for the trial: the worm component of the treated half may not establish, though the microbial component is unaffected. Transferable practice point: when transferring substrate with the intention of establishing worms, bury the material and mulch over it rather than broadcasting, since surface exposure is what invites predation.


instruction: Assess this fermentation batch and state what action is warranted.

input: Date: 2026-08-08, day 5. Batch: rice wash started 2026-08-03, approximately 500 ml NFA-grade rice wash in purified station water, food-grade plastic pitcher, cloth cover, ambient temperature. Observation: separated into clear yellowish liquid below with a film on top; one dark patch and one white patch on the film. Smell: sour. Location: Nabua, Bicol.

output: Separation with a sour aroma indicates the wild lactic population established as intended. The dark patch on the film is mould and should be skimmed off without stirring it down; surface growth on the film does not contaminate the liquid beneath, and the sour smell of that liquid confirms it remains sound. Action: skim and discard the film, retain the clear liquid, stabilise with brown sugar at 1:1 by weight for storage. Important qualification: no milk fermentation stage was performed on this batch, so the product is stage-one fermented rice wash carrying wild lactic bacteria, not full LAB serum, which requires the subsequent milk fermentation that produces curd and whey.


instruction: Record the harvest and any plant-health observations from this plot.

input: Date: 2026-08-08. Crop: talong (eggplant), fruiting, plot under IMO management. Weather: heavy rain 2026-08-06. Location: Nabua, Bicol.

output: Four fruits harvested, large, well-formed and unblemished. Leaf yellowing observed on older lower leaves, progressing inward from the margins, on soil that had held water after the rain two days prior. Distribution and pattern match waterlogging stress rather than a primary nutrient deficiency, since yellowing is concentrated on older rather than new growth and follows saturation. No intervention applied. Heavy weed competition also present, grasses and broadleaf growing to the stem base, recorded as a plot condition affecting performance rather than as an incidental nuisance.


instruction: Record the observed disturbance and the intervention taken.

input: Date: 2026-08-08. Unit: coir-mulched bed. Observation: mulch layer scratched and displaced by free-ranging chickens, surface coverage uneven. Location: Nabua, Bicol.

output: Free-ranging chickens scratched the coir mulch, leaving coverage uneven and exposing substrate. Uneven mulch reduces moisture retention and leaves the surface open to drying. Intervention: bamboo poles laid across the bed roughly a hand's width apart as a physical barrier, using on-site material at no cost. Chickens scratch backward across open surfaces and are deterred where the ground cover is broken up. Effectiveness to be assessed at the next observation.


instruction: Compare the state of these two substrate pools and account for the difference.

input: Date: 2026-08-08. Pool 3: carbon source bamboo leaves plus shredded coconut husk, established approximately three weeks, smell wine-like. Pool 1: flooded, smell of swamp. Both on the same site, same climate. Location: Nabua, Bicol.

output: Pool 3's wine-like alcoholic aroma indicates yeast and lactic fermentation proceeding on the bokashi pathway and warrants no intervention. Pool 1's swamp aroma indicates anaerobic putrefaction in standing water rather than controlled fermentation, and calls for drainage, aeration and the addition of dry carbon. The distinction is diagnostic rather than cosmetic: alcoholic or sour signals a working ferment, while swamp or sulfide signals decomposition gone wrong. Same site and season, differing water status and carbon composition.


instruction: Report the first differential reading from this split-bed comparison and state its limitations.

input: Date: 2026-08-08, three days after application. Treated half: IMO soil broadcast and raked to 3 cm, applied 2026-08-05 17:30. Control half: raked identically, no IMO. Both halves weeded before application. Heavy rain 2026-08-06 across both halves equally. Location: Nabua, Bicol.

output: No weed emergence observed on the treated half; light weed emergence present on the untreated control. Recorded as an observational difference rather than a counted measurement. Two caveats limit interpretation: the applied IMO substrate is mature compost and may carry a lower weed-seed load than the existing bed soil, which would suppress emergence without any microbial mechanism; and at three days the control's weeds may simply be faster rather than more numerous. A second reading is required before this is treated as an IMO effect.


instruction: Record this sowing event and the design used.

input: Date: 2026-08-08. Seed: native labuyo chilli, farm-saved, dried pods opened and seeds extracted. Bed: split-bed IMO comparison. Location: Nabua, Bicol.

output: Six seeds sown, divided between treated and control halves, at approximately one hand-span spacing and roughly 0.5 cm depth, identical on both sides, watered equally. Chilli germination runs 7 to 14 days, so no emergence is expected within the current observation window and this stands as a continuing record beyond it. Sowing on both halves rather than one is required for the comparison to hold. Farm-saved seed also constitutes a seed-saving record independent of the germination trial.


instruction: Report the second differential reading from this split-bed comparison and state whether the earlier result held.

input: Date: 2026-08-09, four days after application, second reading. Weather since first reading: strong typhoon rainfall overnight across both halves equally. Location: Nabua, Bicol.

output: The differential held. Weed seedlings present on the untreated control half; the treated half remains comparatively clear. Heavy rainfall fell on both halves and did not erase the difference, which strengthens the observation relative to the single reading at three days by making it a trajectory rather than a snapshot. The original caveat still stands: the applied substrate may carry a lower weed-seed load than the bed soil, so a suppression mechanism is not established. Precision: observational, not counted.


instruction: Record the revised interpretation of this predator observation.

input: Date: 2026-08-09. Prior observation 2026-08-05: ants taking earthworms during IMO application. Current observation: ants absent from the plot following overnight typhoon rainfall. Location: Nabua, Bicol.

output: Ants absent after the storm. Revised interpretation: the earlier activity was most likely pre-storm relocation behaviour rather than sustained predation, since ants respond to falling barometric pressure by moving colonies, and the exposed worms were incidental to that movement. Implication: worm predation on the treated half is likely to have been transient rather than persistent. Recorded as inferred rather than confirmed. The earlier record is retained rather than deleted, with the revision noted against it.


instruction: Record the completion and stabilisation of this fermentation batch.

input: Date: 2026-08-09. Batch: fermented rice wash, day 6, following a delay caused by a power outage after overnight typhoon rainfall. Serum held at ambient temperature during the delay, smell unchanged. Recovered volume approximately 1000 g. Location: Nabua, Bicol.

output: Surface film skimmed and discarded, including the dark mould patch, without stirring it into the liquid. Liquid recovered clear amber with no cloudiness or floating growth. Stabilised with brown sugar at 1:1 by weight, approximately 1000 g of sugar to 1000 g of liquid, stirred until fully dissolved, loosely covered and stored cool and dark. Input cost of the sugar recorded at 75 pesos, a material constraint on a smallholder operation. Recorded honestly as stage-one fermented rice wash rather than full LAB serum, since the milk fermentation stage was not performed; the milk required was outside budget. The batch is usable as a lactic-bearing soil drench and its performance will be observed rather than assumed.


instruction: Record the operational conditions affecting observation on these dates.

input: Dates: 2026-08-06 through 2026-08-09. Location: Nabua, Bicol.

output: 2026-08-06: rain throughout the day, no field session possible, no interventions applied and no readout taken. 2026-08-07: no field session, equipment failure requiring travel to Naga for a replacement monitor. 2026-08-09: power outage following overnight typhoon rainfall, delaying both transcription and the stabilisation of the fermentation batch by approximately 24 hours. These interruptions are recorded rather than omitted: weather, equipment failure and power supply are ordinary constraints on smallholder record-keeping, and a log that shows only workable days misrepresents the conditions under which the practice operates.


instruction: Explain the role of this Korean Natural Farming input and the crop stage it is used in.

input: Input: FPJ (Fermented Plant Juice). Crop: leafy vegetable in active leaf growth.

output: FPJ is a growth stimulant made by fermenting fast-growing plant tips (e.g. sweet potato shoots, kangkong, young weeds) with brown sugar. It supplies plant hormones, enzymes, and chlorophyll precursors that push vegetative vigor. Use it during the vegetative stage when the plant is building leaf and stem mass. Typical foliar dilution is 1:500 to 1:1000, applied early morning or late afternoon. Stop or reduce FPJ once the crop shifts to flowering, where FFJ becomes the appropriate input.


instruction: Explain the role of this Korean Natural Farming input and the crop stage it is used in.

input: Input: FFJ (Fermented Fruit Juice). Crop: fruiting vegetable beginning to flower.

output: FFJ is made by fermenting ripe fruit (banana, papaya, squash) with brown sugar. It is high in soluble sugars and potassium and supports the reproductive stage — flowering, fruit set, and fruit fill. Switch from FPJ to FFJ as the crop begins to flower. Typical foliar dilution is 1:500 to 1:1000. Pairing FFJ with a calcium input (water-soluble calcium / WCA) during fruit fill improves fruit firmness and reduces blossom-end disorders.


instruction: Explain the role of this Korean Natural Farming input and when to apply it.

input: Input: OHN (Oriental Herbal Nutrient).

output: OHN is an alcohol-and-fermentation extract of aromatic medicinal herbs (commonly ginger, garlic, angelica, cinnamon, licorice). It is a tonic and immune/pest-resistance booster rather than a fertilizer. Use it preventively at low dose throughout the cycle, and at the onset of stress — pest pressure, disease pressure, or recovery after a weather event. Typical dilution is 1:1000, often co-applied with FPJ or FFJ in the same foliar spray.


instruction: Explain the role of this Korean Natural Farming input and how it is applied.

input: Input: LAB (Lactic Acid Bacteria serum).

output: LAB is a lactic-acid bacteria culture grown from rice-wash water and milk. It accelerates decomposition, suppresses anaerobic and pathogenic organisms, reduces odor in compost and litter systems, and improves nutrient availability in the root zone. Apply as a soil drench to activate substrate biology or as a dilute foliar spray for surface disease suppression. Typical dilution is 1:1000. In waterlogged or anaerobic-stressed soil, a LAB drench helps re-balance microbial populations.


instruction: Explain the role of this Korean Natural Farming input and where it is used in the cycle.

input: Input: IMO (Indigenous Microorganisms).

output: IMO is a cultured community of locally collected microbes (collected on cooked rice under leaf litter, then expanded through bran and soil stages, IMO-1 through IMO-4). It is the soil-inoculation backbone of KNF, used at land preparation and transplanting to establish a diverse, locally adapted microbial population in the bed. Because the microbes are indigenous to the site, they are already adapted to local climate and substrate — the core reason a KNF system behaves like a locally tuned biological engine rather than a generic input.


instruction: Determine whether this fermentation batch is ready to harvest and explain the signal.

input: Batch: FPJ from kangkong tips + brown sugar, 7 days at tropical ambient temperature. Liquid has pooled at the bottom, surface smells sweet-sour and slightly alcoholic, light bubbling has slowed.

output: Ready to harvest. The signals of a finished FPJ are: liquid extract drawn out by the sugar, a sweet-sour mildly alcoholic aroma (not putrid or rotten), and fermentation activity that has peaked and is slowing. Strain the liquid off the solids and store in a loosely capped bottle out of direct sun. A rotten, foul, or ammonia smell would indicate spoilage rather than fermentation — discard that batch.


instruction: Determine whether this LAB culture is at the correct stage and what to do next.

input: Batch: rice-wash water left covered ~4 days, now layered. Added to milk 1:10 five days ago. Mixture has separated into a yellowish clear liquid below and a thick white curd on top.

output: Ready. The clear yellowish serum below the white curd is the LAB serum — that separation is the target endpoint. Carefully extract the clear serum (the curd can be composted or fed to livestock). Stabilize the serum with an equal weight of brown sugar for storage, then refrigerate or keep cool. Dilute 1:1000 for soil drench or foliar use. If the rice-wash stage smelled rotten rather than mildly sour before adding milk, restart — that indicates the wrong organisms colonized.


instruction: Assess whether this IMO collection is ready for the next stage.

input: IMO-1: cooked rice in a wooden box set under bamboo leaf litter for 4 days in humid weather. Surface now shows mostly white fuzzy mycelium with a few small patches of other colors.

output: The predominantly white mycelial growth means IMO-1 is ready to advance to IMO-2 (mix 1:1 with brown sugar and ferment ~7 days). White mold is the desired indigenous fungal-led community. Small off-color patches can be tolerated if white dominates, but heavy black, blue-green, or slimy growth means contamination — discard and recollect, ideally from a healthier, more biodiverse spot such as an undisturbed forest-edge or long-composted bed.


instruction: Recommend the correct KNF input for this crop stage and justify the choice.

input: Crop: pechay, 12 days after transplant, full vegetative growth, no visible stress. Goal: maximize leaf development before harvest.

output: Use FPJ as the primary input during this vegetative window, foliar at 1:500 to 1:1000, applied late afternoon every 5 to 7 days. Optionally co-apply OHN at 1:1000 as a low-dose preventive tonic. Hold FFJ — there is no reproductive stage in a leaf crop like pechay, so fruit-stage inputs add no benefit. Keep IMO activity in the bed through prior soil application rather than re-applying mid-cycle.


instruction: Recommend the correct KNF input sequence as the crop changes stage.

input: Crop: bush tomato transitioning from vegetative to first flowering.

output: Taper FPJ as flowering begins and bring in FFJ as the lead input to support flower set and fruit fill, foliar at 1:500 to 1:1000. Add water-soluble calcium during fruit fill to firm fruit and reduce blossom-end rot. Maintain OHN at 1:1000 as a preventive through the reproductive stage, since fruiting plants under tropical humidity are vulnerable to pest and fungal pressure. IMO stays in the root zone from earlier soil application.


instruction: Classify the likely stress driver from the field description and recommend a KNF response.

input: Symptom: lower leaves yellowing from the margins inward, soil waterlogged after several days of heavy rain, roots near the surface, faint sour smell from the bed.

output: Pattern points to waterlogging-driven root stress with anaerobic soil conditions and likely nitrogen leaching/lockout, not a primary nutrient deficiency. Priority is restoring soil biology and aeration, not feeding heavily. Response: improve drainage first (open furrows, avoid standing water), then apply a LAB soil drench at 1:1000 to re-balance the anaerobic microbial population and reduce the sour-smell organisms. Follow with a light FPJ foliar at 1:1000 to support recovery once drainage improves. Avoid high-nitrogen pushes while the bed is still saturated.


instruction: Identify the likely cause from the symptom pattern and recommend an intervention.

input: Symptom: interveinal yellowing on new upper leaves while lower leaves stay green, plants otherwise upright, soil well-drained.

output: Yellowing concentrated on new growth with green lower leaves suggests an immobile-micronutrient limitation (iron/manganese-type pattern), often tied to high pH or poor root-zone microbial activity rather than overall starvation. In a KNF frame, address root-zone biology and trace availability: apply IMO/LAB to reactivate microbial chelation in the bed, support with FPJ foliar at 1:1000 for an immediate uptake boost, and check that the bed is not overlimed. Distinguish this from waterlogging cases, where yellowing starts on lower/older leaves.


instruction: Diagnose the substrate condition and recommend corrective action.

input: Substrate: compost/litter pool smells strongly of ammonia and rotten egg, surface is slimy, decomposition has stalled.

output: Ammonia plus rotten-egg (sulfide) odor and sliminess indicate the pile has gone anaerobic — beneficial aerobic and lactic populations have been displaced by anaerobic organisms, and nitrogen is being lost as ammonia. Correct it by restoring air and lactic dominance: turn or loosen the pile to aerate, add dry carbon (rice straw, dried leaves) to absorb excess moisture and balance C:N, then drench with LAB serum at 1:500 to 1:1000 to re-seed lactic bacteria and suppress the anaerobes. Re-check in several days; the target is an earthy, sweet-sour smell, not putrid.


instruction: Recommend a KNF response to early pest emergence under tropical humid conditions.

input: Condition: warm humid spell after rain, early signs of aphids and leaf-chewing damage appearing on young vegetable transplants.

output: Move preventively before populations build. Apply OHN at 1:1000 as a foliar tonic to boost plant resistance, and pair with a mild deterrent foliar (e.g. a dilute ferment or botanical spray used in KNF practice) on a 5-to-7-day rhythm during the humid window. Maintain plant vigor with stage-appropriate FPJ so stressed, weak tissue does not invite further pressure. Scout in early morning when pests are active, and treat field margins where humidity and pest cycles concentrate first. Avoid waiting for visible heavy infestation — humid tropical cycles escalate fast.


instruction: Outline a KNF recovery protocol and expected trajectory after a flood/typhoon event.

input: Event: typhoon with heavy flooding has receded; beds were submerged ~24-48h, leaves silt-coated, some plants lodged, soil saturated and likely anaerobic.

output: Recovery sequence: (1) Restore drainage and gently rinse silt off foliage so leaves can resume photosynthesis. (2) Do not fertilize heavily into saturated soil — first re-balance biology with a LAB soil drench at 1:1000 to counter anaerobic conditions. (3) Support stressed tissue with OHN at 1:1000 plus a light FPJ foliar at 1:1000 once standing water clears. (4) Reseed/replace plants beyond recovery rather than nursing them. Expected trajectory: surviving plants typically show stabilization within 3-5 days and renewed growth within 1-2 weeks if root zones were not destroyed; severely lodged or rotted root systems will not recover and should be replaced. Track recovery against logged outcomes rather than assumption.


instruction: Compare the likely outcomes of two KNF treatment choices for the same condition and recommend one.

input: Condition: leafy crop with early yellowing on lower leaves after a wet spell. Option A: high-nitrogen push immediately. Option B: LAB soil drench first, then light FPJ once drained.

output: Recommend Option B. In wet, likely-anaerobic soil, an immediate high-nitrogen push (Option A) feeds into a root zone that cannot use it well, risks further leaching, and does not address the underlying microbial imbalance — yellowing often persists or worsens. Option B treats the cause first: LAB rebalances soil biology and improves nutrient cycling, and a light FPJ foliar then supports recovery through the leaf rather than the saturated root zone. Outcome expectation: B yields steadier recovery with less risk of secondary rot; A risks a brief green-up followed by relapse.


instruction: Explain why locally collected microbial inputs are central to this farming system.

input: Question: why does KNF emphasize Indigenous Microorganisms (IMO) collected on-site instead of purchased microbial products?

output: Because microbes collected on the farm are already adapted to that site's climate, moisture cycles, temperature range, and substrate. They establish and persist more reliably than imported strains selected under different conditions. This is the structural reason a mature KNF substrate behaves like a locally tuned biological engine: years of IMO additions, livestock integration, and decomposition build an accumulated, site-specific microbial community that a purchased generic inoculant cannot reproduce. Practically, it also removes dependence on bought inputs — the system runs on what the land already hosts.


instruction: Explain how a closed bokashi-style fermentation loop works using only on-site inputs.

input: System: fruit and vegetable scraps fed into an existing litter-and-azolla compost pool, using the microbial community already in the substrate as the inoculant, no purchased EM.

output: The existing substrate carries an established indigenous microbial population from years of biological activity, so it functions as a live starter. Fresh fruit and vegetable scraps added to the pool are colonized and fermented by those resident organisms — a bokashi-type fermentation driven by the site's own microbes rather than a bought culture. Azolla contributes nitrogen and biomass. The result is a self-sustaining closed loop: inputs come from the farm's own waste streams and biology, fermentation generates a nutrient-rich liquid extract and stabilized solids for the crop beds, and no external inoculant or fertilizer is purchased. Layering (active surface, transitional middle, stable base) reflects successive decomposition stages within the same pool.


instruction: Given the logged field observation, state the KNF intervention applied and the observed outcome.

input: Date: 2026-07-12. Crop: pechay, early vegetative. Weather: heavy rain previous 3 days. Symptom: yellowing lower leaves. Soil: waterlogged. Location: Nabua, Bicol.

output: Intervention applied: LAB + FPJ, diluted 1:1000, foliar spray at 5:30 PM. Result after 72h: leaf recovery with reduced yellowing. Note: snail activity increased after application. Reasoning consistent with the pattern — waterlogged, anaerobic soil with lower-leaf yellowing was treated by re-balancing soil biology (LAB) plus light vegetative support (FPJ) rather than a heavy nitrogen push, and the crop recovered within three days.


instruction: Summarize the documented management transition for this period of the farm.

input: Period: 2019. Event: livestock integration on the Nabua site.

output: In 2019 a Korean Natural Farming pig-litter substrate system with integrated chickens was added as a supporting biological subsystem for vegetable production. This introduced continuous biological activity — high-nitrogen pig manure, microbial inoculant additions, and dense microbial loading — that seeded the long-lived substrate the system still draws on. The pig phase ran roughly one year before African Swine Fever forced culling and an operational shift.


instruction: Summarize the documented management transition for this period of the farm.

input: Period: ASF outbreak through 2026 reboot. Event: loss of pig livestock and system transition.

output: During the African Swine Fever outbreak the pigs were culled after about a year of raising, and the site went partially inactive — reduced inputs, with natural decomposition and moisture cycling continuing. It then transitioned into a chicken-integrated organic substrate area (different waste profile, scratching/aeration behavior, altered nitrogen dynamics), and by the 2026 reboot operates with no livestock as an IMO-activated azolla-and-bokashi closed loop running on the accumulated indigenous microbial community.


instruction: Recommend the correct KNF input for this crop stage and justify the choice.

input: Crop: Lakatan banana, recently transplanted sucker, establishing roots. Soil: KNF-managed bed with mature substrate. Weather: humid, intermittent rain.

output: At establishment, prioritize root and soil biology over foliar feeding. Drench the planting zone with IMO/LAB to colonize the root area, and apply a light FPJ foliar at 1:1000 to support early leaf emergence. Hold FFJ until the plant is well into vegetative growth — it is far from fruiting. Add OHN at 1:1000 preventively given the humid conditions that favor early pest and fungal pressure on tender transplants. Keep beds well-drained to avoid waterlogging the new root system.


instruction: Recommend a KNF approach for a transplant under heat and transplant shock.

input: Crop: taro transplant, leaves wilting in midday heat 2 days after transplanting, soil moist.

output: This is transplant shock plus heat stress, not a nutrient problem — soil is already moist, so do not overwater. Provide light afternoon shade if possible, apply OHN at 1:1000 as a stress tonic, and a dilute FPJ foliar at 1:1000 in the late afternoon to support recovery without forcing growth on a stressed root system. Avoid strong inputs or high nitrogen until the plant re-establishes turgor and pushes new growth, typically within several days if roots are intact.


instruction: Distinguish between two competing causes from the symptom pattern and recommend the diagnostic next step.

input: Symptom: leaf yellowing in a leafy crop. Possible causes under consideration: (A) waterlogging/anaerobic soil, (B) nitrogen deficiency in well-drained soil.

output: Differentiate by pattern and soil state. Waterlogging (A): yellowing starts on lower/older leaves, soil is saturated, often a sour smell, sometimes surface roots — treat by draining and LAB drench, not by feeding. True nitrogen deficiency (B): general pale-green to yellow progressing from older leaves but in well-drained soil with no saturation — treat with FPJ and improved root-zone biology. Next diagnostic step: check soil moisture and smell directly. If saturated/sour, treat as A first; only treat as a feeding problem once drainage and soil biology are corrected.


instruction: Explain the principle that should govern intervention decisions in a regenerative biological system.

input: Question: in a KNF system, when a crop shows stress, why is the first move usually to read and correct soil biology rather than to apply more input?

output: Because in a biological system most visible stress is downstream of soil and microbial conditions — moisture state, aeration, microbial balance, root health. Adding more input without correcting the underlying condition often fails or backfires (e.g. feeding nitrogen into anaerobic soil). The KNF logic is to read the signals first (smell, soil moisture, which leaves are affected, microbial state), correct the biology and environment, then support the plant with the stage-appropriate input. The system is treated as a set of feedback loops to be re-balanced, not a deficiency to be force-fed.