Ok… so when I made willow water the other day, I could’ve broken off a few extra branches and fermented those with LABS for some excellent veg/transition fertilizer, since willows are so fast-growing and it’s just starting to show some smallish buds? Maybe I should go get a muslin cloth and wash some rice tomorrow so I have it ready in a few weeks, the tree’s not going anywhere.
I thought about spinach mostly for the micros; it’s also extremely high in boron, amusingly enough. 
You want the leafy green material, not the wood and I’d have to look into where the nutrients are in the tree. If there’s enough n the leaf material to make it worth while.
This is from my limited understanding. Someone please correct me if I’m wrong
“Indolebutyric acid (IBA) is a plant hormone that stimulates root growth. It is present in high concentrations in the growing tips of willow branches. By using the actively growing parts of a willow branch, cutting them, and soaking them in water, we can get significant quantities of IBA to leach out into the water.”
I already do that regularly for my clones… just wondering if it’d be useful for a ferment too. If I could do all this with stuff from around my yard, it’s a lot more attractive than having to go to the park and bag up a few plants for everyone to be curious about. I live in a pretty densely populated area.
I don’t know if the fermentation would affect the hormones 
have look into this… but the nutrients like nitrogen will be there for sure after the fermentation
What? I was just trying to have a friendly chat about Purple non-sulphur bacteria. Give a guy a break. Ha!
I will do that, and I would welcome your input as things progress! The sharing of multiple experiences is what will really answer people’s questions IMHO.
I’ll also be continuously directing people to your thread for additional information
For using willow, I believe the young growing tips are the best sources of IBA and salicylic acids. It’s the sap we’re after I think, as well as the thin layer beneath the outer bark. The leaves are discarded and the branches w yellow or green tips are used (not the brown woody parts).
I just use a simple tea extraction rather than a full ferment. Cause, well, it’s quick and easy and still works. It’s great for rooting clones and as a general booster for healthy roots.
Sounds like I’m already getting the most use out of willow that I can; maybe I’ll just keep it simple and dedicate a pot to vetch or clover since they’re nitrogen fixers, that way I can grow without depleting the soil and use it for a ferment at harvest. Natural sources doesn’t mean it has to be from outdoors, duh. I’ll cruise down to the river a few minutes away and see if there’s any nettles there, and if not, I’ll plan to use vetch.
Thank you for clearing that up @catapult. Sometime when its late I type and think faster than I can properly look into stuff. Hate to steer anyone in the wrong direction, another reason this place is so great, we all keep each other honest I guess 
For sure @BeagleZ also I should say, that I love the conversation and spreading of natural inputs based info that’s happening here. So thanks for being a part of that! I too am learning new stuff from these threads all the time.
The leftover water from boiling a pound of pasta should work great for a LABS starter, I assume? Then I’ll put that in a mason jar covered with a carbon filter and cheesecloth, leave it for 5 days, siphon it out and add it to a gallon pickle jar with some milk, which also sits for 5 days… and then I’m gonna flounder because I don’t understand how adding wheat bran keeps it anaerobic. Is the point just to put enough of something on top that it stops air from getting through? Would a plastic bag full of brown sugar, or sand for that matter, work just as well? I figure brown sugar has the advantage of being food even if it somehow breaks in the process. 
Skip the wheat bran fosho. My lab just gets covered with an old t shirt
That should work, you can skip the bran. Never got that either so if some could explain that part that would be great.
Ha, @lotus710 you beat me to it
Ok, so as long as the jar with the siphoned water and milk is lightly covered (probably a carbon filter and cheesecloth again, don’t want it smelling too bad) it should be fine? I was going off your walkthrough linked in the first post, it says to sprinkle with wheat bran and my brain just went 
trying to figure out why.
I actually asked @CrunchBerries the same thing when I started cause I too couldn’t get my head around it
The og recipe my master cho mentioned to do it but over the years ive seen no difference.
Dude and I were chatting on RIU about LABS and he mentioned using black rice for a better inoculation. Purple LABS anyone?
Also, he said you could culture a new batch of serum from an old batch. I tried it and it worked, but my ph was at 5. Not a total loss, but that is why I’m starting a new batch from scratch.
Couple labs videos
Bring the roots too… don’t just cut them… like that when you make the tea/fermented stuff you also get the goods in the roots 
