I don’t think it does any harm, but LAB are used for things like odor control, and to control spoilage (aka putrefaction).
It does this because it inhibits the growth of other bacteria and fungus… which is the opposite of what we want.
Yes LAB will enter the material naturally, but with an inoculation of LAB, it’s going to dominate, and prevent other microbes from being present in significant amounts
I think it’s counter productive
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Correct.
Cho’s son doesn’t like the use of sugars
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This is correct, in my understanding of lactobacillus cultures from being a bread baker. LB is exactly that, the sanitation and police for microbiomes. Without the lactose it’ll slowly fall away as other things get more dominant, but it will shift the PH more acidic in the process, which is one of the protective features of it in bread, yeasts and other bacteria do ok with acid, molds not so much. The acidity does help it self select over other things though which is why it keeps so well. When we add sugar besides lactose or starches and proteins in a more balanced PH mixture, we put down the LB and let the other cultures become dominant
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I feel like a lot of people into KNF spend more time on the “hows” than the “whys”. And unfortunately I think the popular youtubers take advantage of that fact and sort of avoid the deeper explanations, keeping up a “follow the leader” type of vibe as they set themselves up as the leaders and sell classes and lectures and consultation…
Like heady said part of the idea is diversity. Lactic Acid Bacterias is a whole family of different bacteria strains and species and often accompanied by other microbes in a consortium (e.x. yeasts, PNSBs…). If you’re inoculating everything with the same source, you aren’t getting the widest diversity possible. Will you notice it though? Who knows lmao
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This is what you don’t want in a wild harvested fermentation though. No police. ACAB! 
By this logic, you should be able to inoculate flour with LABS and create a starter, but you can’t because the LAB will prevent wild yeast colonization. You need (controlled) diversity.
How do we control? By carefully selecting the substrate.
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You are right, I was just about to type out “but also HeadyBear has a point”. I’m with you on ACAB, when it comes to the fermentations I’m willing to be more flexible lol. I think both approaches can be worthwhile but yeah with or without LABS- two different end products completely. Just like with or without sugar, people say it kick start’s fermentation but if you’re adding anything more than a tiny amount IMO it changes the selection and makes it weaker culture.
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Totally agree, I only take advice from a select few people who are certified to do so, and have had studied in person with Master Cho. I do not take advice from people who make stickers for the IG sheep 
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that’s kinda what I mean though 
“The master” 
I mean, he did invent it 
ah not quite, he collected local, traditional korean farming techniques and popularized them with the masses, hence the name 
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Fair point! And a really good acknowledgment and clarification
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Chinese and Japanese as well, mostly the fermenting came from Korea. He combined the knowledge from the sources
IMO knowledge was not from Korea as far as I know and arguably the most important part of the process
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I’m finding ways to overcomplicate it, as usual. 
Does the amount of plant matter in there make a difference in the final product? Should I be filling it as much as possible, or can I split what I have between a few buckets to make more? I’m guessing it has a pretty good shelf life, if it can go 6 months before it’s even done fermenting.
And finally, just to double-check again, this is just a microbe inoculation rather than fertilizer, right? So I don’t need to worry about burning the plants with it?
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It is a fertilizer, JLF - JADAM Liquid Fertilizer.
JMS - JADAM Microbial Solution is the microbial inoculant
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This is a fertilizer. Different methodology. If it’s less than 2 months old, it could easily burn the shit out of your plants.
For a microbe inoculation, I recommend something else.
1 big bucket with all the plants is fine, and then you can just add plants/water in the future to keep it full.
I’ve got a year old batch of Dandelion fertilizer and it’s primo!
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I’d recommend only filling the bucket maybe 2/3 of the way, my first attempt was so wildly active that it was literally pouring over like a waterfall out of the bucket while it bubbled and boiled like mad
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Yeah this!
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I get the diversity part, but this is not really the solution for adding diversity to your soil.
FPJ/FFJ is a fermented product to extract the benefits from that particular plant or material.
Personally, the majority of my microbe diversity come from my IMO3/4 where it should be coming from.
FPJ/FFJ is the food/nutrition. yes diversity is a good thing but arent we really just concerned about the best possible fermentation and extraction as possible with this solution?
Isnt IMO a better resource for diversity?
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K, I’ve already got a compost tea brewer so I can easily stick with that; if I can replace the liquid fertilizers that I’m paying for with this, that’s even better. 
I’ll fill each bucket 1/2 to 2/3 of the way with plant matter, add a bit of sea salt - maybe a teaspoon? - then grab some leaves from around the compost pile in the backyard and seal them for ~4-6 months to make sure it’s fully fermented. Then I can use it as a full-range fertilizer at ~1:30 ratio, or 1/2 cup per gallon?
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I’ve only ever done a tiny little pinch out of paranoia, but I know chris trump is really into diluted seawater. There might be a recipe floating around for how to DIY it without an ocean nearby, I’d bet that would be close to the ideal salt:water ratio
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