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Remember, your last name is Alan, correct?

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Henry, Peter Henry.

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Henry.

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Yes.

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Alan would be cool, though.

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I wonder where I got that from.

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Hi, friends. This is John.

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Welcome back to the Regenerative

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Agriculture Podcast, where we have all

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kinds of fun conversations related to

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improving our soil health and our plants'

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health and ultimately our health by the

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cultivation and production of very high

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quality food.

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Thank you all for being here, for tuning

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in, and for listening.

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I'm here today with Peter.

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Henry from Puerto Rico, who is someone

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I've been looking forward to chatting with

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for quite a while.

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Peter, I've heard about the awesome things

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that you're doing on your operation from

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our team here at AEA.

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Tell us a bit about your personal journey

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and story and your farming context and

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what you have going on.

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Cool. So it looks extremely excited to be

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on the podcast. It's kind of surreal

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hearing the intro.

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Generally, I'm listening to the podcast on

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our way to drop food off or like pick up

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products and things like that.

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So, amazing to be here.

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I guess, like, super, super high level,

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I've been more or less full time

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farming for about six years now.

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I would say we've had this farm for six

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years. We purchased it in the pandemic.

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And I've been like really living off of

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farming for around three years now, where

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it's a full time job that's supports our

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family and the entire workforce.

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I guess, like, super quick, I don't come

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from a farming background.

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I mean, I grew up between the United

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States, Puerto Rico, spent some time in

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other places like Venezuela, Mexico,

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Colombia.

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So I would say, like, farming has always

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kind of been around me in the sense that

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in most of those countries, and even in

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the United States, there's always farms

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like in Florida, California, you always

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see farming around you.

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You hear about farmers kind of see what

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they're going through.

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You consume their products.

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But I never thought that this

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would be what I do for

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a living until maybe three years

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ago. So, I mean, like, I was pretty big on

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baseball most of my life.

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Like, I was, I guess, like good enough to

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play in college out of D1 school.

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I wasn't good enough really to make it to

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the pros or maybe like my mental worry

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about some of the baseball games weren't

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necessarily where they need to be to kind

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of handle the ups and downs of like having

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a three strikeout game and trying to

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bounce back from that.

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So when baseball was done, my most typical

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pathway was well, I need to make some

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money, so let me get into tech and I'm

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bilingual, so I could work in sales or

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something within Latin America.

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And that's pretty much what I did.

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And I was able to kind of get pretty high

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up into like the VP level of a couple

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different startups and start my own

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startup, mainly in like digital identity

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fintech space.

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But I always kind of had an idea

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that I wanted to live somewhere tropical,

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maybe Puerto Rico, maybe Mexico, and have

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my farm.

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I just didn't know when that would be.

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And so basically, that happened in the

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pandemic where everything went remote.

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So we just took a trip, my wife and I, to

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the Dominican Republic, stayed there for

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couple months and then I just was like how

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much would a small, you know, abandoned

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coffee farm or something, how much would

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that cost? And it turned out to be not too

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much.

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So we ended up purchasing a farm of

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about like seven hectares of land.

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I'm not sure what that is in acres, but it

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was purely 15 to 20.

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It was 27 times. Yeah, around 20.

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Yeah. So it was an abandoned farm.

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Like the guy who had it before actually

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worked for like one of the entities that

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does stuff for like reforestation.

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So he reforested with a bunch of like non

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endemic pine trees and maybe some other

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things like that, but it was kind of just

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like abandoned. There's a little shack

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there, so we just set up a couple solar

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panels so I could work remotely and kind

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of like do farming on the weekend or after

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the work day was done.

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But at that point in like 2020, it really

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wasn't something that I was thinking about

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doing full time.

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And I guess like a little bit of

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background into how we got to this part

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was probably in high school, I started

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roasting coffee.

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So, like, buying beans from Sweet Maria's

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and roasting it. And I think that that's

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really what got me into farming because I

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started seeing, like, oh, like there's

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these different varietal types and these

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different flavor profiles and stuff like

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that. So, at first, it was kind of like,

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you know, specialty coffee is really cool.

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How do I, you know, roast my own beans?

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Maybe I'll open up my own roastery, but

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that's quickly turned into actually

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wanting to grow the The trees myself and

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kind of all that, the entire process of

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coffee.

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So, when we bought the farm, the actually

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the idea around me working on the farm was

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to turn it into kind of a specialty coffee

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farm, the whole thing, shade growing, all

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that kind of stuff.

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I didn't really know much, too much about

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farming, row cropping, all that kind of

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stuff, but that's how we kind of got here.

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And we actually did plant some coffee.

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We planted the entire farm in coffee, but

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I guess like when you do something, the

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first time and you're kind of like a

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newbie to it, you don't necessarily

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understand the complexities about

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varieties or the importance of like good

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seed genetics, good nurseries, and stuff

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like that. So we went through pretty much,

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we did all the mistakes that you're

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probably gonna make.

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We quickly, oh, the pain, the pain of

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learning from experience.

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Oh, yeah. So we quickly got rid of the

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coffee. We still have some, like a couple

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thousand plants, but we, We really flipped

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that into actually a passion fruit

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operation.

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And from the passion fruit operation We

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got to where we are today, where we're

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mainly focusing on a niche market in the

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United States and Canada, where our buyers

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are generally supermarkets and direct to

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consumers in the African diaspora, mainly

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from Nigeria, who are looking for their

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heirloom type vegetables and tubers to be

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able to cook their traditional foods.

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And currently, right now In the market,

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they have to adapt to substitutes, which

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don't necessarily have the same flavor

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profiles or the quality that they're

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looking for.

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So that's kind of how we got into that.

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I'm happy to jump into how we got to that

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niche market as well, as it's a pretty

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interesting story.

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Yeah, I'd love to get that story.

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And then for you to elaborate a little bit

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on many of our listeners, I'm sure, are

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not familiar with what the production of

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passion food or some of these more

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tropical plants looks like.

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So tell us a little bit about the actual.

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Process and the management of the farming

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operation as well.

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Of course. Yep. Passion fruit, we're

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actually going to be going back to it.

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I just picked up a new variety of

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a passion fruit called Gulupa, which is

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from Huila in Colombia.

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So it's, I guess, pretty similar to what

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you guys have in the United States, where

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it's a smaller red passion fruit.

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In Colombia, Brazil, Dominican Republic,

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Puerto Rico, Mexico, you generally will

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find the larger yellow one.

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In the US, you probably won't find the

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Larger yellow passion fruits because

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they're actually banned from import.

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I think there's only like two countries

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that can import passion fruits.

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And generally, the consumers and the

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buyers want the red passion fruit.

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So you generally won't find that unless

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you go out of the country.

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So the variety that we were growing before

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was a Brazilian variety where it's like a

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giant passion fruit.

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It's a variety called Sol, it's from

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Brazil. And each passion fruit weighs

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about 450 to 600 grams.

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They're just

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these massive

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fruits. But the ones that are

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better for export are generally red and

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smaller, weighing about 100, 110 grams.

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In terms of a passion fruit orchard, I

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guess, an just excuse me if some of my

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terms might sound weird in English because

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I literally only know most terms of

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farming in Spanish.

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So I'm going to try to get them going.

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But essentially, a passion fruit orchard

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is more or less set up like a

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wine vineyard.

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It's a semi perennial plant.

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So you could generally push it to maybe

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three or four years before you have to

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replant.

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Maybe it could possibly go.

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A little bit longer, but if you want

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optimal production per tree and per

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hectare, generally replanting is going to

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be important.

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And I would say in passion fruit, a lot of

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people have issues because it is quite

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susceptible to a bunch of disease.

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So you generally have atracnose, which is

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a big one. You have a lot of like

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PTM, fusarium, damping off, rice octonia,

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all those good guys.

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But really, Fusarium is a pretty big one

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that attacks the root zone in most

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plantations. And then a lot of like leaf

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blight. So you'll have a lot of issues

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with alternaria, which is the big one,

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which is pretty dangerous to the passion

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fruit because it will dry up the plant if

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you don't catch it soon enough.

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And what really affects the quality of

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the fruit, really, is the atrachnos and

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the septoria type blight.

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You might have some bacterial diseases,

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but generally these are the things that

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make it so. A lot of passion fruit growers

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have a lot of issues and have to use

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a ton of chemicals.

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And so I always say if you are going to

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any of these countries, beware of the

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passion fruit that you're buying because

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it's probably pretty high on the residual

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chemical level because they're using

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everything from carbonazine to all your

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triosols to Rita Mill, like all those

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types of things on a constant basis.

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And because they're not going for export,

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a lot of times they're spraying today

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harvesting tomorrow and it's just got to

271
00:10:33,875 --> 00:10:37,568
be careful. And I think a lot of that

272
00:10:37,568 --> 00:10:41,088
has to do with possibly genetics, with the

273
00:10:41,088 --> 00:10:43,319
seeds. A lot of these diseases actually

274
00:10:43,319 --> 00:10:45,706
come from the nurseries, which has been a

275
00:10:45,706 --> 00:10:48,094
big challenge for us across the board with

276
00:10:48,094 --> 00:10:49,288
all of our vegetables.

277
00:10:49,288 --> 00:10:51,322
We generally have our own nursery right

278
00:10:51,322 --> 00:10:54,227
now on the farm that we built out to avoid

279
00:10:54,227 --> 00:10:55,077
those issues.

280
00:10:55,608 --> 00:10:58,803
But I would say, at least in the Dominican

281
00:10:58,803 --> 00:11:00,933
Republic, Colombia, and Mexico, I have

282
00:11:00,933 --> 00:11:03,881
experienced. Or I have experience in that,

283
00:11:03,881 --> 00:11:06,475
most of these horticultural crops bring

284
00:11:06,475 --> 00:11:09,501
disease into the fields and they cause,

285
00:11:09,501 --> 00:11:12,959
they have a lot of economic losses for

286
00:11:12,959 --> 00:11:15,730
growers. So in our case, we actually had

287
00:11:15,730 --> 00:11:18,737
to deal with all of those diseases plus a

288
00:11:18,737 --> 00:11:21,268
virus. And the problem with the virus,

289
00:11:21,268 --> 00:11:23,964
which is, I'm not sure what the variety of

290
00:11:23,964 --> 00:11:26,660
the virus was, it could have been a tomato

291
00:11:26,660 --> 00:11:29,056
virus or it could have been a tobacco

292
00:11:29,056 --> 00:11:31,153
virus, but One of those varieties actually

293
00:11:31,153 --> 00:11:32,351
lives within the seeds.

294
00:11:32,591 --> 00:11:34,799
So it's really hard to know until you're

295
00:11:34,799 --> 00:11:37,008
seven months in and then you start seeing

296
00:11:37,008 --> 00:11:38,112
issues with the virus.

297
00:11:38,112 --> 00:11:40,228
And so, like, the virus will generally

298
00:11:40,228 --> 00:11:42,343
create, like, kind of like a shriveled

299
00:11:42,343 --> 00:11:44,459
fruit that looks really weird and, like,

300
00:11:44,459 --> 00:11:46,272
make the leaves look pretty blotchy.

301
00:11:46,912 --> 00:11:49,792
So, those are a bunch of things that you

302
00:11:49,792 --> 00:11:51,072
have to figure out.

303
00:11:51,072 --> 00:11:54,819
But in terms of, like, the way you

304
00:11:54,819 --> 00:11:57,630
can grow passion fruit, generally, you

305
00:11:57,630 --> 00:11:59,972
grow it like a grapevine.

306
00:11:59,972 --> 00:12:02,643
Like a more or less like a grapevine, but

307
00:12:02,643 --> 00:12:05,017
you just need to have a taller trellis

308
00:12:05,017 --> 00:12:05,867
system.

309
00:12:05,794 --> 00:12:09,105
We generally put it around in feet, maybe

310
00:12:09,105 --> 00:12:12,831
seven feet high from the ground with a 12

311
00:12:12,831 --> 00:12:15,314
gauge wire and generally bamboo stakes.

312
00:12:15,394 --> 00:12:17,661
And then generally, you're planting

313
00:12:17,661 --> 00:12:20,381
traditionally, you would plant about 25

314
00:12:20,381 --> 00:12:22,194
meters by three meters.

315
00:12:23,074 --> 00:12:26,623
What I figured out is actually when you do

316
00:12:26,623 --> 00:12:28,594
a bunch of different cutting.

317
00:12:28,594 --> 00:12:31,074
Or trimmings on the plant, you could

318
00:12:31,074 --> 00:12:33,554
actually increase the density a lot more.

319
00:12:33,634 --> 00:12:34,484
So, I'm actually Planting around 65

320
00:12:34,245 --> 00:12:35,095
centimeters by about three meters.

321
00:12:34,754 --> 00:12:38,390
So, I'm increasing that a lot more,

322
00:12:38,390 --> 00:12:42,025
but it takes a lot of prunings

323
00:12:42,025 --> 00:12:45,661
to be able to get the plant

324
00:12:45,661 --> 00:12:49,296
to fruit and be productive during its

325
00:12:49,296 --> 00:12:50,335
life cycle.

326
00:12:51,135 --> 00:12:53,372
And yeah, I think the other cool thing

327
00:12:53,372 --> 00:12:55,608
about passion fruit, and if you have a

328
00:12:55,608 --> 00:12:57,845
vine at home, is if you want good

329
00:12:57,845 --> 00:12:59,802
production, the number one thing you could

330
00:12:59,802 --> 00:13:01,759
really do besides giving a good nutrition

331
00:13:01,759 --> 00:13:03,995
with calcium and moly and boron is the

332
00:13:03,995 --> 00:13:06,232
manual of public Molly and Boron is the

333
00:13:06,232 --> 00:13:07,082
manual pollinization.

334
00:13:06,791 --> 00:13:09,082
So you have to pollinate it by hand every

335
00:13:09,082 --> 00:13:09,932
single day.

336
00:13:10,071 --> 00:13:10,921
Wow.

337
00:13:10,791 --> 00:13:13,006
If you don't pollinate it by hand, you'll

338
00:13:13,006 --> 00:13:14,391
have a very poor production.

339
00:13:14,391 --> 00:13:17,964
The fruit might look like it's full, but

340
00:13:17,964 --> 00:13:19,751
it will be empty.

341
00:13:20,231 --> 00:13:23,871
And there's only one bee that pollinates

342
00:13:23,871 --> 00:13:26,624
it. It's like a sila copa, it's a big

343
00:13:26,624 --> 00:13:27,474
bumblebee type thing.

344
00:13:27,751 --> 00:13:30,547
But the regular bees love the pollen, but

345
00:13:30,547 --> 00:13:33,343
they won't do anything but rob the pollen

346
00:13:33,343 --> 00:13:36,376
from your tree. So if you're not getting

347
00:13:36,376 --> 00:13:39,425
out there around 12 in the afternoon to

348
00:13:39,425 --> 00:13:41,711
pollinate it by hand, good production.

349
00:13:41,711 --> 00:13:44,044
Like bees will be happy, but your

350
00:13:44,044 --> 00:13:45,711
pocketbook will probably be suffering.

351
00:13:46,991 --> 00:13:47,841
Wow.

352
00:13:48,591 --> 00:13:51,250
All right. So I want to dig deeper into

353
00:13:51,250 --> 00:13:53,923
you mentioned the number one thing is good

354
00:13:53,923 --> 00:13:54,773
nutrition management.

355
00:13:54,751 --> 00:13:57,339
And I know based on, I'm not really

356
00:13:57,339 --> 00:13:59,280
familiar with your operation, but people

357
00:13:59,280 --> 00:14:01,544
have been highly recommending that I speak

358
00:14:01,544 --> 00:14:02,394
with you.

359
00:14:02,751 --> 00:14:03,814
And that is indicated to me that you're

360
00:14:03,814 --> 00:14:04,664
doing something different from the

361
00:14:04,478 --> 00:14:07,035
mainstream. So, what's I'd like to

362
00:14:07,035 --> 00:14:09,945
understand how are you managing diseases

363
00:14:09,945 --> 00:14:12,854
and how are you managing nutrition?

364
00:14:13,014 --> 00:14:15,762
And how does that compare with either what

365
00:14:15,762 --> 00:14:17,823
you've been doing historically or what

366
00:14:17,823 --> 00:14:18,854
contemporary practices are?

367
00:14:20,374 --> 00:14:22,214
Yeah, for sure. I think so.

368
00:14:22,214 --> 00:14:25,025
My kind of journey to the regen ag space,

369
00:14:25,025 --> 00:14:27,837
if you will, kind of like don't like the

370
00:14:27,837 --> 00:14:29,780
labels of regen. And all these other

371
00:14:29,780 --> 00:14:31,541
things because I think it's just like

372
00:14:31,541 --> 00:14:32,799
they're great for dividing people.

373
00:14:33,279 --> 00:14:34,916
Yeah, that's what it's always like us

374
00:14:34,916 --> 00:14:36,319
versus them or stuff like that.

375
00:14:36,319 --> 00:14:39,839
I feel like there's a couple of things.

376
00:14:39,839 --> 00:14:42,799
Like for me, I live on the farm.

377
00:14:43,119 --> 00:14:46,757
We have workers here that also live on the

378
00:14:46,757 --> 00:14:50,395
farm, and our house is quite close to the

379
00:14:50,395 --> 00:14:53,092
crops. So just from like my own health

380
00:14:53,092 --> 00:14:54,730
standpoint, I don't necessarily feel

381
00:14:54,730 --> 00:14:57,024
comfortable mixing up a bunch of different

382
00:14:57,024 --> 00:14:57,874
mixtures with.

383
00:14:58,159 --> 00:15:00,668
Bunch of different molecules and spray

384
00:15:00,668 --> 00:15:03,595
those just from a, I guess, an

385
00:15:03,595 --> 00:15:04,850
egotistical, selfish standpoint.

386
00:15:05,330 --> 00:15:06,850
I don't think that that's a great idea.

387
00:15:07,490 --> 00:15:09,951
Second off, if you're looking to actually

388
00:15:09,951 --> 00:15:13,466
export to Europe or the US, you have to be

389
00:15:13,466 --> 00:15:15,926
very careful about what molecules you put

390
00:15:15,926 --> 00:15:18,387
on because you have the pre harvest

391
00:15:18,387 --> 00:15:19,237
interval timeframe.

392
00:15:19,090 --> 00:15:22,503
And so it actually limits the amount of

393
00:15:22,503 --> 00:15:24,210
chemicals you can use.

394
00:15:24,850 --> 00:15:27,698
And I would say the last part, though, is

395
00:15:27,698 --> 00:15:30,231
actually from a standpoint of what I see

396
00:15:30,231 --> 00:15:31,813
works and what doesn't work.

397
00:15:32,453 --> 00:15:35,477
And I've just seen that chemicals don't

398
00:15:35,477 --> 00:15:36,773
necessarily do much.

399
00:15:36,773 --> 00:15:38,937
I think they're good tools in the sense

400
00:15:38,937 --> 00:15:41,371
that if you have an issue and it's going

401
00:15:41,371 --> 00:15:43,535
to cause an economic issue for you down

402
00:15:43,535 --> 00:15:45,699
the line and you could understand how to

403
00:15:45,699 --> 00:15:47,863
use a chemical in the right way, that's

404
00:15:47,863 --> 00:15:50,656
great. But if you don't correct the

405
00:15:50,656 --> 00:15:53,179
underlying issues of nutrition and biology

406
00:15:53,179 --> 00:15:56,122
after which or before from a preventative

407
00:15:56,122 --> 00:15:59,065
manner, You're going to be basically a

408
00:15:59,065 --> 00:16:01,588
slave to using chemical after chemical.

409
00:16:02,388 --> 00:16:04,501
And as these things, like, for example,

410
00:16:04,501 --> 00:16:06,613
aphids that basically can morph, like one

411
00:16:06,613 --> 00:16:09,028
aphid can turn into millions of aphids in

412
00:16:09,028 --> 00:16:11,744
a blink of an eye, there's no way that

413
00:16:11,744 --> 00:16:13,857
those chemicals are going to penetrate all

414
00:16:13,857 --> 00:16:15,668
of those guys at one time.

415
00:16:15,668 --> 00:16:17,628
And you could just cause resistance and

416
00:16:17,628 --> 00:16:21,188
issues. So basically, how I've

417
00:16:21,188 --> 00:16:24,388
been approaching nutrition is

418
00:16:24,388 --> 00:16:27,588
one, trying to understand.

419
00:16:28,308 --> 00:16:31,518
What the plants need in terms of nutrition

420
00:16:31,518 --> 00:16:35,129
to prevent or to cure any type of issues

421
00:16:35,129 --> 00:16:37,937
or ailments that come onto the farm.

422
00:16:38,337 --> 00:16:41,953
And then see how I can incorporate

423
00:16:41,953 --> 00:16:45,569
more biology and more carbon into the

424
00:16:45,569 --> 00:16:49,185
system to allow me to stop using

425
00:16:49,185 --> 00:16:52,801
completely any type of chemical input or

426
00:16:52,801 --> 00:16:56,417
even like a copper fungicide type thing.

427
00:16:56,977 --> 00:16:59,667
So, in terms of new nutrition management I

428
00:16:59,667 --> 00:17:02,693
think like my main thing came from when we

429
00:17:02,693 --> 00:17:04,374
started the passion fruit crop.

430
00:17:04,854 --> 00:17:08,039
We had a bunch of issues with these, with

431
00:17:08,039 --> 00:17:09,454
a couple of diseases.

432
00:17:09,574 --> 00:17:13,256
And so, me kind of being a newbie into

433
00:17:13,256 --> 00:17:16,119
both passion fruit and kind of into

434
00:17:16,119 --> 00:17:19,392
farming, it was like my second year and

435
00:17:19,392 --> 00:17:22,665
kind of my first year actually doing like

436
00:17:22,665 --> 00:17:25,529
a real agricultural setup as you know,

437
00:17:25,529 --> 00:17:27,574
with coffee, it's fairly easy.

438
00:17:27,574 --> 00:17:29,789
They're perennial trees, you don't have so

439
00:17:29,789 --> 00:17:31,687
many like nutritional requirements as you

440
00:17:31,687 --> 00:17:33,269
would with a horticultural crop.

441
00:17:33,909 --> 00:17:37,434
And so, I kind of followed for

442
00:17:37,434 --> 00:17:40,958
the first few months the traditional way

443
00:17:40,958 --> 00:17:44,010
of doing it. Um, I had a couple of

444
00:17:44,010 --> 00:17:45,714
colleagues and friends in Colombia that do

445
00:17:45,714 --> 00:17:47,662
big production, I kind of just like follow

446
00:17:47,662 --> 00:17:50,802
their plan. So, you know, Rito Mill, mix

447
00:17:50,802 --> 00:17:53,454
it with some carbendazine, maybe come

448
00:17:53,454 --> 00:17:56,549
through with some other type of molecule.

449
00:17:57,029 --> 00:17:58,629
Um, maybe you know, you need a Neonicotine

450
00:17:58,629 --> 00:18:01,847
insecticide. And kind of like

451
00:18:01,847 --> 00:18:05,620
you're throwing these things on

452
00:18:05,620 --> 00:18:06,470
preventatively.

453
00:18:06,935 --> 00:18:08,962
And then you're not necessarily focusing

454
00:18:08,962 --> 00:18:11,564
on the nutrition. So while there was

455
00:18:11,564 --> 00:18:14,345
nutrition in, like the products that they

456
00:18:14,345 --> 00:18:16,728
were recommending were like chelated with

457
00:18:16,728 --> 00:18:20,303
EDTA and some other things that I kind of

458
00:18:20,303 --> 00:18:21,495
wasn't necessarily convinced.

459
00:18:21,815 --> 00:18:24,060
As I started questioning what they were

460
00:18:24,060 --> 00:18:26,626
telling me and seeing The results that I

461
00:18:26,626 --> 00:18:28,871
was getting, and that the disease never

462
00:18:28,871 --> 00:18:29,721
went away.

463
00:18:30,073 --> 00:18:33,738
That's when I started to really

464
00:18:33,738 --> 00:18:37,404
dive into plant nutrition, understand the

465
00:18:37,404 --> 00:18:40,458
whole context between mineral deficiencies

466
00:18:40,458 --> 00:18:44,124
and mineral excess, and why certain

467
00:18:44,124 --> 00:18:47,789
things happen at certain timeframes within

468
00:18:47,789 --> 00:18:50,233
the crop's life cycle.

469
00:18:50,553 --> 00:18:53,473
And that kind of drove me into solving

470
00:18:53,473 --> 00:18:56,028
issues from a more nutritional aspect than

471
00:18:56,028 --> 00:18:57,853
from a more chemical aspect.

472
00:18:57,853 --> 00:19:00,865
So, I quickly got out of that and started

473
00:19:00,865 --> 00:19:03,876
trying to find a way where I could reduce

474
00:19:03,876 --> 00:19:06,553
that chemical load and be able to, you

475
00:19:06,553 --> 00:19:08,895
know, have a healthy crop and have

476
00:19:08,895 --> 00:19:10,903
something that produces money, but also

477
00:19:10,903 --> 00:19:13,580
doesn't kill me in the process and kills

478
00:19:13,580 --> 00:19:16,257
other people eating it in the process and

479
00:19:16,257 --> 00:19:18,599
killing all the bees and everything like

480
00:19:18,599 --> 00:19:19,449
that.

481
00:19:19,494 --> 00:19:23,248
So, that's kind of how I got into that

482
00:19:23,248 --> 00:19:25,334
time frame, into that mindset.

483
00:19:25,654 --> 00:19:29,142
So, bring us just maybe flash forward

484
00:19:29,142 --> 00:19:31,903
to today. Well, you could also talk about

485
00:19:31,903 --> 00:19:33,427
the transition, but what does your

486
00:19:33,427 --> 00:19:34,698
nutrition management look like today?

487
00:19:35,178 --> 00:19:36,028
Yeah.

488
00:19:36,058 --> 00:19:39,698
So today, we mainly focus on foliar

489
00:19:39,698 --> 00:19:40,548
feeding.

490
00:19:41,418 --> 00:19:44,234
And we also do a couple soil drenches

491
00:19:44,234 --> 00:19:45,084
right now.

492
00:19:46,138 --> 00:19:49,438
And I also focus on

493
00:19:49,438 --> 00:19:52,738
a pretty aggressive pre planting

494
00:19:52,738 --> 00:19:54,718
soil amendment plan.

495
00:19:57,898 --> 00:20:01,004
So generally, what I do is before planting

496
00:20:01,004 --> 00:20:03,722
or anything like that, I'm taking a

497
00:20:03,722 --> 00:20:06,440
complete melic with your molly, with your

498
00:20:06,440 --> 00:20:08,770
total carbon to nitrogen, with your

499
00:20:08,770 --> 00:20:10,323
nitrates and your ammonium.

500
00:20:10,353 --> 00:20:11,253
And then I'm also taking a haney.

501
00:20:11,573 --> 00:20:15,066
And then from there,

502
00:20:15,066 --> 00:20:18,560
I'll take a soil

503
00:20:18,560 --> 00:20:22,053
test per irrigation sector.

504
00:20:22,693 --> 00:20:25,248
So, our farm is pretty mountainous terrain

505
00:20:25,248 --> 00:20:28,533
and we have a river that goes through it.

506
00:20:28,933 --> 00:20:32,458
So on one side of the river, the

507
00:20:32,458 --> 00:20:35,542
slope like super red and very high

508
00:20:35,542 --> 00:20:37,305
manganese and low iron.

509
00:20:37,625 --> 00:20:39,385
Well, relatively low iron to manganese.

510
00:20:39,385 --> 00:20:41,625
Like, put in perspective, we're about 208

511
00:20:41,625 --> 00:20:43,865
parts per million in manganese and about

512
00:20:43,865 --> 00:20:46,745
80 parts per million in iron on this side

513
00:20:46,745 --> 00:20:50,057
of the river. And on the other side of the

514
00:20:50,057 --> 00:20:52,409
river, we're about 108 parts per million

515
00:20:52,409 --> 00:20:55,433
iron and about 60 to 50 parts per million

516
00:20:55,433 --> 00:20:57,785
manganese on that side of the river.

517
00:20:57,785 --> 00:21:01,012
We're talking about Generally red sandy

518
00:21:01,012 --> 00:21:03,163
loam soils, pretty acidic.

519
00:21:04,343 --> 00:21:07,659
Before liming, you're looking at like a 49

520
00:21:07,659 --> 00:21:08,903
to 52 Ouch.

521
00:21:09,703 --> 00:21:11,543
Yeah, it's pretty gnarly.

522
00:21:11,543 --> 00:21:15,127
And generally, we have like two

523
00:21:15,127 --> 00:21:18,711
seasons, like a rainy season and

524
00:21:18,711 --> 00:21:21,436
a dry season. Right now, it's just kind

525
00:21:21,436 --> 00:21:23,983
of. I was just about to ask, what do the

526
00:21:23,983 --> 00:21:25,556
rainfall patterns and the quantity of

527
00:21:25,556 --> 00:21:26,406
rainfall look like?

528
00:21:27,143 --> 00:21:27,993
Yeah, so generally, I mean, you're

529
00:21:27,723 --> 00:21:28,573
supposed To have from around November to

530
00:21:28,400 --> 00:21:29,250
now, it should be dry.

531
00:21:28,883 --> 00:21:32,212
And then in May, the rain

532
00:21:32,212 --> 00:21:35,541
should start picking up and roll

533
00:21:35,541 --> 00:21:38,870
through the entire monsoon season into

534
00:21:38,870 --> 00:21:39,980
November again.

535
00:21:40,460 --> 00:21:43,273
What that's kind of looked like in the

536
00:21:43,273 --> 00:21:45,383
last three years has really been

537
00:21:45,383 --> 00:21:47,141
unpredictable, where, for example, last

538
00:21:47,141 --> 00:21:49,251
year it rained until April, stopped

539
00:21:49,251 --> 00:21:52,064
raining in May, and then it rained again

540
00:21:52,064 --> 00:21:54,525
until November, and then it just rained

541
00:21:54,525 --> 00:21:57,831
every single day. From November into about

542
00:21:57,831 --> 00:21:59,340
two weeks ago.

543
00:21:59,900 --> 00:22:01,340
And then the rains have stopped.

544
00:22:01,340 --> 00:22:04,087
So, really, like May, which used to be the

545
00:22:04,087 --> 00:22:06,529
rainy season in most of the subtropics, at

546
00:22:06,529 --> 00:22:08,971
least in this part of the world, has

547
00:22:08,971 --> 00:22:11,108
turned into more like a dry season.

548
00:22:11,108 --> 00:22:13,394
So, May, June, July, August, September,

549
00:22:13,394 --> 00:22:16,060
October are pretty dry, which makes things

550
00:22:16,060 --> 00:22:19,108
actually a lot easier for us to manage.

551
00:22:19,188 --> 00:22:21,464
Luckily, we have water and we're able to

552
00:22:21,464 --> 00:22:22,314
irrigate.

553
00:22:22,228 --> 00:22:25,701
And then in the season when it's a little

554
00:22:25,701 --> 00:22:29,173
bit colder, it also Is now raining a lot

555
00:22:29,173 --> 00:22:32,646
more because a lot of the cold fronts push

556
00:22:32,646 --> 00:22:36,118
down and pass a lot of rain into the

557
00:22:36,118 --> 00:22:36,968
system.

558
00:22:37,224 --> 00:22:39,736
So I would say, from a management

559
00:22:39,736 --> 00:22:41,889
standpoint, one of our biggest hurdles,

560
00:22:41,889 --> 00:22:44,042
besides the highly acidic and minerally

561
00:22:44,042 --> 00:22:46,554
complex and the complexity on the mineral

562
00:22:46,554 --> 00:22:49,784
side of things on the soil, is the rain.

563
00:22:50,104 --> 00:22:52,490
Because when you're looking at those types

564
00:22:52,490 --> 00:22:55,216
of soils, when the soil gets saturated and

565
00:22:55,216 --> 00:22:57,262
reduced, you're looking at Issues, maybe

566
00:22:57,262 --> 00:23:01,029
not from a. I haven't ever seen, we were

567
00:23:01,029 --> 00:23:04,230
talking about this a little bit earlier,

568
00:23:04,230 --> 00:23:07,890
but like I haven't seen like manganese or

569
00:23:07,890 --> 00:23:11,092
iron toxicities, but I have seen that

570
00:23:11,092 --> 00:23:13,836
those things do cause deficiencies or

571
00:23:13,836 --> 00:23:15,666
issues with other nutrients.

572
00:23:15,826 --> 00:23:18,526
So for example, like generally phosphorus,

573
00:23:18,526 --> 00:23:21,226
potassium is something that is generally

574
00:23:21,226 --> 00:23:24,376
down, calcium is also something that is

575
00:23:24,376 --> 00:23:26,626
generally an issue, and boron.

576
00:23:26,626 --> 00:23:28,584
And molybdenum are generally an issue.

577
00:23:28,964 --> 00:23:32,226
So, when we pulled out the soil test, I

578
00:23:32,226 --> 00:23:34,401
mean, some of the biggest limiting

579
00:23:34,401 --> 00:23:36,577
factors, besides the excess of manganese

580
00:23:36,577 --> 00:23:39,476
and iron, have been kind of like the

581
00:23:39,476 --> 00:23:40,564
absence of molybdenum.

582
00:23:40,804 --> 00:23:43,844
I think it's like 001 parts per million

583
00:23:43,844 --> 00:23:45,364
across the entire farm.

584
00:23:45,364 --> 00:23:47,831
So, it's essentially the detection

585
00:23:47,831 --> 00:23:48,681
threshold.

586
00:23:48,884 --> 00:23:50,657
Yeah. So, there's basically like no

587
00:23:50,657 --> 00:23:52,924
molybdenum. And then we're at like 20 to

588
00:23:52,924 --> 00:23:54,884
30 parts per million in nitrates and

589
00:23:54,884 --> 00:23:56,844
around like six or seven in ammonium.

590
00:23:56,844 --> 00:23:58,719
So, obviously, there's going to be some

591
00:23:58,719 --> 00:24:00,594
issues with disease and bugs there because

592
00:24:00,594 --> 00:24:03,005
if I don't have molybdenum, then how am I

593
00:24:03,005 --> 00:24:04,612
going to convert those nitrates into

594
00:24:04,612 --> 00:24:05,951
something useful for the plant?

595
00:24:05,951 --> 00:24:08,824
On the high manganese side of things, just

596
00:24:08,824 --> 00:24:12,056
to add more complexity to it, we have 60

597
00:24:12,056 --> 00:24:13,851
parts per million in sulfur.

598
00:24:15,931 --> 00:24:16,781
Intriguing.

599
00:24:17,851 --> 00:24:18,701
That's interesting.

600
00:24:18,491 --> 00:24:20,624
Like, I guess that's you have an igneous

601
00:24:20,624 --> 00:24:21,474
soil.

602
00:24:21,611 --> 00:24:23,427
It's uncommon to have that combination of

603
00:24:23,427 --> 00:24:25,243
high sulfur with the high rainfall pattern

604
00:24:25,243 --> 00:24:27,319
that you have, unless you have an igneous

605
00:24:27,319 --> 00:24:28,858
soil. Yeah, it's fascinating.

606
00:24:29,258 --> 00:24:31,095
And that's on just one side of the river

607
00:24:31,095 --> 00:24:32,932
because as soon as I cross the other side

608
00:24:32,932 --> 00:24:34,974
of the river, I'm at 10 to 11 parts per

609
00:24:34,974 --> 00:24:35,824
million.

610
00:24:35,898 --> 00:24:39,258
So that's been quite interesting.

611
00:24:39,498 --> 00:24:42,093
And on the side where there's high sulfur,

612
00:24:42,093 --> 00:24:44,363
I generally have most of the disease

613
00:24:44,363 --> 00:24:46,633
pressure because, I mean, with the sulfur,

614
00:24:46,633 --> 00:24:49,228
from what I understand, that's going to be

615
00:24:49,228 --> 00:24:51,498
blocking out the calcium that I have.

616
00:24:51,498 --> 00:24:54,772
It's going to be acidifying the soil as it

617
00:24:54,772 --> 00:24:57,319
gets kind of like saturated and might

618
00:24:57,319 --> 00:24:59,502
create a more, a less oxygenated

619
00:24:59,502 --> 00:25:01,684
environment and creates all sorts of

620
00:25:01,684 --> 00:25:04,785
issues there. So, in a sense, from a soil

621
00:25:04,785 --> 00:25:06,919
type or a soil mineral profile, it's

622
00:25:06,919 --> 00:25:08,747
almost like you're farming two different

623
00:25:08,747 --> 00:25:09,597
farms.

624
00:25:10,172 --> 00:25:13,052
Essentially, two different farms.

625
00:25:13,052 --> 00:25:15,760
And I have four irrigation sectors on the

626
00:25:15,760 --> 00:25:17,452
four different sides of things.

627
00:25:18,012 --> 00:25:20,885
And so, generally, what I'm trying to do

628
00:25:20,885 --> 00:25:24,118
to keep kind of like you Sanity and costs

629
00:25:24,118 --> 00:25:26,991
down, I'm trying to have a semi omni

630
00:25:26,991 --> 00:25:29,362
approach. But I do have different

631
00:25:29,362 --> 00:25:31,296
varieties growing on different sections so

632
00:25:31,296 --> 00:25:34,519
that if I do need to do a foliar, you

633
00:25:34,519 --> 00:25:37,098
know, for the side with the high sulfur

634
00:25:37,098 --> 00:25:39,999
that I don't want to add more sulfur to

635
00:25:39,999 --> 00:25:42,578
the system or something like that, I can,

636
00:25:42,578 --> 00:25:45,802
you know, do that one day and then I could

637
00:25:45,802 --> 00:25:48,381
go to the other side and do another

638
00:25:48,381 --> 00:25:49,670
application the next day.

639
00:25:50,630 --> 00:25:52,860
So if you have irrigation available Why

640
00:25:52,860 --> 00:25:55,091
did you choose to primarily focus on

641
00:25:55,091 --> 00:25:55,941
foliar applications?

642
00:25:56,848 --> 00:25:59,826
So, the complexity, and I'll talk a little

643
00:25:59,826 --> 00:26:02,433
bit about the irrigation system because I

644
00:26:02,433 --> 00:26:05,039
think one of my biggest challenges here,

645
00:26:05,039 --> 00:26:06,528
especially running horticulture stuff.

646
00:26:06,608 --> 00:26:08,183
So, with passion fruit, it was a little

647
00:26:08,183 --> 00:26:09,168
bit easier to run irrigation.

648
00:26:09,648 --> 00:26:12,425
We did micro aspirators, one per tree, but

649
00:26:12,425 --> 00:26:14,508
you're talking about, you know, 60

650
00:26:14,508 --> 00:26:16,590
centimeters, like on a about 60

651
00:26:16,590 --> 00:26:19,020
centimeters on a line of plants, you're

652
00:26:19,020 --> 00:26:21,797
talking about a plant between 60 to maybe

653
00:26:21,797 --> 00:26:24,227
two meters between trees, and you have

654
00:26:24,227 --> 00:26:26,657
three meters in an alleyway of space.

655
00:26:26,817 --> 00:26:29,491
So there's less irrigation, there's less

656
00:26:29,491 --> 00:26:32,611
materials that you need to irrigate from

657
00:26:32,611 --> 00:26:36,005
that. But I think the biggest limiting

658
00:26:36,005 --> 00:26:39,401
factor for me in terms of irrigation and

659
00:26:39,401 --> 00:26:41,949
why I'm not necessarily fertigating with

660
00:26:41,949 --> 00:26:44,921
drip line is I actually physically can't

661
00:26:44,921 --> 00:26:47,893
do that because we have the mountainous

662
00:26:47,893 --> 00:26:50,016
terrain that we've terraced out.

663
00:26:50,656 --> 00:26:52,896
So we have everything terraced on kind of

664
00:26:52,896 --> 00:26:55,416
like what you would see in maybe some of

665
00:26:55,416 --> 00:26:57,656
the farms in Asia where they terrace them

666
00:26:57,656 --> 00:26:58,506
out.

667
00:26:59,376 --> 00:27:01,428
We've done that by hand with a pick and

668
00:27:01,428 --> 00:27:03,252
hammer, me and the crew, which is like

669
00:27:03,252 --> 00:27:04,102
four other people.

670
00:27:04,416 --> 00:27:05,936
And we created like our own A frame.

671
00:27:05,936 --> 00:27:07,456
So we terraced everything out.

672
00:27:07,456 --> 00:27:10,256
And so we have everything with contour

673
00:27:10,256 --> 00:27:13,965
lines. And so they do sell like a

674
00:27:13,965 --> 00:27:17,704
drip line where it is a it's kind of

675
00:27:17,704 --> 00:27:21,443
like a hose where it might be able to,

676
00:27:21,443 --> 00:27:23,521
you know, follow the curve.

677
00:27:24,161 --> 00:27:26,751
But the cost of that is extremely

678
00:27:26,751 --> 00:27:27,601
elevated.

679
00:27:27,761 --> 00:27:30,770
And so what I actually did was I, because

680
00:27:30,770 --> 00:27:33,444
I'm pretty, I would say I've become an

681
00:27:33,444 --> 00:27:35,784
expert at creating like a trellis system

682
00:27:35,784 --> 00:27:37,121
from the passion fruit.

683
00:27:37,121 --> 00:27:39,346
So we just created a trellis system in the

684
00:27:39,346 --> 00:27:40,196
entire farm.

685
00:27:40,481 --> 00:27:43,907
And then I took the irrigation lines and

686
00:27:43,907 --> 00:27:46,476
I, instead of crossing them, Perpendicular

687
00:27:46,476 --> 00:27:48,940
to the slope. I actually went with the

688
00:27:48,940 --> 00:27:50,590
slope and just sent the irrigation lines

689
00:27:50,590 --> 00:27:52,005
down with micro aspirators or micro

690
00:27:52,005 --> 00:27:55,488
sprinklers. And so I have that

691
00:27:55,488 --> 00:27:58,736
connected to a ventry system

692
00:27:58,736 --> 00:28:02,516
and an injector. And so I actually can

693
00:28:02,516 --> 00:28:04,806
do foliage from that system when I don't

694
00:28:04,806 --> 00:28:06,524
have to have a backpack sprayer.

695
00:28:06,524 --> 00:28:09,852
So, in that sense, I could wet everything,

696
00:28:09,852 --> 00:28:12,348
I could get everything irrigated fairly

697
00:28:12,348 --> 00:28:14,647
quickly. So, where a drip system, I would

698
00:28:14,647 --> 00:28:16,657
need to run the drip line for maybe an

699
00:28:16,657 --> 00:28:18,444
hour on a section or maybe 30 minutes.

700
00:28:18,444 --> 00:28:22,044
I could pretty much get the water that.

701
00:28:22,044 --> 00:28:24,088
The plants need in maybe five minutes.

702
00:28:24,728 --> 00:28:27,103
So, you mentioned that you are primarily

703
00:28:27,103 --> 00:28:28,800
doing foliar applications, but that

704
00:28:28,800 --> 00:28:31,175
doesn't mean that you're using a sprayer,

705
00:28:31,175 --> 00:28:33,550
you're sending it out through the micro

706
00:28:33,550 --> 00:28:34,568
sprinkler system essentially.

707
00:28:35,848 --> 00:28:39,315
Yes, I would say in last year, 100 of

708
00:28:39,315 --> 00:28:42,011
all the applications were sent through the

709
00:28:42,011 --> 00:28:44,322
sprayer for the irrigation system sprayer,

710
00:28:44,322 --> 00:28:46,248
just essentially like a pivot.

711
00:28:46,248 --> 00:28:48,990
I would say, like, I basically designed my

712
00:28:48,990 --> 00:28:52,075
own pivot right now to hone down the new

713
00:28:52,075 --> 00:28:54,474
nutrition a little bit better, it's kind

714
00:28:54,474 --> 00:28:57,876
of like a mix. So I'm doing 50 backpack

715
00:28:57,876 --> 00:29:00,719
sprayer and 50 sending it through the

716
00:29:00,719 --> 00:29:01,569
system.

717
00:29:01,765 --> 00:29:04,885
And what I've kind of done with the system

718
00:29:04,885 --> 00:29:07,658
is the things I send through the system

719
00:29:07,658 --> 00:29:10,085
are generally your humix and your biology.

720
00:29:10,725 --> 00:29:14,309
And some stuff like

721
00:29:14,309 --> 00:29:17,125
molybdenum. So far, like the humix, we're

722
00:29:17,125 --> 00:29:19,418
using humicarp. That goes in, holofaust

723
00:29:19,418 --> 00:29:20,268
goes in.

724
00:29:20,565 --> 00:29:21,925
We'll use a spectrum PSB.

725
00:29:21,925 --> 00:29:25,324
That will go in, white sugar will go

726
00:29:25,324 --> 00:29:28,722
into the mix as well, and maybe sometimes

727
00:29:28,722 --> 00:29:29,572
Bioco Gold.

728
00:29:30,212 --> 00:29:32,317
Maybe I'm the only one using it like that,

729
00:29:32,317 --> 00:29:33,252
but spraying it out.

730
00:29:34,852 --> 00:29:36,676
Like I think that there's, I mean, there

731
00:29:36,676 --> 00:29:38,500
should be microbes on the leaves and on

732
00:29:38,500 --> 00:29:39,412
the floor and everything.

733
00:29:39,412 --> 00:29:41,797
So just trying to broadcast that as best

734
00:29:41,797 --> 00:29:42,692
as I can.

735
00:29:43,252 --> 00:29:44,102
There are indeed.

736
00:29:44,852 --> 00:29:47,094
And so like from there, what we'll do is

737
00:29:47,094 --> 00:29:49,585
if I need to be more precise on some sort

738
00:29:49,585 --> 00:29:51,079
of application, like for example with

739
00:29:51,079 --> 00:29:52,823
pinion I'll go through with a backpack

740
00:29:52,823 --> 00:29:55,753
sprayer. Or if I really want to get

741
00:29:55,753 --> 00:29:58,736
potassium into the fruit, and I know that

742
00:29:58,736 --> 00:30:02,092
we have a harvest coming up in like four

743
00:30:02,092 --> 00:30:05,448
or five days, or maybe 10 days, then we'll

744
00:30:05,448 --> 00:30:08,058
go with the backpack sprayer and we'll

745
00:30:08,058 --> 00:30:11,041
probably maybe do like halo ka with some

746
00:30:11,041 --> 00:30:14,024
rebal molly and some boron in there and

747
00:30:14,024 --> 00:30:16,414
spray that out. But it really just depends

748
00:30:16,414 --> 00:30:18,701
on kind of like the workload as well with

749
00:30:18,701 --> 00:30:19,551
what we're doing.

750
00:30:20,023 --> 00:30:22,635
Because for me to go with a backpack

751
00:30:22,635 --> 00:30:25,247
sprayer, if I'm Spraying myself and I have

752
00:30:25,247 --> 00:30:27,858
two other backpacks, then I need to have

753
00:30:27,858 --> 00:30:30,144
two people or three people carrying jugs

754
00:30:30,144 --> 00:30:32,756
of the liquid up the mountain, this and

755
00:30:32,756 --> 00:30:35,818
that. And so I kind of lose a couple hours

756
00:30:35,818 --> 00:30:38,554
of work time that we could be using to

757
00:30:38,554 --> 00:30:40,682
weed or trellis or stuff like that.

758
00:30:41,162 --> 00:30:44,642
So it's kind of just trying to figure out

759
00:30:44,642 --> 00:30:47,735
what works best at that moment and just

760
00:30:47,735 --> 00:30:50,442
understanding the best way to do it.

761
00:30:50,442 --> 00:30:53,022
But I mean, the system.

762
00:30:53,022 --> 00:30:56,411
That we created is really great because

763
00:30:56,411 --> 00:30:59,800
I could essentially do a foliar across

764
00:30:59,800 --> 00:31:03,188
like three hectares right now in like

765
00:31:03,188 --> 00:31:05,609
an hour and 20 minutes.

766
00:31:05,689 --> 00:31:08,687
Just me. Like I prepped the tank, like

767
00:31:08,687 --> 00:31:12,150
pulled the diesel pump, and then I just

768
00:31:12,150 --> 00:31:15,614
have to go run to the other side

769
00:31:15,614 --> 00:31:19,077
of the river and switch out the key

770
00:31:19,077 --> 00:31:20,809
valves and do that.

771
00:31:20,809 --> 00:31:23,881
But I could get through that just myself

772
00:31:23,881 --> 00:31:24,731
pretty easily.

773
00:31:25,289 --> 00:31:28,011
So I think it just really depends on what

774
00:31:28,011 --> 00:31:30,431
you're trying to do or how much product

775
00:31:30,431 --> 00:31:31,641
you're trying to use.

776
00:31:31,641 --> 00:31:33,952
Because you will, in this system, I have

777
00:31:33,952 --> 00:31:36,552
to use probably three or 4X the amount of

778
00:31:36,552 --> 00:31:38,863
product that I would be using on a

779
00:31:38,863 --> 00:31:40,597
backpack sprayer just because of the

780
00:31:40,597 --> 00:31:42,041
dilution from the pass through.

781
00:31:44,601 --> 00:31:47,630
So we got to this conversation about

782
00:31:47,630 --> 00:31:49,794
nutrition management and how you're

783
00:31:49,794 --> 00:31:52,390
managing nutrition from a discussion on

784
00:31:52,390 --> 00:31:54,121
disease pressure, disease susceptibility.

785
00:31:54,121 --> 00:31:55,921
We're describing the quite intense disease

786
00:31:55,921 --> 00:31:58,201
pressure that. This crop has generally.

787
00:31:58,841 --> 00:32:02,625
How have You, how has that disease

788
00:32:02,625 --> 00:32:05,328
pressure shifted with your different

789
00:32:05,328 --> 00:32:07,490
approach to nutrition management?

790
00:32:08,850 --> 00:32:11,368
Correct. So, yeah, I think like just to

791
00:32:11,368 --> 00:32:13,989
follow back on that, because I think I got

792
00:32:13,989 --> 00:32:16,319
a little bit off topic on the irrigation

793
00:32:16,319 --> 00:32:18,581
system. So, essentially, how we manage the

794
00:32:18,581 --> 00:32:20,879
nutrition is first and foremost, the soil

795
00:32:20,879 --> 00:32:23,178
test is extremely important to have that

796
00:32:23,178 --> 00:32:25,806
data point to understand what you want to

797
00:32:25,806 --> 00:32:28,105
apply, what products you need, and what

798
00:32:28,105 --> 00:32:29,090
diseases might come.

799
00:32:29,570 --> 00:32:32,977
And so, generally what we do to control

800
00:32:32,977 --> 00:32:36,384
pH is liming, and we'll mix that lime

801
00:32:36,384 --> 00:32:39,791
to add a little bit more calcium to

802
00:32:39,791 --> 00:32:43,198
the profile with gypsum, but only on the

803
00:32:43,198 --> 00:32:44,901
side with low sulfur.

804
00:32:44,901 --> 00:32:47,481
On the side where we have lots of sulfur,

805
00:32:47,481 --> 00:32:49,201
the gypsum doesn't go in there.

806
00:32:49,841 --> 00:32:53,207
And then we might even add

807
00:32:53,207 --> 00:32:56,574
in some SOP, some potassium sulfate,

808
00:32:56,574 --> 00:32:59,940
as well to some of those

809
00:32:59,940 --> 00:33:03,646
minerals. And there's a pretty good

810
00:33:03,646 --> 00:33:06,792
quality granular humic available here.

811
00:33:07,032 --> 00:33:09,775
So I generally will mix everything with a

812
00:33:09,775 --> 00:33:12,175
granular humic as we kind of like

813
00:33:12,175 --> 00:33:14,232
broadcast that onto the growing lines.

814
00:33:14,712 --> 00:33:18,095
So once we do that, then

815
00:33:18,095 --> 00:33:21,478
my main focus in terms of

816
00:33:21,478 --> 00:33:24,297
nutrition from a disease prevention

817
00:33:24,297 --> 00:33:26,552
standpoint is focusing on.

818
00:33:26,792 --> 00:33:29,780
The minerals that I know are going to be

819
00:33:29,780 --> 00:33:31,772
difficult for the plant to get.

820
00:33:31,772 --> 00:33:35,005
So, generally, I'm focusing on

821
00:33:35,005 --> 00:33:38,238
calcium, I'm focusing on boron,

822
00:33:38,238 --> 00:33:41,471
I'm focusing on molybdenum, zinc,

823
00:33:41,471 --> 00:33:44,705
copper, and actually iron, just

824
00:33:44,705 --> 00:33:47,938
given the antagonism with the

825
00:33:47,938 --> 00:33:51,003
high manganese. So, those are generally

826
00:33:51,003 --> 00:33:54,271
the main stacks that I try to focus on.

827
00:33:54,271 --> 00:33:57,578
And I would also add phosphorus, is

828
00:33:57,578 --> 00:34:00,413
something that, just from an observational

829
00:34:00,413 --> 00:34:03,247
standpoint I've seen that the plants

830
00:34:03,247 --> 00:34:05,610
really respond well to phosphorus

831
00:34:05,610 --> 00:34:09,042
applications. So, really, no

832
00:34:09,042 --> 00:34:11,922
nitrogen at all.

833
00:34:12,562 --> 00:34:14,732
How common is that for passion fruit

834
00:34:14,732 --> 00:34:16,573
production? I'm not familiar with common

835
00:34:16,573 --> 00:34:17,423
nitrogen applications.

836
00:34:18,482 --> 00:34:21,341
So, for passion fruit, for the growers

837
00:34:21,341 --> 00:34:23,791
that know about passion fruit, they

838
00:34:23,791 --> 00:34:26,242
generally don't use nitrogen too much.

839
00:34:26,562 --> 00:34:30,296
A lot of them will use the maybe

840
00:34:30,296 --> 00:34:33,564
like a calcium nitrate, maybe a ammonium

841
00:34:33,564 --> 00:34:35,898
sulfate in the beginning stages.

842
00:34:36,298 --> 00:34:39,594
But for passion fruit, if you use a lot of

843
00:34:39,594 --> 00:34:41,901
nitrogen, especially in the early cycle of

844
00:34:41,901 --> 00:34:44,208
the plant, you'll have a non reproductive

845
00:34:44,208 --> 00:34:45,871
plant. You'll have a very vegetative

846
00:34:45,871 --> 00:34:46,721
plant.

847
00:34:46,938 --> 00:34:48,698
And it's really hard to reverse that.

848
00:34:49,578 --> 00:34:52,846
So I guess it would be interesting if more

849
00:34:52,846 --> 00:34:54,298
crops had that problem.

850
00:34:55,098 --> 00:34:58,598
Oh, and I mean, that's from the

851
00:34:58,598 --> 00:35:02,098
passion fruit into our peppers into our

852
00:35:02,098 --> 00:35:05,597
African yams, okra, all of those crops,

853
00:35:05,597 --> 00:35:08,597
African eggplant, there's very little, if

854
00:35:08,597 --> 00:35:10,097
not any, nitrogen.

855
00:35:10,097 --> 00:35:13,187
The only nitrogen that might get into the

856
00:35:13,187 --> 00:35:15,890
system would be like an organic nitrogen,

857
00:35:15,890 --> 00:35:18,594
for example, from macro pack or maybe

858
00:35:18,594 --> 00:35:21,297
what's in seashield or an amino acid.

859
00:35:21,617 --> 00:35:25,117
Both of which are very, very small

860
00:35:25,117 --> 00:35:26,017
concentrations. Yeah.

861
00:35:26,257 --> 00:35:27,137
They're small amounts.

862
00:35:27,137 --> 00:35:30,295
And I mean, I have to check the, I don't

863
00:35:30,295 --> 00:35:32,821
know the exact numbers on the soil test,

864
00:35:32,821 --> 00:35:35,663
but I mean, we have per acre around like

865
00:35:35,663 --> 00:35:38,505
28 to 30 pounds of nitrate and maybe nine

866
00:35:38,505 --> 00:35:40,084
to 10 pounds of ammonium.

867
00:35:40,724 --> 00:35:44,374
So if I were to ever need to use

868
00:35:44,374 --> 00:35:47,213
some sort of nitrogen, probably the only

869
00:35:47,213 --> 00:35:50,864
one I would really use would be maybe a

870
00:35:50,864 --> 00:35:54,108
small foliar with a MAP or MAP, and

871
00:35:54,108 --> 00:35:57,353
obviously complex that with a folic and a

872
00:35:57,353 --> 00:35:58,203
Rebell Molly.

873
00:35:58,804 --> 00:36:01,657
But I generally don't need to, I haven't

874
00:36:01,657 --> 00:36:03,796
had the need to do that.

875
00:36:03,936 --> 00:36:06,887
And on some areas where I've just played

876
00:36:06,887 --> 00:36:10,575
around with and I've put like a 12, 24, 12

877
00:36:10,575 --> 00:36:13,526
or like a 15, 6, 25 granular application,

878
00:36:13,526 --> 00:36:16,108
within two weeks, that plant's going to

879
00:36:16,108 --> 00:36:19,058
get some sort of disease pressure from an

880
00:36:19,058 --> 00:36:22,378
insect and it will get some sort of issue

881
00:36:22,378 --> 00:36:24,959
with like bacterial blight or some fungi

882
00:36:24,959 --> 00:36:28,391
will get it. So I

883
00:36:28,391 --> 00:36:31,862
try to. Really stay away

884
00:36:31,862 --> 00:36:35,079
from the nitrogen and really focus on kind

885
00:36:35,079 --> 00:36:38,296
of like the key nutrients that we need.

886
00:36:38,536 --> 00:36:40,279
I think from a nutritional standpoint,

887
00:36:40,279 --> 00:36:43,184
where I'd like to get at would be to start

888
00:36:43,184 --> 00:36:44,056
doing sap tests.

889
00:36:45,576 --> 00:36:47,816
We have just logistically, for me, it's

890
00:36:47,816 --> 00:36:50,696
been a little bit difficult for me to get

891
00:36:50,696 --> 00:36:52,936
those out, just given where we're based.

892
00:36:52,936 --> 00:36:56,269
And I kind of like need to,

893
00:36:56,269 --> 00:36:59,602
maybe it's my ADHD type personality, but

894
00:36:59,602 --> 00:37:02,935
I kind of like, I want to

895
00:37:02,935 --> 00:37:04,363
get that decision.

896
00:37:04,443 --> 00:37:08,133
I want to be able to basically take the

897
00:37:08,133 --> 00:37:11,413
sap in the field and understand what I

898
00:37:11,413 --> 00:37:15,103
have right now so that the next day I

899
00:37:15,103 --> 00:37:17,563
can put on a foliar application.

900
00:37:17,563 --> 00:37:20,391
Just given in the horticulture crops like

901
00:37:20,391 --> 00:37:23,219
pepper, eggplant, okra, you kind of need

902
00:37:23,219 --> 00:37:25,643
to make that decision right away.

903
00:37:25,643 --> 00:37:28,800
And so, waiting maybe a week or even two

904
00:37:28,800 --> 00:37:30,203
weeks for a result.

905
00:37:30,203 --> 00:37:32,351
You pass that time frame when you really

906
00:37:32,351 --> 00:37:35,035
need to make a decision on if I have a

907
00:37:35,035 --> 00:37:36,915
molybdenum or a potassium deficiency and I

908
00:37:36,915 --> 00:37:38,526
get sprayed tomorrow on potassium, for

909
00:37:38,526 --> 00:37:40,673
example, foliar, then maybe I can get rid

910
00:37:40,673 --> 00:37:42,821
of aphids or some sort of white fly.

911
00:37:43,461 --> 00:37:46,101
So we need to get on that.

912
00:37:46,181 --> 00:37:49,005
But I would say from how I've been

913
00:37:49,005 --> 00:37:51,828
managing that is just kind of like knowing

914
00:37:51,828 --> 00:37:54,299
my soil really well and understanding what

915
00:37:54,299 --> 00:37:57,475
is going to be more or less deficient from

916
00:37:57,475 --> 00:37:59,434
visual signs. So one thing that has

917
00:37:59,434 --> 00:38:00,284
actually worked out really.

918
00:38:00,181 --> 00:38:03,740
For us is this year on our pepper crops,

919
00:38:03,740 --> 00:38:06,904
I decided to intercrop it with sweet corn

920
00:38:06,904 --> 00:38:10,463
because I had the grand idea that the corn

921
00:38:10,463 --> 00:38:13,232
would inject carbon into the system and

922
00:38:13,232 --> 00:38:16,000
consume the excess nitrogen, but it would

923
00:38:16,000 --> 00:38:19,560
also serve as living stakes for me to tie

924
00:38:19,560 --> 00:38:20,746
the peppers up.

925
00:38:21,466 --> 00:38:24,130
So, we have a ton of bamboo on our

926
00:38:24,130 --> 00:38:26,523
property. I planted like hundreds of trees

927
00:38:26,523 --> 00:38:30,019
of bamboo, but it takes a lot of time and

928
00:38:30,019 --> 00:38:33,165
effort to go pick the bamboo, cut it, put

929
00:38:33,165 --> 00:38:36,102
in the stakes. So, preemptively, we did

930
00:38:36,102 --> 00:38:39,354
that. And what I didn't notice because

931
00:38:39,354 --> 00:38:42,094
those sweet corn got almost zero

932
00:38:42,094 --> 00:38:45,291
nutrition, they just were kind of like

933
00:38:45,291 --> 00:38:47,574
left to do their thing.

934
00:38:48,054 --> 00:38:50,029
And basically, the main nutritional

935
00:38:50,029 --> 00:38:52,794
deficiency that I saw visually on the

936
00:38:52,794 --> 00:38:54,374
sweet corn was potassium.

937
00:38:54,934 --> 00:38:56,456
No nitrogen issues, nothing with

938
00:38:56,456 --> 00:38:58,283
phosphorus, nothing with any of the

939
00:38:58,283 --> 00:39:00,110
microbes no magnesium or anything like

940
00:39:00,110 --> 00:39:02,784
that. It was mainly potassium, which kind

941
00:39:02,784 --> 00:39:06,338
of gave me the clue that if it's deficient

942
00:39:06,338 --> 00:39:09,893
in corn while it's a C4 and it's not

943
00:39:09,893 --> 00:39:13,052
a pepper, it's probably going to have the

944
00:39:13,052 --> 00:39:16,607
same issue on the pepper, even if it's not

945
00:39:16,607 --> 00:39:19,767
showing that, which allows me to know that

946
00:39:19,767 --> 00:39:22,926
maybe we should be adding a little bit

947
00:39:22,926 --> 00:39:25,296
more potassium to our foliar program.

948
00:39:26,016 --> 00:39:28,460
So, yeah, that's kind of like how we've

949
00:39:28,460 --> 00:39:29,376
been doing it.

950
00:39:31,056 --> 00:39:33,011
Right now, but I think adding insight sap

951
00:39:33,011 --> 00:39:33,988
would be super helpful.

952
00:39:34,708 --> 00:39:37,259
So, you still haven't answered my question

953
00:39:37,259 --> 00:39:39,268
about diseases. What does disease pressure

954
00:39:39,268 --> 00:39:40,228
look like today?

955
00:39:40,868 --> 00:39:44,432
Okay, so today, disease pressure

956
00:39:44,432 --> 00:39:47,995
actually varies per soil and

957
00:39:47,995 --> 00:39:48,845
variety.

958
00:39:49,828 --> 00:39:53,161
So, right now, we have two

959
00:39:53,161 --> 00:39:56,493
varieties of peppers on this side

960
00:39:56,493 --> 00:39:59,826
of the river, which is called

961
00:39:59,826 --> 00:40:03,158
the high manganese side of the

962
00:40:03,158 --> 00:40:06,491
river and high sulfur side of

963
00:40:06,491 --> 00:40:09,823
the river, we have a capsicum

964
00:40:09,823 --> 00:40:10,934
annum variety.

965
00:40:11,494 --> 00:40:14,916
It's an heirloom Nigerian bell pepper, if

966
00:40:14,916 --> 00:40:15,894
you will.

967
00:40:16,614 --> 00:40:20,312
So it behaves a lot like a bell

968
00:40:20,312 --> 00:40:24,010
pepper, but the fruits are a little bit

969
00:40:24,010 --> 00:40:26,783
smaller and they're spicy, like almost

970
00:40:26,783 --> 00:40:29,094
like a jalapeno type spice.

971
00:40:29,734 --> 00:40:33,292
On the capsicum annum Those guys, I

972
00:40:33,292 --> 00:40:36,851
don't know if it's a genetic thing

973
00:40:36,851 --> 00:40:40,409
from the seed or if it's just

974
00:40:40,409 --> 00:40:43,459
more propensed to disease, but generally

975
00:40:43,459 --> 00:40:47,018
those have a lot of issues with

976
00:40:47,018 --> 00:40:49,051
the bacterial leaf spotting.

977
00:40:50,491 --> 00:40:53,921
And they do have some issues with

978
00:40:53,921 --> 00:40:55,391
sometimes rhizoctonia, phytophthora,

979
00:40:55,391 --> 00:40:58,331
fusarium, all of the root issues.

980
00:40:58,642 --> 00:41:02,109
That you would get in

981
00:41:02,109 --> 00:41:05,575
a pepper, especially during the

982
00:41:05,575 --> 00:41:06,962
rainy season.

983
00:41:07,762 --> 00:41:10,702
On the capsicum chinenses, we have two

984
00:41:10,702 --> 00:41:12,802
different sub varieties of those.

985
00:41:12,802 --> 00:41:15,888
One's called ensuka and one's called

986
00:41:15,888 --> 00:41:19,023
atorodo. So, an ensuka pepper and an

987
00:41:19,023 --> 00:41:21,206
atorodo pepper are basically African

988
00:41:21,206 --> 00:41:23,827
heirloom descendants of a Scotch bonnet

989
00:41:23,827 --> 00:41:26,884
that were probably brought over in that

990
00:41:26,884 --> 00:41:29,068
transatlantic slave trade or something,

991
00:41:29,068 --> 00:41:32,125
and they kind of became endemic in

992
00:41:32,125 --> 00:41:32,975
Nigeria.

993
00:41:33,522 --> 00:41:36,108
And those have peppers don't have any

994
00:41:36,108 --> 00:41:39,837
issues. There's no leaf spot,

995
00:41:39,837 --> 00:41:43,197
there's no root issues.

996
00:41:43,917 --> 00:41:47,534
I'm almost convinced that I don't even

997
00:41:47,534 --> 00:41:51,150
need to fertilize them, or maybe I

998
00:41:51,150 --> 00:41:54,767
could cut the fertilizer on them by

999
00:41:54,767 --> 00:41:56,317
half the rate.

1000
00:41:56,877 --> 00:41:59,047
So it's a pretty interesting dynamic right

1001
00:41:59,047 --> 00:42:01,837
now on our farm because I have one side.

1002
00:42:02,237 --> 00:42:03,468
Which unfortunately is the side that's

1003
00:42:03,468 --> 00:42:05,520
closest to the house, and I have to see it

1004
00:42:05,520 --> 00:42:06,752
every single morning and every single

1005
00:42:06,752 --> 00:42:07,602
night. It's kind of like the side affected

1006
00:42:07,447 --> 00:42:08,297
by some of these diseases.

1007
00:42:07,797 --> 00:42:11,103
Now, on the other side,

1008
00:42:11,103 --> 00:42:13,747
it looks just amazing.

1009
00:42:14,147 --> 00:42:17,848
We also have tobacco, which also, two

1010
00:42:17,848 --> 00:42:21,020
varieties of tobacco, which have no

1011
00:42:21,020 --> 00:42:24,721
disease pressure at all, no bugs, no

1012
00:42:24,721 --> 00:42:26,307
mold, no bacteria.

1013
00:42:26,707 --> 00:42:29,507
They don't even get any fertilization.

1014
00:42:30,211 --> 00:42:32,829
And so it's been actually really

1015
00:42:32,829 --> 00:42:36,320
interesting to see the kind of like the

1016
00:42:36,320 --> 00:42:38,938
relationship between the soil types and

1017
00:42:38,938 --> 00:42:42,317
the varieties. And I think in terms

1018
00:42:42,317 --> 00:42:44,940
of us managing these Tatashi peppers,

1019
00:42:44,940 --> 00:42:47,1000
which are the Nigerian bell peppers, we've

1020
00:42:47,1000 --> 00:42:51,497
been doing a lot of things that have

1021
00:42:51,497 --> 00:42:52,371
definitely helped.

1022
00:42:52,371 --> 00:42:55,231
And we've successfully, after the last

1023
00:42:55,231 --> 00:42:58,091
month of using pinion, we've successfully

1024
00:42:58,091 --> 00:43:01,428
gotten rid of all bacterial leaf spot

1025
00:43:01,428 --> 00:43:04,764
and any of the issues on the

1026
00:43:04,764 --> 00:43:06,671
stem, which you know.

1027
00:43:06,671 --> 00:43:08,804
Hey, I didn't even know you were using

1028
00:43:08,804 --> 00:43:09,654
pinion.

1029
00:43:09,551 --> 00:43:12,962
Yeah, yeah, we've been using pinion for

1030
00:43:12,962 --> 00:43:14,911
the last six weeks.

1031
00:43:15,231 --> 00:43:18,528
I've been doing a trial, and

1032
00:43:18,528 --> 00:43:21,826
that's almost day and night on

1033
00:43:21,826 --> 00:43:25,123
the side of the peppers that

1034
00:43:25,123 --> 00:43:27,871
have that bacterial leaf spotting.

1035
00:43:28,351 --> 00:43:30,351
It's gotten that fixed.

1036
00:43:30,991 --> 00:43:33,417
It's taken a couple pass throughs, but

1037
00:43:33,417 --> 00:43:36,189
within every single foliar we do, we add

1038
00:43:36,189 --> 00:43:39,307
in pinion and we do some just like only

1039
00:43:39,307 --> 00:43:40,693
pinion foliars with that.

1040
00:43:41,173 --> 00:43:43,831
But that has really been the night and day

1041
00:43:43,831 --> 00:43:45,013
correction on that side.

1042
00:43:45,653 --> 00:43:49,109
And I also think that it also coincides,

1043
00:43:49,109 --> 00:43:52,565
I don't know, but it also coincides with

1044
00:43:52,565 --> 00:43:55,589
me finally getting my hands on rebound

1045
00:43:55,589 --> 00:43:58,613
copper and adding that into the mix.

1046
00:43:58,853 --> 00:44:01,559
So it could be that those plants were

1047
00:44:01,559 --> 00:44:04,266
crying out for a nice, healthy dose of

1048
00:44:04,266 --> 00:44:06,972
copper with the molly and with the pinion

1049
00:44:06,972 --> 00:44:08,664
to get that dried up.

1050
00:44:09,144 --> 00:44:11,190
Particularly with your high presence of

1051
00:44:11,190 --> 00:44:13,237
manganese and iron, them possibly needing

1052
00:44:13,237 --> 00:44:15,624
some copper would not be a surprise.

1053
00:44:16,264 --> 00:44:19,670
Yes. And you get a significant greening

1054
00:44:19,670 --> 00:44:21,407
effect from copper applications,

1055
00:44:21,407 --> 00:44:23,144
especially the chelated ones.

1056
00:44:23,544 --> 00:44:24,394
Yeah.

1057
00:44:25,144 --> 00:44:28,106
So I think like the So, I think, I think

1058
00:44:28,106 --> 00:44:30,179
like the, I mean, the opinion definitely

1059
00:44:30,179 --> 00:44:32,549
works for the leaf spots and things like

1060
00:44:32,549 --> 00:44:34,525
that. So, now that's not an issue.

1061
00:44:35,245 --> 00:44:37,590
What's been our biggest issue right now,

1062
00:44:37,590 --> 00:44:39,935
currently, that we're dealing with is on

1063
00:44:39,935 --> 00:44:43,405
these peppers. So, it was raining all the

1064
00:44:43,405 --> 00:44:45,672
entire growing season, raining, raining,

1065
00:44:45,672 --> 00:44:47,485
raining, pretty cold weather.

1066
00:44:47,565 --> 00:44:49,633
Like, we were dropping at night into like

1067
00:44:49,633 --> 00:44:50,925
10 degrees Celsius every night.

1068
00:44:51,725 --> 00:44:54,209
And then one day it just decided not to

1069
00:44:54,209 --> 00:44:56,417
rain and become and get really hot and,

1070
00:44:56,417 --> 00:44:58,298
and dried up. And within two days, I

1071
00:44:58,298 --> 00:44:59,984
started seeing some wilt on some of those

1072
00:44:59,984 --> 00:45:02,086
same peppers. So, we finally corrected

1073
00:45:02,086 --> 00:45:05,449
like the leaf spot, and then I'm starting

1074
00:45:05,449 --> 00:45:09,004
to see some wilt. Um, so first, I kind

1075
00:45:09,004 --> 00:45:11,801
of didn't know what it was, I was thinking

1076
00:45:11,801 --> 00:45:14,287
that it might be um, like Ralstonia, which

1077
00:45:14,287 --> 00:45:15,530
would have been terrible.

1078
00:45:16,410 --> 00:45:19,240
Um, so I pulled out some of those affected

1079
00:45:19,240 --> 00:45:21,755
plants and cut them open and used both

1080
00:45:21,755 --> 00:45:24,270
field lark and AI to kind of like

1081
00:45:24,270 --> 00:45:26,786
understand what it was and like put them

1082
00:45:26,786 --> 00:45:29,616
in a water jar and see if there's like

1083
00:45:29,616 --> 00:45:31,530
some. Milky substance coming out.

1084
00:45:31,530 --> 00:45:34,925
It wasn't that. So we kind of like were

1085
00:45:34,925 --> 00:45:38,337
able to break it down to a couple things.

1086
00:45:38,337 --> 00:45:41,168
It's possibly like a mixture of like

1087
00:45:41,168 --> 00:45:43,190
Phytophthora, it could be some

1088
00:45:43,190 --> 00:45:45,617
Rhizactonia, it could be some Pitium.

1089
00:45:46,017 --> 00:45:48,308
It's probably a mixture of some of those,

1090
00:45:48,308 --> 00:45:50,025
plus maybe some Fusarium because they're

1091
00:45:50,025 --> 00:45:51,457
there in the soil, anyways.

1092
00:45:52,017 --> 00:45:55,355
But also just root stress from the heavy

1093
00:45:55,355 --> 00:45:59,111
rains when it was washing away some of the

1094
00:45:59,111 --> 00:46:01,197
soil around the root zone.

1095
00:46:01,197 --> 00:46:02,047
Then it got hot, so it oxidized.

1096
00:46:04,145 --> 00:46:06,527
And then, since the plants are quite big

1097
00:46:06,527 --> 00:46:09,505
and filling up and trying to fill in 10 or

1098
00:46:09,505 --> 00:46:11,589
15 fruit at a time and constantly

1099
00:46:11,589 --> 00:46:13,674
flowering, those are the first ones that

1100
00:46:13,674 --> 00:46:14,865
kind of get affected.

1101
00:46:15,505 --> 00:46:18,145
So, I have a question for you, Peter.

1102
00:46:18,305 --> 00:46:20,165
Going back to your copper comment with

1103
00:46:20,165 --> 00:46:22,291
your high manganese and iron soil and the

1104
00:46:22,291 --> 00:46:24,151
responses that you got from copper, have

1105
00:46:24,151 --> 00:46:25,745
you experimented with cobalt at all?

1106
00:46:27,025 --> 00:46:28,849
I haven't. The only cobalt we've used is

1107
00:46:28,849 --> 00:46:29,745
what's in micro pack.

1108
00:46:30,225 --> 00:46:31,170
Okay, there's a bit there, there's enough

1109
00:46:31,170 --> 00:46:32,020
there to make a difference.

1110
00:46:31,845 --> 00:46:35,438
But I don't know if maybe that

1111
00:46:35,438 --> 00:46:39,032
would be interesting too, because I think

1112
00:46:39,032 --> 00:46:42,112
from that perspective, and I actually

1113
00:46:42,112 --> 00:46:45,705
wanted to talk to you about that

1114
00:46:45,705 --> 00:46:49,299
not just cobalt, but I was doing

1115
00:46:49,299 --> 00:46:52,892
some research on silver and thinking about

1116
00:46:52,892 --> 00:46:56,485
maybe it might be interesting to add

1117
00:46:56,485 --> 00:46:59,602
a small. Tiny quantity of silver into this

1118
00:46:59,602 --> 00:47:02,736
part of the system that test out if that

1119
00:47:02,736 --> 00:47:05,523
might help with these kind of like crown

1120
00:47:05,523 --> 00:47:07,613
root diseases on these more susceptible

1121
00:47:07,613 --> 00:47:10,953
peppers. Because I think, in terms of the

1122
00:47:10,953 --> 00:47:13,243
annum type peppers, your bell peppers,

1123
00:47:13,243 --> 00:47:15,534
your Fresno chilies, your jalapenos, their

1124
00:47:15,534 --> 00:47:17,824
root structure is quite superficial and

1125
00:47:17,824 --> 00:47:20,878
it's not very strong and they are filling

1126
00:47:20,878 --> 00:47:23,438
big peppers. Whereas your habanero types,

1127
00:47:23,438 --> 00:47:26,023
your chinenses fill small peppers and have

1128
00:47:26,023 --> 00:47:29,346
massive roots and they kind of look like a

1129
00:47:29,346 --> 00:47:31,561
coffee tree, like they're really robust.

1130
00:47:31,881 --> 00:47:35,641
Yeah. So, yeah, pass.

1131
00:47:35,641 --> 00:47:38,645
Yeah. So, yeah, possibly cobalt would be

1132
00:47:38,645 --> 00:47:39,495
interesting.

1133
00:47:39,862 --> 00:47:43,434
I was thinking maybe some sort of

1134
00:47:43,434 --> 00:47:47,007
small, tiny amount of silver that might

1135
00:47:47,007 --> 00:47:50,579
be able to boost some sort of

1136
00:47:50,579 --> 00:47:54,152
immune defense in the plant could be

1137
00:47:54,152 --> 00:47:55,002
something.

1138
00:47:55,462 --> 00:47:58,328
Where I've seen a couple tools that I've

1139
00:47:58,328 --> 00:48:00,478
been using, apart from your guys'

1140
00:48:00,478 --> 00:48:02,985
products, that have worked across all of

1141
00:48:02,985 --> 00:48:06,576
the crop. The crops that we've run

1142
00:48:06,576 --> 00:48:10,025
from peppers to passion fruits to

1143
00:48:10,025 --> 00:48:12,324
yams have been phosphites.

1144
00:48:12,444 --> 00:48:15,807
And so I think one of my

1145
00:48:15,807 --> 00:48:19,171
goals for the future will be how

1146
00:48:19,171 --> 00:48:22,534
do I stop being reliant on phosphites?

1147
00:48:22,774 --> 00:48:26,198
Yeah. But I have seen that phosphites

1148
00:48:26,198 --> 00:48:29,447
haven't been able to help, like a

1149
00:48:29,447 --> 00:48:32,696
potassium or a calcium phosphite has been

1150
00:48:32,696 --> 00:48:35,944
able to help us reduce disease pressure

1151
00:48:35,944 --> 00:48:39,657
without having to succumb to some sort of

1152
00:48:39,657 --> 00:48:40,585
chemical spray.

1153
00:48:41,065 --> 00:48:43,488
So, I'm thinking like, you know, pinion is

1154
00:48:43,488 --> 00:48:45,305
probably one way to do that.

1155
00:48:45,625 --> 00:48:47,476
Maybe what you're talking about with

1156
00:48:47,476 --> 00:48:49,945
cobalt could be another way to do that.

1157
00:48:49,945 --> 00:48:53,716
Possibly small amounts of like a

1158
00:48:53,716 --> 00:48:57,488
chelated silver could help us well

1159
00:48:57,488 --> 00:48:58,845
to reduce. The reliance on phosphine.

1160
00:48:58,825 --> 00:49:02,441
Chelated silver is worth paying

1161
00:49:02,441 --> 00:49:05,220
attention to. Iodine is worth paying

1162
00:49:05,220 --> 00:49:06,714
attention to. Selenium is worth paying

1163
00:49:06,714 --> 00:49:08,300
attention to once you start getting into

1164
00:49:08,300 --> 00:49:10,535
those. But for those trace elements, and

1165
00:49:10,535 --> 00:49:12,878
I'm sure you're already doing this, you

1166
00:49:12,878 --> 00:49:15,556
really want to pay attention to where the

1167
00:49:15,556 --> 00:49:17,898
Goldilocks zone is in the soil profile

1168
00:49:17,898 --> 00:49:20,241
from a PHEH perspective, because you have

1169
00:49:20,241 --> 00:49:22,249
some, from what you're describing, you

1170
00:49:22,249 --> 00:49:24,592
have some, I'd maybe use the term

1171
00:49:24,592 --> 00:49:26,745
volatility. You have soils that can

1172
00:49:26,745 --> 00:49:28,926
fluctuate quite rapidly, and that can

1173
00:49:28,926 --> 00:49:30,744
spell the difference between optimal

1174
00:49:30,744 --> 00:49:32,562
applications and toxic applications quite

1175
00:49:32,562 --> 00:49:35,107
quickly with some of those trace elements.

1176
00:49:36,387 --> 00:49:39,814
Yeah, exactly. Yeah, I

1177
00:49:39,814 --> 00:49:42,987
think volatility is a

1178
00:49:42,987 --> 00:49:46,160
great way to describe

1179
00:49:46,160 --> 00:49:49,907
the soils. They're definitely difficult

1180
00:49:49,907 --> 00:49:52,067
to work with.

1181
00:49:53,107 --> 00:49:56,170
But what I think

1182
00:49:56,170 --> 00:49:58,467
ultimately the issues.