Frequently Asked Questions

Research shows that an application of an extract at planting time begins a major reestablishment of soil microbes. If done each time a crop is planted, with living roots in the ground most of the year, three years of this should be sufficient inoculation. The real test is a physical and visual examination of the soil and roots.

Dr. Johnson's original application was 400 pounds to the acre. Through testing, he found he could get nearly the same plant response with just 2 pounds of compost in extract form per acre. Most farmers apply 2 pounds; some do less and still see good results — it depends partly on how much biology is in the compost. With very high fungal populations, 1 pound/acre may be enough. If you plant a cash crop and a cover crop at different times of year, consider a 1 pound/acre application each time. Testing different rates on different parts of a field and tracking results is the best way to dial it in.

This compost is alive. It must have air and water, and can be stored for many months if it can breathe and stays misted with water as needed. Keep it from freezing and below 100°F. We ship compost in plastic bags inside a box, since moisture will soak through cardboard in transit. When you receive a shipment, open it and let the compost get air, misting if it isn't moist. You may want to transfer it to another container.

We add worms to the compost piles once temperatures allow them to survive — the piles can run as high as 130°F for a few days at the start, so worms go in once it's below 85°F. We use African Nightcrawlers in some bins and Red Wigglers in others. When the compost is finished, we remove what worms we can to keep them working for us, but the product you receive may include some worms, eggs, or tiny worms too small to see. They won't hurt the product, and if kept a couple of months without enough food, they'll die off naturally. Worms mostly eat microscopic bacteria, protozoa, fungi, nematodes, and tiny bits of organic matter — their digestive system adds enzymes and glues to the castings that increase the compost's microbial benefits.

The easiest way is to make an extract with water and spray it on the yard and garden often. When planting seeds, soak them overnight in water with a teaspoon of compost, or add ¼ cup of compost to a couple of gallons of other compost to cover seeds before topping with soil. This is very potent — a little goes a long way. An application of 1 pound per acre is about 1 ounce per 2,700 square feet.

Rinse the microbiology attached to the organic material with water. One pound of compost holds over 5 trillion living organisms. Spraying water over and through the compost removes and collects these organisms for application in many different ways. For a small batch, a kitchen strainer works — we use a bouillon strainer from a restaurant supply store that holds a pound of compost and, sprayed with about a gallon of water, extracts very well. See our shop for extraction equipment.

Roundup's active ingredient, glyphosate, was invented and patented in Japan decades ago as an antibiotic. It works by chelating minerals as they enter the plant, starving it of nutrients it needs, which kills the plant. Johnson–Su compost helps reverse glyphosate damage to soils over several years by reintroducing new micro-life that had been killed by the herbicide's antibiotic action. In a program of minimal or no-till with living plants year-round, weed pressure diminishes and the herbicide becomes less necessary — most weeds feed on excess nitrogen fertilizer, and compost biology helps plants pull nitrogen from the air instead, leaving less excess for weeds to exploit.

There are three ways to apply it, and all three involve an extract, since there's no practical way to spread 1 or even 10 pounds of raw compost over an acre. Dr. Johnson recommends dribbling or spraying the liquid on top of the seed as it's planted, which takes specialized planting equipment. The next best method is making a slurry with the extract to wet the seed, then planting it wet or dried in the shade. The third is spraying the leaves and ground of new plants. In a market or home garden, wetting seeds usually isn't a problem; with a mechanical seeder, damp seed may not flow well, so it's worth testing first.

We've heard from many farmers who've sprayed cover crops with mixed results depending on the plant and conditions. One suggestion we've heard from a webinar on foliar applications is adding fish hydrolysate to the spray mix — the amino acids and enzymes in the fish help carry the biology in the extract into the plant. A reasonable starting point is around one quart of fish hydrolysate per acre; you can experiment with dosages and check brix levels within hours to compare sprayed plants against an unsprayed control.