Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
craziekaren

Bug Juice

craziekaren
15 years ago

Hi, I just read all about bug juice and want to start a couple batches. I have a few questions.

Does it have to be bread flour, or will regular flour work?

Can I use city tap water, or do I need to get distiled or something similar. I'm assuming for the tap water I need to let it sit for a good day to get the chlorine or whatever they use to purify it to evaporate.

It's still rainy here in MN and will be for another week it looks like, do I need to wait till the sun starts shinning?

Do I need to wait till the soil warms up more before putting it on?

I think that's all for now, Thanks in advance!

Karen

Comments (15)

  • organicguy
    15 years ago

    I have used bug juice for many years without the flour or distilled water, with great results.

    Ron
    The Garden Guy
    www.TheGardenGuy.org
    New Articles & Journal Entries

  • dchall_san_antonio
    15 years ago

    What is bug juice?

  • organicguy
    15 years ago

    It's a simple process. You collect a bunch of whatever bug is attaching your plants, amybe a few tablespoons to 1/4 cup full, depending, put them in a blender with a cup or two of water and liquify them. Then spray the particular plant that is under attack. The theory is that the scent of the dead bugs, or some chemical they possess, deters more of their own kind from attacking those plants. It does not kill the, only repels them. I have used it over the years and it seemed to work, but it's a lot of work collecting all them bugs.

    Ron
    The Garden Guy
    www.TheGardenGuy.org
    New Articles & Garden Journal Entries

  • dchall_san_antonio
    15 years ago

    Thanks Ron. What does the flour do?

  • paulns
    15 years ago

    If this is what you mean by bug juice, there are a few discussions going on about it on the soil forum next door. Try entering bug juice in the SCM search slot or you could post your question there.

    Here is a link that might be useful: bug juice

  • pennymca
    15 years ago

    You might also be interested in the other discussions on collecting BIM, beneficial indigenous microorganisms over on the SCM forum.

    You can search BIM and also visit the link below...which is full of other links of interest.

    Here is a link that might be useful: BIM

  • organicguy
    15 years ago

    I have no idea what the flour does or why someone would want to add it. The only thing I can think of is that it might make it stick better. I have never added it.

    Ron
    The Garden Guy
    www.TheGardenGuy.org
    New Articles & Garden Journal Entries

  • pennymca
    15 years ago

    Adding flour helps the yeast adapt to the starch. Check the section on yeast in the Bug Juice link.

    This is also used as a soil drench, not just a foliar feed.

  • maifleur01
    15 years ago

    As a cook the yeast would use the starch in the flour as food producing all kinds of by products. Flour would not help yeast adapt to starch but be food. Perhaps I am not understanding your use of adapt.

  • pennymca
    15 years ago

    Perhaps I misstated it...please check out the paragraph as it deals with yeast in the Bug Juice link.

  • maifleur01
    15 years ago

    Thanks. Now I have a different quandry. If as stated in the Cornstarch line "Starch is present in all organic matter as a form of storage energy", since I am organic material where is my starch stored? Will it turn to starch when I pass to the great garden in the sky?

    Sorry I know animals store fat not starch for energy but sometimes the way things are written strike me as funny. Not certain Bug Juice is in my future but it is very interesting to read about the different solutions.

  • paulns
    15 years ago

    There are two entirely different kinds of bug juice being referred to in this thread. One is a pesticide, the other a method for growing beneficial soil and compost bacteria. Flour and corn starch are used in the recipe for the latter.

  • dchall_san_antonio
    15 years ago

    Thank you paulns. The second one sounds like they're using bugs as a protein source instead of using other animal byproducts.

    Off topic
    Animals "store energy" in the form of sugars inside the cells. The sugars combine with other molecules in various processes to release the energy quickly when required to move muscles. When the body cells store all the sugar they can, the body transforms excess sugar into fat which can store three times more energy per pound than sugar. The terms sugar and starch may be being used interchangeably. They are closely related carbohydrate structures. When you exercise your body uses the "starch" energy first. If you do not replace the missing sugar, the body will start to draw from fat supplies to turn that back into sugar for your cells.

  • pennymca
    15 years ago

    "The second one sounds like they're using bugs as a protein source instead of using other animal byproducts."

    dchall, I thought you visited the SCM forum a lot..maybe you've just not dropped into this disussion over there.

    Bug Juice is just a name given to a concoction of rotten fruit, cornstarch, fish meal or blood meal, flour, yeast, sugar, compost and water to make a soil drench/foliar feed.

    No actual "bugs" are used in this mixture.

  • stephe7
    14 years ago

    This is the orginal recipe from Dr Steve.

    This is what you need in order to make Bug JuiceÂ.

    One 5 gallon bucket.
    Corn starch
    Bread yeast
    MaxGro our fishmeal product, or another source of protein. Blood meal will work.
    Ripe fruit, such as plums, apples, apricots, peaches, watermelons, peeled bananas or whatever. No citrus.

    The Bug Juice Formula

    Fruit: The fruits mentioned above contain sucrose, proteins, various vitamins and other nutrients, easily digestible cellulose and pectin. They are the perfect food for soil microorganisms. Pit the fruit, and smash it so it can be more rapidly digested by microorganisms. It should be mush. Add 1 pound or so to the bucket. Decaying fruit that has fallen off a tree is the best. Just save it for making Bug JuiceÂ.

    Cornstarch: Starch is present in all organic matter as a form of storage energy. Bugs need to degrade it in the soil in order to obtain a carbon source for their metabolism. Add 5 tablespoons to the bucket.

    MaxGro or blood meal: MaxGro is a heat sterilized fishmeal that has a high nutrient and growth promoting value for plants and microorganisms. It is the protein source for the bugs and the source of biochemical building blocks for the auxin and cytokinin plant growth hormones. Blood meal is a poor substitute, but it is more readily available. Add 5 tablespoons to the bucket.

    Yeast: Yeast is a cheap source of B vitamins. It is also a source of cytokinins and protein. Mix two teaspoons of yeast, two teaspoons of sugar and one teaspoon of bread flour to 2 cups of warm water. When the yeast stops foaming, it has consumed most of the sugar. Add 2 tablespoons of corn starch, 1 tablespoon of bread flour and allow the mixture to sit for 2 hours. You are adapting the yeast to the starch. This is important. In order to break down starch, the yeast must be induced to secrete the enzyme alpha amylase. You want to promote this reaction. Most sugars in the soil are in the form of starchÂnot sucrose.

    You have now mixed the ingredients, a handful of good compost and added water. Mix periodically to aerate the mix and leave the bucket in the sun. After one week, start applying the Bug Juice to the compost or table scraps you have collected, or directly to poor soil. Bug Juice can be directly applied to plants, trees, grass, whatever. It is disgusting to look at, but it is a powerful organic "nutrient soup" for the soil. And you made it. You are now officially a backyard scientist.