JADAM Microbial Solution

There are easy ways to add microbes to your soil that won't break the bank and instead are extremely effective.  All it takes is a trip into nature and using your observation skills to find these microbes.  There are a few different ways to collect microbes, including putting out a collection box using cooked rice and letting it sit for a few days to allow the microbes to colonize the rice.  JADAM teaches a simpler version of this that may be easier and a little more timely.  JADAM teaches collecting Leaf Mold, which is decomposed leafs.  This litter is covered in microbes.  The leaf mold is your starting material and your inoculate for the rest of the process. Mixing this leaf mold with some minerals, food for the microbes and water, in a container, brings the birth of JADAM Microbial Solution, also known as JMS.  

JMS is an anaerobic solution using leaf mold, as the inoculate, in the absence of air.  This makes the process extremely cost effective because it does not require a bunch of equipment and can be done anywhere.  All you will need is a container, water, potatoes, seawater or sea salt, a few other things we will discuss later and a few days.  

Some people ask, ‘what about the bad microbes or all the anaerobic microbes,’ JADAM doesn't believe in a dualistic approach like most modern approaches, where there is a line dividing good and bad.  JADAM believes microbes are all workers and they work together.  Instead of narrowing the pool of microbes we can expand them and incorporate all, because different microbes may have an impact on different nutrients that are available.  “Good and Bad,” is something we have created, and in nature microbes live in balance, all the microbes we consider bad are there and yet, they do not cause us problems until things become imbalanced. Even to much “good,” can cause problems when not in balance.
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Lets talk a little bit about what you will need and how to make JMS

Materials

1. 5 Gallon bucket
2. 4-5 gallons of water 
3. Potatoes
4. Leaf mold
5. Rocks (to weigh down the bag)
6. Paint strainer ( to hold material)
7. Seawater 1:30 (for 4 gallons of water 500ml)/ Sea salt can also be used
8. Stick (to suspend bag)
9. Trash Bag or other bag to cover the top

*JADAM also provides in his book the measurements of all these ingredients to make bigger batches.  For most home gardeners and small scale gardens 4 gallons of concentrated JMS will be diluted 1:10, making 40 gallons of applicable solution.

Step by step

1. First thing you will want to do is collect all your materials.
2. Fill a 5 gallon bucket with water.
3. Add Sea water 1:30 (500ml for 4gallons of water).
4. Cook/boil potatoes, making them soft and malleable (I put them in a microwave for 5 mins).
5. Get the paints strainer and add your rocks, leaf mold, and potatoes.
6. Put the bag with material into the water and massage the bag to break up the potatoes until they are no longer whole and you can't see them.
7. The stick will go over the bucket and tie the bag to it.
8. Cover with plastic bag to keep it anaerobic.
9. Wait 24-48 hours, maybe a little longer depending on ambient temperatures.

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Sit back and let the microbes do their magic and colonize the water using the minerals in the seawater and potatoes as food.  There are other food sources you can use, but potatoes help maintain an even pH, without lowering it like sugar may.

How do you know when its ready?

Keep an eye on the bucket, it may take a few tries until you are able to dial in the timing perfectly for your garden.  You will want to use it when the activity reaches its peak, you will see the bubbles continue to grow. This will give you about a 12 hour window to use the solution.  JMS does not keep well, so use it all up.  During the winter the bubbles will be smaller and during the summer it will seem more active.  You want to use the solution before the foam circle that forms breaks.

Application rates

-Dilute JMS 1:10 for soil drenching
-JMS can be used undiluted in areas that do not have plants, but will burn roots of established plants if used this way, due to the extremely high numbers of microbes.
-Use JMS when preparing soil, before planting or as your planting.  JMS can also be used during transition into fruiting to help make nutrients available for your crop.
-JMS can also be used weekly to help maintain soil health.  Just remember that your JMS will only be as diverse as your leaf mold.

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