Editor’s note: “JT potency” (Jenichen /Tichavsky) is a centesimal dilution followed by 500 succussions or five hundred continuous turns with a wooden stick to the right and 500 turns to the left (if handling larger volumes). The JT potency frequently has a better reaction in plants and it is very important in preparation of live bionosodes
See Dr. Tichavsky’s new course at the end of this column
Dear Dr. Tichavsky,
The Green Vegetable Bug has been a problem with our tomato crop. We are in the city of Orange in the Central Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia, Postcode: 2800. It has a temperate oceanic climate (Köppen classification Cfb). Summers (Dec–Feb): Warm but mild with average highs of 26°C to 28°C. Precipitation: averaging over 900mm annually. Snowfall is a regular occurrence during winter months due to the influence of nearby Mount Canobolas.
Thank you
Gregory
Dr. Radko Tichavsky:
Dear Gregory,
Your tomatoes grow under a climate where the nights come close to the dew point even in summer, owing to the orographic influence of the Canobolas. Days reach 26–28 °C and annual rainfall exceeds 900 mm. This is a temperate-humid holon of intermediate altitude, but the plants live constantly on the edge between nocturnal condensation and daytime insolation. The Nezara viridula that settles in that crop is the bioindicator response of a tomato that has lost coherence with its climatic matrix.
I’ve seen this pattern many times in oceanic climates with strong daily thermal swings. The bug shows up when exuberant, watery tissue, with thin cell walls and nocturnal release of volatile compounds, calls the insect in, offering it soft food, sap rich in free amino acids, and developing fruit that hasn’t finished fixing its structural silicon. And the Nezara only reacts to what the plant emits in this environment.
The right question is why the holon has reached a configuration in which the plant turns out to be attractive. In Orange specifically, three factors come together, free intercellular water, an Si, Ca, K imbalance, and the plant’s response to the thermal oscillation of the Canobolas.
The result is turgid but structurally weak tissue, with poorly silicified cell walls, releasing hexenal and other volatile compounds that act as a kairomonal (attractant) signal for Nezara, which carries very fine receptors for these compounds on its antennae.
The basaltic soils derived from the Canobolas, when worked with conventional mineral fertilization (high in nitrogen) or with overly nitrogenous compost, look correct on a lab analysis but behave as functionally unbalanced.
The active silicon in soil solution, that the silicon the plant can actually absorb, falls below what the tomato needs to build cuticle and cell-wall reinforcement. Structural calcium (not the total calcium that shows up in lab reports), the calcium that actually reaches the developing fruit, gets compromised when potassium competes for uptake and when nocturnal transpiration drops because atmospheric humidity is high.
What you get is a tomato with plenty of potassium and little functional silicon, plenty of water and little structural calcium, and as a result you get a tasty, good-sized tomato, but without defensive capacity.
The daily thermal variability that in summer can exceed 15 °C in your holon is beneficial for many crops, but specifically in tomato it spends energy continuously reorganizing its metabolism between two extremes, the cold nocturnal one and the warm daytime one, and that constant reorganization consumes reserves that should be going into defense, into cuticle thickening. The crop enters what we might call oscillatory fatigue, and the bug shows up precisely when that fatigue becomes chronic.
First step is to prepare a bionosode from adult, healthy Nezara collected in your own plot. It has to be local, from the holon in crisis itself, not from a lab on another continent. The specimens are extracted in 70 % alcohol, left to macerate for seven days, filtered, and dynamized in chlorine-free water up to 3 JT. Apply it as a foliar in mixture with Tanacetum vulgare 4 JT , Ocimum basilicum 3 JT and Mentha pulegium 4 JT, in cool hours, 100 L per hectare. This will bring the population down in about two weeks.
First mix
| Component | Function | JT | Dose/ha |
| Local bionosode of Nezara viridula (alcoholic TM, dynamized in water) | Nezara population knockdown | 3 JT | 100 L/ha |
| Tanacetum vulgare (alcoholic TM from leaves) | Botanical bug repellent | 4 JT | |
| Ocimum basilicum — fresh leaf extract, dynamized in water | Eugenol; complementary kairomonal repellency | 3 JT | |
| Mentha pulegium (alcoholic TM from leaves, dynamized in water) | Pulegone; strong repellent | 4 JT |
The second mix will reinforce the plant’s skin and structure, and heal the stink-bug punctures.
Second mix
| Component | Function | JT | Dose/ha | Selection sign |
| Equisetum arvense (tea from dried leaves) | Functional structural silica; cuticular reinforcement | 4 JT | 100 L/ha | Soft tissue, thin cuticle, easily wounded |
| Silicea terra | Deep silicic information; cell wall | 12 CH | High-CH exception, justified by structural specificity | |
| Calcarea carbonica | Calcic support for cell wall | 7 CH | Succulent tissue lacking firmness | |
| Calcarea phosphorica | Functional calcium reaching the developing fruit | 7 CH | Early blossom-end necrosis; poor fruit firmness | |
| Urtica dioica (alcoholic TM from leaves, dynamized in water) | Functional magnesium and iron; K/Mg balance | 4 JT | Interveinal pallor; runaway vigor | |
| Symphytum officinale (alcoholic TM from leaves, dynamized in water) | Tissue reorganization where oviposition has caused wounds | 5 JT | Multiple insect punctures in green fruit |
Once the bug has already caused discoloration, white internal cores, or fruit deformation, prepare an additional bionosode from affected fruit of your own plot, dynamized at 3 JT. Complement it with a live bionosode made from a macerate of spontaneous plants and plant debris from the crop itself, which acts as integrative landscape information, together with Calendula 3 JT and propolis 3 JT.
Third mix
| Component | Function | JT | Dose/ha | Application |
| Bionosode from alcoholic TM of locally damaged fruit | Informational reorganization of injured tissue | 3 JT | 100 L/ha | Foliar, directed at trusses; 15 mL in 200 L |
| Bionosode from alcoholic TM of a mixed-spontaneous-plants blend | Integrative landscape information | 6 JT | Foliar and soil; 15 mL in 200 L | |
| Calendula officinalis (alcoholic TM) | Closure of oviposition wounds | 3 JT | Foliar, directed at green fruit; 15 mL | |
| Propolis dynamized from alcoholic TM | Biological sealing of punctures | 3 JT | Light foliar; 15 mL; do not concentrate |
Fourth mix
| Component | Rhizospheric function | JT | Dose/ha | Selection sign |
| Trichoderma harzianum, live bionosode | Antagonism; aerobic recolonization | Live / 2 JT | 100 L/ha | Recent-compost soils; ambient fungal pressure |
| Trichoderma viride, live bionosode | Antagonism of Phytophthora, Pythium | 2 JT | Sustained high humidity | |
| Bacillus subtilis, live bionosode | Bacterial competition; phosphate solubilization | 2 JT | Trichoderma companion | |
| Clean oxygenated compost tea | Gentle microbial and nutritional carrier | — | Only if it smells sweet; never anaerobic; do not apply under high-redox conditions (drought and high temperature) | |
| Taraxacum officinale (root and leaf) | Mineral reorganization, root and leaf | 4 JT | Functionally unbalanced soil | |
| Cichorium intybus (root) | Mobilization of deep minerals | 4 JT | Heavy basaltic soil | |
| Micronized biochar | Microbial support; water regulation | 2 JT | Saturation-prone soils after heavy rainfall |
The mixes are arranged in a sequence that respects the holon’s own timing.
| Week / day | Main mix | Complement | Note |
| Week 1, day 1 | Mix 1 — Nezara bionosode | Mix 4 to soil the same day | Late afternoon; canopy aired; chlorine-free water |
| Week 1, day 4 | Mix 2 — Mineral coherence | — | Early morning; silica/calcium reinforcement |
| Week 2, day 8 | Mix 1 — bionosode repeat | Mix 3 if visible damage | Repeat bionosode only if pressure continues |
| Week 2, day 11 | Mix 4 — root drench | — | Rhizospheric reorganization |
| Week 3, day 15 | Mix 2 | Equisetum JT 4 reinforced | Silica consolidation |
| Week 3, day 18 | Mix 1 — third application, only if needed | — | Only if population has not dropped 60–70 % |
| Week 4, day 22 | Evaluation + Mix 3 if residual damage | — | Count adults, nymphs and egg masses |
| Week 4, day 26 | Cycle close | Silicea terra 3 JT | Silica and light; integration of the work |
Hi Dr. Tichavsky,
We plant cucumbers in Jerseyville, Illinois 62052, which is the Southern part of the state. We’ve had a problem with bacterial wilt. This is a humid continental climate with warm, humid summers and cold, windy, snowy winters. We receive about 42 inches of rain yearly. Summer temperatures are often in the upper 80’s F.
Thank you
Tommaso
Dr. Radko Tichavsky:
Dear Tomasso,
Bacterial wilt of cucumber, caused by Erwinia tracheiphila, shouldn’t be approached as an isolated-pathogen problem arriving from outside, to be fought with an external arsenal. It is the expression of a loss of microbial coherence in the holon.
In the humid, warm summers of the Mississippi valley, when nocturnal relative humidity regularly tops 85 % and temperatures swing between 18 °C at dawn and 32 °C at midday, Erwinia becomes dominant only when the antagonistic bacterial communities that normally keep it in check have been displaced or weakened.
The holohomeopathic approach starts from a simple principle, in the same territory where Erwinia wreaks havoc on cucumber, there are ruderal, weed, and perennial plants that live alongside that bacterium without getting sick because they have developed, or rather because they hold on to, microbial communities able to keep the balance.
The information needed to solve the problem is already present in the holon. We don’t have to invent it or import it from remote laboratories: we have to identify it, extract it, dynamize it, and transfer it.
In Jerseyville, the alluvial Mississippi soils alternate heavy clays with fertile silts, and ruderal vegetation thrives on damp edges, where Erwinia pressure recurs year after year. The species that stay healthy on those crop edges constitute a living reservoir of local microbiological solutions. What we need is to learn to read that reservoir and transfer its information to the vulnerable cucumber.
The plants I propose as a source of microbial information are chosen on three criteria: local persistence, species that come back year after year in the same territory without management; second, good growth under climatic pressure similar to the one the cucumber suffers (high humidity, summer heat, daily thermal oscillation); and third, epiphytic and rhizospheric microbiota documented as antagonistic to Erwinia, in this case sought specifically in local material.
| Local species | Why this species | Expected antagonistic microbiota | Part to sample | Collection window |
| Achillea millefolium | Persistent perennial; deep roots; foliage that takes humidity without wilting | Bacillus subtilis, B. amyloliquefaciens, Pseudomonas fluorescens | Rhizosphere + foliar wash | July–August, in bloom |
| Solidago canadensis | Colonizes wet edges without bacterial issues | Paenibacillus polymyxa, Streptomyces spp. | Fine roots + adhering soil | August–September, pre-bloom |
| Ambrosia artemisiifolia | Aggressive ruderal; allelopathic resistance to bacterial pathogens | Bacillus spp. endophytic, Pseudomonas | Young leaf + rhizosphere | June–July, before it dominates |
| Plantago major | Perennial of wet ground; thick cuticle; rarely sick | B. subtilis, P. fluorescens, Streptomyces griseus | Rhizome + adventitious roots | May–June and August |
| Taraxacum officinale | Taproot; mineral mobilizer; stable microbiota | Bacillus spp., Paenibacillus, Arthrobacter | Main root + exudates | April–May and September |
| Daucus carota (wild) | Native umbellifer; resists wilt; antifungal root | Pseudomonas putida, B. amyloliquefaciens | Young taproot + basal leaves | June, at rosette stage |
| Trifolium pratense | Nitrogen-fixer; nodules carry diverse microbiota | Rhizobium, B. japonicum, Pseudomonas | Nodules + rhizosphere | May–June, pre-bloom |
| Medicago lupulina | Small legume; tolerates wet ground and bacteria | B. elkanii, Sinorhizobium, Streptomyces | Whole root system | May–August as available |
| Monarda fistulosa | Native aromatic; antibacterial essential oils | Bacillus licheniformis, non-pathogenic Pseudomonas syringae | Rhizome + aromatic leaves | July, in bloom |
| Nepeta cataria | Natural repellent; nepetalactone; protective microbiota | B. subtilis, P. fluorescens, actinomycetes | Rhizome + foliage | June–August |
| Panicum virgatum | Native wet-prairie grass; extensive root system | Azospirillum, Bacillus megaterium, Pseudomonas | Fine roots + rhizospheric soil | July–August, in growth |
| Sorghastrum nutans | Climax grass; tolerates pathogens; rich microbiota | B. cereus, Streptomyces, Pseudomonas putida | Crown + adventitious roots | August, at vegetative maturity |
| Hedera helix | Persistent perennial; stable phyllosphere; bacterial resistance | B. pumilus, P. fluorescens, antagonistic yeasts | Mature leaf + aerial roots | July–August, current-season leaf |
| Parthenocissus quinquefolia | Native climber; diverse phyllosphere; resistant | Bacillus epiphytic, Aureobasidium pullulans | Leaf + tendrils + rhizosphere | June–July, in expansion |
Collect material from 5–7 species in the table above, from visibly healthy plants located no more than 2 km from the affected cucumber crop. Collection should be done on a dry day, between 8:00 and 10:00 a.m., when the epiphytic microbiota is active but not heat-stressed. For each species, take 50-100 g of fresh material that includes fine roots with adhering soil, young basal leaves, and in the case of legumes, nodules if present.
Gently wash each sample with chlorine-free water to recover epiphytic microbiota in the wash water. Reserve that water. Then crush the plant material with a sterile mortar, add the reserved wash water, and cover with 20 % ethanol. The final ratio should be 1:3 weight : volume. Macerate in a dark glass jar for 72 hours at room temperature, with gentle agitation twice a day.
Then filter the macerate (a coffee filter works, for instance) and reserve the liquid. This is the microbial mother tincture (TM). From here, follow the 3 JT dynamizations in chlorine-free water.
The local microbial nosode is not applied like a conventional fungicide, but it does have to be applied before the crop enters stress, while the tissues are still receptive and the microbial community has not yet been disorganized.
The local microbial nosode has to be accompanied by management adjustments that eliminate the conditions favoring Erwinia and reinforce the conditions favoring its natural antagonists.
| Complement | Function | Application | Note |
| Equisetum arvense JT 4 | Structural silica; reinforces cuticle | Foliar, every two weeks | Especially important in high humidity |
| Trichoderma harzianum, local | Antagonistic fungal recolonization | To soil, every 3 weeks | If available locally |
| Oxygenated compost tea | General microbial diversity | Weekly drench | Only if it smells sweet |
| Urtica dioica JT 4 | Excess-nitrogen reduction | Foliar if vigor is high | Modulates susceptibility |
| Taraxacum officinale JT 4 | Mineral reorganization | To soil, monthly | Improves overall balance |
A cucumber treated with the local microbial nosode progressively develops greater resistance not only to bacterial wilt, but also to other opportunistic pathogens that tend to show up under high-humidity conditions.
| Week | Indicator | Reading | Decision |
| 1–2 | Seedling vigor; leaf color | Uniform deep green vs. uneven pale | If pale: reinforce with Urtica JT 4 |
| 3–4 | Visible root development | Abundant white roots vs. sparse or darkened | If sparse: repeat drench at 3 JT |
| 5–6 | Resistance to night humidity | Leaves that dry quickly vs. leaves that stay wet | If wet: improve airflow + Equisetum |
| 7–8 | First wilt symptoms | Total absence vs. isolated symptoms | If symptoms: urgent foliar at 4 JT |
| 9–10 | Bloom and fruit-set | Abundant flowers; normal set | If poor: review N excess and add biochar 3 JT to soil |
| 11–14 | Fruiting without symptoms | Healthy fruit vs. wilt developing | If wilt: repeat full cycle |
On top of that, eliminate excess soluble nitrogen rich alluvial soils with immature compost or recent nitrogen fertilizer generate succulent tissue with weak cell walls, exactly what Erwinia needs to establish. Suspend nitrogen inputs during treatment and favor slow-release phosphorus and potassium.
Improve drainage and airflow, since bacterial wilt progresses fast when there is free water at the plant collar and excessive moisture in the surface soil. In humid summers this calls for higher beds, organic cover that drains well (avoid straw, which holds moisture), and spacing that lets air move between plants.
Irrigate at dry hours, only at the base of the plant, never wetting the foliage, and at times that allow the surface soil to dry quickly before dusk. In practice that means watering before 7:00 a.m. or after 5:00 p.m., avoiding the hottest hours but also the hours that leave surface moisture overnight.
Applying Equisetum arvense JT 4 every two weeks thickens the cuticle and hardens cell walls. In humid environments the cuticle is the first line of defense against bacterial penetration, and Equisetum is the holohomeopathic remedy of choice to defend the plant.
Keep the crop’s edges with healthy ruderal vegetation, avoid totally herbicides that wipe out the natural sources of antagonists, and apply oxygenated compost tea weekly as a carrier of microbial diversity complementary to the specific nosode. In the following season, rotate with crops that are not susceptible to Erwinia tracheiphila (legumes, grasses, brassicas) to break the pathogen’s cycle.
Hello Dr. Tichavsky,
A fungus has appeared on an apple tree this autumn. Could be a honey fungus. The tree is likely over 100 years old. I’ve removed the visible growth. Can you suggest how I should deal with that? The tree is in the UK, just above London. Climate: Down to minus 4°C sometimes in winter, not usually above 30°C in summer. Can be damp but some weeks of little rainfall last summer.
Thank you
Carly
Dr. Radko Tichavsky:
Dear Carly,
What appears on the trunk is consistent with honey fungus, probably Armillaria, especially given the age of the apple tree and the autumn emergence after alternating damp and dry spells. In old apple trees in southern England, these fungi often turn active when the tree is under chronic stress, rather than as an isolated problem.
At more than 100 years old, the tree has likely accumulated areas of slow-decaying wood, zones of fluctuating moisture, and weakened root sectors. After dry spells followed by moisture, Armillaria tends to fruit where oxygenation and decomposition processes turn unstable, around the collar or the main roots.
I would first carefully inspect around the base of the tree, in the soil, for black bootlace-like rhizomorphs beneath the bark or in the ground. Also check for areas where the bark sounds hollow or lifts easily. If the canopy still leafed out reasonably well this season and the main scaffold branches stay vigorous, the tree may coexist with the fungus for many years.
It is advisable to avoid aggressive interventions. Old apple trees usually decline faster after heavy pruning, soil disturbance, or strong fungicides. It is more useful to focus on improving root-zone conditions and reducing chronic stress.
The most useful approach is often to expose the root collar slightly so that it stays drier and better aerated. Remove grass and accumulated organic matter directly against the trunk. Avoid mulch piled tightly around the base. Improve airflow and light penetration if the surrounding vegetation is very dense. Cut and remove the fungal fruiting bodies to reduce further sporulation.
Observe perennial plants and local trees that coexist with Armillaria without showing evident decline. Under southern UK conditions, species such as Hedera helix, Urtica dioica, Crataegus monogyna, Rubus fruticosus and healthy old oaks often carry stable fungal and bacterial communities that naturally compete with wood-decay pathogens. Extracting rhizosphere material from nearby long-lived healthy trees may be more useful than working directly from the pathogen itself.
Antagonistic fungi and bacteria naturally associated with suppressive woodland soils may also be relevant, especially:
- Trichoderma,
- Bacillus subtilis,
- actinomycetes from healthy rhizospheres.
Locally collected mulch usually performs better than imported commercial biological products, because it is already adapted to the same moisture and temperature cycles. It can be dynamized in water as living bionosode at potency 3 JT and applied around the trunk.
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