Applying the preparations

How are biodynamic preparations applied?

How they are applied depends on the type of preparation. The two groups, field spray preparations and compost preparations, are used in fundamentally different ways. In both cases, close observation of soil and plants is what matters: when a preparation is applied depends on the crop, the weather and the stage of growth, not on fixed dates.

Spray preparations: stir and spray

Horn manure 500 and horn silica 501 are stirred in water for an hour before use, the dynamisation. Then they are applied promptly, because the effect of the stirred preparation fades after about a day.

Two opposite rules of thumb apply, reflecting the character of the two preparations. Horn manure is sprayed in the evening (or afternoon) and onto the soil, in large drops, ideally onto soil that is freshly worked or about to be worked, when the forces are drawn into the earth. Horn silica is sprayed in the morning (preferably while the dew is still on) and onto the plant, as finely as possible, as soon as there is enough green leaf. Clear weather supports the effect; hot midday sun and drying or cold winds are avoided. As ripening begins, horn silica moves to the afternoon.

Timing through the year

Horn manure is applied mainly in spring and autumn: to prepare the soil before sowing and planting, on meadows, pastures and freshly mown land, on trunks and into tree crowns, and on all crops in prolonged drought. In early spring as early as possible, as soon as meadows and winter cereals can be walked or driven on; an old marker is St Peter's day (25 February), around which a change in the weather is often noticeable and the "inner life of the earth" reawakens. In autumn it is sprayed after harvest and before autumn sowing, often complemented by the cow pat preparation to guide decomposition.

Horn silica accompanies the growing plant: it can be used in autumn on well-developed winter cereals, in spring to encourage tillering, and rhythmically from the second or third leaf. Rhythmic sprayings have proved themselves for strengthening against fungi and insects: at the same time of day on three consecutive days (24 hours apart), repeated every two to three weeks. Repeated applications of horn silica are reported to increase yield, ripening, keeping quality and evenness of quality.

Quantities

Figures vary by region and author; the following ratios have proved themselves in Central Europe:

• Horn manure: one portion (the contents of one horn) in the water for 2,500 m², depending on moisture about 30 to 80 g in 10 to 15 l. Per hectare that means four horns' contents (≈ 120 to 300 g) in 40 to 60 l of water. On large areas with good equipment the amount can be reduced (in English-speaking countries often about one horn per hectare). At the end, 1 to 2 cm³ of valerian per hectare can be stirred in for the last few minutes; this strengthens the enlivening effect, especially in a cold spring and before frosty nights.
• Horn silica: one portion = 1 g in 10 to 15 l of water for 2,500 m², correspondingly 4 g in 40 to 60 l for one hectare of grassland and arable land; in orchards and soft-fruit plantings about 8 g.

To encourage root formation, the roots of plants can be dipped briefly into the stirred horn manure just before planting.

Compost preparations: working them in

The compost preparations (502 to 507) are not sprayed but worked into compost and farmyard manure: the five solid ones (502 to 506) as small lumps in holes made in the heap, the liquid valerian (507) diluted and sprayed or poured over it. One set is enough for about ten cubic metres of solid manure. They are added as soon as organic matter accumulates, and again after turning.

Technique and equipment

In a home garden, a bucket and a hand brush (for large drops of horn manure) or a fine sprayer (for the horn silica mist) are enough. In the field, knapsack sprayers or tractor-mounted sprayers are used; copper or enamelled vessels are suitable as tanks, while plastic and aluminium are avoided. The stirred preparation is sieved before spraying so that the nozzles do not clog. The horsetail decoction (508) is also sprayed, preventively against fungal pressure and often together with horn silica.