Corrections: where we taught something Master Cho didn't
In October 2026 we checked our books, our exam and this website against Master Cho's own words: his books, his 2017 printed prescription table, and the recordings of his seminars. Much of what we taught matched him. Some of it didn't.
Most of the differences started with me. I built the seven-prescription chart. I wrote the recipe books. On Office Hours, I said some of these numbers were "Master Cho's recommendation" when they were ours. That was wrong, and I'm sorry.
From now on, Pure KNF teaches what Master Cho taught. We keep our plain names for the solutions (Food, Cleanser, Medicine and the rest). The numbers are his.
If you learned from our books, you weren't wasting your time. The core was his: the nine solutions, reading the plant, feeding by its period of life. Below is what changed and why.
— Drake
What changed
| What we taught | What Master Cho taught | Where ours came from |
|---|---|---|
| Spray 25 gallons per acre, and that this was "Master Cho's recommendation" | About 100 gallons per acre on young crops, 200–300 on a full canopy. Janong Natural Farming (2003), p. 146; CGNF newsletter, Aug 2005. | Hawaii practice in 2014. Chris Trump and I both gave 25 gal/acre in the same Facebook thread. I first called it Cho's on Office Hours in August 2023. |
| Drench the soil at 100 gallons per acre | Measure the solutions for 1 ton of water per 300 pyeong (about 1,100 gallons per acre), then add plain water until the soil is wet 8 inches deep. In his Hawaii example that was about 4 tons, roughly 4,300 gallons per acre. Once, a week before planting. Cho's 2017 table; Cho DVD, Hawaii. | My December 2014 slides. |
| Microbes at 1,200 lb per acre | At least 150 kg per 10 a, about 1,340 lb per acre. Recipe, p. 18. | My 2015 symposium slide rounded his 330 lb per quarter acre the wrong way. |
| Seawater 1:10 two days before harvest | Three sprays over the last 10–15 days: 1:30, then 1:25, then 1:20. In his classes he went to 1:15 at most, a week out. His 1:10 is for chicken drinking water. Cho's 2017 table; Recipe, p. 82. | My Level 2 class, August 2017, and every recipe book since 2019. |
| Fuel at 1:3000 in Bloom and Fruit | Fuel at changeover and in fruiting is optional, 1:1500–2000, and only for a weak crop. Cho's 2017 table; Recipe, p. 51. | My 2019 chart. I once called it "Master Cho's verbatim chart" (Office Hours, March 2023). It wasn't. |
| Fuel 1:2000 above 25°C | No temperature rule. Mix everything weaker in dry weather and stronger in wet weather, except Fuel, which goes weaker in rain. Janong (2003), p. 117. | Our Book 2 draft, labelled as my own rule. The 25°C idea comes from unsigned 2011 class notes. |
| Seawater in Bloom (changeover) | No seawater at the changeover. Bloom adds Reproduction (eggshell calcium). Cho's 2017 table; Janong (2003), p. 160–162. | My chart, sometime between May 2017 and January 2019. |
| Food at 1:500 for every stage | Food from ripe fruit at 1:2000 or weaker. No Food at harvest. Recipe, p. 43–44; Cho's 2017 table. | My charts from 2015 on. |
| Cleanser is ready below pH 2.4 | At least 4–5% acidity. Sharp, with no sweetness left. | A participant's remark at the 2017 Advanced course, then my recipe books. |
| Structure: 7 parts vinegar to 1 part bone | 10 parts vinegar to 1 part bone. Recipe, p. 65–66. | My recipe book changed from 1:10 to 7:1 in 2021–22. No reason was recorded. |
| Spray early morning or late evening, "when stomata are open" | In the afternoon, finished 2–3 hours before sunset, so the leaves are dry by dark. Morning only when it's cloudy. | A group discussion in 2017, then my trainings from 2021. |
| Don't mulch over fresh Microbes; spread them under 2 hours before sunset | Spread 2–3 hours before sunset and cover with mulch. Don't bury them. Recipe, p. 18; 2017 Advanced course. | The time: my 2019 recipe book. The no-mulch line: our 2026 draft. Earlier we taught mulching. |
| A flooded plant: stop feeding | Stop the nitrogen, then spray Cleanser 1:300 and Structure 1:800 to pull it down. Cho on an overfed papaya, Hawaii, 2009. | Our 2026 drafts. |
| Yellow lower leaves: add more Fuel | A slight even yellowing near bud time is the changeover; don't add Fuel. Add Fuel only to a crop that is small, pale and stalled. Janong (2003), p. 160–162. | Our 2026 draft. On Office Hours in 2023 I taught the opposite, correctly. |
| Fuel improves for 3 years; Food and Medicine keep "indefinitely"; Seed IMO keeps "centuries" in a fridge | Fuel needs at least 6 months. Ripe-fruit Food keeps 2–3 years. Old Medicine is diluted more. Preserved Seed IMO keeps 2–3 years. Recipe, p. 14, 29–30, 42, 50. | My handouts and recipe books, 2015–2019. |
| Mix Medicine a month before use | Mix it just before using. Recipe, p. 29–30. | My recipe books, 2019–2024. |
| Seed soak: fast seeds 3–4 hours, "Master Cho's rule" | Fast seeds 2 hours, average 4, slow 7. Potato, ginger, garlic and taro ½–1 hour. Janong (2003), p. 155–156. | Our 2026 Book 2 draft. |
| Foliar feeding works better than soil | "The root comes before the leaf." Foliar spraying is fast; the real feeding is through the roots. Janong (2003), p. 165–166. | My recipe book and Office Hours, 2022. |
| "The 7 Prescriptions of Master Cho" | Cho's stages are soil, seed, Type II, changeover, Type III and ripening. The seven names (Maintenance, Soil, Seed, Leaf, Bloom, Fruit, Harvest) are mine. Maintenance is ours too; it builds on the weekly Food, Cleanser and Medicine spray Cho recommended. | I named and charted them from 2019 to 2021. |
The chart we teach now
Master Cho's 2017 printed prescription table, in our names. Ratios are 1 part to N parts water; "(opt)" means optional, as Cho marked it.
| Food | Cleanser | Medicine | Structure | Fuel | Reproduction | Minerals | Protectors | Microbes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soil | 1:500, from growth tips | 1:500 | 1:1000 | — | — | — | 1:25 [1:20–25] | — | solid, spread first |
| Seed | 1:500, from growth tips | 1:500 | 1:1000 | 1:1000 | (opt) 1:1000 | — | 1:25 [1:20–25] | — | — |
| Leaf | 1:500, from growth tips or baby fruit | 1:500 | 1:1000 | 1:1000 | (opt) 1:1000 | — | — | 1:1000 | — |
| Bloom | 1:500, from acacia flowers, baby fruit or fruit | 1:500 | 1:1000 | 1:1000 | (opt) 1:2000 [1:1500–2000] | 1:1000 | — | 1:2000 [1:1500–2000] | — |
| Fruit | 1:2000 [1:2000–3000], from acacia flowers or ripe fruit | 1:500 | 1:1000 | 1:1000 | (opt) 1:2000 [1:1500–2000] | 1:1000 | 1:25 [1:20–25] | — | liquid |
| Harvest | — | 1:500, first spray only | 1:1000 | — | — | 1:1000 | 1:30 → 1:25 → 1:20 | — | — |
The soil-foundation drench is measured for 1 ton of water per 300 pyeong (about 1,100 gallons an acre), then watered in with plain water until the soil is wet 8 inches deep.
Old pages and answers
Old Office Hours recordings, meeting pages and Q&A answers stay as they were, because they're a record of what was taught at the time. Each one that repeats an old figure now carries a note pointing here.
Sources
Every row above has full citations in our research notes. Each Cho quote comes from his own books or from the recordings of his seminars, and each "where ours came from" is backed by a dated document or recording. Where we couldn't find where a mistake started, we say so. If you find something we got wrong, tell us.