Biodynamic Tree Paste Recipe

Originally published 2024-02-09. By Stewart Kahn Lundy.

Rejuvenating Orchards and Vineyards, plus DIY recipe

For paid subscribers, the DIY recipe for biodynamic tree paste is available below the paywall at the bottom. Thank you all for your generous support!

Tree paste is a way to revitalize trees and orchards. It contains clay, the Pfeiffer field spray, the influence of all the biodynamic compost preparations, and fermented Equisetum arvense which helps combat fungus in orchards and vineyards.

Rudolf Steiner reminds us in the Agriculture Course that the green cambium is really like a kind of root network: “That is how we must regard the roots of these plants that grow out of the tree: they are replaced by the cambium. Although the cambium does not look like roots, it is the living, growing layer, constantly forming new cells, so that the plant-life of the tree grows out of it, just as the life of a herbaceous plant grows up above out of the root below.”1 The cambium transports nutrients throughout the trunk like a delicate mycelial network. Once a perennial is well-established, accessing the root tips may not be easy. But as we can apply nutrients as a foliar spray to leaves, we can also nourish perennials by applying biodynamic tree paste to their trunks.

The application of tree paste to the trunk is where we can access the rhythmic system of the plant directly when the root tips may be far out of reach. Its use helps suppress fungus, mildew, blight, and stimulates healing in remarkable ways.

Applying Biodynamic Tree Paste

An optional first step is using a wire brush to “clean” the trunk lightly by removing only the outermost dead bark, lichen, etc. Imagine sanding a wall before painting it. If you take this step, be careful NOT to go too deep. You do not want to expose any green cambium directly. It is enough that the middle bark is coated with tree paste.

Applying tree paste can be done many ways. Some people add water and use brushes to “paint” it on the trees. Other people use bare hands. In large-scale orchards and vineyards, the paste can be diluted 1:9 in water and sprayed on the trunks and branches with good results. Included in the tree paste is clay, which Steiner says aids in the “cosmic upward stream” as well as the full influence of all the compost preparations.

Original Tree Paste Recipe (Pfeiffer) vs. JPI Recipe (Courtney):

Original Tree Paste Recipe (Pfeiffer):

1/3rd raw cow manure
1/3rd clay (e.g. bentonite, montmorillonite, or azomite)
1/3rd sand

You can make this version at home, but shipping raw manure is not a viable option. You might consider replacing the sand portion with diatomaceous earth and adding some castor oil to help make it “stick.” Hugh Lovel has a more elaborate recipe in Quantum Agriculture.

JPI offers a modified recipe:

Tree Paste Recipe (Courtney)

Ingredients

• 1-1.5 gal water

• 1/4 gal fermented 508

• 0.5C castor oil (helps tree paste stick to the trunk)

• 1 units Pfeiffer Field Spray (2oz or approx. 58g)

• 0.5C basalt (volcanic rock dust)

• 50g eggshells

• 1 pint (9 units) of Barrel Compound

Tools:

• 5gal bucket

• Paint mixer

Directions:

Combine rainwater, oil, basalt, and eggshells. Mix.
Add half of clay, 1C at a time. Mix in between cups.
Add fermented equisetum, Pfeiffer Field and Garden Spray, and Barrel Compound. Mix.
Add second half of clay, 1C at a time. Mix in between cups.

Final product should be a stiff paste.

Let us know if you have any success stories or questions in the comments below!