Lactic Acid Bacteria Serum (LABS) KNF Soil Inoculant & Compost Accelerator, 8 oz Makes 62.5 Gallons

🦠 Lactic Acid Bacteria Serum (LABS), Made on Our Farm

Lactic acid bacteria serum, known across Korean Natural Farming as LABS, is the input that builds living soil biology. It is a culture of beneficial lactic acid bacteria that break down organic matter quickly and unlock the nutrients locked inside it, so your plants can actually use them. Those same bacteria settle onto root surfaces and crowd out the pathogens that cause soil-borne disease, a natural process growers call competitive exclusion.

LABS works two jobs at once. In the soil, it is a foundational inoculant you drench in at planting and refresh through the season to keep nutrient cycling humming and roots well defended. In the compost pile, it is a powerful accelerator: poured over your pile, it speeds decomposition and turns organic waste into finished, nutrient-rich soil faster. For a deeper look at what it does at the microbial level, see our guide to the benefits of LABS.

We make this on our own farm in Colorado, and it is part of the input regimen that helped our soil reach a Haney Soil Health Score of 25.4, a number that surpasses the soil biology measured in pristine forest land. We farm soil-first because we believe a living, biologically active soil grows stronger, more resilient plants, and LABS is the input that gets that biology established. You can read the full story of how we built I·M·POSSIBLE Farm.

One 8 oz bottle goes a remarkably long way: at a 1:1000 dilution it makes about 62.5 gallons of finished serum. To see how LABS fits with the other inputs across the season, our master guide to KNF inputs maps the whole calendar.

Product Details

Specification	Detail
Product Type	KNF input, lactic acid bacteria serum (LABS)
Source	Cultured lactic acid bacteria (live microbial serum)
Key Benefits	Builds soil biology, unlocks nutrients, accelerates compost
Format	Liquid concentrate (live culture)
Size	8 oz bottle (makes about 62.5 gallons diluted)
Dilution Rate	1:1000 (about three-quarters of a teaspoon per gallon)
Application	Soil drench, foliar spray, or compost accelerator
Best Used	Garden establishment, quarterly refresh, and compost piles
Grade	Farm-made KNF input

Curious about the microbiology? Read See the Science, or run the whole system with our Ultimate KNF Starter Pack.

🌼 Frequently Asked Questions

What does lactic acid bacteria serum actually do for my soil?

It builds the living biology that healthy soil runs on. The beneficial bacteria in LABS break down organic matter fast and unlock the nutrients held inside it, so your plants can take them up, and they settle onto root surfaces where they crowd out disease-causing organisms. We use it as the foundation of our soil, the first input that gets everything else working.

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Can I use this to speed up my compost?

Yes, and it is one of our favorite ways to use it. Dilute the serum and pour it over your compost pile, and the lactic acid bacteria go to work breaking material down, which speeds decomposition and helps you reach finished, crumbly compost sooner. We use the same bottle for both the pile and the garden beds.

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Can I just culture my own LABS?

You can, and we love that Korean Natural Farming is built to be shared. What you get from us is the exact lactic acid bacteria serum we make on our own farm in Colorado, the same one that helped build soil with a Haney Soil Health Score of 25.4. It arrives as a ready, active culture you dilute at 1:1000, so you can skip the rice wash, the milk culture, and the straining and put it straight to work.

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How do I dilute it, and how far does one bottle go?

Dilute at 1:1000, which is about three-quarters of a teaspoon per gallon of water. At that rate the 8 oz bottle makes about 62.5 gallons of finished serum. Use it as a soil drench at planting and quarterly after, pour it over your compost pile, or apply it as a light foliar mist, and you can combine it with other KNF inputs in the same routine.