News

A customer recently called to ask if his side-dressings of 10-10-10 on vegetable plants was OK. Guess it's time to revisit the subject of fertilizer compatibility with soil organisms. First, our basic recommendation is to avoid synthetic fertilizers when using biological growing methods, especially immediate-acting liquids. At best, the non-organic "plant food" disrupts the normal biological activity that provides nourishment and protection to plant roots. At worst, repeated applications kill off the valuable organisms in the soil, leaving plants entirely dependent on human inputs. Also, 10-10-10 or 20-20-20 neither "balanced" nor "complete" - regardless of what the chemical industry says...

A not-fully-appreciated factor in growing plants is the presence of earthworms. Along with microscopic soil organisms, worms perform very important digestive and processing of organic matter - transforming dead plant material into forms that nourish plants. In nature, everything is recycled. Dead leaves, spent annual grasses, pine needles, fallen trees, bird droppings, etc. This constitutes the major part of most plant's diet, and earthworms are one of the foremost components of the recycling system. As soon as a dead leaf hits the ground, decomposing fungi, bacteria, and earthworms "pounce" on it and their eventual excretions become ideal fodder for the...

The process of growing plants requires the grower to make a choice, either to use chemistry or biology as a starting orientation. Either approach can "work" if done properly. A grower can put a seed or transplant in the ground, apply petroleum-based NPK fertilizer, and plants will perform. This has been the standard approach of farmers since the 1950's, and home gardeners have largely followed their example, encouraged by heavy advertising campaigns for "miraculous" plant foods. This direct-feeding is simple and has been relatively inexpensive. Living organisms in the soil are generally ignored when using this method. The biological approach...

Lacking any creative thoughts of my own this month, here are excerpts from an article in Science News (Vol. 159, April 7, 2001) that I found fascinating: "For some plants, a nitrogen-rich diet from dead matter in soil just isn't enough. Researchers from the University of Guelph in Ontario are discovering that these plants also rob nitrogen from the flesh of tiny soil dwelling insects. But instead of doing the job themselves, the plants rely on fungal partners in crime. Fungi of the species Laccaria bicolor attach to the roots of the eastern white pine, where they lure tiny insects...

I received a call today from a landscaper who related his experience with a mycorrhizal inoculant (not ours). He said that plants responded immediately to it, but after 2-3 weeks couldn't see any further benefit and the plants didn't look good. After having him read the label to me, it was obvious that there were several fast-acting ingredients in the product which would produce the responses he observed, but only a very few Endomycorrhizal fungi spores - probably not enough to reliably create the beneficial infectivity. As Endo spores are relatively expensive (In contrast, Ecto types are a few dollars...