microbes Archives - gardenmyths.com

Microbe Science for Gardeners is Released

Microbe Science for Gardeners – Secrets to Better Plant Health is released and I got my first copy today. This book looks at the interaction between microbes and plants in a new way and debunks some of the myths around it, while at the same time providing good solid information about the microbes themselves.

The book discusses the most common types of microbes both as individuals and their interaction with each other. These microbe communities exist on leaves, roots, stems, flowers, and even on fruit. Each community is different and affects the plant in different ways. Soil communities are important but so are the ones above ground. Armed with this knowledge the book then provides solid advice on what the gardener can do to create healthy microbe communities and as usual, it discusses a number of myths along the way.

Microbe Science for Gardeners is Released

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Are Fungal to Bacterial Ratios (F:B Ratio) Important for Plant Growth?

It has been known for some time that the ratio of fungi to bacteria varies in different types of soil and in different plant communities. Forests have a higher ratio of fungi while grassland and agricultural soil is higher in bacteria. This has led to the idea that plants grow best when the fungal to bacterial ratio is matched to their needs. Gardeners should not only monitor their fungi to bacteria ratio, but also modify the soil to change it.

In this post I will look at the science support this idea.

Are Fungal to Bacterial Ratios Important for Plant Growth?

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Compost Microbes – Good for the Soil?

Compost microbes are micro-organisms (mostly bacteria and fungi) that live in the compost pile and get transferred to your soil when you add the compost to the soil. Many people consider this to be a benefit of using compost. Compost manufacturers even advertise their “special microbes”, sometimes called Effective Microbes.

It is all a myth. Let’s dig deep and understand this important gardening topic.

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Soil Microbes – Do You Need To Add Them To The Garden?

People are starting to understand that microbes (ie microorganisms) are very important to a healthy soil. This knowledge has led to a disturbing trend where people feel the need to add microbes to soil, and manufacturers are responding with an increasing number of products. In this post I will look at the misconceptions behind this trend.

Soil Microbes - do you need to add them to soil? — Soil Microbes – do you need to add them to soil?

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Compost Tea

Compost Tea has become a very popular topic. The following is a quote from Fine Gardening (ref 2):

Gardeners all know compost is terrific stuff. But there’s something even better than plain old compost, and that’s compost tea. As the name implies, compost tea is made by steeping compost in water. It’s used as either a foliar spray or a soil drench, depending on where your plant has problems.

Why go to the extra trouble of brewing, straining, and spraying a tea rather than just working compost into the soil? There are several reasons. First, compost tea makes the benefits of compost go farther. What’s more, when sprayed on the leaves, compost tea helps suppress foliar diseases, increases the amount of nutrients available to the plant, and speeds the breakdown of toxins. Using compost tea has even been shown to increase the nutritional quality and improve the flavor of vegetables. If you’ve been applying compost to your soil only in the traditional way, you’re missing out on a whole host of benefits.

Let’s look at the facts.

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