Gardeners have come to understand that the microbe population in soil is critical for healthy soil and healthy plants. There is also tremendous chatter on blogs and in social media about “doing the right thing” to increase microbe populations. Companies have packaged microbes to produce garden “probiotics”. Just sprinkle a bit on your soil and watch the magic happen. So I think we can agree that gardeners should take care of their existing microbes and work on increasing their numbers.
More microbes = healthier soil = happier plants
But ….. there is a catch. How does the gardener measure the current microbe population? If you can’t measure it today, how do you know that you have increased the population over time? How do you know which method of soil improvement worked the best?
Do purchased probiotics work the best? How about compost tea, or weed tea? Does compost alone work?
Without a method for measuring microbes, you are flying blind. In this post I will discuss some lab methods, some DIY methods and some new technology that is just coming on the market.
