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The Role Microbes Play in Increasing Soil Fertility

The important relationship between microbes and plants

The microbial population or microbial biomass (MB) reflects soil fertility. For over 2 million years, plants and soil microbes have worked together to create what we call fertile “soil”.

How do they work together? The plant supplies the microbes with carbon rich food. The microbes then mine the soil for the required minerals. Microbes can actually manufacture nitrogen and antibiotics that protect the plant from pathogens in return creating carbon stores that build soil structure and sequester carbon.

Like all good partners, what is good for one is good for the other, i.e., a healthy MB predicts a healthy plant. Therefore, supplying NPK directly to plants disrupts the plant microbe relationship – plants no longer feed the microbes and the MB decreases accordingly. Soils with low MB suffer from erosion, compaction, and poor structure. Sadly, this is how we have lost 50% of the earth’s soil.

The Role Microbes Play in Increasing Soil Fertility

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Organic Foos on Instagram

Cannabis Soil Testing

Organic Foos of Orange County, CA is a hobby grower/hasher who is using microBIOMETER® when amending new soil. He tests a week to two after he builds new soil and then again after two months.

"microBIOMETER® is a convenient, on-site test that helps me see if I am efficiently increasing soil microbes, as well as what my fungal to bacterial ratio is. microBIOMETER® will let you know if you're heading in the right direction of building more microbes or killing them." -Organic Foos

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Organic Foos microBIOMETER® results

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Quotes, research and articles.

Love a Tree Day!

May 16th is National Love a Tree Day.

Trees help combat climate change. A mature tree can absorb more than 48 pounds of carbon dioxide each year, removing and storing the carbon while releasing the oxygen back into the air.

“Someone's sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.” - Warren Buffet

 
   
 
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