Blog

Why is microBIOMETER® the best test for soil health?

Until now tests for microbial biomass were expensive and time consuming. microBIOMETER® costs $13.50 or less and takes 20 minutes with results read by your cell phone. Only microBIOMETER® identified soil health in a U. of Tennessee study of soil health test methods including Cornell, USDA, Alabama and other soil

Read More »

Farming is more fun with microBIOMETER®

Marcelo Chiappetta of Chiapeta’s Farm in Brazil shared with us how microBIOMETER® is assisting them with their soil management efforts. Their main agricultural crops are soybeans and corn. Between those crops, as they have a temperate climate during the winter months in southern Brazil, is the possibility of growing a cover crop mixture of

Read More »

How does microBIOMETER® measure microbes?

Soil microbes are tightly bound to and often covered in soil making them very hard to evaluate by microscopy. The special magic of microBIOMETER® is the extraction powder and whisking process that separates most of the microbes from the soil. And during the 20 minute settling time allows the soil particles to

Read More »

How Do Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi Promote Plant Growth?

AMF penetrate the root and establish little areas in plant root cells where they can exchange nutrients with the plant. AMF improves the nutrients available to the plant by collecting soil minerals such as phosphorous, nitrogen, magnesium and manganese through an extensive network of fine fibers (hyphae) that increase the

Read More »

How to choose arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi for your plants

Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (AMF) colonize 80% of crops. Their effect on plant growth can be positive, neutral or negative. It depends on many factors including the crop species and genotype, the species of AMF, and the characteristics of the soil. A low pH favors colonization of the plant by AMF

Read More »

What is a good level of soil microbial biomass?

We are often asked what is a good level of microbial biomass (MB). There is no one answer. The level of MB you can reach is dependent on soil organic matter (SOM.) Soil organic carbon (SOC) is a large part of soil organic matter but SOM is a mixture of

Read More »

Soil Testing Worm Castings with microBIOMETER®

Green Country Worms is a small worm farm located in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. Their main focus is producing high quality worm castings. They started vermicomposting in 2008 when they received their first pound of compost worms. 12 years later they still love composting with worms and are fascinated with the worm

Read More »

microBIOMETER® Spends the Day on the Farm in Brazil

Sítio Escola Portão Grande hosted students from the Mentoring and Language Acquisition Program (MLAB) for a full day immersion at the farm in Brazil which featured soil testing with microBIOMETER®. MLAB is a mentoring and language acquisition program for Harvard students and Brazilian high school students, with low income and high performance.

Read More »

What is the role of fungal spores in plant health?

Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungal (AMF) are dependent on the plant for their food, therefore, they die when the plant dies. Lucky for us before they die they form spores that can live a long time in the soil. When we have looked at the soil from vineyards in winter it is

Read More »