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 precipitate leaving the extraction fluid >95% microbial.
This allows microBIOMETER® to examine 100 – 1000 times more microbes than any other method. When you apply extraction fluid to the membrane in the test card the colored microbes are captured on the surface of the membrane. A cell phone picture of the card is analyzed by the app and the intensity of the color of the microbes indicates their quantity – this is the basis for all laboratory colorimetric tests. We discovered that the fungi in soils are a slightly different color than bacteria, and so the app is able to distinguish between bacteria and fungi.
Click here to see a full video tutorial of microBIOMETER® soil testing.
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 while application of chemical fertilizers, especially phosphate, inhibits colonization by AMF. In the absence of chemical fertilizers and in the presence of low levels of pH, AMF provides the plant with phosphorous. AMF can extract P from rocks so it can get P from soil that tests low for P.
AMF can dramatically increase plant yield and resistance to pathogens and drought, as well as decrease irrigation needs and sensitivity to salinity. Thus, AMF can be of great assistance in transitioning from conventional to sustainable/regenerative agricultural. There are now many suppliers of AMF but there is no guarantee that any one product will be optimal for your crop and your soil.
The new microBIOMETER® test, which estimates fungal to bacterial ratios in soil, can help you decide which AMF works best with your plant and soil because it can detect colonization of rhizosphere soil for fungi within a month of AMF application.
Leifheit, E. F., Veresoglou, S. D., Lehmann, A., Morris, E. K., & Rillig, M. C. (2014). Multiple factors influence the role of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in soil aggregation—a meta-analysis. Plant and Soil, 374(1-2), 523-537.
