Plants are a big part of my decorating scheme, and since I want them to be lush, healthy and free of pests, I am always researching new ways to keep everybody in great shape.Just as organic produce is good for our human health, the quality of the soil is very important to plant health. I have to say that The Soil Food Web is my new obsession!
I'd like to tell you about a wonderful book called Teeming With Microbes by Jeff Lowenfels and Wayne Lewis which brings to life all of the critters who live in the soil (or who try to, despite our uneducated efforts at killing them). All the living organisms in the soil, eating, working, fighting, pooping and dying help to fertilize and aerate the soil. I learned about Mycorrhizal Fungi which are "nutrient magnets: mycorrhizal fungi attracted by the exudate of the plants, attach themselves to the roots and produce chelates, compounds that break down the chemical bonds of inorganic chemicals that normally bind to organic matter and clay in soil and are unavailable to plants."
The book that changed the way I garden: Teeming With Microbes by Jeff Lowenfels & Wayne Lewis, with Dr. Elaine Ingham, PhD, President, Worldwide of Soil Foodweb,Inc. Though the science behind the Soil Food Web can, at times, be very technical, it is worth slogging through to get to the good stuff: how all of this will help our plants become healthy and beautiful!
From a page in the book: you can see in the example of the grass sample on the right, how mycorrhizal fungi assist the grass roots in obtaining more nutrients resulting in lusher, thicker grass.
Another example of how mycorrhizal fungi helped the pine tree seeding get more nutrients. There are endomycorrhizal and ectomycorrhizal fungi. And it turns out that different types of plants prefer different types of fungi: most vegetables, annuals, grasses shrubs, softwood trees and perennials form mycorhiizae with endomycorrhizal fungi, and most conifers and hardwood trees form mycorrhizae with ectomycorrhizal fungi. Okay, so I had to get myself some mycorrhizal fungi!
After searching the web as to who might have these fabulous fungi, I hurried down to my local hydroponics store, and came back home with these products by Extreme Gardening. The guys at the store were very knowledgeable and really liked this brand of mycorrhizal fungi and compost tea, assuring me that these microbes were the freshest.
I also went to a garden store, and they recommended this product for geraniums. I must say that I've seen a big increase in flowers after adding this ammendment.
Now, to make compost tea, which I have also been brewing, you need to first aerate the water. Just as chlorine and fluoride are not healthy for us humans, these chemicals are harmful to the microbes we want to encourage, so it is necessary to aerate the water for 2 hours before watering plants. To make compost tea, after aerating the water for 2 hours, add the teabag, and aerate for another 24-48 hours before applying to your plants. If you don't have time to bubble the water beforehand, just let it sit for a couple of hours, and the chemicals will evaporate. At first, it seems like a lot of trouble to go through just to water plants, but do it once or twice, and it seems easy enough. We want to encourage the microbial growth.
Here is another wonderful product I was introduced to: Insect Frass. From their website:
Insect Frass is insect poop (like guano or castings) But unlike bats or
birds, Insect Frass actually comes from plants. In all natural
ecosystems (where there are no man-made chemical pesticides), insects
feed on and digest vegetation, and give it right back to plants in the
form of nature's perfect plant food. Plants benefit insects - Insects
benefit plants!
Insect Frass naturally contains the nutrition plants require, beneficial
micro-organisms, and the only immediately plant-available source of
chitin (pronounced “Kite-in”). Chitin fortifies a plant from the inside out,
causing an "auto-immune" response that signals a plant to produce
natural toxins which fend off its natural enemies like pests and fungal
pathogens. The EPA says that chitin and chitosan defend
against botrytis (grey mold), powdery mildew, early and late blight,
fungal pathogens in the root zone (root rot) and root-feeding nematodes.
Insect Frass does NOT cause a plant to kill beneficial insects or beneficial nematodes.
This is another brand of compost which I like very much; it comes in big bags, perfect for top-dressing your plants, and these tea bags to make compost tea. You could also make your own compost tea bags from an old nylon stocking. You may think I've really gone off the deep end with all these different composts, but when I get into something, I really get into it!
Now to the results.....
Beautiful healthy aeoniums....
Lots of new growth on the bird's nest fern......
....and the succulents are happy as well. I'm going to stay with the program!
So, that's my most recent obsession. Hope you enjoyed learning about The Soil Food Web. Here are the links to the products I mentioned:
Soil Foodweb - www.soilfoodweb.com
Insect Frass - http://www.onfrass.com/what.html
Xtreme Gardening products - www.xtremegardening.com
Bountea, more bio-organic soil amendments - www.bountea.com
Bu's Blend Compost - www.http://malibucompost.com/
E.B.Stone Organics- www.ebstone.org/
Grow Your Own - Hydroponics and Organics - http://growyourown.gardeningunlimited.com/
If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. And if you have anything to add, please leave a comment in the section below. Thanks!
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