Why test soil for life? Part 3: Fungi
in this short article we have a look one of the more complex soil organisms that many growers are on the quest to elevate the numbers of – fungi.
Why test soil for life? Part 2: Bacteria
Last time we touched on the importance of moisture to help support the fundamental needs of a healthy and active soil biomass. This time we look more closely at the tiny, single celled organisms that are incredibly important in maintaining a fully functional community of life.
Measuring the population of bacteria is the first step in understanding the health of soil and planning for any subsequent biological treatment or amendment to the growing area. At MBS we always recommend developing the more full picture of activity in your soil and grow media by capturing key metrics at key stages of crop growth. A system with secure data and analytics to manage your soil is the way forward. By looking at the level of Total bacteria (TB) for a given quantity of soil, we obtain an indication of the abundance of food for predators (life forms higher up the food chain that will consume bacteria) and overall nutrient capacity, as well as the general diversity of the bacterial population.
By contrast, measured Active bacteria (AB) is the fraction of Total bacteria that is metabolizing the oxygen. The relative range of these two numbers for optimal growing conditions, varies based on the crop. If you need to determine this for your soil or grow media, get in touch with SoilBioLab for help testing this as well as guidance on the effectiveness of your treatments.
Now at this point it is worth explaining briefly a little about the units used: µg/g. Expressed in words this is micrograms of bacteria per gram of (dry) soil. In simple terms this means that for the tested sample we have a representative value of mass for the organisms that we can attribute to one gram of substrate. The higher the physical count observed by the laboratory, the higher the concentration of bacteria in the soil.
In the right environment, these critters can be incredibly useful in combatting disease and accelerating the rate at which nutrients can become available to plants, by their programmed habit for feeding and multiplying in numbers. This tendency for rapid reproduction is fully utilised in the process of compost tea and compost extractions, which can be exploited by growers to help manage the levels and balance of bacteria in the soil. Ready-to-go solutions to increasing microbial life also provide a great means to increasing the biomass.
Simon runs Mind, Body & Soil and is Co-founder of SoilBioLab. He specialises in services and solutions for soil fertility management. You can follow him on twitter @peat_free or email him at simon@mindbodysoil.co.uk