Why test for soil Life? Part 4
The ratios of active and total bacteria and fungi are vital to a fully functioning soil that will yield the benefit of more efficient plant nutrient uptake and disease suppression.
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
Why test soil for life? Part 1: Moisture Content
In the first part of this mini-series we dangle our proverbial toes (or green fingers) in to the ground for a quick dip on understanding the importance of soil moisture and the relationship with microorganisms.
Moisture content
Soil Moisture is calculated for soils and solid amendments, such as compost. There are many different ways to determine this value, the most usual method for a soil analysis lab being the loss on drying method. In this form, the value represents the level of moisture in given a sample as a percentage, that is to say the amount of, or mass, of a sample that is liquid (water) on an as-received basis.
The measurement will lie between 0 and 100%. A zero value would indicate the complete absence of moisture, whereas 100% would probably have trickled to floor before it made it to the laboratory oven for drying! It is sensible to track this metric throughout the season as climatic conditions change. If you need help with setting up a mechanism to capture and analyse you soil data, get in touch with MBS and ask for information on their Soil Surveillance System.
The importance of soil moisture being correct cannot be understated enough for a correctly functioning soil. It is a key parameter on any test report as the subsequent analysis for bacteria, fungi and protozoa depend directly on this value.
In the real-world, the liquid component is vital to the health of the soil ecosystem – assisting microorganisms with the fundamental requirements for their own survival as well as helping to mobilise nutrients to plants and allowing for movement between soil particles. With a complete absence of moisture is unlikely that your microscopic workers will last for any great length of time, dying off or turning inactive until conditions change. On the other hand, saturation will reduce the oxygen content, starving the microbes of the basic requirement of life forms and turn the soil anaerobic, promoting condition for harmful organisms. In these extremes it is highly likely that you will have already observed the demise of your crop and taken to rowing across you field instead.
If you would like to get ahead and test your own soil for moisture content, health and more get in touch with Soibiolab and ask for more information on their services.
In the next installment of our series we will cover off Bacteria.
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A holistic approach
The ongoing challenge for growers is how to survive in an economically and environmentally challenging climate. The goal posts seem to keep changing and the biological clock is ticking.
7 Reasons to Measure Soil Biology
Introduction
It is still fairly commonplace to manage a growing environment by measuring the chemical and physical aspects. But this is only part of the story…
Whilst you could look at conditions in isolation what about the workforce that underpins a correctly functioning, healthy grow system?
Well, I firmly believe that you should practice what you preach and since beginning my journey in to understanding the ‘life beneath our feet’ I have adopted the same principles that I now help others to introduce in to their lives and businesses. So far, I have not stopped picking cucumbers and tomatoes this season!
We want to give you a few reasons why should should start testing the micro-organisms in your grow media or soil and convince you to look in to the benefits of getting soil life to work for you!
So here it is. Sit up, listen and take heed:
Reason #1 Detect disruptions to the natural processes
By measuring the range and quantity of microorganisms in grow media it is possible to identify system failures. This could be a simple decrease in the bacterial or fungal activity or changes in the ratio of fungal to bacterial biomass relative to that expected for a particular plant or system. This could be an indication that unwanted changes are happening. If you want to start testing soil biology, you should contact a suitable laboratory www.soilbiolab.co.uk
Reason #2 Increased efficiency
Careful management of ever hungry microbes will drive production and often increase the rate of growth. As an ecosystem becomes more productive, the total amount of available nutrients within it increases. In order for these to be mineralised and made available for plants, interaction between the different groups of organisms is required – a sure route to fertility.
Reason #3 Minimise losses
Optimal use of available nutrients sits hand in hand with minimising those which escape. The smaller the loss, the more tightly that nutrients are cycled from retained forms to plant available. That means that you need to put in less.
Reason #4 Save money
With a management system in place that encompasses soil biology, it is possible to save on the volume of applied inputs and often decrease the harvest interval. Speak to other producers, growers and gardeners and hear what has and hasn’t worked for them in the biological domain. Alternatively you could always get external advice.
Reason #5 Plants remain in control of the soil interactions
You wouldn’t force feed a baby. Microorganisms will respond to the signals, acids and enzymes released by plants. This means that the crop will absorb what it requires, when it needs it. Bacteria, fungi, protozoa and nematodes respond to changes in conditions and can make scarcer nutrients become more available.
Reason #6 Disease is suppressed
Soil health is ensured when the rhizosphere is loaded with beneficial organisms and the chance of infection lessened as space for harmful organisms is reduced, by overwhelming competition. It is therefore very important to keep the these guys topped up, to minimise the likelihood of attack. Try regularly applying microbes either in the form of compost or by applying a liquid soil and plant feed as part of a planned programme.
Reason #7 Reduce your workload
OK, so there are always things to do, but at least you can enjoy your new role as a micro-livestock farmer! You will never look at soil in the same way again and begin to appreciate the intrinsic link between Physical, Chemical and Biological and how changes to one can have massive implications on the other, especially the soil food web. Working with organisms in the substrate can provide access to many of the difficult to reach places under the surface and help you to get back and maintain soil fertility by realising the full potential of your grow media.
Conclusion
Once you know what you have got, relax! Put your feet up and feel safe in the knowledge that there is a whole plethora of microbes working away for you. Start planning ways to look after and nurture these microbes and they will take care of your plants.
Happy grazing!
If this has wetted your appetite and you just can’t wait to get started in your greenhouse, tunnels or fields, why not get in touch with us and let Mind, Body & Soil help you get started or refine an existing system with our products and hands on advice?
Contact us directly at info@mindbodysoil.co.uk or hit the button below…
The most expensive compost in the world?
Introduction
I thought that I would share some practical advice to help you plan your own compost production.
This is not rocket science, though despite being a biological process (like fermentation), for some reason it doesn’t carry the same prestige a making your own-brew or wine! To start thus journey I would like to iterate precisely why we are concerned with using this amazing soil amendment and why it is so important to restoring soil health, exploiting the soi microorganisms, vital if looking to reduce chemical applications or go organic in plant and crop production.
By the end you will understand a few of the key benefits of this grow media, amendment and conditioner and hopefully be inspired to find out what can be possible with a little work by realising the resources freely available to you.
Before we get to the nuts and bolts of the value of ‘the lovely brown stuff’, let me just give an overview of where it fits in to a grow programme for me and when/where I recommend it when undertaking work for Mind, Body & Soil.
EVERYWHERE!
I love it and the reason I am crazy about compost is because it is a great starting point for soil fertility management. That is because whatever you grow, it is robbing the soil. As you grow plants and harvest you are removing converted forms of the mineral content. Over time the organic matter (long term source of nutrients) is reduced and used up entirely if nothing is put back.
So put it back
When I talk with growers looking to restore soil life or enhance the living aspect and improve plant performance, I always ask if they have composted first. You could use microbial teas and sure, if you use enough you could probably transform even the most compact soil, eventually. In some instances this may be the best option – fine turf being one example where aeration and liquid amendments are practical solutions in season. However, if the soil itself is not under scrutiny and you really want to give the biology the best start in life, put the right home in – add stable decomposed matter. No excuses. If well-made, the organic matter will naturally be teeming with microbes. Great for increasing the diversity which will be very important for soil and plant interactions and responses to changes in conditions. It will also support these communities by providing some of the foods needed to survive and reproduce.
Let’s begin by talking about the dirty stuff and what it can do. Why YOU should bother.
- It can fundamentally alter the physical structure of the soil. That ratio between mineral, air and water is transformed for any plant happening to be in that environment. That includes inert grow media such as rock wool – put a dab of compost around the plant stem, don’t be shy. Good things will start to happen. Mind you, make sure that it is healthy and free of disease (i.e. properly heated and matured). If you were really paranoid, you could always sterilise it, though not everyone has access to a supersize oven or industrial steamers. So, how do you make sure it is healthy? We’ll get to that.
- Improve water retaining properties. This means it can increase the water holding capacity of the grow media, so you water less. This is especially useful outdoors and through drier periods when plants are reliant on liquid in the soil to take up nutrients as well as stay hydrated. This is why you will often see plants become deficient when the soil dries and leaves start to yellow. But if you apply liberally and allow to lie on the surface, compost makes a good mulch. It can work the other way with water too – releasing water so that soil does not become saturated, preserving the air porosity.
- But let’s be realistic about the physical side of things though: unless you are going to absolutely pile on the compost in one hit, you are unlikely to radically alter the poorest conditions with a magic bullet. I think that little and often is the best approach – just keep topping up at the start and end of seasons and feed the soil in between with a liquid food and microbial booster. Active, lively soil will do much of the work for you and take the compost down to where it needs to be, so just keep adding to the surface, don’t turn it in! Plants have an uncanny knack of finding food themselves anyway.
Just look at this tomato plant:
- It’s all about chemistry too. Without getting too caught up in the science of this let’s just say, compost is a great broad spectrum food. Add some N, a little P and of course K, but what about all the other elements and trace elements that plants, food and our diets are missing these days? You could live off of bread and water alone (for how long I am not sure), but you would not expect to be full of energy, loving life and filled with vitality. After all, we are what we eat, aren’t we? Would you feed a plant bread and water (metaphor for N:P:K diet) and expect it to be happy and deliver the required 20kg of healthy fruit, on time and to specification, without a hiccup?
- Little by little is the way. Well-made compost will have a whole host of goodies which the plant can take as and when it needs them. Kind of like a buffet. It is obvious that compost will not boast the same instant growth properties of a straightforward Nitrogen fix, however efficiency is a different matter. On a normal agricultural spec fertiliser, the nitrogen is attached to a salt (I am vastly simplifying this). Salt is soluble which is great for getting this flushed through and plants using it. It is also a great way to lose a lot of the usable food. So it is not very stable. When you get to the real numbers of useful nitrogen and compare to a natural source of N, you can consider the costs, complete the maths and truly understand the point. That said you could also consider this as comparing apples with pears. In any case, nitrogen use is becoming more important when we consider polluting of our water courses and compost can help feed, whilst minimising the impact.
So that is two of the three key aspects, physical and chemical.
Did I mention the Biological aspect and the effect on soil life? Oh yes, I did.
Crash lecture over. You have now decided that compost is the greatest thing since Iphones and the 2012 Olympics and want to get going with it. How do you know if what you have or are going to get is any good though?
Healthy
If you’re buying then a few basic tips:
- Ask to see test reports of the most recent batch of the proposed material, preferably the batch you are buying. PAS100 is the common standard in the UK. Check the report for growth tests and pathogens testing results.
- Test some yourself -eat it! No, don’t. Put some in a pot and throw some cress seeds in to germinate. If there are problems in germination, or leaves discolour when growing, you may wish to think again.
- The other option is to send some off for testing yourself. There may be one particular pathogen that you are most concerned with, so test for this. Could be expensive though.
- There is a practical reality to this though. The most sensible suggestion is therefore to ask around and get empirical user experiences or expert advice. Then do the cress test, apply to the growing area and inoculate with beneficial microbes.
- Alternatively, and this is the point of this article, you could make it yourself. In case you hadn’t realised a little goes a long way and what is lacked in volume can be made up by frequency.
We will deal with the full ‘how to make’ another day, however we should mention quality even at this stage as it is controlled by two important factors, one highly relevant before we even build anything:
- Origin and quality of the source materials
- Temperature during the early stages.
In order begin composting we need some materials to get going. If working on a commercial scale it is unlikely that you will generate enough waste material yourself to process and reintroduce back to the full growing area, plus material from outside sources brings in added diversity which could help organisms to out compete pathogenic microorganisms. So we are going to have to think about what is available, onsite, offsite, neighbours sites. It is time to get creative and put your thinking cap on.
CONCLUSION
Now is the time to start planning your activity and hunting for materials. Contact me for a copy of our simple Mind map to get you going on you green recycling project. Print it off stick it to the wall and follow it as you get busy on the phone. Then tear it down and add it to the pile as you realise that anything originating from an organic material can be decomposed – everything counts in large amounts! Be inventive, get creative and pull favours. Heck, you are doing others a favour and they should pay you! Unlikely to happen but it really should not cost you to obtain anything. After all, you need to keep costs down as it is pricey stuff if you make it right.
Expensive?
Well, yes. It’s going to cost you your most valuable commodity – time!
If you would like a free copy of our Mind Map for starting off Compost Production, drop us an email at info@mindbodysoil.co.uk
Maybe you have already started and want to take this to the next level?