|
GARDENER'S
READING ROOM
Lawn Care
Organic Gardening
Right
Life: Get Down & Dirty with Soil Microbes
 Experienced
Northwest gardeners know the importance of adding fertilizer
to our nutrient-poor soils to help our plants grow. Replenishing
the organic matter by adding compost is well understood. Only
recently, however, have soil scientists fully come to understand
the importance of having the right microorganisms living in
your soil, and only now have soil inoculants become available
for the average homeowner.
Foresters
were the first to benefit from the new knowledge. Trying to
reforest large areas clear-cut or devastated by wildfires,
they found that seedling trees had a survival rate of 20%
or less. Soil scientists knew that in climax forests, trees
normally form root associations with mycorrhizal fungi; these
fungi break down nutrients in soil particles or organic matter,
convert them into forms used by the trees, and “trade”
for sugars photosynthesized by the plant. Plant roots with
these fungi are larger, more able to absorb water, and better
at extracting nutrients, than roots without. So foresters
started inoculating their seedlings with the appropriate microorganisms—and
survival rates soared to 80%.
Now
the same science is available to backyard gardeners. The Organica
line offers Microbial Soil Conditioner tailored to the needs
of turf grass, Plant Growth Activator (beneficial bacteria—like
you get in compost tea) and Plant Success mycorrhizal inoculant
(in tablet or powder form) for woody plants and perennials.
Whitney Farms now has Life Link Rose Food (with mycorrhizae
for roses and other woody plants) and Life Link Smart Start
(ornamental plant mycorrhizae added straight to your transplanting
fertilizer).
In
a test by our nursery manager, a bed inoculated with mycorrhizae
grew more vigorously and flowered more profusely—with
LESS water and fertilizer than the rest of his garden. (Since
the initial watering, he hasn’t needed to feed or water
it to date—2 years now.) Other tests have shown improved
resistance to soil-borne diseases—the beneficial microorganisms
can literally crowd out the disease-causing ones.
Come
see what the right soil life can do for your plants!
By Terri Williamson
Skylights Spring 2002 Vol 16, No. 2
Other
articles on lawn care
Other
articles on organic gardening
|
