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market-farming - [Market-farming] Dealing with Pathogens on trays and in soil mixes Re: Winstrips and speedlings

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  • From: Allan Balliett <igg AT igg.com>
  • To: Market Farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [Market-farming] Dealing with Pathogens on trays and in soil mixes Re: Winstrips and speedlings
  • Date: Sun, 27 Mar 2005 07:29:12 -0500

I never steam or clean my speedlings and I love them! Before I learned about microbial applications, I found that soaking the soil mix with chamomille tea stopped damping off, the only disease I remember affecting our seedlings.

Innoculating with a community of beneficial microbes does more than control pathogens. It works towards getting your emerging root system colonized with beneficials that will help the plant collect nutrients in the tray and after transplaning.

The biological protection that your soil mixes receive from mixing in compost is only as good as your compost which, in many cases, particularly after or during a cold, wet spring, are not very good.

One way of assuring that pathogens are controlled in starting trays and of promoting the plants ability to access nutrients from the soil is by making beneficial microbial applications in your initial wetting of the soil mix and occasionally in subsequent waterings.

The April 2 workshop in Shepherdstown, WV, on effective microbial applications will cover the history and variety of microbial applications in world farming and will zero in on perhaps the most easy and cost-effective one to use: EM

Info on the workshop is at www.gardneningforthefuture.com. Let me know if you can't make it and are interested in a DVD of the day's presentations. (We are currently considering the expense of making a DVD for mailorder sales.)

Thanks -Allan




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