Compost Teas: 24 hour, EM, IM, BD & fermented plant extracts

["Steve Bridges" <kimas AT texasgrown.com>]

This is an answer to the question posed by Laura Sabourin........

"can someone point me to a reference guide re: plants preferring bacterial"

 

Dr. Larry Zibilski, a soil scientist at the USDA Kika de la Garza Research Station in Weslaco, Texas, replied to my forward with the following submittal. Please note that this research station is the only congressionally approved, USDA funded, organic research facility in the nation.

 

Dr. Zibilski also informs that we have knowledge of less than 3% of the population of life in the soil.

 

Dr. Ingham, you need to talk to Dr. Quisenberry, the Center Director of this research station. He is wanting input on how they will proceed with this new endeavor. They have 160 acres in the Texas valley that is wide open for exploration/tests of how organics can improve on conventional agriculture. They are at the ground floor of designing scientifically valid experiments. It would be wonderful for them to include a study on compost teas. Would you like to explore this?

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Hi Steve: Sorry, I don't know of such a book, listing plant
preferences.  Attached is an ASCII file that describes how I look at
such things. In studying plant-microbe interactions for more than 23
years, I can attest that these relationships are very complex, but
maybe the attached will be of some use.  Please use the information
in any way you see fit.  Thanks, LZ

Soil fungi and bacteria normally compete with each other in nearly all soils.  However, there are certain situations in which one group is favored over another.  Cool, acidic, organic matter-rich soils seem to favor fungi, while dry, alkaline, organic matter-poor soils seem to favor bacteria. It's really more a question of growing conditions (soil type, pH, organic matter content, and climate) that determines what will grow in a particular soil.  For example, plants adapted to grow in acid, cool organic matter-rich soils would be expected to reflect relationships developed with the most common microbes in that system...the fungi.  The old microbial ecology paradigm that states "everything is everwhere and the environment selects" is the concept to start with.  There are many exceptions to this, but in general, it is a pretty good rule-of-thumb.  So, bottom line, plants that "prefer" fungal- or bacterial-dominated soil would be those that are already adapted to grow in the soils that select for either fungal or bacterial dominance.

 

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Steve Bridges
President-Texas Organic Growers Association
www.texasorganicgrowers.org
kimas AT texasgrown.com