Healthy soil and sustainable growing

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The relationship that most plants have with this mutualistic fungi is called being Mycorrhizal.  The mycorrhizae articulate or infect the root system of a host plant and in doing so will provide the host plant with mineral nutrients which were harvested from the soil beyond the reach of the plants own root system.  The mycorrhizae are able to exude the proper enzyme which is utilized in taking the mineral nutrient from the soil and transporting it via the mycorrhizae's own network of tubes into the host plants roots.  The minerals of the soil need not be in a water solution or in a colloidal form for this benefit to work.  And most of a plants ability to uptake mineral nutrients is done via the mycorrhizal relationship, not by way of it's own root uptake sites!  The arrangement is mutualistic in that the mycorrhizae benefits from the arrangement by getting in exchange the calories of sugar from the host plant.  Mycorrhizae are not involved with the making of humus directly, but one genus of mycorrhizae called Glomus is known for making a powerful protein in the soil called Glomalin.  As you may already know, protein is nature's best form of a nutritional calorie for bacteria and is the primary precursor for humus formation. Therefore that particular mycorrhizae could indirectly be accountable for the making of vast amounts of humus in the worlds soils.  Glomalin may also be the single largest carbon bank or sink in the world, sequestering or banking up Carbon from the atmospheres - CO 2, for long periods of time. 

 

Humus is not a food source for microbes!  In fact we use a pure humus as a carrier of dormant microbe inoculants (the endospores, vesicles and propagules) as the humus will not stimulate the dormant microbial tissues into germination. It gives us shelf life to the inoculum! 

 

Septic Tank microbes are not the proper bacteria of composting as the bacteria used in septic tank products are water borne facultative anaerobes, which are the wrong bugs for composting.  Don't waste your money using septic tank microbes on compost  piles! 

 

Molasses:  The calorie of choice for the proper bacteria of soils is from protein not sugar.  While molasses is certainly a source for trace minerals as is kelp, trace minerals need to be used in a guarded manner as they are needed in trace amounts only. It is very easy to overdose the soil and plants with Trace Minerals using products such as kelp or Molasses.  Also, putting molasses into compost tea tanks can cause an overgrowth of the Facultative Anaerobes like E. coli and other nasty beasties.   

 

Dr. Michael Martin Melendrez