SIMON
says
Hey Simon,
I was at a talk you gave late last year and I am a little confused.
In your Maximum Yield column and articles you discuss
organics a lot, but during your talk you seemed to dismiss
organics and biology for indoors gardens…what gives?
Hoping you can help with my confusion.
Mike
Sorry to be confusing Mike, but I am glad you picked up on
this point. I am an organic enthusiast and always want gardeners to consider more natural options, including the use of
microbes. We have horribly damaged our top soils around the
world and these microscopic helpers could play a vital role in
soil replenishment.
I believe I know the talk you are referring to in your question,
and I just want to clear up my message a little. In essence what
I was suggesting is that our understanding of soil biology is still
very limited, even though our industry is the place to be for
cutting edge microbial opportunities.
I made the point that it might be better to focus on specific
types of biology in indoor gardens because achieving the full
complexity of natural top soil is virtually impossible. The biodiversity of the soil ecosystem, or food web, starts with bacteria
and fungi but moves through nematodes and protozoa all the
way to arthropods, making indoor replication an exceptional
and perhaps unrealistic goal.
Instead, choose specific microbes for their mode of action and
benefits. It is possible that these organisms will be aggressive
and take over the rhizosphere and it’s true that this imbalance
is unnatural. However, trying to achieve balance as suggested is
a pretty lofty idea, so it’s better to hand pick your helpers and
treat them well.
I also talked about making sure you get the most from your
biology for hire. This means understanding how to stimulate it
with compounds such as humic acid but also realizing its preferred physical and chemical surroundings. A chemical example
would be that mycorrhizal fungi can be inhibited by an oversupply of available phosphorous.
Now before you fungal fanatics out there get too upset, there
is still good evidence that even though biology might not function at its highest level, it can still provide tremendous benefit
through concepts like biofilms and other unknown synergies.
20
Maximum Yield USA | May 2011
As for physical surroundings, be cautious with over-stimulation
of biology, which can result in an oxygen draw down and
pockets of anaerobic conditions. Nearly all beneficial microbes
require oxygen to function properly.
As I suggested, we really have a limited understanding of
what is going on in the rhizosphere, but good gardening is
always about observation so be sure to try a few different
products this year to find the logical biologicals for your
indoor garden spaces. MY
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