This is the first in a series of posts where we ask Organic Bob Dahm himself questions we’ve all been wondering. In this installment, we are going to talk about the basics: why does Organic Bob care SO MUCH about the microbes living in soil? Read ahead to find out! And if you have any burning questions, let us know in the comments — we are here to answer your questions about Real, Organic Lawn Care.
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A soil food web is all the living organisms that contact the soil. Everything from humans and gophers to fungi and bacteria. The more evolved and mature the soil food web, the more advanced and complex the plant communities.
Why are microbes important to the health of soil and plants?
When people speak of healthy soil, they are referring to the soil food web. A healthy soil food web will have high population levels of diverse, aerobic (oxygen-loving) microbial organisms or microbes. These microbes will release nutrients, hold water, relieve compaction, and directly support plants. It is a healthy, interactive community that beneficial microbes and desirable plants need to thrive.
Why are fungi important to the health of soil and plants?
Fungi are basically smart roots for plants. Mycorrhizae fungi attach onto the root and feed on carbohydrates (simple sugars) that plants produce. The fungi can tell what the plant needs when they eat the plant carbohydrates. Then they go out through the fungal networks — which can spread for miles — find the nutrients, and transport them back to the host plants. Plants use these fungal networks to communicate and send nutrients to sick, weak, or young plants.
The soil food web consists of countless species and organisms that all work together to create soil that is healthy, fertile, holds water, and suppresses disease and pathogens.
How do microbes and fungi work together to make soil healthy?
The soil food web consists of countless species and organisms that all work together to create soil that is healthy, fertile, holds water, and suppresses disease and pathogens.
Plants over-produce carbohydrates by as much as 40%. Healthy soil microbes eat these carbs and move nutrients through the fungal network. Bacteria graze on organic matter and higher level organisms eat the bacteria and poop them out. Still other microbes eat these microbes and so on. Eating, pooping, decomposing, holding water, producing more organic mater, breathing, and tunneling — all this activity is what makes a soil healthy.
What does Organic Bob do to help my yard be more microbe and fungus friendly?
We use extremely high quality compost, compost tea (a concentrated solution of healthy soil biology), and products that are certified organic. This way, we not only do no harm, we can actually begin to regenerate the healthy soil food web. At the same time, we introduce these organisms back into the soil.
What can I do on my own to get the ball rolling on soil health?
Stop using pesticides immediately! These devastate the soil food web. Add quality compost either as a side dressing in gardens or as a top dressing on lawns. With quality compost, less is more — 1/8 of an inch of good compost is better than 3″ of poor quality compost. Worm compost is usually of high quality.
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Healthy soils are a product of the soil food web that is active in the soil. The younger, less diverse soil food webs create conditions that encourage rapid growth of pioneer species (weeds and invasives) whose job it is to create organic matter for the next ecological succession.
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