Technical
Seaweed, humic, fulvic acid, molasses and organics are all
biostimulants, but what biology are you
stimulating? What biology do you desire? And how can you ensure you are creating the biology for your needs? In this article, I will explain the functions of different microorganisms, how the ‘soil food web’ works, how this can be encouraged, how you can ensure biology is present and how to get the best out of your soil by utilising soil biology.
Symbio’s Paul Lowe discusses the soil food web
Undoing the myth!
imple! Well not really, the living ecosystem below our feet, the biology and the heart of healthy soil is a complex subject. Add this to what we do to create a great playing surface and the subject gets even more complicated. Soil has an incredible diversity of organisms, this makes up the soil food web. They range in size from the tiniest one-celled bacteria, fungi and protozoa, to the more complex nematodes and micro-arthropods, to the visible earthworms, insects, small vertebrates. These organisms eat, grow, reproduce and move through the soil. They decompose organic matter (thatch, humus, dead organisms) creating food for the plant. They use nitrogen and other nutrients, that might otherwise enter groundwater, and give the nutrients back to the plant. Many organisms protect the plant from pathogens and other soil organisms that prey on our much loved pitches and greens. Compost tea is fast becoming the backbone of many a greenkeeper’s management programme, with the intention geared towards reduced chemical and fertiliser inputs, and species conversion towards the fine bent/fescue swards. It’s the simplest and most cost effective way of introducing life into the soil. This biological soup is teeming with diverse life, all eating and
S
reproducing. Living the dream! However, some will argue that compost tea is unnecessary, and all that is needed is to use a quality stimulant.
If you have a quality compost tea and back this up with a quality biostimulant ... bingo, you have the perfect combination. Introducing the right biology and stimulating the right biology. By introducing the diverse biology into the soil you have a guarantee, you are also able to redress the balance when chemicals, salt fertilisers etc. are applied. In healthy soils, there are four main
microorganisms that affect our soil and plants: bacteria, fungi, protozoa and nematodes. They all have a job to do; they are interlinked in many ways and all rely on each other. They have a symbiotic relationship with the plants, providing food and protection. They provide competitive exclusion towards other pathogens; after all, most pathogens are opportunist, and beneficial microbes will restrict that opportunity. They will eat organic matter, turning this to available nutrients for the plant. They will even eat each other and turn this into available food for the plant. They will be breeding in a microscopic orgy of lust. They will be moving through the soil searching for food and lovers, creating air spaces for roots and air to move into, making soil aerobic and friable.
“Some will argue that compost tea is unnecessary, and all that is needed is to use a quality stimulant”
128 PC DECEMBER/JANUARY 2012
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