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How Do Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi Promote Plant Growth?
Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) penetrate the root and establish little areas in plant root cells where they can exchange nutrients with the plant. AMF improves the nutrients available to the plant by collecting soil minerals such as phosphorous, nitrogen, magnesium and manganese through an extensive network of fine fibers (hyphae)
What is a good level of soil microbial biomass?
Understanding Soil Organic Matter and its impact on soil health and microbial biomass. We are often asked what is a good level of microbial biomass (MB). There is no one answer. The level of MB you can reach is dependent on soil organic matter (SOM.) Soil organic carbon (SOC) is
Choosing an Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi for your Plant
Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (AMF) colonize 80% of crops. Their effect on plant growth can be positive, neutral or negative. It depends on many factors including the crop species and genotype, the species of AMF, and the characteristics of the soil. A low pH favors colonization of the plant by AMF
microBIOMETER® shows the positive results of holistic cattle grazing on soil health
Leeston Pastoral is a 5th generation, family owned farm in New South Wales, Australia. Historically, they have had a fine wool Merino & Hereford cattle breeding operation. Over the last 20 years they have moved to focus on cattle. The 2019 drought forced them to reevaluate what operation they wanted to
Soil Testing Worm Castings with microBIOMETER®
Green Country Worms is a small worm farm located in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. Their main focus is producing high quality worm castings. They started vermicomposting in 2008 when they received their first pound of compost worms. 12 years later they still love composting with worms and are fascinated with the
A Day on the Farm in Brazil
Sítio Escola Portão Grande hosted students from the Mentoring and Language Acquisition Program (MLAB) for a full day immersion at the farm in Brazil which featured soil testing with microBIOMETER®. MLAB is a mentoring and language acquisition program for Harvard students and Brazilian high school students, with low income and
The Benefit of Fungal Spores
Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungal (AMF) are dependent on the plant for their food, therefore, they die when the plant dies. Lucky for us before they die they form spores that can live a long time in the soil. When we have looked at the soil from vineyards in winter it is
Analyzing your Fungal to Bacterial Ratio Results
The graph pictured here from the USDA website depicts the ratio of fungi to bacteria as a characteristic of the type of system it is in. An excerpt from the article: “Grasslands and agricultural soils usually have bacterial-dominated food webs – that is, most biomass is in the form of