Blog

microBIOMETER® at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette

Soil microbial activities in Lafayette, LA Last semester Soil Science and Environmental Pedology students under a supervision of Dr. Anna Paltseva [annapaltseva.com] conducted a soil microbial experiment on campus of University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Each of the group of students collected different samples from lawn, vegetable containers, around tree

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Microbial Biomass vs Microbial Respiration

What is the difference between microbial biomass (MB) and microbial respiration rate (RR) ? Both parameters are used to assess soil microbial health. The respiration assay measures the amount of carbon dioxide produced by the microbes in a given weight of soil. The soil is dried and then rewetted and

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microBIOMETER® answers your webinar questions!

We appreciate your taking the time to join our Acres webinar “How Microbes Protect Plants” presented by Dr. Judith Fitzpatrick. There were quite a few questions posed during the webinar that unfortunately went unanswered. Dr. Fitzpatrick has answered them below. Missed the webinar? Click here to watch!

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microBIOMETER® in the Classroom!

We began offering microBIOMETER® Academia Classroom kits last year and are excited with the interest we have received so far from universities, high schools and other academic institutions in the U.S. and abroad. Professors are utilizing our soil test to introduce their students to the world of microbes and soil health.

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microBIOMETER® releases advanced user interface

We are very excited to be releasing a new feature to the microBIOMETER® soil testing app. Project Management allows users to create custom projects utilizing unique fields and enables team members to contribute their microBIOMETER® soil test results to the project.

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Variance in soil samples explained

Often, we are asked about variance – different results when you test the same sample. Our answer is that nature produces most of this variance. To explain, when you measure out 0.5 cc of soil, you have on average about 0.6 grams of soil.

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microBIOMETER® soil testing in New Zealand garden community

In learning how to develop healthy soil for healthy plants and people, Frans Plugge of New Zealand discovered the importance of increasing the fungi population in his garden and this led him to microBIOMETER®. “The microBIOMETER® soil test makes measuring the fungi to bacteria ratio so easy.” – Frans

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How do plants farm soil microbes?

A summary of James F. White’s presentation at BioFarm, 2020 (Nov. 12, 2020). The rhizophagy cycle is an amazing process recently discovered by James White’s laboratory at the University of New Jersey, by which root tips “ingest” bacteria and absorb nitrogen and phosphorus and other nutrients from them.

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microBIOMETER® collaborates with university soil study.

Dr. Sharon Pochron and her students at Stonybrook University in New York have been using microBIOMETER® for two years. Dr. Pochron studies the effect of various Roundup formulations and microplastics on soil microbes and soil invertebrates. Her most recent publication (See Figure 2) shows microbial biomass increasing on day 7 in both the Roundup

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