The JTM EffectWe like plants, we need plants, we earn our living by growing and maintaining plants. It’s our job to make plants look the way the people who pay us want them to look. Do we want them to be happy? Of course.
We plant them and feed them and water and prune them. We spray them with chemicals and control competing weeds and fertilize them. We aerify and verticut and mow. All under the guise of giving the plants what they need to be healthy and beautiful. Now of course this approach does actually work to a certain degree. But it seems like they need more, always more. Those darn plants are way too demanding aren’t they?
Are there other things we could and should be doing in addition to all these practices that would produce even better results? Is there a better way to meet the ever increasing demands of our customers while our budgets fail to increase, or even decrease? Yes, there is. And it’s fairly easy. We’ll get back to that.
But first let’s talk about micro-organisms. Why should we even care about them? First of all did you know that 99% of all the living bio-mass on earth is in the form of microscopic organisms. Pound for pound the total weight of all microorganisms on this planet outweighs all other living things combined thousands of times over. The micro-organisms, in fact, give rise to all other living organisms. People, plants, fish, wolves, etc. When it comes to life on earth the micro-organisms are in control. All other forms of life are secondary.
So why is it that when we are trying to improve the health of our plants and soils (and for that matter the planet) we by and large ignore them? Or even worse do things that destroy them? This is what we’re here to talk about.
If the reason that plants (and people) exist on the earth is a direct result of the actions of microscopic organisms it stands to reason that they are critically important to the continuing health and well being of plants. Without them the plant wouldn’t be here in the first place. Without microorganisms the plant cannot continue to survive.
Without going into a long dissertation on the inner workings of soil micro-biology, because frankly it’s boring, I would like to make you aware of at least some of what the microbes are actually doing that make plants so happy.
Benefits of Soil Micro-organisms:
One of the coolest things that microbes do in the soil is to assimilate and retain plant nutrients. What does that mean? It means that when we apply fertilizer to the soil the microbes suck up the nutrients and hold them in the root zone of the soil. When there are no microbes (or not enough of them) most of the fertilizer we apply moves down, right through the root zone and away from the plant roots. A lot of what is left simply evaporates or washes away before the plant can use it. This is very inefficient way to feed plants.
When I was studying horticulture at Cal Poly Pomona we were told that when you apply a nitrogen fertilizer, say for example urea, to the soil at best only 17% of the nitrogen in the fertilizer ends up in the plant. The other 83% is simply wasted, or worse, it ends up in the ground water, or the ocean, or elsewhere in the environment where it is not wanted. On the other hand, in soils where there is an abundance of microbes, the nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, iron etc. is held in the root zone much longer, giving more time for the plant to use it.
Over simplified but to make a point…when we apply fertilizers to healthy soils a large percentage of it is absorbed by the microbes. Each microbe holds on to the fertilizer it absorbs until the microbe dies. That nutrient is then released back into the soil where it is either taken up by the plant or taken up by another microbe. The fertilizer becomes part of a nutrient cycle and is therefore much less likely to be washed away or evaporate.
It gets better. Not only do the microbes hold the nutrients in place they also make the nutrients more available to the plant. What does that mean? Again over simplified, this means that once a nutrient has been cycled through a microbe it becomes more organic because it has been combined with organic acids. These organic compounds are more easily taken up by the roots and used by the plant. That is why when you have sufficient beneficial microbes in the soil the fertilizer you apply stays where you want it longer and is easier for the plant to use.
Microbes improve both the chemical and the physical properties of the soil.
Physically, microbes improve the quality of the soil by gluing tiny soil particles together into larger soil particles. Larger soil particles are less prone to compaction. Less compacted soils are richer in oxygen, accept water more easily and provide better conditions for both the plant and the microbes themselves. We’ll talk a little more about that later. Chemically the microbes increase nutrient cycling as I mentioned and they also increase the soils CEC. What is CEC? It stands for Cation Exchange Capacity and is a measure of the soils ability to directly hold and share nutrients. The organic acids produced by the microbes also make plant nutrients available over a much wider pH range. The pH of the soil is controlled in large part by the irrigation water we use. It is much easier and more efficient to make plant nutrients available at higher or lower ph’s than trying to control the ph of the soil.
Microbes increase the plants resistance to diseases and other pests:
How do they do that? You may ask. In a direct sense the beneficial microbes actually surround the roots of the plants like a shield, protecting them from disease causing organisms and other natural predators like nematodes. In an indirect sense, the microorganisms help to produce healthier plants that are higher in protein which increases the plants natural resistance to diseases and pests. For example: Insects prefer to feed on weaker plants much the same way lions pick out the weakest zebra. When an insect feeds on a plant with a high sugar content (a healthy plant) the sugar is converted into alcohol inside the insect and kills it. So the insects tend to avoid those plants and go for the weaker ones. Does that mean that the insects will now go after the neighbors wimpier plants instead of yours? Yes. Plants are like people in this sense: The stronger and healthier we are the more natural resistance we have.
This process occurs naturally and improves the quality of life for plants, the microbes themselves and, for that matter, all living things. Thus making the planet cleaner and greener.
There are many reasons but here in Southern California the biggest problem is the lack of organic matter in our soil. Typically we see less than 1% OM and often even less than that. Low organic matter means low organic carbon and microbes need organic carbon. Microbes are very sensitive to what is called the carbon/nitrogen ratio. Why is the carbon/nitrogen ratio important? Simply put this means that under low carbon conditions nitrogen becomes toxic to microbes.
The problem of course is that plants need nitrogen. If our plants need nitrogen, but our soil is low in carbon, the nitrogen will feed the plant but kill the microbes. Sounds like a Catch 22. Damned if you do and damned if you don’t. The answer here is to add organic carbon along with the nitrogen. We’ll get right back to that.
Other local factors effecting our precious microbes are high salts, including irrigation water, and poor soil physical and chemical properties, like compaction.
But wait, didn’t I just get through saying that microbes help with all these conditions? Yes I did, and they do. But they have to be there to do it. Once we get them jump-started in the soil it becomes a self fulfilling or at least self sustaining prophecy. This is where the whole process becomes easier. If we add organic carbon to the soil we can encourage healthy microbial activity while also providing the plant with all the nutrition it needs to be healthy and happy.
So let’s talk about what the plant does for the microbes to even the score.
Basically what the plant provides to the microbes is food. In fact all food on our planet for every living thing comes from plants. This is because plants perform photosynthesis. Photosynthesis is the process by which plants take water and nutrients from the soil and combine then with energy from the sun to the produce the sugars and proteins and carbohydrates that feed everything else, including us. Photosynthesis converts solar energy into chemical energy (food).
Most plants take about half of the all the food/energy they produce and send it into their root system. The roots then release about half of that directly into the soil. Why? To feed the microbes. The plants are actually, intentionally feeding the microbes they need to survive. The plants are like mini-ranchers tending to their herd. The healthier the plant the more food they provide the microbes. The healthier the microbes the healthier the plant. The microbes are like mini-farmers tending to their crop. It’s the reverse of a Catch 22. It’s just as nature intended and it works perfectly, if we let it happen and don’t screw it up.
So what does all this mean to us? Basically it means that if we want healthy plants we need to focus on not just the plant, but also the beneficial microbial activity in the soil. We need to help them, nurture them, give them what they need so they will in turn give our plants what the plants need. That way the plant can give us what we need and we can get paid.
Said another way…We should always keep in mind that plant doesn’t care what we want, it cares about what the microbes want. The microbes don’t give a damn about us either, they care about what the plant needs.
So what can and should we do? Simply adding more microbes is not the answer. The number and diversity of the microbes in the soil, or anywhere else for that matter, is determined by their food supply. If you want more microbes you have to feed them. Feed the microbes. What should we feed them? Organic carbon. What kind of organic carbon should we use? That’s a very key question.
Let’s talk about organic matter 101.
There are basically 2 kinds of organic matter. Stable organic matter and active organic matter. Active organic matter comes from the decay of once living organisms, plant and animal. It is broken down in the soil, or the compost pile, by living microbes and under certain conditions becomes stable organic matter. Stable meaning it has been completely decayed and therefore lasts a lot longer in the soil.
For truly healthy soils, plants and microbes you need both. But the most important form in terms of microbes is the stable kind. The problem here is that as the microbes break down the active organic matter in the soil or compost pile the organic carbon it contains literally gasses off and evaporates into the air as C02 (carbon dioxide). Under these conditions (meaning exposed to the air) it never becomes the stable kind. In order for active organic matter to become stable organic matter the process of decomposition must occur under conditions where it is not exposed to the air. This is where humic shale ore comes in.
What is humic shale ore?
Hmic shale ore is a stable organic material that is the product of the decomposition of plant materials that occurs underground. Because this happens underground, the organic carbon does not combine with oxygen to form C02 and does not evaporate into the air. Under these conditions it is gradually transformed into stable organic carbon. This product is mined from the ground much like coal. It fact it is actually immature coal. At greater depths and pressures humic shale ore would eventually become coal. And like coal it contains very large amounts of stored energy – from photosynthesis!
This material takes millions of years to form and it takes approximately 40 yards of ancient green waste to produce 50 lbs of humic shale ore. This material, this stable carbon source, is highly fertile to plants and soil microbes go crazy over it. Once applied to the soil it last for many years and does not evaporate like active organic matter. It provides the carbon necessary to offset the use of nitrogen and balance the C:N ration. Once you have accomplished this everything else gets easier.
Let’s talk about fertilizers. Most people agree that organic fertilizers are more eco-friendly. Most people also agree that they rarely provide a satisfactory, predictable plant response compared to synthetic fertilizers.
I am here to tell you that eco-friendly fertilizers do not have to be 100% Organic to be eco-friendly. And in fact the 100% organic ones are not usually the best choice.
Most “Organic” fertilizers contain un-wanted animal bi-products that are typically high in salts, heavy metals and animal proteins. Further compounding the issue is that the organic plant nutrients they contain come along with the rest of the organic matter in the bag which is again, typically an animal bi-product and contains little or no stable organic carbon. There are much better choices of organic matter i.e. humic shale ore.
Let’s talk about a different approach. One that allows you to independently choose the best sources of organic matter and the most effective plant nutrients. An approach that gives the best of both worlds: Excellent, predictable plant and soil response while also being environmentally friendly and pro-active.
This approach is definitely green - It allows turf and plants to use all nutrients much more efficiently, allowing for a reduction in the amounts of fertilizer required. This reduces run-off, leaching and evaporation.
And it gets greener still. Your now healthier plants (due to healthier soil) are more resistant to diseases and other pests so that fewer fungicides, herbicides and insecticides are needed. The beneficial soil micro-organisms also break down toxins and chemical residues in the soil leaving it cleaner and greener.
This approach is more than eco-friendly, and even more than sustainable, it is regenerative, and actually reverses the damage done by the over-use of fertilizers and animal based bi-products.
Welcome to the JTM Effect
