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Soil food web Details

How does the Soil Food Web work for you?

“With a healthy soil biome (bacteria, protozoa, fungus and nematodes) the soil can provide plants with all the nutrients they need.”  by Dr. Elaine’s Soil Food Web School

Dr. Elaine’s Soil Food Web approach is based on research, observation, and results that increase yields, increase plant health, builds soil structure, and reduces weeds, effectively allowing plants to be pest and disease free just like what happen naturally in all of nature when these systems are not artificially disturbed.

Our soil biology lab results have the potential to speed up your process of improving soil fertility. This assessment focuses on measuring the active biology of beneficial and non-beneficial bacteria, protozoa, fungus and nematodes.

Our soil biology lab results can inform and guide the grower to a better long term outcomes without the use of fertilizers and pesticides.  It’s important to allow your soil biome (bacteria, protozoa, fungus and nematodes) to be in balance for natural nutrient cycling to take place.   When the biology is in balance the plant can more easily control this process.  As long as there are no major soil disturbances like tillage or long term flooding this balance will mostly maintain itself.  Compost, compost extract and/or compost teas may be required in some growing situations to maintain this balance.

Soil disturbance (tillage or otherwise) will destroy beneficial fungus and protozoa and set your soil back in succession which can effect your plant yields, health, long term productivity and allows for more weeds to sprout.

When a soil is set back in succession from tillage (long term floods…) it causing a more bacteria dominated soil which triggers more weed seeds to sprout.   Bacteria dominated soils produce more nitate, which triggers more weed seeds to sprout.

 Learn more details about the Soil Food Web by watching these videos at Dr. Elaine’s Soil Food Web School.

With enough nutrient cycling (ie active beneficial biology in the soil) more and more non-exchangeable minerals become exchangeable.  Non-exchangeable minerals are in your soils parent materials (sand, silt, rocks and clay) and all soils have these in abundance.  However, they don’t always have enough soil biology (soil food web) to tap into this gold mine of minerals which equates to dense nutrition, healthier plants and bigger yields.

Active Soil biology microscopy

 

A microscope provides a window into the biology of the soil/compost. Soil biology grows plants. Amendments generally feed the biology but if enough of the soil food web is not there your efforts are of little value. On the flip side, the wrong biology grows more weeds and low yielding sickly plants.

I have learned to make BioComplete(TM) Compost which anyone can make.  This compost meets the minimum active biology standards, measured by doing a biological assessment with a light shadowing microscope.   If you prefer to do this microscopy work yourself visit soilfoodweb.com to enroll in their courses.

A soil assessment can be a great help for any hobby garden, lawn, pasture, farm, compost pile or market garden.

Or maybe you are working on developing and perfecting your own regional compost operation. Marketing it as BioComplete(TM) will demand a higher price if you can prove it with a biological assessment.

Would you like an active soil biology assessment?  Send me your soil, compost or compost tea sample today.

Why Choose Us as your soil food web lab

- 01
Standard of Excellence

We are guided by the lab standards set by the Certified Laboratory Program produced by the Dr. Elaines’ Soil Food Web School.  This school requires annual recertification.

- 02
phone support

We are here to answer any questions about the lab results we produce for you.  We are here to help you grow successfully. 

 

- 03
Networking Connections

If you need more than just lab work to be successful with your growing projects we can refer you to others in the soil food web community who may be a good fit for your needs.