John & Bob's Blog

Improving soil is always the number one way to increase healthy growth in all types of plants, from gorgeous flowers to trees and shrubs to every type of food we eat. Healthy, fertile soil is the lifeline to growing healthy plants. The organisms that live in the soil make it all possible! They regulate nutrient availability, change soil texture, and repel and kill harmful pathogens, insects and other pests. How do they do it? While biologists are still just beginning to understand these amazing creatures, we do know one thing: They are the SUPERHEROES OF THE SOIL! [jnb_infographic id="1842" size="full"] Check out our latest infographic on soil superheroes. It illustrates how powerful these beneficial organisms can really be. Just like real superheroes, they strangle, lasso and envelope “bad guys” to keep harmful creatures OUT of your soil! They will save your soil!

• They fight pests and disease!
• They give...

On our John & Bob’s website, we have spent considerable effort explaining why and how organic compounds that contain microbes, food for microbes and attractants for microbes represent the only way to improve lousy soil. It’s miraculous how microbes and the principles of the soil food web can physically improve everything about soil and equally miraculous --- it’s the only way to do it. Right up there with the soil changing capabilities of the John & Bob’s system is its pest and disease fighting capabilities. Nature has a mechanism to make sure plants thrive without sickness or pests. Unfortunately, many of our traditional gardening practices damage nature’s way of making sure plants don’t get sick. Nature’s mechanism to make sure plants stay healthy is life in the soil. We don’t usually think that common pests and diseases have some direct relationship to life in the soil. We don’t...

We received a question the other day from Beverly, a frequent John & Bob’s customer and gardener. She asks, “I’m just wondering if anyone has used your products on orchids.  They don't require much fertilizer and are not planted in soil. But after reading your houseplant section, I was thinking about how I could use J&B's on my orchids. I have used John & Bob’s products for about 4 years. They are easy and work. Thanks for your response.”

 

Thanks for the great question, Beverly! Orchids are gorgeous but often complex plants to grow, especially when they are outside of their native tropical environment. It is possible to improve orchid growth with John & Bob’s! I've gotten quite a few customer testimonials over the years. Some have used OPTIMIZE with really good results and some...

We are very inspired to see that “no-till” farming methods are beginning to catch on. It is a hugely important change that needs to take hold on modern farms to protect soil health and improve plant performance. That is why we were excited to spot this article in AgriNews recently: “Soil Health more important to Farms than Nutrients.”

While we know that adding nutrients can be an important part of overall soil health, it is wonderful to see farmers recognizing that the REAL key to healthy crops is not to dump a few major nutrients on the soil, till it in and call it a day. It is much more valuable to cultivate rich, complex, living soil that sustains plants for years to come. According to the article, farmers are beginning to realize that they are not getting the return they expect on the investment of fertilizers. Their plants...

Summer fungal disease in cool season turf (fescue, bluegrass, etc.) is the biggest problem facing our lawns in warm climates. As with most disease issues, the problem is best combated with lively soil that is full of strong, beneficial fungi that can combat weaker, harmful fungi. A commonly recommended cure for fungus is to spray with a fungicide. Most of the time, I disagree with this because most fungicides kill all fungi, including the fungi that can prevent and defeat fungal disease. Using this treatment, we are likely to have the same problem every year, because we are destroying our only hope for a natural fungus control when we kill all fungi. I have been a huge proponent of using our John & Bob’s System to build complex life in the soil to prevent and/or defeat destructive fungus in turfgrass. 

To that protocol, we are adding a new organic...