ACCCORDING TO JOHN: Party Icebreakers and Compost
ACCORDING TO JOHN : Powdery Mildew and Rust
ACCORDING TO JOHN: Soil Microbes that can Talk?!?
According to John: Save Beneficial Aphids!
According to John: The myth of gypsum to improve your soil
During my travels around the country, visiting retail nurseries, I have been surprised at the lack of products offered that genuinely improve soil. Many times, nursery personnel indicate to me that they recommend and sell gypsum to customers that want a solution for hard, terrible soil. Gypsum is a very soft mineral, composed of hydrated calcium sulfate, often used in drywall and plaster and has, historically, been used as a soil amendment. My friend, radio gardening host John Bagnasco, after being asked on the air about using gypsum to improve soil, asked the caller “Do you like popcorn?” After receiving an affirmative answer he said, “Using gypsum to change your soil is like using a match to pop your popcorn: it will work but it will take about a hundred years.” Actually, John was being charitable; gypsum is generally not appropriate for most urban soils around the country. The one exception is heavy, clay, salty soil and even then, the benefits, when gypsum is used alone, are frustratingly slow. The real miracle workers in changing every kind of problem soil are provided by nature; these are the beneficial soil microbes of all kinds. Favorable bacteria, fungi, protozoa and nematodes can change soil more effectively, efficiently and permanently than any other system. However, nature’s miracle workers are sensitive to damage by synthetic fertilizers and most garden chemicals. That is why many of our soils never get better, year after year. They remain hard, sandy, alkaline or acidic and lifeless. Traditional gardening techniques damage soil life with salty fertilizer and destructive fungicides and other chemicals. Some amendments, like gypsum, are ineffective and take too long to have any positive impact. My best recommendation is to build your soil life with organic amendments that feed plants and the soil. Good quality compost is full of beneficial soil life along with food and attractants for microbes. Our John & Bob’s GrowGreen System mimics the ingredients and benefits of high quality compost with a lot less work. John & Bob’s OPTIMIZE, PENETRATE, MAXIMIZE and NOURISH work together in a simple, effective, economical and comprehensive way to fundamentally improve problem soil. If you don’t want to wait a hundred years for productive soil, focus on infusing your soil with beneficial microbes, food for microbes and attractants for microbes. High quality compost and compost-based additives work much better than gypsum and should begin to produce soil improvement within two months. Improvements will be ongoing and cumulative as long as lively amendments continue to be added. Life in our soil is a natural phenomenon and an incredible ally as we work to be productive, healthy gardeners.
Cure Blossom End Rot with Microbes!
John and Bob’s Soil Life Infusions: Small Amounts, BIG Results
We often receive questions about the quantity of product needed for successful soil life infusion, and the answer is - less than you would think! Here’s why - John & Bob’s Soil Optimizer is formulated around the concept of very small amounts providing powerful and previously unheard of benefits. Calculate how little you need for your garden based on our recommended rates and you will be amazed! It is a concentrated and comprehensive, blended approach to organic soil nutrition. Greenhouse research and field trials have documented that plants respond more positively to iron with soluble concentrated humus than to soluble concentrated humus or iron alone. Researchers have found that soluble concentrated humus is an inexpensive chelating (collecting) agent that makes iron more mobile in the soil and within plants. Soluble concentrated humus offers the best solution because it is of ideal chelating strength and is one of the very few organic chelating agents that remain in the soil for long periods of time. When soil pH is above 6.0, inorganic forms of iron are insoluble and immobile. Only organically complexed forms of iron are soluble and mobile enough to support a plant’s needs. Once iron enters the plant it doesn’t move well. This is why newer leaves exhibit chlorosis symptoms more than older leaves. Yields can be severely reduced because iron plays such a crucial role in chlorophyll synthesis. We have been stunned by the ability of John and Bob’s to, in effect, unleash iron and cure ill or underperforming plants. We believe this is, in part, because the soluble concentrated humus in John and Bob’s collects rich iron, improving its availability for plants. Soluble concentrated humus is nature’s way to complex iron. Studies conducted on permanent crops using radio isotope labeled iron showed that soluble concentrated humus moved iron through vascular tissues into leaves under conditions where iron alone did not move in the plant. Soluble concentrated humus has an ideal balance of chelate strength, plant mobility, soil durability and cost, and is one of the star performers in our synergistic blend. John and Bob’s improves iron uptake and translocation, resulting in dramatically better chlorophyll density (greener, healthier plants). John and Bob’s treated plants photosynthesize faster and grow faster than non treated plants. As a result, nearly all plant functions are enhanced and plant performance is optimized, resulting in better yields, lusher appearance, less disease and decreased dependence on chemical fertilizer. REAL Before & After Photos from John & Bob's users! The homeowners used Blend, Penetrate & Nourish-Biosol to rectify their dry grass and plants, treat bad fungi, & promote growth in all plants. Want to see this yard transform before your eyes? Watch our YouTube Video linked below, and visit our Youtube channel for all your gardening needs.
Many Bacteria really are Beneficial!
Mineral Depletion in the Soil Directly Impacts Your Health!
Revitalize Indoor Plants!
Save your Microbes and your back! Make Lasagna in the soil!
Success when Building the Soil
Our friend, John Kohler at Growing Your Greens, produced an excellent video that discusses the pros and cons of building existing soil versus bringing in new soil. He discusses how to use John and Bob's to build the soil (starting about 12 minutes in). Here are a few notable quotes: "When you inoculate your garden space with the beneficial microbes, they do more than just build your soil. They also give your plants disease resistance." "The trace minerals [in Maximize] make your food taste better and make it grow bigger! And your plants will be more resistant to diseases and bugs!" "This product[Nourish] will nourish your plants, encourage microbial growth and it can reduce soil pH. It's also going to help with the bad nematodes with your soil."
The Soil Food Web-The only mechanism for changing bad soil
The best and only way to physically improve poor soil is by tapping into the power of nature through the Soil Food Web. That’s right the Soil Food Web -- talk about it at your next dinner party. It can do what nothing else can. Good soil structure, tilth and permeability seem like an impossible dream for many with, hard, clay, alkaline, sandy or other problem soils. The Soil Food Web is a name to describe the complex interactions that occur in and around the soil, involving multiple organisms from microscopic bacteria all the way up to animals. This miracle of nature offers us an economical way to physically change everything about bad soil. It is largely misunderstood, under-appreciated and under-utilized. We have the power to encourage these organisms to thrive and interconnect, and in turn this allows the soil optimizing process to move forward. We offer this infographic to illustrate all the levels of the Soil Food Web and how they interact. Lower life forms, like beneficial fungi and bacteria, break down dead organic matter and keep harmful pathogens out of the soil. Higher microbes, like beneficial nematodes and protozoa, eat the lower forms, releasing usable nutrients to plant roots. Larger organisms, like arthropods and earthworms, aid in decomposition and aeration. Birds and mammals do their part by aerating the soil, eating arthropods to control populations and by adding in their own manure to the organic matter in the soil. They also help transport mycorrhizal and other fungal spores through burrowing and scratching around the soil. It is one big cycle that can be primed, powered and improved through the use of strategic organic inputs. Click here to learn more about the organisms in the soil. By encouraging these complex soil interactions, we can repair poor, lifeless or hard soil and make it fertile and vital again! This process has occurred naturally in forests and wild land all over the world for billions of years and it can happen in your garden! Plants that grow in fertile, living soil have fewer disease problems, and have healthier, strong growth, better food production and stronger root systems. All of this, without damaging the health of the environment or our kids and pets! Take a look at this infographic to see how the Soil Food Web is interconnected. It is simultaneously simple and complex . You can easily foster this in your own soil by respecting the process. Add in organic matter and keep chemical fertilizers and conventional sprays out of your soil! Click here to learn more about our organic soil amendments and organic pest control sprays that work with the Soil Food Web for workable, healthy soil! The Soil Food Web really is incredible so please share this infographic as much as you would like and display it at your party buffet table!
Who are the Superheroes of the Soil?
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 nutrients to plants! They are unselfish, hard workers! They are natural forces of goodness! One of the key factors in this process is communication. Soil microbes talk to each other AND to plants and the plants talk back. AMAZING but true!! They do this by using a chemical language that lets each bacteria species coordinate defense and strategically mount attacks. This communication enables soil bacteria to execute sophisticated tasks such as dealing with antibiotic production and secretion of repellents. Furthermore, one study found that plants are in on the talkfest with their microbial partners. Plants use underground mycorrhizal (beneficial fungi) networks to eavesdrop on defense signals coming from nearby infected plants, allowing them to increase their defenses and improve resistance to disease. The mycorrhizal network extends from one set of plant roots to another so that the network of fungal mycelia acts like telephone wires, allowing the plants to communicate underground. Plant biologists are only beginning to scratch the surface of the often surprising ways that soil microbes impact plants, from underground fungus-wired alarm systems to soil bacteria that can trigger defensive plant behavior or even act as a sort of vaccine. They are miracle workers. They are communicating. They are hard workers. They are unselfish. They are natural forces of goodness. Let’s empower them to prevent and defeat pests and disease! Learn more about beneficial soil microbes here. Learn more about the products that increase soil life here! Here are some more details on these amazing creatures: What Are They and What Do They Do? Bacteria Usually one-celled Size: 1 um (0.001 mm. Diet: Organic matter, especially simple carbon compounds. Typical amount in soil: 100 million to 1 billion in a teaspoon. What they do: Decompose organic matter Immobilize nutrients in the rooting zone Fix nitrogen from air Convert ammonium to nitrate and nitrate to nitrogen gasses Create substances that help bind soil aggregates Fungi Grow in long filaments called hyphae. Size: A few um wide; yards or miles long. Diet: Organic matter, especially simple carbon compounds; living plants. Typical amount in soil: Several yards in a teaspoon. What they do: Decompose organic matter Immobilize nutrients in the rooting zone Mycorrhizal fungi form mutually beneficial associations with roots Release acids that help make phosphorus more available to plants Help stabilize soil aggregates Protozoa One-celled animals Size: 5-500 um. Diet: Bacteria, primarily. Typical amount in soil: Several thousand in a teaspoon. What they do: Stimulate and control growth of bacteria Release ammonium Nematodes Roundworms (not like earthworms) Size: 50 um wide, 1 mm long. Diet: Bacteria, fungi, protozoa, other nematodes, roots. Typical amount in soil: 10-20 in a teaspoon. What they do: Control many disease-causing organisms Release ammonium Arthropods Include insects, mites, spiders, springtails, & millipedes Size: Microscopic to inches. Diet: All other organisms. Typical amount in soil: Several hundred in a cubic foot. What they do: Shred plant residue, making it more accessible to bacteria and fungi Enhance soil structure by creating fecal pellets and by burrowing Control populations of other organisms Earthworms Size: Inch or more long. Diet: Bacteria, fungi and organic matter. Typical amount in soil: 5-30 in a cubic foot. What they do: Shred plant residue Enhance soil structure by burrowing, mixing, and creating fecal pellets Transport and stimulate growth of bacteria