"Meeting John Valentino, A Dirty Tale" by Laura Taylor
A Grand Recovery! Privets Come Back to Life!
ACCORDING TO JOHN – Brown Spots in Turf
ACCORDING TO JOHN: 'Foo-foo' Organics Work on Clay Soil
ACCORDING TO JOHN: Soil Microbes that can Talk?!?
According To John: Gardens Should Be Important, Useful & Interactive
According to John: THE MYTH OF VITAMIN B1!
Avoiding Summer Fungus
Dealing with Clay Soil in a Tropical Garden
Give your seeds the Best Start this Spring!
Improve Orchid Growth with John & Bob’s!
Improving Germination Rates
New Pest & Disease Control products from John & Bob's!
Optimize and the Environment
PENETRATE- FIRST STEP TO IMPROVING EVERYTHING ABOUT YOUR SOIL
Rhody Restored! Acid Lovers Love John and Bob's!
Spring Application Tips and Tricks!
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 Janzen Rose Garden is Infused with Life, Thanks to John & Bob’s!
The Results are in: Garden Bloggers Prefer John and Bob's!
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
Winter Tomatoes? That’s the Power of Penetrate!
“No-till” is Catching on! Take the Lasagna Challenge!