NTS , Managing the Microbe Workforce

[Thirstyman88]

Yeah that's what I am thinking. Looks like they have put in a good amount of effort and are keen to educate as well. I know I could probably get cheaper in bulk but my time, resources and space suit this model a bit more

[itchybromusic]

Yeah that's what I am thinking. Looks like they have put in a good amount of effort and are keen to educate as well. I know I could probably get cheaper in bulk but my time, resources and space suit this model a bit more

go for it man 

as i said , i didn't have these guys round to do what your able to do now

i def would have rather not put in all the time chasing this stuff , but once 

you've done it relationships are made , downside , those relationships have

different conversations to the conversations you will be able to have with these

guys , no talking tomatoes here

[itchybromusic]

just found this 

prob should put a thread up but not sure of the interest 

 

i'm thinking seed sprout teas with hemp seed , could be interesting 

i have seen hemp seed from china , not sure if i'd buy that one though

 

Whole Australian Hemp Seed for Birds & fishing 

This hemp seed is not irradiated or sterilized to maintain it's high nutritional value making it even more healthy and beneficial for pets

 

https://www.petandgarden.com.au/bird-seed-grains/59-hemp-seed-for-birds.html#/45-select_bag_size-1_kg

[itchybromusic]

http://blog.nutri-tech.com.au/managing-the-microbe-workforce-understanding-the-key-players-2/

 

Managing the Microbe Workforce – Understanding The Key Players (Part 2)

 

In this second installment of my soil microbe series, the focus moves from predatory fungi to protozoa.

These articles are designed to increase your soil-life awareness and to inspire initiatives to harness this

profound potential. If you are not driven to generate a protozoa tea after this sharing, then I have failed.

 

 

In Praise of Protozoa – The Mineral Recycling, Root-building, Earthworm Regenerators

 

A healthy soil houses a million protozoa per teaspoon, but numbers dwindle to below a thousand in

a struggling soil. There are three main types of these relatively large, single-celled creatures and their

respective distribution indicates soil type and moisture, along with the general health of the soil

foodweb on your farm. The three main types of protozoa dominating agricultural soils include

ciliates, amoeba and flagellates.

There are two types of amoeba, called testate and naked. Testates are encased in a rigid, chitin-based

shell termed a "testa", while the naked amoeba lack that shell. The "nakeds" are essentially shapeshifters,

whose enhanced fluid-like mobility enables them to explore a greater range of pore spaces. This, in turn,

increases their nutrient cycling capacity.

Protozoa are found in all ecosystems, including the ocean. In the soil, they are the favorite food of the largest of the soil creatures, the earthworm.

http://www.nutri-tech.com.au/downloads/blog-images/protozoa-1.jpg

 

In the soil, protozoa are largely found in the top six inches, because this is the major activity zone

of the bacteria that comprise their main food. Like bacteria, they congregate around plant roots and

they seek out soil moisture, which provides them maximum mobility in soil solution. During periods

of drought, protozoa can form highly resistant cysts that enable them to survive in a dormant state

until the rains arrive.

Protozoa largely feed upon bacteria, algae and fungi and are hugely important in the regulation of

both bacteria and algae, to maintain biological balance.. In the absence of protozoa, bacterial numbers

explode and this can pose problems in terms of nitrogen cycling.

In my seminars, I often cite an experience with a local ginger grower in relation to protozoa and

nitrogen management. In this instance, large amounts of nitrogen were applied via irrigation but,

mysteriously, there was no excess of N when tissue testing. Soil-life tests revealed massive counts

of bacteria and no protozoa. This grower had regularly used methyl bromide for control of root knot nematodes,

prior to adopting Nutrition Farming® principles. This nematicide gas kills much more than its target organism.

It had decimated the protozoa component of his soils and the bacteria had exploded in the absence of their

major predator. Bacteria are nitrogen intensive and they always eat at the table first, when feasting

 

upon applied nitrogen. That nitrogen remains stored in their biomass until they die. The solution to this "theft"

of plant nitrogen and associated inefficiency was to brew a tank full of protozoa, and apply it via fertigation.

Within weeks, the need for applied nitrogen decreased by 60%! Nitrogen recycling had been reclaimed with

the arrival of the protozoa.

 

Nitrogen, Nitrogen, Nitrogen

 

 

 

Nitrogen is the most abundant mineral required by plants, but most of the crop requirements of this mineral

do not come from the bag. The atmosphere, and the recycling of crop residues, deliver much of the N punch

(via nitrogen fixation and decomposition and recycling of plant protein). However, there is a third N stream

that originates from bacteria, the most nitrogen intensive of all life-forms.

 

Bacteria have a 5:1 carbon to nitrogen ratio, which means that around 17% of their tiny bodies comprise

pure nitrogen. That nitrogen remains in their biomass until they die, so there can be considerable gain in

fast-tracking that process and recycling that lode. The terminator, in this case, is protozoa.

A watermelon-sized protozoa consumes 10,000 pea-sized bacteria each day. The protozoa only requires a

small percentage of the nitrogen found in the bacteria, so it spits the balance into soil solution and the

plants sing "you beauty!"

 

The nitrogen link does not stop at this sharing of surplus N, for the benefit of your crop. This constant

consumption of bacteria by protozoa is called grazing. Research has shown that grazing stimulates

nitrogen-fixing bacteria, just as pruning stimulates your fruit trees. Nitrogen-fixers thrive in the presence

of protozoa, so you now have greater access to free nitrogen from the atmosphere. This gift of nitrogen,

in the ammonium form, helps create the desirable 3:1 ammonium to nitrate nitrogen ratio in your crop.

This important ratio boosts plant resilience, reduces the need for chemical intervention and increases

your farming fun.

 

Bacteria are more than a tiny nitrogen tank; they contain a full spectrum of minerals, which are all made

more plant-available when cycled by protozoa. This cycling is termed "the microbial loop" and this has

long been considered the primary benefit of protozoa in the soil. The plant feeds symbionts (like mycorrhizal fungi)

and a variety of free-living beneficials, with a stream of nutrient-laced sugars. In return, the soil-life

delivers multiple rewards to nurture their benefactors. It is very much a "you look after me and I'll

look after you" deal.

 

However, this reciprocal arrangement is much more involved than was originally recognised. We are now

beginning to understand new dimensions of root zone dynamics. It turns out that plant roots communicate

with each other, to determine the nature of their exudates. Microbes are also constantly messaging each

other and they, too, communicate with plant roots.

 

It is a veritable facebook frenzy beneath our feet and this new understanding highlights several things. 

Soil biology now appears more important than chemistry, and one wonders how we could have developed

a world of agricultural "scientists" schooled only in chemistry. We must surely now question the "science"

behind constantly compromising this complex creation with dumbed-down nutrition, acids, salts and toxic

chemicals. When we truly understand this inextricably interrelated system, what agronomist in their right

mind could recommend a biologically bankrupt strategy like chemical fallow? The definition of science

is "adherence to natural laws and principles". Where in Nature do we see naked soils? Nature abhors a

vacuum and it is anti-science to create one!

 

There are diverse impacts from this complex messaging and quorum sensing. For example, this messaging

maze directly determines the amount and composition of the sugar gift. It is not a simple reciprocal exchange,

as was previously thought.

 

Root zone architecture is also impacted by this interplay, and it turns out that protozoa are key players

in this all-important root development.

 

 

Root-building Microbivores

 

Mycorrhizal fungi provide a vast tag-on of fine fungal filaments that can expand the original root surface

area manifold. However, protozoa have a different impact. They are major architects of root structure and

development, creating much more branching and associated root surface area, particularly in grasses,

cereals and sugarcane.

 

As I have mentioned, the plant is constantly releasing glucose-based exudates to stimulate soil-life, and

the microbial carnival created by this windfall means that there are many times more microbes in the

root zone than in surrounding soil. The microbivores that feed upon this abundance also arrive in numbers.

There are 30 times more protozoa immediately beside the root, than found in root-free soil just centimetres beyond.

 

It is now understood that this feeding frenzy is of tremendous benefit to the host plant.

 

Of the three main members of the protozoa family, flagellates are the smallest. They propel themselves

through soil solution by flapping their whip-like tails (flagella). Amoeba are the second largest and they

lumber through the soil by pouring their body into leg-like structures called pseudopods. Ciliates are

the largest of the group and they zip through soil solution via multiple paddle-like, hair structures (cilia),

enabling a rush toward prey or a rapid departure from predators.

http://www.nutri-tech.com.au/downloads/blog-images/protozoa-2.jpg

 

Left to Right: Flagellate, Amoeba and Cilate

 

 

 

There are signaling techniques used by both positive and negative players to trigger plants to direct carbon for additional root structures.

Root root knot nematodes, for example, direct plants to build the root galls that house them, while nitrogen-fixing bacteria conduct their plant partners to create their nodule

homes. Protozoa also utilise this messaging strategy, but they use key hormones as the medium for the message.

 

 

Protozoa boost roots in three ways. Firstly, they can release auxins, hormones renowned for their root and leaf stimulating capacity. It is the amoeba that specifically generate this root-enhancing response. If you can encourage amoeba to flourish in the rhizosphere, or introduce them with a protozoa tea, there is a major root-building reward.

 

The second form of root stimulation also involves auxins but, in this case, they are not produced by protozoa. In 2002, Bonkowski and Brandt 

conducted research with watercress seedlings inoculated with protozoa. They observed five-fold increases in lateral root

branching of young seedlings,

but were able to demonstrate that this dramatic hormonal response did not come directly from the protozoa. Instead, the grazing of bacteria by protozoa

stimulated the production and release of auxins from the bacteria, in response to their "pruning". The larger roots, in turn, produce more exudates, the feeding

bacteria and their protozoa predators both benefit, and your crop thrives.

 

Finally, in this concert of mutualistic interrelationships, the protozoal pruning also stimulates nitrifying bacteria which, in turn, increase nitrates in the root zone.

Nitrate nitrogen acts as a signal for lateral root elongation.

 

The nitrogen impact associated with protozoa, then, is truly profound. These important organisms recycle ammonium nitrogen from the bacteria they consume

and stimulate nitrogen-fixing organisms to provide a further supply of nitrogen in the ammonium form, from the atmosphere. Finally, they trigger nitrifying bacteria

to create the nitrates required to help achieve the desirable 3:1 resilience ratio between ammonium and nitrate nitrogen.

 

 

The Top Ten Protozoa Pointers

 

1, Flagellates dominate in drier, less disturbed soils, while ciliates multiply in irrigated, bacterial-dominated, cultivated soils.

 

2, Soils can have high numbers of protozoa or bacteria-eating nematodes, but not both, as they compete for the same food source.

 

3, Protozoa can speed the decomposition of organic matter by boosting bacterial activity.

 

4, The on-farm brewing of a protozoa tea can be boosted if you feed them up with bacteria – i.e., add a bacterial tea to the lucerne tea on the first day of the brewing process (see the protozoa tea recipe below). Protozoa double in numbers every two hours when provided with their favorite food (bacteria).

 

5, Protozoa feed selectively on bacteria and, in this manner, they have a major impact on the composition of the bacterial biomass. This impact appears to be highly desirable, hence there can be great benefit in restoring protozoa numbers.

 

6, A soil that contains unusually high numbers of ciliates is often compacted and anaerobic. The use of gypsum and humic acid, in this instance, can improve both soil structure and protozoa balance.

 

7, If a soil hosts large numbers of visible algae on the surface, this can often be indicative of a lack of protozoa.

 

8, Protozoa can consume pathogenic organisms, including both bacterial and fungal disease organisms. They are an often unrecognised, protectivecomponent of a fully-functioning soil ecosystem.

 

9, Protozoa are the favourite food of earthworms. When you repopulate your soil with a protozoa tea, the earthworms arrive in force. These "intestines of the soil" decompose organic matter four times more efficiently than standard decomposition. Their poo is an unparalleled natural fertiliser. They deliver calcium to the soil, via glands that produce calcium carbonate. Earthworms aerate, particulate and remineralise the soil, and they also incubate a unique range of beneficial bacteria in their gut, which can not be accessed from elsewhere.

 

10, Protozoa are also an important food source for beneficial nematodes and microarthropods. Good nematodes are important for recycling minerals, while the microscopic insects shred organic matter down to a more manageable particle size for bacteria and fungi to decompose. The soil foodweb functions to deliver food and suppress disease only when all components of the food chain are present.

 

 

Making Your Own Protozoa Inoculum

 

I hope that you are now motivated to consider the production of your own protozoa tea. It is a simple and highly effective strategy that could benefit many of us. In fact, I intend to start one for my research farms this weekend. The equipment required is basic and inexpensive. It might involve a 20 L home brewing kit (The Life Force® Microbe Brewer™) for the advanced home gardener. On the farm, it could involve a 200 L brewing station (The Brewstar 200™), or a 1000 L shuttle set up to multiply microbes.

 

The two NTS units mentioned above are ideal because they involve aeration from bubblers rather than venturis and impellers. These systems allow the addition of lucerne hay (the starter inoculum) directly into the tank. If you are using a brewer with a pump and venturi, then you will need to isolate the lucerne (alfalfa) to avoid clogging the pump. This involves placing the hay in a homemade teabag (a piece of shade cloth with a drawstring) and dangling the teabag into the tank during the brewing process. Organic lucerne (alfalfa) hay is jam-packed with all three forms of protozoa because it has such a high nitrogen component. The perfect compost has a 30:1 carbon to nitrogen ratio. Lucerne hay also has a 30:1 C:N ratio and that is one reason why it is the best known garden mulch.

 

 

http://www.nutri-tech.com.au/downloads/blog-images/protozoa-4.jpg

Here is the 200 L recipe for a protozoa tea that will successfully inoculate two hectares with a productive protozoa workforce:

 

200 L Protozoa Tea Recipe

1, Add 180 L of water to your NTS Brewstar 200™ unit (or a similar brew kit) and activate the bubbler.

 

2, Now add 2 L of LMF™ (Liquid Microbe Food), 2 L of Dominate-B™ and 2 kg of compost (preferably vermi-compost).

 

3, Brew this bacterial tea for 24 hours.

 

4, Next, add your lucerne (alfalfa) as a protozoa inoculum, at the rate of 1.5% (i.e., 3 kg of lucerne hay per 200 L).

 

5, t this point you will also need to add more food to the brew, as the multiplying bacteria have consumed the original offering. Add 2 L of fish fertiliser (Nutri-Sea Liquid Fish™) and 2 L of molasses to the tank, to feed your protozoa army.

 

6, Now brew the protozoa tea for a further two days before applying at a rate of 100 L per hectare. It can be fertigated or boom-sprayed on the soil.

 

 

Rationale

We have found that the initial creation of a 24 hr bacterial tea, with the microbe food, creates a massive bacterial food source for the protozoa when they are introduced. Dominate-B™ is included to ensure that the tea is completely bacterial-dominated, as opposed to multiplying other organisms found in the initial compost inoculum. The lucerne is only introduced after day 1, in a 3-day brewing process. The protozoa reproduce every two hours in the presence of this bacterial soup and favoured protozoa food (fish and molasses). If you own a microscope, you can view the protozoa-packed end product. The completed brew should be applied to the soil within 24 hours.

 

 

In Conclusion

 

Soil biology has been largely ignored in ten decades of extractive, chemical agriculture. Just as we are now awakening to the enormously important roles of the human biome, we are also recognising the vast complexity and productivity of microbial ecosystems in the soil. We cannot continue to ignore this world beneath our feet because it directly impacts our profitability, our farming pleasure, our health, and the ongoing viability of our planet. Protozoaare an integral part of this interconnected puzzle and if we can ensure their proliferation we maximise nutrient cycling, nitrogen management, root health, earthworm activity and disease management. Let me know how your protozoa tea performs.

 

 

[Inthewoods]

Awesome stuff itchy. I think soil research is my new hobby. Been reading heaps even though I have hardly anything growing at the moment. Cant wait to learn more. Thanks

[itchybromusic]

Awesome stuff itchy. I think soil research is my new hobby. Been reading heaps even though I have hardly anything growing at the moment. Cant wait to learn more. Thanks

 

go for it mate 

you learn just as much , if not more from F'ing it up 

 

good luck mate 

[Inthewoods]

go for it mate

you learn just as much , if not more from F'ing it up

 

good luck mate

Before I read all this great info I mixed up this. Would love your advice/opinions. Sorry to post in your thread. I will start my own if you prefer but you seem to be the soil man around here itchy so hope you don't mind. I'm probably making mistakes but here's what I've thrown together.

and some rice hulls. Some soil from my backyard which looked really good and was full of worms. I accidentally chopped a poor worm in half while digging it up. Then I threw in some lawn clippings that were starting to decompose. Some premium mushroom compost. A bit of hardwood charcoal from a fire I had a while ago. Some ash from the same fire. A bit of the manure. Some Alo vera that I found growing in an old pot so I chopped some up with scissors and mixed it all up gradually over the past few weeks. It's now sitting in a geo air pot. I've left some room to build up some mulch and compost on top. Am I kind of on the right track? I gave it a good soak today now I'm gonna let it sit for a few more days so I can see how fast it dries out etc. I'm pretty confident it will at least be better than my previous outdoor grows where I just used soil from backyard or cheap potting mix and still had ok results. This time I have some good strains tho so don't want to stuff it up but I don't want to go too full on into soils just yet. Need to start a worm farm or find a local supply of castings first but I'm having fun [emoji4]

 

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[Inthewoods]

Oh and there was a banna skin I threw in there a month ago choped up. And peanut shells. Hell I've been chucking a whole lot in there. Probably other stuff can't think right now but I figure diversity is good and don't go too full on with any one thing. It looks and feels like a nice spongy mix. I only made a small batch for this pot but it holds more than I thought.

 

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[itchybromusic]

Oh and there was a banna skin I threw in there a month ago choped up. And peanut shells. Hell I've been chucking a whole lot in there. Probably other stuff can't think right now but I figure diversity is good and don't go too full on with any one thing. It looks and feels like a nice spongy mix. I only made a small batch for this pot but it holds more than I thought.

 

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Hi mate 

pretty hard to sit here & say , yep that'll work

mixing a hole bunch of stuff together is prob not the best way to go 

 

putting things like wood chips in a mix can suck all the N out of the mix 

to break the chips down , the grass clippings can go the other way & make 

a mix 2 hot , as in composting , the mix will heat up , quite hot , roots will struggle 

in high temps like that 

 

not saying this will happen to you , i just have no idea that it won't 

 

next time , just use the potting mix as it comes , that organic one looks ok 

& use your manure , lawn clipping , wood chips ect as top dresses , like a layer 

of manure each month 

 

it's all mixed now so , get a cover crop , Bogan put a pic up of a cover crop seed pack

he got from bunnings i think, only a few bucks 

 

this will give you an idea on how your important plant is going to go in your mix , if the cover

crop struggles , your plant will do the same , if the CC doesn't struggle then it'll be adding beneficial 

life to your soil via there root systems & food when you chop & drop the cover crop or your plant is big enough 

to shade it out  

 

the other option is to get another bag of that potting mix , use that as the main mix & use your mix for monthly top dresses 

top dressing is a much more natural way of feeding the plant & is how it works in nature , there is always a mulch layer 

& plants want to grow roots up to the soil surface where all the action/food is 

 

prob not what you want to hear but that's the best advice i can give you i think apart from adding worms to the pot 

if there not already of cause 

 

to give you an idea i have 3 or so items in my mix that add N among other things , they are added 

at 3/4 cup each to 42lts of soil mix , in comparison you've used a bag of cow poo to 25lt & 15lt =40lts 

that might still be fine , but i'd be checking it with another plant or plants B4 blowing an expensive seed 

 

sorry mate but i hope that helps  

[Inthewoods]

No need for sorry. You actually confirmed a few things I was thinking so thank you. I've only used a very small amount from my bags so the next one I do will be mainly the soil with other stuff top dress. I was gonna ask you about worms in pots. Do they show up in potted soil eventually by themselves or do they have to get in through the bottom when sitting on the lawn for example? I am using the cloth air pot so it has no holes. I might go kidnap some worms later today and put them in there.

I'll look at cover crops. Hopefully I can get it from Bunnings.

 

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