A symbiotic Relationship With Plants

Mother Nature has a way of balancing things out and one way she does that is with the aid of aerobic bacteria and fungi. This benevolent type is responsible for the decay and humification of garden waste, organic material and feeding bonds, back to plants. As beneficial microorganisms require Carbon to metabolise and aid the uptake of available nutrients, that roots are unable to source interdependently. The Earth during millions of years of erosion, chemical weathering, fire, volcanic lava and other forces of nature, has provided a Carbon rich, permanently decomposing environment.

Obtaining your own indigenous microorganism culture from local forests, mountains, or thriving land can be done using rice. Korean Natural Farming (K.N.F) adopt this principal as step one of their I.M.O culture programme that involves turning the captured beneficial microorganisms into a dormant state using brown sugar. This allow the storage of the harvested cultures to be kept alive for long periods of time and to be easily handled when applying to a garden.

Our BACTREX and MYCOTREX are contains beneficial microorganisms Trichoderma genus mould, a blend of 9 species of Endo Mycorrhizal spores, beneficial Rhizobacteria, Seaweed meal & Humic acid. By using these products with your plants from the very start of life, you will increase root capacity by up to 700%, as well as improve the absorption of water and minerals, and overall efficacy of the root network.

The way this is done is through symbiosis which means that the tiny hairline structured fungi, will physically attach themselves to the root tissue.

Even though this is parasitic in nature, the relationship and bond that is formed at this exact point, is advantagious, allowing the plant to perform multiple tasks that were not possible, prior to this symbiotic-linking being established.

Most people understand that when a root zone pushes out and searches for air and water, thanks to the shape and design of the root tip, the function allows roots to push and prod through any substrate growing at will. While this is true, it is the advanced structure of the mycelium that allows for such a dramatic increase in the surface area of the root zone by up to seven times. It is the beneficial microorganisms that are able to really push through the tiniest crevices of a growing medium and tap into the smallest air pockets and available nutrients that exist within the soils web.

Disease and viruses can have a devastating effect of any plant and sometimes it is not possible to prevent certain things happening. Airborne pathogens can travel through air vents and once they get a foot hold in plant tissue, or the growing medium they can destroy a crop. The dangers that can occur in the root zone if the plant does not have sufficient protection from beneficial microorganisms can lead to brown roots and root rot. Not only with the pathogen attack any organic material in the area, it will continue to spread until all of the root zone has been inhibited by anaerobic bacteria. Basically, the bad bacteria that no gardener wants anywhere close by.

Trichoderma has the ability to form a network of microscopic hairs that are all working simultaneously like miniature antennas for the soil. This web like structure also has the ability to combat any other types of bacteria that attempt to fight with it, ensuring the ratio of beneficial microorganisms to bad stays as high as possible.

A good example is to think of the rainforest or jungle floor, where conditions and climate there are ideal for plants and trees to thrive. The network of mycelium and beneficial microorganisms on the floor in these parts of the world is extremely advanced and will work as one giant food web all connecting with one another in a large state of natural symbiosis. This is what you are replicating inside your pots when growing your plants. The principal is to create a food web that relies on the intelligence and infrastructure of the BACTREX and MYCOTREX microorganisms.

Now that you have an understanding of how beneficial microorganisms attach themselves to the root hairs, it is important to understand the connection between the food web that exists in the soil and how plants are fed through the mycelium and bacteria.

The best way to imagine how the structure of the soil and the network of beneficial s work, is to try and imagine a growing medium that was mixed in with spider web from top to bottom. Then think about how each strand of silk acts as a pathway to carry food directly to plants. Creating a superhighway of beneficial microorganisms allowing nutrients and minerals to be transferred, in a similar way to nerve-endings in neuron synapses in humans.

One of the many advantages of symbiosis in the root zone is the ability to convert essential nutrients and elements when the plant needs them. This can be done directly with whatever available nutrients is passed through the soil web and passed back to the roots, or there is an even smarter way that beneficial microorganisms work with their environment that relies on fixing or mobilizing.

Our PK BOOSTER COMPOST TEA works exactly this way and is one of the main reasons we advise to brew the tea for the flowering stage of the plant’s life cycle. This product is unique as it is an organic mixture of compost, bat guano, kelp and most importantly Phosphorus releasing bacteria and Potassium mobilizing bacteria. This is just one example of how beneficial microorganisms can intelligently work with their environment and convert Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium from the ground as well as the air.