This is so informative! I just got my new Omax microscope and I’m having trouble getting as clear a viewing as you were getting. I’m going to try again tomorrow. 👍
I knew i was about to find some good info as soon as i heard your list of worm feed Finished biodynamic compost ,carboard and coir are just inert filler if you ask me
I would suggest a test involving the long term storage of a high aerobic content worm leachate vs fresh to see the differences from possible anarobic processes, i have a hunch most of your good buddies are eaten up, however how long until they suffocate and die thus producing a good "food source" for the good preditory buggies in a bubbled tea. Actually sampling and testong through a said process might illuminate some things that are often misunderstood with compost teas and the interactions of aerobic teas with anarobic storage environments.
Hello this is my goal at the moment combined with various others. I’m not an expert however if I used a science accepted microscope and then maybe conducted say 40-50 sample slides and checked thru each one containing diluted worm castings and the majority of bacteria is an indicator of if it’d be a “good or bad” tea? And then to your point once decided that the tea is beneficial I could store and air tight and one breathable tub and do say a 1 month to 3 month to 6 month to full year storage viability test? Sorry if that’s a lot of nonsense, your comment definitely seems up my alley of needing more concrete evidence. I know mine could be flawed but I’m looking for simple non expert way to feel good about any product I may produce to sell! Thanks for any information and I appreciate your comment to speak some though!!🤙🤙
And maybe in my test a third tub could have added feed( azimite or even alittle dry castings) and see if that carries ivermectin the microbial good guys! 😅 I’m stopping now or else I’ll never stop typing! Thanks for the suggestion!
@D.I.Y.G I would think that as the sealed container sits and its dissolved oxygen content gets gobbled up, there's nothing stopping anerobic processes to go on from there, I would figure it would start anerobically proliverating until either the c02 concentration gets high enough to inhibit growth (like in a alcohol/yeast fermenter) or at the end of the day, these teas could be more valuable as a sterilized food source for the buggies already in the soil, that this is less about innoculating and more about feeding your soil buggies healthy, but dead, source of food from other buggies. Which is all that is happening constantly. Buggies eating each other left and right. Reproducing but eating each other. It IS a food chain anyways.
@@moderndiogenes that’s how I see it, is in creating an extract that via worm butt has given me microbial feed in the form of bacteria and pathogens, hoping the soil biology and existing ecosystem around helps filter out and feed on these bad bacteria and pathogens in a measured balance is the key I’m gathering. I’d like to narrow it down alittle more scientifically with microscopic footage but I’m an average Joe and it could take a holiday or two before I save up. However this was great information for me and definitely helps me see myself(the Gardner) as microbial brewery for the soil and roots I’m working on! Appreciate you very much!🤙
@D.I.Y.G some things I've either postulated or learned, no soil is wholly anerobic or aerobic, but the things that I fluency a soils balance of types of buggies is the texture. And availability of calcium and carbon in forms that are easily utilized by the buggies. Most normal soils have a highly aerobic layer in the mulch/top dressing down into the first few inches of soil, as the soil food web gets smaller and smaller the deeper and deeper you go, eventually hitting a clay layer where most of the heaviest minerals end up settling at, down here is mostly anerobic processes due to the soil being saturated with the denser co2 gas and limited amounts of o2 this is where the fungus and molds rule, it is a gradient as you get nearer the surface it gets more anerobic. So to say the soil will filter out bad buggies is really dependant on your soils influence to proliferate certain buggies and not others. You should ideally have the conditions for both processes in the same soil but at different locations... don't forget, ecoli is only bad when it's in the wrong place, it's in you right now doing it's job, all buggies are not good or bad but just out of place, I subscribe that it don't matter what you put in your soil it will all just end up in the recycling circle of buggies eating other buggies or poop, kinda like there in no "storage" of physical cash in the government, only what is out in circulation. If that makes any sense. If for any reason suddenly all those buggies(or in my metaphor employees) all suddenly die all that nutrients in the cycle get dropped out and Leach away. Or employees die and don't show up to work with their wallets to pay taxes (plant rhizophagy)
I would like to know more about amateur microscopy. Info is very scarce.. We need to learn how to find and prepare proper sample. We need to learn more advance technique and tools (ex stain, centrifuge, diy fluorescence, cheap diy filters such polarised/darkfield/color). We also need fun challenge: growing glow in the dark e coli, finding magnetotactic bacteria in your local pound, finding tardigrade on moss in wood, keeping microbes alive as a pet for years, doing various timelapse, increasing video/photo quality, get a new project involved with Inaturalist to bring awareness and maybe get more people involved with science.
Thanks for the video. Great to see this live with a voiceover, really helps understanding. Are you happy with the OMAX microscope? And what camera are you using with it? I am planning to purchase in the next week. Thank you.
My OMAX is the base model for requirements from the Soil Food Web School. I have an omax camera and an iPhone trinocular adapter. Both are great but the iPhone is sharper.
Thanks for the video. Ive seen a lot of commercial products claiming that their vermicompost extract is full of bemeficial bacteria fungi and microorganisms that are in dormancy state and hence can be used during 12 months. Im just curious how it possible to keep aerobic into anaerobic conditions like bottle with tight lid in the dormant state? 🤔 Or its just another marketing hype to sell the product? Thanks
Does pouring Leachate through a worm tower a few times over again (reusing the leachate) make it more aerobic? Or do we have to first let it dry out? Also what is the difference in letting the castings dry then watering them versus putting leachate directly on the soil, which will eventually experience dryer phases?
1st question, most likely but testing would need to be done to confirm. 2nd the reason most retailers allow castings to dry is to make the outgoing product cheaper for shipping. But typically worms like an environment of 60-80% moisture. But the castings are their excrement so they will typically leave that at the bottom of the bin mostly avoiding that area. Castings are high in organic fertilizers since they are made up of concentrated digested organic matter and digested organisms. With leachate you have a renewable source of both but not in the concentrations that you would see in direct castings. Biggest difference with leachate or casting added to soil you are typically not always adding the aerobic component which are the worms. Just the broken down nutrients and organisms that are still within the materials.
Please clarify....I thought arcella where a type of amoeba found in wet areas, mossy areas, aquatic settings, etc.....but rarely found in an aerobic compost. Do we want arcella?? Or are they not what we want in soil?
@@KTheGuy I understand they are a testate amoeba but I thought you would only see these in anaerobic or wet areas, no? Would we want to see these in soil samples for say a vegetable garden? Or would we expect to see these near riparian species?
@@brendalynblanco no not necessarily riparian. But healthy herbaceous soils cycling nutrition, absorbing and well drained uncompacted soils. It’s a diverse mix of organic matter that will propagate their populations. More and diverse aerobic bacterial biomass will signify their ability to thrive within that particular environment.
Will the leachate store? I've got a large worm bin in the shop and I feed and water the worms once or twice a year. I have (2) 5 gallon buckets of leachate now and I'm wondering if it's still good or if the "critters" die after awhile. It's winter here and I have no use for it. Should I just dump it in the garden now and use fresh leachate once I get the garden back in?? Thanks!
Dissolved oxygen has a timeline and will diminish after a period of time, we typically use any of our liquids within 24hrs. Otherwise they start to produce anaerobic organisms. Which change PH levels and disease causing organisms will start to come out of dormancy.
@@KTheGuy Thanks...Also, I didn't mean once or twice a year...I meant "week" LOL. I'll just dump the liquid I have since I won't be needing it till next spring.
Just subscibed as I was searching about this and saw you talking on Mr Growit.. Do you have any videos on how to amend the beds and decide how to get the right fungal/ bacteria ratio for an indoor grower in an 80 litre container? Also I am very worried about bringing any pests into my house, do you have a video about the pros and cons in relation to pests and where pests come from how to prevent? do the pests come from the worm compost? is there a video on your composter build and how to prevent pests? thank you.. great quality information..chris
I do have videos going over most of what you’d asked. But indoor organics with no pest is typically a balance of quality compost and not getting your soil medium over soaked with water. Pests like aphids or spider mites, fungus gnats are usually prevalent when there isn’t enough diversity in the parent compost mix. I’ve found making your own in a vermicompost bin is the best because of acclimation to the local environment. But you want to see, worms in your soil, lady bugs, centipedes, pill bugs/rolly polly or predatory mites (fast movers). When the predatory element is visually present in your soil, you’ll typically never have to deal with a pest issue as the ecosystems has enough predators to consume any problematic bugs/pests. Over soaking the medium can also cause an anaerobic shock that can also make the soil more conducive for pests.
@@KTheGuy Thank you so much for the reply..OK I'm trying your methods next time, I will have to start the composting, I usualy just buy worm casts however assuming your methods of innoculating local soil diversity could be a missing ingredient in my regime.. I can get soil where local Cyanesens/ wavy cap mushrooms grow and a few different diverse soils at the local park.. Was going to inocculate today however decided to wait until I have preditory mites.
Why is it so important to have aerobic microbes as to just having both aerobic and anaerobic in smaller quantities? I just got a scope to do some testing myself but very interesting!
Anaerobic or aerobic microorganisms both cycle nutrient but the aerobic are conducive for conditions (above 6ppm of oxygen). At 4-6ppm of oxygen and lower disease causers like, spirochetes, spirillum, and vibrio proliferate. Those kinds of bacteria are signs of disease like cholera, salmonella, and shigella. When growing plants especially the kinds we eat, we definitely want to keep the occurrence of those kinds of organisms in as low enough numbers that the aerobic kinds outcompete all disease causers.
Do you continue to do the full assesment + counting when you observe your compost/soil or do you find it sufficient to just make a quicker qualitative scan?
Only room for a small DIY composter, of an old garbage bin, in the back yard. Too cold to keep worms over the winter and no room inside. The compost will not get the volume to go hot. I have no microscope. What is the best practices to finish the compost and use it in the garden?
Worms are the best natural compost refiners. Even if you need to replenish numbers every spring. Since they are obligate aerobic organisms they are the best and easiest amenders to any compost or soil system.
Hello. When we start with soil food web approach, can we start with only the extract instead of the compost itself? Preparing so much compost is a tedious task. May be grow cover crops and regularly use compost extract for a season?
Compost is the epicenter to the soil food web process. It’s also the base ingredient to how extracts are made. The “web of microbes” is created in the composting process.
@@KTheGuy Thank you for patient reply. What I meant was can we use only the extract prepared from a bio-complete compost and not the bio-complete compost itself in our first season of adopting soil food web approach? May be cover crop with regular application of extract from bio-complete compost for a season will give us a head start? I am from south of India and here the land is cultivated throughout the year due to favourable climate. So resting land with cover crops and regular application of bio-complete compost extract will help us adopt soil food web approach with just the extract itself? Again thank you for your response
@Newsyeet yes, actually using compost extracts only is a great way to get started with soil microbe replenishment. It’s probably the best way to apply microbes especially if you only have a limited amount of bio complete compost as you can make an extract and put it back in the pile. Let it become refilled with microbes by mixing it back into the majority of the pile for later use. That way one pile will give you many applications over a longer period of time and applied over larger areas as well.
@@KTheGuy Thank you very much for your amazing reply. That’s a great suggestion. I understand from few videos that compost teas from bio-complete compost are used as foliar spray. Does that control pests from your personal experience? I understand healthy plants can ward off pests. What was your personal experience with this?
@Newsyeet teas are great for foliar sprays, I would only employ that method if it was a chronic pest issue. Mainly due to the complexity of tea making. But in my experience pest issues are best addressed and dealt with when adding the microbes directly to the roots and allowing the plant to create its own defensive mechanisms.
What's up K. Ok I'm curious about your experience with the soil food web class. I've been back and forth almost ready to click submit and start classes. But I haven't been able to talk with someone who has actually been through them. On mr grow it's video you talked about doing consulting, which is what I would like to be doing. My questions are kind of about the classes themselves, also about job opportunities after the fact. I wanna know how easy it is or difficult it is to find work, if the school helps you find work, just how it all ends up working in the end, for most. I have a family I'm taking care of ofcourse and spending that much money on something kind urks me a little. Want to get some info first that's not only listed on the website they have.
If your subscribed to the Soil Food Web RUclips channel and watch their webinars they’ll usually have deals advertised during. They are still expensive nonetheless and a full commitment. There are three parts to the educational curriculum all of which have to be scored at 90% or higher to move on to the next. Foundation Courses are about 80 online lectures with tests and you need an accumulation of 90% to move on to the Certified Lap Tech Program, which at that point you could probably work for a company to do soil testing or start a business/ side hustle doing soil test @$65-$125 depending on your comfortability and area. That is online mentored of 8 sessions before taking three test to become microscope certified. Then finally after the first two certifications the final stage is Consultant Training which is data capturing and analysis using spreadsheets and heavy note taking to make compost, extracts, and teas, before taking a small piece of property and showing your skills and ability to reverse the degradation of soil biology to a thriving system. You could certainly join up with a local nursery, composting facility, or growing operation nearby but the training is meant to give you the tools to do the job but not necessarily the entrepreneurial advice for heading out on your own. Hope this helps but watching the webinar about how some of the consultants got their start might be your next move. Cheers!
If you have several years of experience in ag, and have always been practicing a biological approach, you should be ok. I would be very hesitant pursuing the course with a passion only. To be a consultant requires an understanding of plant production and the farmer mentality. Or if you can gain employment with the consultant training, to grow and develop the required knowledge and understanding will then give you a foot in the door. Considering the current global situation, fuel and fertiliser prices, etc, farmers may start consider alternative managment procedures.
Finding work will depend a lot on your marketing skills and how connected you are in your local gardening scene. Work will be slow at first and then over the years, word of mouth will multiply your clientele. Most grads can't quit their day job for some time.
Hello! I’m curious your thoughts on brewing microbe tea using a higher purity of oxygen. (95% instead of 20%) I’ve been brewing using an oxygen concentrator for 12+ hours my plants seem to love the tea every 2 weeks or so. I’m curious what the higher purity of oxygen might be doing to the microbes? Is it beneficial ? Any input for me? Cool video I love the microscope and inspection. New subscriber. 👍 I’ll be checking out your stuff!
Photosyntheses Plus, Worm castings, Biologix Veg or bloom Molasses Bat guano Amino acids Alfalfa Meal Liquid bone meal Recharge Those are some items I might add when making the microbe tea. Bubble with oxygen concentrator for 12+ hours. (Staying under 24hrs bubbling)
Having a higher dissolved oxygen level will increase the ability of the brew process to convert fungi and bacteria to reproduce faster and more consistently. Although if they run out of food in the brew time it wouldn’t matter anyway. Dr Elaines studies have concluded that brewing at lower ambient temperatures have shown to increase dissolved oxygen levels in tea brews. And the inverse is the same for higher temps / lower O2. The bottom line is that we produce a liquid full of the kinds of organisms we’ve concluded as beneficial whenever we make anything: compost, extraction or teas. Best take away, get really good at recognizing beneficial vs detrimental organisms in the microscope. That would be the best and really only way, other than multiple plant species experiments to measure recipe success.
@@wormak.. the microscope link provided is the minimum requirement for study use from the Soil Food Web school. Also molasses (simple sugar) is a bacterial promoter, though since most soil systems are bacterial dominant not much is needed to promote bacteria. The need by far is the promotion of fungal biomass which is fed and propagated by complex foods like fish hydrolysate and humic acids. Bacteria only provides half the root zone assistance we can actively change for plant growth, beneficial fungi is the challenge that needs to have more promotional focus.
What are the tiny creatures that are a fraction the size of the protozoa and move super fast. Specifically the one's with the little wiggly tail that whip across the field of view?
@@garthwunsch Sometimes ciliates and flagellates can look alike although there are some distinctive movements as well as size differences that allow us to determine the species. Ciliates are typically larger and can be seen at 100x and even 40x total magnification. While flagellates can only be seen at mostly 400x magnification. Flagellates typically measure 4-10mm in length but can sometimes be slightly larger and ciliates are typically 4 to 5x larger closer to the size of a testate amoeba. Both ciliates and flagellates will pinball from site to site but because of the method of movement ciliates are very linear in movement while flagellates have a more S motion because of the single to double flagellum.
The fact that you have dead worms clogging the screen to the leachate holding tray is a sign that you are running an overly wet bin...as evidenced by the giant anaerobic plug which fell out of it. Yikes!
Great video as always. I just stated a channel just to get into the loop and get help from dibs and would love to have you on my team@npk420 you tube. I started growing organic living soil because of you and Elaine Ingraham geniuses simply put thanks
You honestly made me want to get a microscope, very informative. Subbed
New sub.saw u on Mr grow it's channel!had to come get some knowledge
This is so informative! I just got my new Omax microscope and I’m having trouble getting as clear a viewing as you were getting. I’m going to try again tomorrow. 👍
Just the information I’ve been looking for. Thanks!
Anaerobic leach aid is not bad for the garden. cool video.
Great channel
I knew i was about to find some good info as soon as i heard your list of worm feed
Finished biodynamic compost
,carboard and coir are just inert filler if you ask me
I would suggest a test involving the long term storage of a high aerobic content worm leachate vs fresh to see the differences from possible anarobic processes, i have a hunch most of your good buddies are eaten up, however how long until they suffocate and die thus producing a good "food source" for the good preditory buggies in a bubbled tea. Actually sampling and testong through a said process might illuminate some things that are often misunderstood with compost teas and the interactions of aerobic teas with anarobic storage environments.
Hello this is my goal at the moment combined with various others. I’m not an expert however if I used a science accepted microscope and then maybe conducted say 40-50 sample slides and checked thru each one containing diluted worm castings and the majority of bacteria is an indicator of if it’d be a “good or bad” tea? And then to your point once decided that the tea is beneficial I could store and air tight and one breathable tub and do say a 1 month to 3 month to 6 month to full year storage viability test? Sorry if that’s a lot of nonsense, your comment definitely seems up my alley of needing more concrete evidence. I know mine could be flawed but I’m looking for simple non expert way to feel good about any product I may produce to sell! Thanks for any information and I appreciate your comment to speak some though!!🤙🤙
And maybe in my test a third tub could have added feed( azimite or even alittle dry castings) and see if that carries ivermectin the microbial good guys! 😅 I’m stopping now or else I’ll never stop typing! Thanks for the suggestion!
@D.I.Y.G I would think that as the sealed container sits and its dissolved oxygen content gets gobbled up, there's nothing stopping anerobic processes to go on from there, I would figure it would start anerobically proliverating until either the c02 concentration gets high enough to inhibit growth (like in a alcohol/yeast fermenter) or at the end of the day, these teas could be more valuable as a sterilized food source for the buggies already in the soil, that this is less about innoculating and more about feeding your soil buggies healthy, but dead, source of food from other buggies. Which is all that is happening constantly. Buggies eating each other left and right. Reproducing but eating each other. It IS a food chain anyways.
@@moderndiogenes that’s how I see it, is in creating an extract that via worm butt has given me microbial feed in the form of bacteria and pathogens, hoping the soil biology and existing ecosystem around helps filter out and feed on these bad bacteria and pathogens in a measured balance is the key I’m gathering. I’d like to narrow it down alittle more scientifically with microscopic footage but I’m an average Joe and it could take a holiday or two before I save up. However this was great information for me and definitely helps me see myself(the Gardner) as microbial brewery for the soil and roots I’m working on! Appreciate you very much!🤙
@D.I.Y.G some things I've either postulated or learned, no soil is wholly anerobic or aerobic, but the things that I fluency a soils balance of types of buggies is the texture. And availability of calcium and carbon in forms that are easily utilized by the buggies. Most normal soils have a highly aerobic layer in the mulch/top dressing down into the first few inches of soil, as the soil food web gets smaller and smaller the deeper and deeper you go, eventually hitting a clay layer where most of the heaviest minerals end up settling at, down here is mostly anerobic processes due to the soil being saturated with the denser co2 gas and limited amounts of o2 this is where the fungus and molds rule, it is a gradient as you get nearer the surface it gets more anerobic. So to say the soil will filter out bad buggies is really dependant on your soils influence to proliferate certain buggies and not others. You should ideally have the conditions for both processes in the same soil but at different locations... don't forget, ecoli is only bad when it's in the wrong place, it's in you right now doing it's job, all buggies are not good or bad but just out of place, I subscribe that it don't matter what you put in your soil it will all just end up in the recycling circle of buggies eating other buggies or poop, kinda like there in no "storage" of physical cash in the government, only what is out in circulation. If that makes any sense. If for any reason suddenly all those buggies(or in my metaphor employees) all suddenly die all that nutrients in the cycle get dropped out and Leach away. Or employees die and don't show up to work with their wallets to pay taxes (plant rhizophagy)
I would like to know more about amateur microscopy. Info is very scarce..
We need to learn how to find and prepare proper sample.
We need to learn more advance technique and tools (ex stain, centrifuge, diy fluorescence, cheap diy filters such polarised/darkfield/color).
We also need fun challenge: growing glow in the dark e coli, finding magnetotactic bacteria in your local pound, finding tardigrade on moss in wood, keeping microbes alive as a pet for years, doing various timelapse, increasing video/photo quality, get a new project involved with Inaturalist to bring awareness and maybe get more people involved with science.
Beautifully and simply explained
Thanks for the video. Great to see this live with a voiceover, really helps understanding. Are you happy with the OMAX microscope? And what camera are you using with it? I am planning to purchase in the next week. Thank you.
My OMAX is the base model for requirements from the Soil Food Web School. I have an omax camera and an iPhone trinocular adapter. Both are great but the iPhone is sharper.
5:33-6:16 fungal hyphae with oxalate crystals? ---- I am missing the sharp breaking at the ends and the clear outer wall?!
Thanks for the video.
Ive seen a lot of commercial products claiming that their vermicompost extract is full of bemeficial bacteria fungi and microorganisms that are in dormancy state and hence can be used during 12 months.
Im just curious how it possible to keep aerobic into anaerobic conditions like bottle with tight lid in the dormant state? 🤔
Or its just another marketing hype to sell the product?
Thanks
Does pouring Leachate through a worm tower a few times over again (reusing the leachate) make it more aerobic? Or do we have to first let it dry out?
Also what is the difference in letting the castings dry then watering them versus putting leachate directly on the soil, which will eventually experience dryer phases?
1st question, most likely but testing would need to be done to confirm. 2nd the reason most retailers allow castings to dry is to make the outgoing product cheaper for shipping. But typically worms like an environment of 60-80% moisture. But the castings are their excrement so they will typically leave that at the bottom of the bin mostly avoiding that area. Castings are high in organic fertilizers since they are made up of concentrated digested organic matter and digested organisms. With leachate you have a renewable source of both but not in the concentrations that you would see in direct castings. Biggest difference with leachate or casting added to soil you are typically not always adding the aerobic component which are the worms. Just the broken down nutrients and organisms that are still within the materials.
Please clarify....I thought arcella where a type of amoeba found in wet areas, mossy areas, aquatic settings, etc.....but rarely found in an aerobic compost. Do we want arcella?? Or are they not what we want in soil?
Arcella are a testate amoeba, we record these as part of the microscopy assessment. Diatoms are an aquatic group typically in algae systems.
@@KTheGuy I understand they are a testate amoeba but I thought you would only see these in anaerobic or wet areas, no? Would we want to see these in soil samples for say a vegetable garden? Or would we expect to see these near riparian species?
@@brendalynblanco no not necessarily riparian. But healthy herbaceous soils cycling nutrition, absorbing and well drained uncompacted soils. It’s a diverse mix of organic matter that will propagate their populations. More and diverse aerobic bacterial biomass will signify their ability to thrive within that particular environment.
Will the leachate store? I've got a large worm bin in the shop and I feed and water the worms once or twice a year. I have (2) 5 gallon buckets of leachate now and I'm wondering if it's still good or if the "critters" die after awhile. It's winter here and I have no use for it. Should I just dump it in the garden now and use fresh leachate once I get the garden back in?? Thanks!
Dissolved oxygen has a timeline and will diminish after a period of time, we typically use any of our liquids within 24hrs. Otherwise they start to produce anaerobic organisms. Which change PH levels and disease causing organisms will start to come out of dormancy.
@@KTheGuy Thanks...Also, I didn't mean once or twice a year...I meant "week" LOL. I'll just dump the liquid I have since I won't be needing it till next spring.
Just subscibed as I was searching about this and saw you talking on Mr Growit.. Do you have any videos on how to amend the beds and decide how to get the right fungal/ bacteria ratio for an indoor grower in an 80 litre container? Also I am very worried about bringing any pests into my house, do you have a video about the pros and cons in relation to pests and where pests come from how to prevent? do the pests come from the worm compost? is there a video on your composter build and how to prevent pests? thank you.. great quality information..chris
I do have videos going over most of what you’d asked. But indoor organics with no pest is typically a balance of quality compost and not getting your soil medium over soaked with water. Pests like aphids or spider mites, fungus gnats are usually prevalent when there isn’t enough diversity in the parent compost mix. I’ve found making your own in a vermicompost bin is the best because of acclimation to the local environment. But you want to see, worms in your soil, lady bugs, centipedes, pill bugs/rolly polly or predatory mites (fast movers). When the predatory element is visually present in your soil, you’ll typically never have to deal with a pest issue as the ecosystems has enough predators to consume any problematic bugs/pests. Over soaking the medium can also cause an anaerobic shock that can also make the soil more conducive for pests.
@@KTheGuy Thank you so much for the reply..OK I'm trying your methods next time, I will have to start the composting, I usualy just buy worm casts however assuming your methods of innoculating local soil diversity could be a missing ingredient in my regime.. I can get soil where local Cyanesens/ wavy cap mushrooms grow and a few different diverse soils at the local park.. Was going to inocculate today however decided to wait until I have preditory mites.
Why is it so important to have aerobic microbes as to just having both aerobic and anaerobic in smaller quantities? I just got a scope to do some testing myself but very interesting!
Anaerobic or aerobic microorganisms both cycle nutrient but the aerobic are conducive for conditions (above 6ppm of oxygen). At 4-6ppm of oxygen and lower disease causers like, spirochetes, spirillum, and vibrio proliferate. Those kinds of bacteria are signs of disease like cholera, salmonella, and shigella. When growing plants especially the kinds we eat, we definitely want to keep the occurrence of those kinds of organisms in as low enough numbers that the aerobic kinds outcompete all disease causers.
Do you continue to do the full assesment + counting when you observe your compost/soil or do you find it sufficient to just make a quicker qualitative scan?
This is for my personal garden if it were for a client I would do a full assessment, with nematode count, main assessment and bacterial count as well.
where is part 3 - helps if they are named the same so easy to find!
Only room for a small DIY composter, of an old garbage bin, in the back yard. Too cold to keep worms over the winter and no room inside. The compost will not get the volume to go hot. I have no microscope. What is the best practices to finish the compost and use it in the garden?
Worms are the best natural compost refiners. Even if you need to replenish numbers every spring. Since they are obligate aerobic organisms they are the best and easiest amenders to any compost or soil system.
Hello. When we start with soil food web approach, can we start with only the extract instead of the compost itself? Preparing so much compost is a tedious task. May be grow cover crops and regularly use compost extract for a season?
Compost is the epicenter to the soil food web process. It’s also the base ingredient to how extracts are made. The “web of microbes” is created in the composting process.
@@KTheGuy Thank you for patient reply. What I meant was can we use only the extract prepared from a bio-complete compost and not the bio-complete compost itself in our first season of adopting soil food web approach? May be cover crop with regular application of extract from bio-complete compost for a season will give us a head start? I am from south of India and here the land is cultivated throughout the year due to favourable climate. So resting land with cover crops and regular application of bio-complete compost extract will help us adopt soil food web approach with just the extract itself? Again thank you for your response
@Newsyeet yes, actually using compost extracts only is a great way to get started with soil microbe replenishment. It’s probably the best way to apply microbes especially if you only have a limited amount of bio complete compost as you can make an extract and put it back in the pile. Let it become refilled with microbes by mixing it back into the majority of the pile for later use. That way one pile will give you many applications over a longer period of time and applied over larger areas as well.
@@KTheGuy Thank you very much for your amazing reply. That’s a great suggestion. I understand from few videos that compost teas from bio-complete compost are used as foliar spray. Does that control pests from your personal experience? I understand healthy plants can ward off pests. What was your personal experience with this?
@Newsyeet teas are great for foliar sprays, I would only employ that method if it was a chronic pest issue. Mainly due to the complexity of tea making. But in my experience pest issues are best addressed and dealt with when adding the microbes directly to the roots and allowing the plant to create its own defensive mechanisms.
What's up K. Ok I'm curious about your experience with the soil food web class. I've been back and forth almost ready to click submit and start classes. But I haven't been able to talk with someone who has actually been through them. On mr grow it's video you talked about doing consulting, which is what I would like to be doing. My questions are kind of about the classes themselves, also about job opportunities after the fact. I wanna know how easy it is or difficult it is to find work, if the school helps you find work, just how it all ends up working in the end, for most. I have a family I'm taking care of ofcourse and spending that much money on something kind urks me a little. Want to get some info first that's not only listed on the website they have.
If your subscribed to the Soil Food Web RUclips channel and watch their webinars they’ll usually have deals advertised during. They are still expensive nonetheless and a full commitment. There are three parts to the educational curriculum all of which have to be scored at 90% or higher to move on to the next. Foundation Courses are about 80 online lectures with tests and you need an accumulation of 90% to move on to the Certified Lap Tech Program, which at that point you could probably work for a company to do soil testing or start a business/ side hustle doing soil test @$65-$125 depending on your comfortability and area. That is online mentored of 8 sessions before taking three test to become microscope certified. Then finally after the first two certifications the final stage is Consultant Training which is data capturing and analysis using spreadsheets and heavy note taking to make compost, extracts, and teas, before taking a small piece of property and showing your skills and ability to reverse the degradation of soil biology to a thriving system. You could certainly join up with a local nursery, composting facility, or growing operation nearby but the training is meant to give you the tools to do the job but not necessarily the entrepreneurial advice for heading out on your own. Hope this helps but watching the webinar about how some of the consultants got their start might be your next move. Cheers!
If you have several years of experience in ag, and have always been practicing a biological approach, you should be ok. I would be very hesitant pursuing the course with a passion only. To be a consultant requires an understanding of plant production and the farmer mentality. Or if you can gain employment with the consultant training, to grow and develop the required knowledge and understanding will then give you a foot in the door.
Considering the current global situation, fuel and fertiliser prices, etc, farmers may start consider alternative managment procedures.
Finding work will depend a lot on your marketing skills and how connected you are in your local gardening scene. Work will be slow at first and then over the years, word of mouth will multiply your clientele. Most grads can't quit their day job for some time.
what is the ph???during the process?
Hello! I’m curious your thoughts on brewing microbe tea using a higher purity of oxygen. (95% instead of 20%)
I’ve been brewing using an oxygen concentrator for 12+ hours my plants seem to love the tea every 2 weeks or so. I’m curious what the higher purity of oxygen might be doing to the microbes?
Is it beneficial ? Any input for me?
Cool video I love the microscope and inspection.
New subscriber. 👍
I’ll be checking out your stuff!
Photosyntheses Plus,
Worm castings,
Biologix Veg or bloom
Molasses
Bat guano
Amino acids
Alfalfa Meal
Liquid bone meal
Recharge
Those are some items I might add when making the microbe tea. Bubble with oxygen concentrator for 12+ hours.
(Staying under 24hrs bubbling)
Having a higher dissolved oxygen level will increase the ability of the brew process to convert fungi and bacteria to reproduce faster and more consistently. Although if they run out of food in the brew time it wouldn’t matter anyway. Dr Elaines studies have concluded that brewing at lower ambient temperatures have shown to increase dissolved oxygen levels in tea brews. And the inverse is the same for higher temps / lower O2. The bottom line is that we produce a liquid full of the kinds of organisms we’ve concluded as beneficial whenever we make anything: compost, extraction or teas. Best take away, get really good at recognizing beneficial vs detrimental organisms in the microscope. That would be the best and really only way, other than multiple plant species experiments to measure recipe success.
I wonder what the objective changes to at 5.43?
Only 4,10 & 40x objectives used on all samples but that was 40x objective, 400 total magnification.
hello, can I ask at what magnification can bacteria be seen?
400 total magnification (40x objective w/ 10x eyepiece) is what we use to identify, cocci, bacilli, or disease causers.
@@KTheGuy could you recommend a cheaper microscope than the one in the link, please.thx
@@KTheGuy
is it good to add molasses to worm tea, it will somehow help the right bacteria, will they multiply here?
@@wormak.. the microscope link provided is the minimum requirement for study use from the Soil Food Web school. Also molasses (simple sugar) is a bacterial promoter, though since most soil systems are bacterial dominant not much is needed to promote bacteria. The need by far is the promotion of fungal biomass which is fed and propagated by complex foods like fish hydrolysate and humic acids. Bacteria only provides half the root zone assistance we can actively change for plant growth, beneficial fungi is the challenge that needs to have more promotional focus.
What are the tiny creatures that are a fraction the size of the protozoa and move super fast. Specifically the one's with the little wiggly tail that whip across the field of view?
That’s a flagellate, which we do count as beneficial bacterial feeders. And the whip is there flagellum.
@@KTheGuy aren't the super fast critters the ciliates? Flagellates aren't know for their speed, but more bumble around as Dr. Elaine calls it.
@@garthwunsch Sometimes ciliates and flagellates can look alike although there are some distinctive movements as well as size differences that allow us to determine the species. Ciliates are typically larger and can be seen at 100x and even 40x total magnification. While flagellates can only be seen at mostly 400x magnification. Flagellates typically measure 4-10mm in length but can sometimes be slightly larger and ciliates are typically 4 to 5x larger closer to the size of a testate amoeba. Both ciliates and flagellates will pinball from site to site but because of the method of movement ciliates are very linear in movement while flagellates have a more S motion because of the single to double flagellum.
Mr grow it sent me.
Ho. What is an Arcella? Round organisms full of bacteria. Did i spell arcella right? I want to look them up
Arcella is a type of testate amoeba, aerobic, beneficial Protozoa.
The fact that you have dead worms clogging the screen to the leachate holding tray is a sign that you are running an overly wet bin...as evidenced by the giant anaerobic plug which fell out of it. Yikes!
I wana see what worms are actually eating? The microbes!
didnt think leachate was much good. thats why we use thing castings for tea???
Great video as always. I just stated a channel just to get into the loop and get help from dibs and would love to have you on my team@npk420 you tube. I started growing organic living soil because of you and Elaine Ingraham geniuses simply put thanks