When the sun comes out and hits your leaf surface it starts doing something we all learn in school called photosynthesis. With the help of photosynthesis, the plant is making all sorts of different kinds of sugars. Most of these sugars get sent on a journey down to the roots and are ejected OUT of the plant into the surrounding rhizosphere or root zone.
Plants are releasing these sugars to wake up and attract specific kinds of microbes to their developing root-zones. The microbial wildlife in the rhizosphere is made up of a sorted cast of characters of both good guys and bad guys.
The microbes that live in the rhizosphere, work with and for the plant in order to provide it with the nutrients needed to grow. In return, the plant continues to supply the roots and the microbial world with specific sugars for the biology to eat and grow. They grow big and strong TOGETHER.
For example, there are different fungal spores in the root zone that continue hanging out waiting for these sugars to become available before they wake up. Once they sense them, they know there is a root close by that they can work with. There are millions of plant and animal "handshakes" like this that are going on as plants continue pushing roots through the soil releasing exudates as they go.
Plants DO NOT get their Nitrogen from a bottle of chemicals. Bottled chemical "nutrients" are all salts. Salts lock up the water molecules in your system and make them unusable by your micro wildlife or your plants.
If plants release all their exudates or sugars into the root zone, what does it get in return? How is it feeding itself and getting nutrients?
A freshly seeded plant is actually setting the stage for its' new home in the soil. This tiny little plant begins feeding microbes different sugars as soon as the seed cracks in hopes that it gets colonized right away by mycorrhizal spores and other good protective organisms.
Predators of both bacteria and fungi are constantly acting out the predator-prey cycle and in doing so release the "nutrients" back into the soil solution. That's what your plants are spending tons of energy trying to make happen. They want the cycle to not just begin but get a jumpstart. This little plant wants the bacteria around it to be eaten so that all the excess nutrients that get squeezed out of their tiny bodies can help the plant's roots develop fast. The root sucks all those little molecules of soluble organic nutrients that these prey groups (bacteria and fungi) leave on the battlefield.
The balance of the predator/prey biomass levels in combination with the balance of water and oxogen in the rhizosphere is what determines soil health and ultimately the health of the plant.
As millions of millions of organisms begin to grow and reproduce, there is an epic competition between these good guys and bad guys. In a way, plants are consuming the life-blood released from this war among microbes. At Micro Bio Grow we help you to balance the biology in your system to match the plants you are trying to grow!
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