Why Soil Microbiology Testing Increase Your Output with Soil Testing

1. Why Soil Microbiology Testing? Increase Your Output with Soil Testing Who doesn’t want to use their resources at their full efficiency? But, most of the time, growers don’t have any idea about how to do that. The primary goal of soil microbiology testing is efficient and effective management of the available resources. A soil test is the best way to assess the lime and nutrients needed in soil. Many owners use it to identify the potential contaminants of the soil. The result of the soil test provides the properties of the sample you submitted along with the opted testing procedures by the laboratory. The soil microbes obtain energy from the carbon present in the soil and they also contribute to soil health. Bacteria have multiple functions and one of them is the decomposition of complex organic residues from plants and animals. For the leftovers, they help break them into the simpler plant- available form. Soil tests provide the key soil health metrics to prescribe a better fertility program for your garden, lawn, and farm field. What Does a Soil Microbiology Testing Test? In the simplest terms, the soil test indicates nutritional deficiencies and PH levels; however, there are many advanced level tests available to indicate the cation exchange capacity (CEC), soluble soils, and many others soil health metrics. A cation can be considered as the pantry of the plants, storing the necessary nutrients to feed the plant and improve the overall health. The cation exchange capacity is the ability of the soil to maintain and release nutrients to the plant. Hence, the higher CEC means larger the pantry and more nutrients to the plant. Adding the high microbial population can stimulate the digestion of the organic matter, and results in increased CEC level. Measuring Key Elements for Plant Growth “The 17 most essential elements required for plant growth are carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus, calcium, potassium, magnesium, sulfur, iron, manganese, zinc, copper, boron, molybdenum, chlorine and nickel” according to the University of Minnesota. From which the elements like hydrogen, carbon, and oxygen are taken from air and water, while the remaining are extracted from the soil. In cases the soil is lacking any element, fertilizers come into play.

2. Determining soil pH A pH of 7 is considered neutral; anything below 7 is acidic and above is alkaline. It is an important chemical property since it affects the availability of nutrients for the plants and the activity of microorganisms in the soil. Most of the plants prefer a pH between 6 and 7. On the other hand, the turf grasses prefer the pH of 5.5 to 6.5. The most common practice to raise the pH of the soil is adding lime. Soluble salts The ions that are dissolvable in the soil are called soluble salts. Higher soluble salts can reduce the water uptake by plants, restrict root growth, cause burning of the foliage, inhibit growth and restrict fruit and vegetable yields. The increase of soluble salts can be the result of human practices like pet urine, using snow salts on sidewalks or streets, and over-fertilizing. However, some soils are naturally high in soluble salts. Microbial biomass It is important to measure microbial biomass (fungi and bacteria) as it is important to transform nutrients like zinc, magnesium, nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulphur into forms that can be used by plants. Most of the growers are not aware of the abilities of their soil since the testing is complicated and out of reach for most of them. But not anymore! You can opt for soilmicrobiology testing kit that you can use your own to determine the microbial biomass and fungal to bacteria ratio and maximize your outcomes. Source: https://justpaste.it/6k4wf