Over 500 million years, a complex symbiosis between plants and soil microorganisms has put Oxygen into the air, Carbon into the soil, and given us Healthy Plants.
The Sun is the Driving Force
Green chlorophyll in leaves, algae and some bacteria use energy from the sun to split Carbon Dioxide (CO2) from the air into Oxygen (O2) and Carbon (C). The oxygen is released back to the air while the Carbon is combined with water and minerals from the soil to produce sugars, fats, oils and other compounds such as vitamins and proteins. These fats, oils and compounds differ between plant species.
Some of the sugar is used by the plant to grow, and some is transported to the roots and exuded into the soil and feeds parts of the soil biology. How much is exuded depends on the plant species and the plant’s stage of development. Under good conditions, half may be exuded during the life of the plant.
The Soil Builders
Some of the countless organisms of the soil biology use the sugars to combine soil particles such as clay and loam into complex soil structures. Others decompose dead plants and animals and recycle the minerals in them. Still others put minerals in forms that plants can absorb, and create many of the compounds that plants (and humans) need for protection against diseases and insects.
Fungi play a big role in building carbon structures. Some (mycorrhizal fungi) can find and transport minerals from a distance and exchange this for sugars in special root cells. These fungi function as extensions of the plant’s root-system.
More diversity in plants and their exudates leads to a more diverse soil biology and more resistance in the symbiotic system.
Restoring and Feeding the Soil Biology
Many modern farming practices damage or kill the soil biology and have weakened the plant-soil symbiosis. This has led to increasing cost and problems in agriculture, and is also a major contributing factor in many current human-health problems. Fortunately, new knowledge has shown nature’s ability to recover once we stop disrupting this symbiosis and start looking after it.
Our experiments with high-fungal teas have shown that changes in management can strengthen the plant-soil symbiosis quickly and profitably, and that it is not difficult to do. Feeding the soil biology with the widest range of minerals available, Sea minerals, is one effective way to do that.
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