Soil ph and microbe growth

[hecno]

Very interesting reading .
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2655475/

 

[DTOM420]

Man, I tried. I really tried; but I only understood about 10%. Maybe not quite that much. Lol! Could you kinda summarize the conclusion?

Seems like fungal growth was highest below a soil pH of 4 but that there was a sort of dead zone between 4 and 4.5. Fungal growth improved with acidity (lower pH) and bacterial growth improved with alkalinity/base (higher pH) with ratio of fungi:bacteria changing and reversing between 4.5 and 8.3 soil pH. Am I even close??

 

[hecno]

Depending what you want to grow Fungi or Microbes , If you want to increase one or the other . Lift Microbes by increasing the ph or lower the ph .by decreasing . It is like making N.P.K ratios . And feed them accordingly . A lot has to do with the soil you are making . I tend to go for a higher Microbe count . So I am happy with 6.4 to 7 soil ph . Now trust me on this , you are about to delve into the point of no return . --- Careful ---
Ps , Don't say I did not worn you .

 

[DTOM420]

Depending what you want to grow Fungi or Microbes , If you want to increase one or the other . Lift Microbes by increasing the ph or lower the ph .by decreasing . It is like making N.P.K ratios . And feed them accordingly . A lot has to do with the soil you are making . I tend to go for a higher Microbe count . So I am happy with 6.4 to 7 soil ph . Now trust me on this , you are about to delve into the point of no return . --- Careful ---
Ps , Don't say I did not worn you .

Lol! I stand warned!

I wonder how micorrhizae is affected. I mean, is it on the more pH sensitive end of the scale (as fungi go) or is less sensitive? I’m just getting into the mouth of the rabbit hole but I’m building some Coots Mix (as best I can with the low grade compost you can buy here) for my next run and I was shooting for 6.3-6.8 but I’ll be curious how it comes out.

Thanks for posting the article even though it made my brain hurt. Lol!

 

[Janxster]

Sorry to revive on old post but I noticed when making compost tea with high fungal content compost, molasses and mycorrhiza (Dr earth bloom) that it started out at 4.6 and over 18 hours rose to 5.8. I am guessing this might be due to bacteria feeding on the sugar. And I can adjust the ph with more or less molasses bacteria and or time.
I only read parts also and understood maybe 10% of the 10% I read. but to understand there is a synergy there is pretty cool.
I have been feeding plants compost tea/Garret Juice for awhile but never thought about adjusting the ph. I just took it as it came.

 

[Arthur]

We only need 10 of us...
Each knowing 10%...

Thats... what... 10hundred percent or something....

 

[Janxster]

so with my compost tea. an interesting thing happened. I made a batch three days ago and it steeped for 24 hours aerated. the final pH was 6.3. I made another batch the following day, same compost/water/amounts, but the batteries died on the air pump. its pH was at 5.3. I assume the aeration greatly improves the bacterial activity and raises the pH?

My compost Tea is (DIY Garret Juice) The Dirt Doctor rocks.
4 garden trowels of compost,
4 gal water
12 tbsp molasses,
4 tbsp kelp
4 tbsp fish
4 tbsp apple cider vinegar