Reddit Reddit reviews Teaming with Microbes: The Organic Gardener's Guide to the Soil Food Web, Revised Edition

We found 27 Reddit comments about Teaming with Microbes: The Organic Gardener's Guide to the Soil Food Web, Revised Edition. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.

Crafts, Hobbies & Home
Books
Gardening & Landscape Design
Soil Gardening
Teaming with Microbes: The Organic Gardener's Guide to the Soil Food Web, Revised Edition
Sold on Amazon
Check price on Amazon

27 Reddit comments about Teaming with Microbes: The Organic Gardener's Guide to the Soil Food Web, Revised Edition:

u/happybadger · 9 pointsr/shroomers

Ever since I read this book with my vegetable garden in mind, I've been really curious about putting a fungal species in both that and my cannabis/hemp tent to create a mycorrhizic relationship. Especially with a plant like cannabis where you're constantly fertilising it, it intuitively seems like it would boost nutrient uptake over the more or less sterile way I'd otherwise grow it indoors. Neither PF cakes nor grain spawn managed to take in the garden this year though. I think my next step is using the spent 50/50 from a monotub, maybe with additional straw on the surface, as a compost mixed in to the smart pots.

How do you do yours? Do you take it all the way to flowering in the monotub or transfer it?

u/AfroTriffid · 4 pointsr/GardenWild

Sorry I have to plug an amazing book about the soil food web that can put a lot of perspective on how to improve the nutrition cycle efficiency.

It's called "Teaming with Microbes" and is an absolute trove of knowledge.
https://www.amazon.com/Teaming-Microbes-Organic-Gardeners-Revised/dp/1604691131/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?keywords=teaming+with+microbes&qid=1573491535&sprefix=teaming+with+mi&sr=8-2

The same author also has one called "Teaming with Nutrients" which I haven't read yet but that I believe is just as good based on a user I was chatting to in the permaculture sub a year or so ago.

u/joshuau490 · 3 pointsr/farming

Read the book "Teaming with Microbes" it is by far the best book on organic gardening I have ever read. You can get it through Multnomah County library.

Also, hit me up if you want to use my compost tea brewer or need some help with planting/planning/harvesting (I live in SE).

u/nickites · 3 pointsr/environment

I would recommend, Teaming with Microbes.
Really a cool book if you're into gardening or just want to understand the soil.

u/gtranbot · 3 pointsr/politics

Successful organic gardening and farming is a question of figuring out how to turn what seem like liabilities into assets. It seems like you have too much sun. Try putting up some shade cloth to block out sun during the most intense parts of the day. Mulch your plants. A lot. Mulch will save you.

Read some books. Eliot Coleman's books are fabulous, and contain a lot of good general information even though the author lives in Maine. I particularly recommend Four Season Harvest. Gaia's Garden is great, and is well suited to someone who owns very little land. Teaming with Microbes is an easy-to-read introduction to bringing your soil to life. And Roots Demystified has some great information about how to best design watering systems for specific plants you're growing. These books all have good pest-fighting information.

You can PM me if you have any questions. Get started!

u/EdiblesDidmeDirty · 3 pointsr/microgrowery

One Straw Revolution

Teaming with Microbes

Teaming with Nutrients

Master Cho's Lessons

Gaia's Garden

This is a good base into the natural side of things, if that interests you at all.

u/[deleted] · 3 pointsr/NoTillGrowery

Everything is in 'Teaming with Microbes' .

u/manwithgills · 3 pointsr/homestead

I would suggest picking up the book Teaming with Microbes. http://www.amazon.com/Teaming-Microbes-Organic-Gardeners-Revised/dp/1604691131

This really gives you a good idea of what living soil is all about. Once you have an idea of how good soil is balanced composting is a lot easier.

u/belds · 2 pointsr/homeowners

I have variety in my lawn, different grasses, clover, some weeds. I’ve never had to thatch anything. I think at least part of the problem some people have is that they kill the things that help decompose that dead grass. Pesticides kill lots of beneficial insects and over fertilizing with strong chemical fertilizers kill lots of microorganisms in the soil.


This book really opened my eyes to the benefits of mostly organic gardening and lawn care. It’s a pretty short read and explains well some really basic concepts to help your plants of all kinds thrive with minimal effort




https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1604691131/ref=ox_sc_saved_image_8?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

u/pgoetz · 2 pointsr/gardening

Yep. And in order to comply with Rule#2, I use a pitchfork to fold mulch/compost into the clay. We had no earthworms (that I ever saw) when we started gardening. Fork up the soil the following year after mixing wood mulch into the clay and every forkload of soil has a juicy fat earthworm in it. Using a pitchfork is not only a much easier way of turning the soil (as opposed to using a shovel), but it also prevents the earthworms from being accidently lopped in half.

Edit: interesting anecdote gleaned from Teaming with Microbes: earthworms hate forests because of the high acidity soil microculture there.

u/ZVPalu · 2 pointsr/LSD

I hugely appreciate Nature. Had a few encounters with the intelligence of nature and I experienced a glimpse of what it feels like to be a tree while being guided by a shaman in Peru. I found that so many things are treated with ignorance and the real beauty of nature has to be perceived as a whole. What goes on underneath, in the soil is truly remarkable.
Read this book after my experience that made me realize how little we know and understand:
https://www.amazon.com/Teaming-Microbes-Organic-Gardeners-Revised/dp/1604691131

u/TheGreenChandrian · 2 pointsr/NoTillGrowery

You should take a look at "Teaming with Microbes" by Jeff Lowenfels and Wayne Lewis. It helps paint a picture of what kind of life we are trying to keep alive in the pots by using all of the inputs as well as mulching and watering schedules.

I think /u/abjectCitizen has a done a great job describing the process. I will also recommend taking a look at build a soil's earlier blog posts. They show the process of filling/transplanting/watering during a grow that I found to be pretty helpful. They also carry quality products you really can't find elsewhere (powdered aloe and coconut water being two I purchased).

u/SamuraiSam33 · 2 pointsr/CannabisExtracts

Whether or not your 'flush' was needed depends on what was in your fertilizer as you were using bottled chemicals and not organic inputs... Organic gardening relies on organic inputs decomposing in soil via microbial activity, broken down and fed to plants through a mycorrhizal fungal network. You don't need to use any sort of bottled nutrients if you are gardening organically. I'm no expert gardener, but I've worked in a few gardens and harvested a few plants, and I seem to see the healthiest, hardiest plants grown in plain soil with no bottled nutrients. Check out the book "Teaming with Microbes" by Jeff Lowenfels and explore the soil food web http://www.soilfoodweb.com/ if you want to learn about organic gardening. If you want to learn more Jeff has written a three part series, the next book is Teaming with Nutrients and lastly Teaming with Fungi.

u/HighGuyTheShyGuy · 2 pointsr/microgrowery

If you want to go organic, read Teaming With Microbes.

It's the down and dirty of using organic inputs

u/PostingInPublic · 2 pointsr/gardening

Hi, coming from the same angle, I'm fairly certain that you want to read this book.

u/candied_ginger · 2 pointsr/gardening
u/ColdWeatherAquaponic · 2 pointsr/aquaponics

Alex Veidel has been doing research and experiments with non-manure-based compost in aquaponics. He did a talk on it at the Aquaponics Fest, and is writing an article in Aquaponics Survival Communities this month on possible issues with compost.

I know that inoculations have become quite popular in hydroponics as of late. This might be partly because they've realized that aquaponics systems actually grow faster once they're mature, and that this must have something to do with bacterial or fungal nutrient uptake improvements.

Human knowledge in this area is severely lacking. We know so little about how microbial communities influence plant growth, we might as well be cave-men scratching drawings on a cave wall. For a good read on this topic, check out Teaming With Microbes.

Vlad Jovanovic at Aquaponics Source Forum might have some ideas for you.

u/jowla · 1 pointr/gardening

Short answer: Yes, Use compost tea.
Long Answer: This book

This article by Dr. Elaine Ingrahm is a pretty good intro to the process. She's one of the leading experts on the soil food web, and was essentially the inspiration for the above mentioned book.

Good luck!

u/rez9 · 1 pointr/gardening

Hmm... Teaming with Microbes looks good. I might give it a read.

u/moonshiver · 1 pointr/trees

“Teaming with Microbes” is a great introduction for everybody— very cool to see results from your education!

u/mumrah · 1 pointr/gardening

A similar experiment was described in Teaming with Microbes, except they add water softener to further disassociate the big particles.

u/tiny_chicago · 1 pointr/gardening

Mel's book is great. However, I think he's very optimistic about spacing. It may be theoretically possible to plant things at those intervals, but a new garden plot needs a few years to develop the biodiversity it needs to achieve peak productivity.

I didn't use much other than Mel's book my first year. I think Teaming With Microbes is essential reading. If you understand soil, you'll understand your plants. Building Soils Naturally is also a good one and it's a little less dry.

I'll also say that Mel's "soil mix" did not work well for me at all. I don't have abundant sources of organic matter available, so I took his suggestion to mix 5 types of store-bought compost. I don't think commercial compost is a sufficient replacement for the homemade stuff. Perhaps if you mix it together with a small amount of homemade compost and let it decay for awhile, it would be better.

That said, plenty of people have success following Mel's book to a T, so your mileage may vary.

u/reflectives · 1 pointr/farming

Welcome axxx. I am on similar acreage and also grow organic vegetables. I'm going into my second season and I'm making many changes after all the mistakes I made last year! It's great to hear that there is a community of farmers helping each other out. We got many seeds in last week as well and put them under fluorescents in the basement. I am striving to create a sustainable farm.

Here are some resources if you don't know of them:

National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service -http://attra.ncat.org/

Excellent science based gardening book that has made me update my practices - http://www.amazon.com/Teaming-Microbes-Organic-Gardeners-Revised/dp/1604691131/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1301667399&sr=1-1

Do you know these guys? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSvLkh5oOsY&feature=related No-till is less energy intensive and makes the soil healthier. I am going to be experimenting with it this year.

How many years have you been after it? Would love to discuss farming anytime. Glad to have you.

u/infsmwetrust · 1 pointr/gardening

If you're really interested in soil science, there's a fantastic book called Teeming with Microbes: http://www.amazon.com/Teaming-Microbes-Organic-Gardeners-Revised/dp/1604691131

If you want just practical info, Cornell has some excellent resources. PDF links:

http://cwmi.css.cornell.edu/compostingathome.pdf

http://cwmi.css.cornell.edu/compostbrochure.pdf

http://cwmi.css.cornell.edu/nuisance.pdf

u/NotAMonsantoSpy · 1 pointr/Permaculture

You're definitely wise to approach things as a skeptic. I was talking with a fellow permie once about all kinds of permie things, and I thought they seemed quite rational. Then, they started talking about energy healing. That was a "smile and nod" moment. I swear, we're mostly sane.

Teaming with Microbes and Teaming with Nutrients might be helpful books to check out. They don't directly address mineral accumulation, but it explains the processes through with accumulation occurs, if that makes sense. They're very thorough books that will make you wish you had paid more attention in Bio 101, but they're written in an engaging way.

This study is on bioaccumulation, though they're testing for heavy metals and not nutritional value. Maybe their methods are explained.

As far as comfrey goes, I know it dredges up minerals from the subsoil with its remarkably long roots. As the leaves die, they decompose on the ground and the minerals become available in the topsoil, which then makes those minerals available to other plants who don't have such deep roots.

Legumes, however, have bacteria colonies surrounding their roots that make nitrogen from the air available to the plant. When the plant dies, it decomposes and then the air-harvested nitrogen becomes available in the soil. Usually, we innoculate legume plantings with the bacteria. It occurs naturally in soil, but may not necessarily be present in every square foot of soil. So, better to be safe than sorry.

u/DabsMcDuck · 1 pointr/Horticulture

right fertilizer is made readily available via protozoa and nematoads. and other beneficial bacteria dying and the rhizosphere uptakes said nutrient from fertilizer. but i think he was looking for a simple answer.

edit: I highly recommend this book https://www.amazon.ca/Teaming-Microbes-Organic-Gardeners-Revised/dp/1604691131