The Importance of Soil Biology

Soil is much more than “dirt.” Healthy soils can be seen as a living entity. It contains a diverse, living, ecosystem composed of organic (living) and inorganic (non-living) matter. The importance of soil biology is often overlooked, but it is extremely important to ensure your soil has all the components it requires so it can help you produce the healthiest plants and highest yield of quality fruits/flowers/vegetables.

Soil provides a growing medium for your plants to grow and thrive by serving five essential functions:

• • Regulating water  
  • Helping with nutrient cycling
  • Providing physical stability and support
  • Filtering and buffering potential pollutants
  • Sustaining plant and animal life

All these functions are achieved by healthy soils. In order to produce healthy soils that promote healthy plants, you need biologicals. The term “biologicals” refers to beneficial, living microbes. Some of these biologicals can be found living in diverse communities within and around the roots of plants. One of the most important biologicals for plants are mycorrhizae.

Mycorrhizae describes a symbiotic relationship between plants and fungi. A particular type of fungi known as arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), has the ability to improve plant growth and survival. AMF colonize plant roots and create an extension to outer soils, increasing the amount of available nutrients and moisture the roots would otherwise not have access to. Mycorrhizae stretches far into soil, breaking down and acquiring nutrients, bringing them back to the plant and exchanging them for sugars produced by the plant. Mycorrhizae are a critical component of healthy soil biology and comprise about 80% of all the microbial organisms that support plant growth and health.

 At Xtreme Gardening, we have pioneered the cultivation of MYKOS® mycorrhizae so they are easy to use, economical and most importantly, highly effective. From large scale agricultural applications to our small packages for the home gardener, Xtreme Gardening has every garden covered with mycorrhizae!