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[compost_tea] Fungal broccoli



Hi Elaine,
 
Actually the soil was deep mulched leaves and wood chips with a seasoning of grass clippings added in, on top of compost again made mostly from leaves (maple and a few other hardwoods) and wood chips. No till situation much like those described by Ruth Stout.
 
After I made that post to SANET I got an interesting email from Joel Gruver asking if I knew of any other soil scientist besides you who advocated managing soils crop-specifically for fungal-bacterial dominance.
 
He also claimed that he and Steve Groff had gotten good broccoli crops from fungally dominated soils. I am not sure how he measured the soil to determine it was fungally dominated, though.
 
My own soil, while fed a diet that ought to yield fungal dominance, is also fabulously alive with earthworms and myriad other macro and mesofauna. So it could be that, in spite of appearances and feedstocks, that the whole thing is nonetheless quite bacterial. Or it could be that around the broccoli the dominance of the broccoli root system creates a zone of bacterial dominance while outside the influence of the broc it remains fungal.
 
In any case we are talking about very rich organic soil in a heavy clay subsoil. Basidiocarp fruiting bodies in the nearby woodchip covered paths, that sort of thing. Collembola, mites, pseudoscorpions, centipedes, etc by the scores.
 
Also frequent germination of tree seedlings in the leaf mulched beds...
 
Guess I should send you some samples when spring comes.
 
Frank Teuton
Elaine wrote:

You said something in a recent post about collecting forest duff with great fungi and using it in your broccoli beds.  Generally, for broccoli to do well, the soil has to be bacterial.  when you mix the forest duff, I would expect you lose the fungi in the mix, and broccoli pushs the soil very bacterial.  Just because you start out fungal doesn't mean the mixing, other additions, etc do not push the  soil bacterial.  

Sure would be fun to test the soil though  I like finding exceptions to the rules we have found.  Explanations may take awhile, depending on what we see!


Elaine
President, Soil Foodweb Inc.
www.soilfoodweb.com



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