City Gardening

Jeff Lowenfels

Jeff Lowenfels travelled all the way from Alaska to Canada Blooms to dish the dirt on soil to Toronto gardeners — and I’m glad he did. His lecture on Wednesday afternoon was all about mycorrhizal fungi, protazoa, nematodes and bacteria. Yes, I’ve heard about these micro-organisms but never in such an entertaining way. Somehow, he pulled together what I’d learned as a bunch of disparate information and made sense of it all. Did you know:
1.) 96 percent of plants form symbiotic relationships with mycorrhizal fungi
2.) There are 2 kinds of nitrogen: NO3 (nitrates) and NO4 (ammonia)
3.) NO3 is bacteria-dominant and is beneficial to annuals, bulbs and crops
4.) NO4 is fungi based, which aids perennials, shrubs and trees
5.) Slugs are good guys (especially if you’re not fond of hostas…), which live underground as well as on hosta leaves. In the soil, they help break down fungi and bacteria, and that’s a good thing.
6.) Birds are taxi cabs for protazoa (that’s another good thing)
7.) Rototilling is bad for soil health (but you knew that, right?)
8.) Soil depleted of microbes can be rejuvenated by adding compost, using compost tea, mulching and adding mycorrhizal fungi
9.) Mulch with green organics to attract bacteria (to benefit annuals, bulbs and crops)
10.) Mulch with brown organics to attract fungi (to help perennials, shrubs and trees)

Hooked on soil? Buy Jeff’s book, Teaming with Microbes. It’s the best thing you can do for your plants!