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microbes do the heavy lifting
In addition to solar energy, plants
need essential elements, especially nitrogen, to thrive. But they cannot always utilize them. For example, although there is plenty of nitrogen in the air (37,000
pounds free for use above every acre of land) and in the soil (4,000 pounds per acre
assuming 4% organic matter), most of it is unavailable for plant uptake.
In the absence of fertilizer, plants rely on microorganisms (bacteria) to transport and convert available elements for their use. This is where we come in. When applied to plants or soil, our formulas dramatically increase the number and variety of microbes in the soil and
roots, thus enabling plants to make better use of vital plant nutrients, NPK (Nitrogen,
Phosphorous, Potassium) and micro-nutrients.
The main ingredient in all of our formulas, Sumagrow, was developed and fine-tuned over more than a decade in cooperation with scientists at Michigan State University.
Once applied, a variety of groups inhabit the root
zone, rhizosphere and vascular system of a plant, helping to break down, hold,
and transport nutrients and water. Some of Sumagrow’s organisms have the
ability to actually convert insoluble
organic soil elements (i.e.: rock) into soluble nutrients, while others take more nitrogen
from the air that would otherwise be unavailable.
The following is a partial list of ingredients present in all of our formulas:
- Azorhizobium -- helps fix Nitrogen in symbiosis with plants
- Humic Acid (12%) -- organic carrier for the microbes
- Pseudomonas -- able to thrive in harsh conditions
- Enterobacter -- beneficial bacteria
- Stenotrophomonas -- common soil organism
- Bacillus -- a "model organism" whose traits include resistance to some insect pests
- Rhizobium -- soil bacteria that fix nitrogen by converting atmospheric nitrogen to ammonia and then provide organic nitrogenous compounds such as glutamine or ureides to the plant
- Trichoderma -- a genus of fungi that is present is all soils; several strains of Trichoderma have been developed as biocontrol agents against fungal diseases of plants (importantly, root disease)
Sumagrow contains over 30 different strains of microbes naturally found in healthy soil. Our humates are mined
in Canada and processed in Florida. The microbes are grown individually
in Sumagrow's lab in Hattiesburg, MS.
Read more about soil biology and try some today!
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