What Does Beneficial Microbes Mean?
Within soil resides many types of microbes such as bacteria, fungi, and viruses. Many of the microbes are considered beneficial microbes because they provide plants with an abundance of nutrients and minerals.
Beneficial microbes share a symbiotic relationship with plants. They decompose organic matter in the soil and recycle it. The roots of the plant attract the beneficial microbes with their sugary secretions, and in exchange for sharing their excretions, the beneficial microbes flock around the plant’s roots and offer up a cocktail of minerals and nutrients that the plant requires to grow and flourish.
Although traditionally thought of as a soil-based biology, beneficial microbes also have their place in organic hydroponic systems, especially aquaponics systems.
Maximum Yield Explains Beneficial Microbes
Fertile, rich, healthy soil contains a bevy of beneficial microbes. Plants have a complex relationship with the beneficial microbes that live in the soil. A plant will secrete a sugar-like substance from its roots to attract very specific microbes that the plant needs for growth. The substance then draws beneficial microbes from the soil that find the sweet secretions of the plant highly attractive.
The beneficial microbes bond with the plant's roots and offer enzymes, nutrients, water, and oxygen to the roots of the plant to help fertilize and fuel its growth.The microbes colonize the soil around the plant’s roots and begin to multiple.
Interestingly, plants appear to know exactly which nutrients beneficial microbes require to thrive and they will secrete specific sugary substances from their roots in order to attract certain beneficial microbes that offer an abundance of the plant’s required nutrients or minerals.
The beneficial microbes also break down the decomposing plant material in the soil to increase the nutrient levels around the plant.
