Soil improvers are those which are improving the soil structure and stimulates the development of a diverse and rich microbial soil life. Here, I am not using soil but red ash (fine gravel) which has no organic matter in it. Now, some body recommended me to apply soil improvers after steaming the growing media. My qustion here is; does this help the crops for better rooting?
Thank you in advance!
The best soils have a mixture of fine clay medium silt and sand a loam. In your gravel case it would be recommended to get silt and clay sediments for your gravel. The use of 10% organic matter would increase the biological potential of your mixture. A medium and foliar analysis can be used to indicate the deficiencies and toxicities you might have and based on that a plan of remediation can be developed and tested. Foliar analysis can verify you have addressed core issues. If you cannot do all the analyses at least fine what the pH you are dealing with in your medium.
Thank you Paul Reed Hepperly. The crops are getting fertigation through drip irrigation and it is not allowed to add soil debris to the pots. So what I mean is; with the existing condition i.e red ash media and drip fertigation, does addition of Mycorrhiza, Bacillus and Trichoderma species improves the rooting system?
Humic acid at 10 to 150 ppm can be very effective in improving rooting through its growth regulator action as can Bacillus, Trichoderma and mycorrhizae. If you have mature compost and or earthworm castings these are rich in beneficial humic acids and microbes. If you take a nice hand full and stir with 15 liter water and then strain the relating compost tea can be beneficial of rooting and plant stimulation and cn be applied through your drip. You may want to experiment with these ideas to come up with you local recipe.
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