Understanding the importance of soil microorganisms is a crucial part of cultivating cannabis. These beneficial microbes provide plants with nutrients and help maintain their health.
The most common types of beneficial microbes include fungi and bacteria. They help uptake and utilize plant-available nutrients, promote nutrient cycling and enhance bioavailability, repel or outcompete pathogenic microbes, and trigger plants’ own natural defense chemistry.
Ectomycorrhizal Fungi
Mycorrhizal fungi are important for cannabis cultivation because they physically bind to the roots of cannabis plants and form a symbiotic relationship. This exchange of critical resources is essential for promoting healthy plant growth, especially during the flowering stage.
Endomycorrhizal fungi live inside the root systems of plants and are the most common types of mycorrhizae, although there are a few other species that are found to be beneficial to cannabis. They have the ability to synthesise microelements in the soil that are otherwise unavailable to plants. They can also hydrolyze phosphates in the soil, which helps to increase phosphorus uptake by the plant roots.
Another very significant role of these fungi is that they can help the plant absorb nutrients and water through their hyphae. Hyphae are long chains of cells that can extend out into the soil, creating a sort of skeletal structure that holds onto primary soil particles and aids in water absorption.
These hyphae can also send information back to the roots of the plants through their septa, which allows the fungi to affect how the roots use nutrients and water. This can be especially helpful in a water-stressed environment, as the plant can increase its uptake of nutrients by sending information through this fungal network.
The fungi can also protect the plant from harmful pathogens that are present in the soil, such as Fusarium and Pythium. This is a very useful way to keep your plants safe and healthy, which will in turn help with the production of a higher quality harvest.
They also make the plants more resistant to transplant shock, which can cause them to lose vigour. This can make it easier for the cannabis plant to overcome these challenges and grow to its full potential.
There are a variety of different ectomycorrhizal fungi, but most can be divided into two categories: those that live within the rhizosphere and those that are located outside the root system. These fungi can be extremely beneficial to cannabis as they can help to transport and synthesise microelements in the rhizosphere, as well as protecting the plant from harmful pathogens and other soil organisms. They can also increase the number of crops a cannabis plant produces, which in turn will result in a higher yield and quality.
Endomycorrhizal Fungi
There are a lot of different soil microorganisms in the world, each with their own unique role in the ecosystem. These microbial populations interact with organic matter in order to form a balance that is beneficial for your cannabis plant and the environment as a whole. They build soil structure, ward off disease and pests, and improve the potential of your plant in ways that you may not even realize!
Mycorrhizal Fungi
There are two types of mycorrhizal fungi that are used in cannabis cultivation. These are ectomycorrhizal fungi and endomycorrhizal fungi. These are the fungi that live inside the roots and help with nutrient absorption for the plant in exchange for sugars from the plant’s roots!
These fungi grow chains of hyphae that are linked together. Hyphae are connected by porous walls called septa that allow small molecules to move between cells. The fungi then release power enzymes that they use to externally digest organic material in order to transport it to the plant’s root system where the nutrients are needed most!
The fungi also increase the surface area of the cannabis’ root system by up to 300 times, allowing for increased water and nutrient uptake. They are also capable of transferring these nutrients from one plant to another, improving the overall health of your crop!
They can also provide essential minerals for your plant that would otherwise be difficult to obtain. For example, phosphorus is very immobile in soils, however, endomycorrhizal symbiotic fungi are capable of hydrolyzing organic phosphates and providing it to your plants’ roots via a complex network of filamentous hyphae!
This increases the amount of phosphorus that is available to your plants and can have a huge impact on the quality of your crop. This can result in larger buds and higher yields.
Mycorrhizal fungi also help with the overall health of your crop by producing enzymes and biostimulants that can promote plant growth, boost flower production, and increase the quality of your harvest. These fungi can also decompose toxic substances that might be in your soil and improve the soil’s ability to absorb essential nutrients.
Harmful Nematodes
Many plant-parasitic nematodes are capable of damaging crops in ways that outweigh their beneficial effects. The root-knot nematode, for example, is an ectoparasite that enters roots and injects hormones to create galls that damage the plants ability to transfer water and nutrients to their above-ground parts.
This can result in reduced yields and even death of the plant. In addition to the damage done by the nematode itself, the galls may also interfere with the proper functioning of other soil microorganisms.
The damage of the root-knot nematode can be minimized with proper plant selection, irrigation and crop management. The most important factor is to maintain a healthy soil microbial ecosystem. This includes the use of good fertilizers that will promote the growth of beneficial bacteria, fungi and other microorganisms.
Another important consideration is ensuring that your soil stays as dry as possible. This will stop most nematode species from laying eggs, which they do with ease when the substrate is saturated with stagnant water.
In cannabis cultivation, there are several nematode species that can cause severe damage to hemp and marijuana plants. These include Fusarium wilt, Verticillium wilt and root-knot nematodes.
These nematodes are particularly prone to infecting the root systems of cannabis plants, so monitoring your soil and plant health for signs of these parasites is a must. If you suspect a nematode problem, send a sample to a private testing lab in your area or to the local plant disease clinic to get an accurate diagnosis.
Some nematode symptoms are obvious, and can include enlarged root knots or galls, root lesions, damaged root tips and stunted and abnormally branched root systems. In more severe cases, the plant can show symptoms such as wilting and yellowing foliage.
Nematode infections can be controlled by incorporating beneficial bacteria and fungi into your cultivation system. These bacteria and fungi are able to suppress or destroy the nematode populations, as well as other pests and diseases.
Using a combination of beneficial bacteria and fungi will greatly reduce the nematode population, but the most effective method is to keep the soil free from parasitic nematodes. The most critical component to this is keeping the topsoil layer dry and avoiding overuse and improper recycling of soil.
Beneficial Bacteria
Soil microorganisms are crucial to the growth of cannabis crops. They promote nutrient absorption, improve soil quality, and help to maintain a healthy root system.
Some of these beneficial bacteria live on the surface of the plant while others inhabit the root itself. They form a mutually beneficial relationship that helps your plants survive harsh conditions, such as Arthobracter and poor-oxygenated soils.
The most commonly known beneficial bacteria for growing cannabis are Rhizobium and Bacillus spp. These two species help your plant produce nitrogen, which is one of the essential macro-nutrients that it needs for optimum growth.
They are also known to enhance a plant’s resistance to pathogens and pests. This is because the bacteria help out-compete certain soil pathogens by producing their own antibiotics.
These antibiotics are then able to kill the pathogens that have infected your cannabis plant, and help it fight off harmful insects that have invaded the roots.
This beneficial microbe also produces a substance that helps your plants to absorb water and nutrients more efficiently, which increases your crop’s overall nutrient availability. It can also help to reduce stress levels, which can affect the growth of your cannabis plant.
Having a diverse population of beneficial microorganisms is one of the best ways to help your plants grow stronger, healthier, and higher quality. In addition, they will help to break down micro-nutrients in the soil so that your plant can use them more efficiently.
Another important metric for cannabis cultivators to understand is microbial biomass, which measures the total amount of beneficial biology in the substrate you use for your plants. This can provide your plant with a greater access to the biological resources they need for optimum growth, which will ultimately lead to better yields and more profitable crops.
Bio365’s patented grow media has an exceptionally high microbial biomass. This equates to hundreds of thousands of beneficial biology strains in the substrate, providing your plant with everything it needs for optimum growth.
