So, am I to assume that during the first 3 seasons of crops all fungal predators (like worms, protozoa, nematodes) should be excluded from soil enhancements? I've been asking and not getting responses what general advice should be given about worms added to the soil and if I understand this video's content, higher level life forms that consume fungi should be avoided. This is interesting to me as a worm farmer because of the following advices 1. Charles Dowding suggests that his experiment of three plots of identical plantings side by side with 0% compost, 50% compost and 100% compost created results that by the 4th season of crops there was no difference (possibly similar results to this video's content) but that compost could greatly affect production in those first 3 seasons. This suggests to me that everything should be done to also prevent predatory fauna from being added or made part of the compost. 2. I have observed worms love mold and fungi in a worm bin, and voraciously consume anything that fits in their tiny mouths. 3. I assume that the fungi to bacterial ratios you describe in this video are based on rigorous studies that collect data. But, are there studies that use the scientific method to try to determine causality and maybe even the functional benefits of fungi? If what you say in this video could be true, Then worms might be very good for creating vermicompost but the worms themselves might be a detriment in the field. If that is the case, then maybe vermicompost only with worms and cocoons removed should be recommended? There are numerous vermicompost businesses which today sell their compost with worms or complete their cold composting with worms (eg the Johnson-Su bioractor). and don't have any problem using the compost complete with worms. Is there any comment about that?
I am in the process of writing a review of the literature on a related topic. So, far I haven't found any studies directly looking at the impact of Insecticides or herbicides on the Fungal to bacterial ratios. I am curious if you know of any journal articles covering that. It seems that glyphosate in particular should have a negative effect considering the patent though. Although, tillage and fertilizer usage seems to have effects. They are complicated and effects seem to be different on newly cultivated plots than what you see in long term management over the course of 15 years or more. The hypothesis that tillage increases the bacterial biomass seems to be strongly supported. Although, bacterial a-diversity seems to decrease. As the proportion of Acidobacteria seems to increase consistently. Although, other types seem to increase or decrease in particular studies. And I have seen things indicating that the fungal mycellium are negatively impacted by tillage. Plant residues seem to have a large impact on microbial populations. Although, I haven't looked into the details there. From what I can tell many of the hypothesis around how residues effect the F:B ratio seem to be based on the fact that bacteria and fungi tend to have different C:N ratios within them. When microbes that have a wider C:N ratio eat something with a tighter ratio they release the additional N into the soil. Generally as Ammonia but sometimes as other things. And that is viewed as part of the nitrogen and carbon cycle. It has a strong tie to decomposition rate though. However, I haven't seen anything showing that having a C:N ratio closer to what a microbe wants actually leads to increased growth in their population. As bacteria tend to grow faster than fungi they might be able to adjust to short term changes easier. But, may be negatively by extremes more. I am not sure though.
HI.. Can you adisve... FB 0.3 we shows Veg in the "spiral FB image" then FB = 1 and we have row crops. I dont get this.. if you put vegetables in a row... then its FB =1 and if they are not in a row its 0.3. Any vegetable can be grown in rows.. ? What am I not getting here... Thanks in advance...
@@paulbraga4460 Actually, because the Johnson-Su bioreactor implements a final step of adding worms to the pile, that's adding a voracious predator of fungi to the pile and should result in a low fungal to bacterial count. And, I don't remember any effort to remove the worms or their cocoons before using the compost. So no, I highly doubt that the Johnson-Su bioreactor would do much that's consistent with the content of this video.
@@tonysu8860I would be interested to know if you have tested and could share the results of the F:B ratio in a static pile after a full year’s maturity.
