When it comes to a productive growing season, healthy soil is paramount. Your crops require strong support through rich soil to absorb the nutrients they need from the earth. As such, if you want to ensure a successful growing season and achieve the maximum yield you can possibly get from your crops, you need to manage the microbial and fungi levels in your soil.
Using Low Salt Fertilizers
Maintaining the health of your soil by controlling microbial and fungi levels is vital to a productive farm. But before you get started on improving the quality of your soil, you should take the time to consider whether you’re introducing anything that will hurt the fungi and microbial levels of your soil over time.
For example, if you use an inexpensive mass-produced commercial fertilizer that contains high levels of salt, you will end up doing damage to the quality of your soil over time. The reason these types of fertilizers are popular is that they tend to appear to be beneficial by invigorating plant growth initially.
The problem is that while you can see a quick improvement in the crops you are growing today, you’ll be slowly adding more salt to your soil, preventing microbial and fungi levels from cultivating and hurting your future crops. Instead, you can use a low-salt fertilizer option like liquid foliar designed to help improve the quality of your soil.
Why are Microorganisms Vital to Healthy Soil?
The nutrients in your soil are replenished largely from decomposing matter. Microorganisms play a vital role in ensuring that organic matter decomposes and as such, is an essential part of maintaining soil fertility. They also play a role in fixing nitrogen and cycling nutrients so that plant roots can more readily absorb the nutrients in your soil.
Why are Fungi Critical to Healthy Soil?
When you hear a mention of fungi, you might think of the harmful blights that can impact plants in a negative way. On the contrary, given that over 120,000 different kinds of fungi have been classified by biologists around the world, it should come as no surprise that while some types of fungi can be harmful to your corps, other types can be beneficial to them.
The reason fungi are also helpful to your crops is that under the earth, they create a network of mycelium that helps to spread nutrients through your soil, creating a more balanced environment for plant cultivation.
This layer also helps to prevent water from draining away too fast, so crops have a better chance of getting all of the essentials they need. If you maintain both microorganisms and fungi levels together, you’ll end up with better soil for your crops.
If you want to promote microbial and fungi levels in your soil, there are a few steps you can take along with using a low-salt fertilizer option. These include the following:
- Rotate Crops
- Mulch the Soil
- Avoid Over-Tilling
- Add Organic Matter
That said, the best way to get more advice on managing better microbial and fungi levels in your soil is to discuss the matter with your farm equipment and product supplier. Get in touch with a supplier today.