NATURE’S SOIL FOOD WEB
The beneficial ecosystem beneath our feet.
The Soil Food Web is the network of organisms living in healthy soil, ranging from bacteria and fungi to protozoa, nematodes, micro arthropods, worms, beetles and more.
These natural soil residents improve soil structure by binding pieces of soil (clay, sand, silt, organic matter, roots) together and building airways or passages throughout the soil.
Unrestricted movement of air and water is vital to maintaining healthy plants and the soil food web itself. Additionally, good soil structure allows water to drain from soil that’s too wet, and helps hold water when a soil begins to dry out.
A complete system of “nutrient cycling.”
The living organisms in this network all eat, excrete or are themselves food for something else in the soil environment—creating an efficient, natural cycle.
Bacteria and fungi feed on plant residues breaking them down and capturing the nutrients (nitrogen, calcium, iron, potassium, phosphorus, etc.) in their bodies. Those bodies become glued or bound to soil particles, preventing them from being lost through leaching.
Nutrients bound in bacteria and fungi are often not available to plants until protozoa, nematodes, small micro arthropods and earthworms consume them. These creatures release nutrients in plant available forms.
Plants, in turn, excrete food, exudates, from their roots which bacteria and fungi thrive on. What’s more, many of these organisms are species that protect plant roots from pathogen and pests.
Natural systems of defense.
The Soil Food Web provides an incredible system of natural defense. Some organisms produce hormones that plants need to absorb or break down pollutants in the soil.
Others protect plant surfaces from disease-causing pests by out-competing them for food, or simply by eating them. Sometimes, just occupying plant surfaces ensures pathogens cannot gain access. Or, they alter soil conditions so the disease-organisms cannot thrive.
Fixing 90 years of traditional agriculture’s chemical damage.
So many of the practices in modern agriculture production have actually damaged the natural processes by destroying beneficial organisms found in soil and on plant surfaces. In the process of trying to destroy specific pathogen and pests through toxic chemicals, we’ve also destroyed the beneficial, protective organisms that existed. Disease-causing organisms have developed immunities to these over-used chemicals and now continue to infect crops to even greater degree. It’s no surprise that pests and disease have become harder to control after all those decades of chemical assault on those invaluable beneficial organisms that once created nature’s balance in our soils.
Urth products work WITH nature to support the Soil Food Web.
Every Urth product supports the Soil Food Web in a unique way. And while most end up affecting multiple levels of this network, the illustration below highlights each product’s main focus. For instance, when activated, Pro Microbe Pack® provides over 10 billion soil microbes which make up the foundation of the Soil Food Web.
Pro Minerals® provides increased electrical activity, and Pro Guard® feeds and helps mimic the signals of healthy plants to assist in warding off pests.