Measuring the Amount of Fungi in Your Soil Sample
Measuring the amount of fungi in your soil sample is easy an inexpensive way to check your soil microbiology. The unit of measure for fungi in soil is ug/gram. Here is the unit dimensions. A “ug” means 1 micro gram. One gram is equivalent to 1 ml of water; or 1 ug is equivalent to 0.000001 [...]
Identifying MicroOrganisms using a Microscope
Identifying what is in your soil takes you many steps closer to understanding how the world works around us. If you are a beginner to microscopes and to microscope slides with sample preparation, you first need to get a lesson oh how to use a microscope. Using microscopes is not hard, but is not as simple [...]
Preparing Soil Samples
Preparing soil samples for microscope analysis is easy. The actual analysis has a steep learning curve. It takes a bit of practice. Preparing soil samples is different than preparing compost tea and compost extract samples. In preparing soil samples we are going to be measuring the amounts of micro-0rganisms contained in the soil. That means [...]
Preparing Extract Samples
Preparing compost extract samples is the easiest sample to make. It is identical to makeing compost tea samples. You do not need to ratio water with the tea. The down side is you really can’t tell how much of each animal is in the tea. When testing for compost teas, you are really looking for [...]
Soil Test Equipment
Testing your won soil with a microscope is fun, but there is a large learning curve. It is simple to make the samples, but identifying the animals on the slides takes a lot of practice. Here is a list of items you need for basic microscope soil analysis. These items can be used for analyzing compost, [...]
Microscope Care
Microscope care is simple but it needs to be done. With all microscopes, dust is the biggest problem. When too much dust gets into the microscope it is difficult to see clear images. Get it cleaned once a year if needed. The best practice is to keep the cover over the microscope when not in [...]
Testing Confocal Microscope on Compost Tea
Here is an interesting test case of compost tea made this week. The tea was brewed with protists and fungi in mind. The tea was made in a 5 gallon bucket with 4 tablespoons of liquid kelp and 4 tablespoons of fish hydrogisate. It was bubbled for 48 hours at 68 degrees F. Below is [...]
Foiloir Layer Case Study – Laurel Bay Leaf Images
The sample is set up with two different stains. One stain shows all of the live bacteria (green) and the dead bacteria (red). Below is the BL (Back Lite) of the Bay leaf. The stomata are shown in semi-bright circles in this image. A stoma is a pore, found in the leaf and stem epidermis [...]
Foiloir Layer Biology
There are two places where micro-biology dominates in outdoor forest nature. It dominates in the soil in the form of bacteria, protists, fungi, nematodes and etc…. And it dominates on the plant surfaces mainly with fungi and bacteria. Measuring the amounts of each organism is one tool we can use to make plants grow healthier and stronger. [...]
Microscope to Purchase for Soil Analysis
You can purchase a common binocular microscope with a under light illumination (or back lit) for analyzing your own soil samples. The microscope magnification range needs to be 40X to 400X. These objectives come standard with most microscopes. A halogen lamp and condenser lens needs to be equipped on the microscope. A foreground lit microscope [...]
Preparing Tea Samples
Preparing compost tea samples is the easiest sample to make. You do not need to ratio water with the tea. The down side is you really can’t tell how much of each animal is in the tea. When testing for compost teas, you are really looking for life diversity and the general inventory of animals [...]
Introduction – MicroOrganisms in Soils and Composts
Identifying micro-biology in soil is the first step in understanding how we, as humans, are interconnected with the Earth. Below is a brief list and descriptions of the micro-biology contained in the soil system. Different plant communities require different amounts of these micro-orgasms in the soil. By growing compost we amend soil deficient in required micro-biology. It [...]
Testing Soil Using a Microscope
Testing Soil Using a Microscope
Soil Testing – Videos
Gardening Rhythms: Soil Testing Part 1 Gardening Rhythms: Soil Testing Part 2 Gardening Rhythms: Where Does Soil Come From The Naked Garden: SoilFoodWeb Creating New Soil Using Succession (2011)