Is it possible to control weeds using microbiology and how does it work?

If you’ve clicked through to this page chances are you asking that question because you have a weed problem on your property and are looking for an alternative solution to weed control. Using microbiology to suppress weed growth is the answer. Generally, a weed is a plant that you don’t want. Mostly, they grow very quickly with a short life cycle, producing seeds 2, 3 or more times in one season. Weeds really like nitrates as a food source and in your soil this is produced by a specific bacterial group called nitrifying bacteria. These bacteria prefer a pH of 7 or above and they convert ammonium in the soil into nitrates which weeds readily gobble up and then multiply across your property. 

 

Every time we do a soil assessment from land which has a weed problem we find the same results; a soil full of bacteria and devoid of any other microbiology. ​

 

However, when a soil system has beneficial fungi, protozoa and nematodes the pH is lowered. Beneficial fungi excrete an enzyme that reduces pH to below 7. This reduction in soil pH inhibits the nitrifying bacteria from producing nitrates. So now ammonium in the soil is being converted to a plant available form of ammonia which higher successional plants prefer. This means that now the plants you want to grow will flourish and the weeds will struggle if they germinate at all.

 

Did you know that spraying weed killing chemicals is actually further feeding the growth of weeds? Every time you spray a chemical on your soil system you are killing your microbiology. The most important organism fungi is also the most sensitive. Without a balanced microbial population you have no defence against weed pressure. So although spraying to kill weeds does kill them in the short term, you will end up in a vicious cycle of having to repeatedly spray each time they pop back up. Costly and harmful to your growing system.

So why not spray our microbiology instead, increasing your beneficial fungi, protozoa and nematodes and suppressing the weeds. Longterm, it’s a much more economical form of weed control with the added benefit of improving the growth of those plants you want to see flourishing.