Ecological Laboratories microbial products
 

Anybody using their products?
I've had them on my radar for a few years and recently ordered their sample kit.
I'm cautiously optimistic that this could be a game changer in the fight against Septoria because after a week of using it there has been a dramatic reduction in Septoria on all the plants that received the foliar spray, even with all the rain we've recently had.

[URL="https://www.microbelifehydro.com/"]https://www.microbelifehydro.com/[/URL]

[QUOTE=RayR;488677]Anybody using their products?
I've had them on my radar for a few years and recently ordered their sample kit.
I'm cautiously optimistic that this could be a game changer in the fight against Septoria because after a week of using it there has been a dramatic reduction in Septoria on all the plants that received the foliar spray, even with all the rain we've recently had.

[URL="https://www.microbelifehydro.com/"]https://www.microbelifehydro.com/[/URL][/QUOTE]I haven't tried them yet. They are pricey. But they are on my watch list as well.:yes:

[QUOTE=RayR;488677]Anybody using their products?
I've had them on my radar for a few years and recently ordered their sample kit.
I'm cautiously optimistic that this could be a game changer in the fight against Septoria because after a week of using it there has been a dramatic reduction in Septoria on all the plants that received the foliar spray, even with all the rain we've recently had.

[URL="https://www.microbelifehydro.com/"]https://www.microbelifehydro.com/[/URL][/QUOTE]

Ray,
Septoria - Which product do you think is helping?

Here's some [URL="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5fjie_nulE&list=PLnerALItFg7mrQ0veZEY0byk0bqMis5df"]videos[/URL] recorded a few years ago with some info on the technology.

[QUOTE=JamesL;488748]Ray,
Septoria - Which product do you think is helping?[/QUOTE]

I only used the [URL="https://www.microbelifehydro.com/products/hydroponics/natural-and-organic/foliar-spray-and-root-dip/"]Foliar Spray & Root Dip[/URL] as a foliar. 1oz. per gallon and added a little Yucca Extract as the wetting agent as they recommend. You can use [URL="https://www.microbelifehydro.com/products/hydroponics/natural-and-organic/photosynthesis-plus/"]Photosynthesis Plus[/URL] as a foliar also. They have the same bacterial cultures in them.

Yay! Very exciting! Ordered sample pack too! Hoping we can get more microbes to like my soil too.

Ray, are there any other products on your radar? Have never heard of the company Microbe Life, thus asking if there others? It is such interesting approach to gardening.

[QUOTE=Lindalana;489217]Ray, are there any other products on your radar? Have never heard of the company Microbe Life, thus asking if there others? It is such interesting approach to gardening.[/QUOTE]

Not really at the moment. Ecological Laboratories has been around a long time, since 1976. Their original products were for large scale commercial, industrial, Ag and wastewater treatment applications Then they moved into the aquarium and pond market, their original web site is [URL="https://www.microbelift.com/"]microbelift.com[/URL]. I never heard of them before until a few years back when they entered the gardening market with Photosynthesis Plus. That product evolved from their [URL="http://www.growquantum.com/"]Quantum Growth [/URL]series products for Ag.

It's no magic bullet, but most plants respond well to it. I just received a quart bottle of the Foliar Spray & Roor Dip. The 4oz sample doesn't go very far with my tomato plants and I want to try it at 2oz per gallon and see how that goes. It would be great to try their products on plants that aren't stressed out by disease which would be any plant that's not a tomato in my garden.:))
Another brutal humid day with rain since last night and I see I have more issues cropping up on some plants in-ground that appears to be Verticillium. I guess my years of growing tomatoes in the same area maybe catching up with me. That's a bummer. Anyway it's supposed to be dry the rest of the week.

Yep, another few brutal first cold and rainy now hot/humid and rainy weather days I do not even want to think what it going to bring, Septoria looked pretty good till now but EB seems to started? and couple of plants are decidedly on its way out for no reason- am thinking drainage is a problem at certain spots even with raised beds. I would settle for magic bullet now LOL
The company surely taking its sweet time sending the products though- not a good sign considering gardeners want things in the season...
I will report on my results.

EB seems to went away after I added compost extract with added Mycorgrow packet and Biota Max tablet to the roots. Maybe it is a coincidence. So we still have Septoria to deal with.

Did not know the stuff stinks to high heaven- now all my toms smell like rotten eggs LOL

[QUOTE=Lindalana;491610]Did not know the stuff stinks to high heaven- now all my toms smell like rotten eggs LOL[/QUOTE]

Oh yes, Photosynthesis Plus and Vegetable & Fruit Yield Enhancer have the strongest smell when you open the bottles. Hydrogen Sulfide is part of the preservative to keep the vegetative photosynthetic bacteria ([URL="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhodopseudomonas_palustris"]Rhodopseudomonas palustris[/URL] and [URL="https://microbewiki.kenyon.edu/index.php/Rhodospirillum_rubrum"]Rhodospirillum rubrum[/URL]) asleep in the bottles for a long shelf life. They don't form spores like the bacillus species so they can only exist as a live culture.
The smell dissipates pretty quickly outdoors but I guess indoors or in a greenhouse the scent would be more lingering.:lol:

[QUOTE=Lindalana;490836]EB seems to went away after I added compost extract with added Mycorgrow packet and Biota Max tablet to the roots. Maybe it is a coincidence. So we still have Septoria to deal with.[/QUOTE]

Like I explained before in [URL="http://tomatoville.com/showpost.php?p=485082&postcount=5"]another thread[/URL] research has proven that inoculating tomato seedlings with mycorrhizal fungi dramatically increases resistance to Early Blight. I've seen the results myself so I'm sold on that scientific research.
There is always that coincidence factor but since induced resistance to serious pathogens by certain bacteria and fungi at the roots is a known thing, it can't hurt to unleash the beneficials and see what happens. If it can at least reduce the need for chemical fungicides that's a good thing.
I'm really surprised at the lack of serious research on Septoria I can find. Aside from Late Blight. Septoria is the next most devastating foliar disease of tomato I've ever encountered. The last 2 seasons have been the worse with it coming on very early in the season. Before that I would always expect Septoria to show up only in late July or first week of August here. I did find out that there are at least 2 known races of Septoria which makes me think that what I have now is a more virulent race.
I've eliminated Verticillium as a possibility here, the yellowing I've seen after all the rains and humidity I can attribute to Septoria. It's been mostly dry and sunny the last few days and the yellowing symptoms on some branches have stopped anyway.

I am cautiously optimistic.
Few days ago, right after last bout of cold rain/humid/hot weather/downpour I was thinking my plants are done for. It is an interesting experiment. I got big bottles now.
Most of all I am hoping that microbes in the solutions will unlock the soil that got damaged at community gardens and improve nutrient uptake.

[QUOTE=RayR;488677]Anybody using their products?
I've had them on my radar for a few years and recently ordered their sample kit.
I'm cautiously optimistic that this could be a game changer in the fight against Septoria because after a week of using it there has been a dramatic reduction in Septoria on all the plants that received the foliar spray, even with all the rain we've recently had.

[URL="https://www.microbelifehydro.com/"]https://www.microbelifehydro.com/[/URL][/QUOTE]

Do you recommend the sample Kit? Worth the shipping cost at least?

I like using it so far. No it does not eliminate septoria but it seems to hold things at bay, transplanting solutions did well for my recent transplants, hot weather and all.

[QUOTE=Gerardo;497790]Do you recommend the sample Kit? Worth the shipping cost at least?[/QUOTE]

Sure, for $12.99 why not? I just wished I had this sooner in the season, also so for growing seedlings. Next year for that.

[QUOTE=Lindalana;497792]I like using it so far. No it does not eliminate septoria but it seems to hold things at bay, transplanting solutions did well for my recent transplants, hot weather and all.[/QUOTE]

"hold things at bay" is a good way to put it. This race of Septoria is brutal, my elderly neighbor across the street from me who has been growing tomatoes like forever in this neighborhood stopped by the other day and said he's never seen anything like this that came on so early in the season and he's been pretty much wiped out.
Unfortunately I haven't had a lot of time in the last few weeks to tend to the garden. It's been pretty dry most of the time and what I've had to do is keep up with all the pepper plants in containers that were wilting from lack of water.
So I have a lot of tomato plants that are pretty much finished for the season, but there are some that are holding up much better, even some that are getting some new healthy growth. I've been putting what time I have to spray into them.

Excellent. Thanks for the input.

Ray,
I seem to have that same nasty version of Septoria. It appeared to practically sweep in over night a few weeks back after a rainstorm. Threw everything at it to no avail.
Been getting real good harvests but my plants are mostly done.
Putting these products on the trial list for next spring.:)

One other trick I have learned from Harley Smith lectures is to add silica to the soil. Apparently you can not overdo it and plant uses it not only for building up stems and cells but also to circle and isolate leaf damage.
That is something I have observed now too. Septoria hits the leaf but then just sits there and leaf continues to be green and working.

I've been adding Si but only to my seedlings. Thanks for the tip Lindalana.

I've seen the isolated damage too but I don't think it has much to do with silica in the case of tomato since tomato plants don't utilize much silica. Nonetheless I think adding a silica source that will convert to silicic acids is a good idea since silica is lacking in most container mixes and fertilizers. Most natural soils are abundant in silica and silicic acids. Silica is not an essential nutrient but it can't hurt to have it available. It's much more beneficial to plants that utilize much more of it like cucumber.
Calcium is much more important to tomato plants in part because of its role in building up pectin that strengthens the cell walls.

[QUOTE=RayR;499133]It's much more beneficial to plants that utilize much more of it like cucumber.
Calcium is much more important to tomato plants in part because of its role in building up pectin that strengthens the cell walls.[/QUOTE]

Even better, now I know to aim it at my cukes. I've been adjusting ferts (2-3 fold stronger) since they seem to take it in with ease. I'll add silica to their weekly [I]Ensure[/I].

I grow in containers so silica or lack thereof is important. For all of my plants, Ca comes from Bone + Crab Meal from the get-go, then a supplemental top dress about 6 wks after. So far so good with the BER, although some varieties seem to get it no matter what.

Thanks RayR.

Here is article from Harley Smith on the silica. I have found it very interesting.
[url]http://www.growuniversity.net/resources_Biogenic_Silica.html[/url]

This has a similar tryout/sampler where you pay the shipping and play with their product line.

It seems they are tailored to a [I]cashcropofevolvinglegality,[/I] but I'm sure tomatoes will dig it. Gonna place my order.

[url]http://emeraldtriangle.biz/product-samples[/url]

Just ordered my sample kit from Ecological Labs, and the sample pack from Emerald Triangle. Yes.

Toys ready to rock. Visits to hydroponic store yielded other samples.

I can envision healthy fall/winter plants.

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And I just realized this is for gardening in the green. The killer tea on the bottom left is appropriate, and obviously the top left from this thread. The middle RxGreen products are green too. The others (mad farmer and emerald triangle) use standard chemicals in their formulations.

Gerardo, your new sample collection reminded me that I got a couple samples of AXIOM last summer from the hydro store. Duh! I should have trialed it this season on some tomato plants to see if the SAR effect from the harpin proteins had any impact on Septoria lycopersici.

[QUOTE=RayR;503508]Gerardo, your new sample collection reminded me that I got a couple samples of AXIOM last summer from the hydro store. Duh! I should have trialed it this season on some tomato plants to see if the SAR effect from the harpin proteins had any impact on Septoria lycopersici.[/QUOTE]


I'm gonna give it a run and see how they do this fall/winter. It's forecast to be a wet winter, so the SAR effect will be put to the test. I'll use it on a few and see how they do.

Guy at the hydro store was a little hesitant to recommend it due to the "E coli," but once we went over the manufacturing scheme for recombinant proteins he was more comfortable with it.

I hope more bioreactor products are on the way for plants.

Here's a factsheet on the harpin (alpha/beta)

[url]http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/chem_search/reg_actions/registration/fs_PC-006506_30-Jan-02.pdf[/url]

[QUOTE=Gerardo;503511]I'm gonna give it a run and see how they do this fall/winter. It's forecast to be a wet winter, so the SAR effect will be put to the test. I'll use it on a few and see how they do.

Guy at the hydro store was a little hesitant to recommend it due to the "E coli," but once we went over the manufacturing scheme for recombinant proteins he was more comfortable with it.

I hope more bioreactor products are on the way for plants.

Here's a factsheet on the harpin (alpha/beta)

[url]http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/chem_search/reg_actions/registration/fs_PC-006506_30-Jan-02.pdf[/url][/QUOTE]

Ya, sometimes you have to school these hydro store guys on the products they sell. :)
It seems a normal fearful reaction when someone hears "E coli" although most E Coli strains are not human pathogens. [URL="http://epa.gov/biotech_rule/pubs/fra/fra004.htm"]E. coli K-12[/URL] is not.

RXGreen is a rather new company on the scene, it seems obvious that they entered into an agreement with [URL="http://www.planthealthcare.com/technology/harpin/"]Plant Health Care[/URL] to repackage and distribute their harpin protein technology to the growing indoor and outdoor gardening market since PHC is the sole provider of harpins technology.