Bactifeed
Checking Your Progress
Sending soil samples to labs is an expensive way to see if you have healthy soil, but luckily there are other ways to see the difference in your soil!
1-YOUR EYES
The most simple and cheapest option. You likely see your lawn, garden, farm, lagoon, and/or compost every day. You know what your yield usually looks like. Is that yellow spot greening up? Is my alf-alfa taller?
2-PROBING YOUR SOIL
Soil probes are a great way to check what's going on in your soil. Always probe in multiple spots. You may hit a rock or just have rough patches. There are two different excellent probes to check.
Soil Probe: It's just a long piece of metal with a pointy end. This is useful for checking how open your soil is. Stab it into the ground and go as deep as you can go. Measure how deep it goes. A decent depth is about 6". We commonly see 9"+ as we work the soil more and more.
Soil Sampler/Core Probe: This is my favorite because you can see multiple things. A core probe has a hallow center so that you can push it into the soil and when you pull it back out, you have a nice soil core to look at. Push it in as deep as it can. You will likely not be able to get as deep as the Soil Probe.
What to look for:
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How deep could you get it in?
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Again, this ties to how open your soil is. You may only be able to get 4", but the more we work your soil, the easier it will be to probe.
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If you're probing a lawn, it may be more difficult at first as you have to push through the thatch.
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How deep are my roots?
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Take note of how deep your roots are at the start and compare each month after using Bactifeed.
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As we open the soil, your roots have an easier time growing deeper down.
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What's in the soil?
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You may see worms in your soil, this is a good sign.
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Is your organic matter breaking down. Take note of dead roots, stubble, and other organic matter in your soil. It should be breaking down and blending into the soil. If it isn't, then it's not in an available form for your plant to take in.
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How does it feel?
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If there is enough of a sample, take the lowest portion and break it apart in your hand. Then do the middle portion. Then the top. Depending on your soil, you may see different things. The most ideal feel is a sponge like feel.
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Clay can be very hard and maybe a little sticky. When you try and break it apart it may just kind of mush together or it may break off in big, hard pieces. This means water and air is having a really difficult time making it's way into the soil. We want it to break apart pretty easily.
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Sandy soils may just flow through your fingers. This means water can run right through it, passing the roots as it goes. We want it to stick together a little better so that it can retain moisture right in that root growth area, but still break apart with little effort.
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How does it smell?
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You want me to what?! A lot of times to do this, you have to get pass the first few inches, especially with sod. The first few inches may just smell like grass. Again, take the bottom portion, then the middle, then the top. Crumble each one in your hand and take a whiff! If there is no scent, that's not good. Biologicals make a pleasant smell in the soil. It may take a few times doing this to get the hang of it. You may think your smelling it and it'll turn out to be just a regular dirt smell. It's richer than that. Sometimes it can be subtle, but probe around (especially a week or so after applying Bactifeed) and see if you can smell the differences in your soils.
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3-TASTE TEST
I'm not telling you to taste your soil! But taste your garden. Taste your crop. Alf-alfa is one of the easiest ones to do a taste test on. Taste an untreated field of alf-alfa with a treated field. If your alf-alfa quality is good it will taste almost like something you'd have in a salad. If your quality isn't there, it may taste bitter. WARNING! Have some treated alf-alfa on hand when you taste the untreated, you may want to replace that taste as quickly as possible!
