Life

TM

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2525 NE 9th Ave., Cape Coral, FL 33909 • 239.573.6650

Providing Natural Solutions & MICROBE-LIFT Products Since 1976

www.MicrobeLife.comMicrobe Life @MicrobeLife

FAQsAbout

MICROBE LIFE Products

Frequently Asked Questions About MICROBE LIFE Products

No other product combines the photosynthetic and vegetative strains with nitrogen-fixing organisms to reduce fertilizer re-quirements and reduce fertilizer run-off, organisms capable of nitrification to convert nitrogen compounds into forms usable to the plant and denitrifiers to complete the nitrogen cycle.How do Microbe Life products help commercial growers get product to market sooner?By promoting earlier seed germination, faster growth and more hearty fruiting, Microbe Life products bring plants to a “ready-to-market” stage faster than most nursery stock, allowing the nursery to scoop the competition and command higher prices. What are BRIX levels?The BRIX level is the measure of carbohydrate (sugar) in plant juices as measured by a refractometer. A higher BRIX level in-dicates produce that has more nutritive value, higher mineral content and healthier plants that are more resistant to insects and disease. How does using Microbe Life products produce more nutri-tious crops? Not only does use of Microbe Life products speed seed germi-nation and increase yields, testing has demonstrated that Mi-crobe Life products make nutrients more available to plants, resulting in plant meristematic tissue (including produce yield) with higher levels of minerals so essential to good nutrition. Why are microbial additives so important in hydroponic production?When growers use soilless media, they do not have the micro-biology that is present in rich soils to help maintain nutrients. With heterotrophic bacteria, Microbe Life cultures inoculate hydroponic media with strains that colonize both media and plant roots, where they go to work immediately providing their benefits. Humates supply micro nutrients often supplied by healthy cultures in standard soil media. What cost savings can Microbe Life provide for professional users? Microbe Life reduces cost of inputs with reduction in nitrogen fertilizer and pesticide use, improves water retention to reduce watering and increase plant health, binds nutrients for faster growth and increased vigor and improves transplant survivabil-ity, reducing dissatisfied customers and expensive call-backs.

What nutrients does a plant need? Plants need all the elements or “building blocks” required to make more plant tissue. This includes nitrogen, phos-phorus and potassium (NPK); called macro nutrients as they are required in relatively large quantities. Carbon is required in an even larger quantity. Carbon comes from carbon fixation in photosynthesis and is also received through organic compounds in soils after being broken down by soil bacteria. Other elements required in smaller quantities, such as sulfur, calcium, magnesium and manga-nese are referred to as micro nutrients. Complex specific beneficial organics are produced by bacteria in soil. Explain the vast diversity of microorganisms in Microbe Life products.There are four types of microorganisms in the Microbe Life series including:

1. Photosynthetic bacteria which supply energy from light, fix nitrogen and carbon, degrade toxic chemi-cals and supply organic carbon to plants for growth.

2. Vegetative strains improve soil by breaking down re-sidual toxic chemicals such as pesticides. They also break down complex organics to provide nutrients to plants.

3. Mycorrhizae are specialized fungi included to assist plants in developing a larger root system, increasing the plant’s ability to absorb vital nutrients.

4. Bacillus spores are the most common microbial ad-ditives in Lawn & Garden products. They are known to produce auxins, hormones and other substances to promote plant health and vigor. They also break down complex organics to produce forms readily available to plants.

How does Microbe Life technology affect the availability of minerals to plants? The bacteria in Microbe Life break down organic com-pounds in the soil to release elements that the plant can readily absorb. In addition, they work on elements present in the soil to convert them to more soluble, absorbable forms. What is the process of photosynthesis in plants? Photosynthesis is the process by which plants grow. Plants contain chlorophyll that utilizes light energy from the sun to convert carbon dioxide CO2, water, and minerals to oxygen and organic compounds such as sugars. The CO2 consumed and O2 produced by this process maintains the natural balance of these compounds in our atmosphere.Plants also contain carotinoids that aid in capturing light energy from the sun and help protect the plant from sun damage. Microbe Life products contain two photosynthet-ic strains that enhance photosynthesis, including improv-ing the efficiency and effectiveness of CO2 fixation. POPLITLGFAQ 10

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2. Improve soil structure by binding particles together and create micro aggregates improving the flow of water and nutrients and allowing oxygen and other gases to permeate.

3. Protect roots from disease and parasites4. Retain nitrogen and other plant nutrients, which are

then slowly released to the plant 5. Produce enzymes and hormones that help plants grow

and resist stress6. Decompose toxic pollutants that enter soil and stress

plants The bacteria in Microbe Life provide energy from photosynthe-sis to degrade organics and out-compete pathogens, thus help-ing to provide energy and populate a healthy soil ecosystem. Not only do bacteria aid plants directly, but they also help feed higher organisms that provide vital functions as well.What are Mycorrhizae and how are they different from other bacteria? Beneficial bacteria grow in the rhizosphere where they break down complex organics and provide auxins, hormones and other nutrients that help the plant grow. These bacteria work synergistically with mycorrhizae.Mycorrhizae are specialized filamentous, soil fungi that attach to plant roots, providing a more extensive matrix for accessing nutrients and moisture. There are two types. The “endo“ type is utilized by most plants, while the “ecto” type is most beneficial to woody shrubs and trees. Depending on the specific Microbe Life product, you will find either endo or ecto mycorrhizal fungi in the ingredients. In some products, when required, a combi-nation of both endo and ecto mycorrhizal fungi are blended in.What is the rhizosphere?The rhizosphere is the narrow region of soil around the root tip where plants encourage the growth of beneficial bacteria by the secretion of sugars and sloughing off of plant cells that feed them. Higher life forms such as protozoa and nematodes graze on the bacterial population. Therefore, much of the nutrient cycling and disease suppression occurs in populations in the root zone. What is the difference between vegetative strains and spores?Some bacteria, notably the bacilli, produce a protective form in unfavorable growth conditions as a survival mechanism. Spores provide long-term survival during desiccation (for dry prod-ucts) and protect the organism when formulated in unfavor-able liquids. However, these spores require time to germinate (just like a seed) which delays their action during product use. Bacillus spores are the most common form of spore microbe used in Lawn & Garden formulations because of their stability. While bacillus spores are very effective at providing some com-pounds useful to plant growth and pathogen resistance, there are many capabilities they do not provide such as pesticide and herbicide degradation, nitrogen and carbon fixation, etc. When the spores germinate and become active they are consid-ered to be in the vegetative or “growing” form.

Many organisms are not capable of producing spores. They are always in the active form where they perform immedi-ately upon application. However, it is much more difficult to maintain these strains in a stable formulation. Microbe Life has a unique, stable formulation of vegetative strains with excellent shelf-life. How does Microbe Life reduce fertilizer run-off? Chemical fertilizers dissolve in available water to diffuse into roots, but without microbes much soluble fertilizer will leach away where it may be out of reach to plants and result in contaminating surface waters. A rich microbial population helps retain nitrogen and other chemical nutrients. The microbes take up the wa-ter soluble nutrients and use them to generate insoluble organic compounds in the form of cellular components which will eventually break down, releasing the nutrients but at a slower rate, like organic fertilizer. In addition, due to the nitrogen-fixing microbes in Microbe Life, less chem-ical nitrogen is required which further reduces potential run-off. How does Microbe Life help reduce plant disease? While Microbe Life is not a pesticide and cannot claim pesticidal activity, its ability to enhance plant health and vigor helps the plant to optimize its natural ability to fend off disease. Can Lawn & Garden centers sell Microbe Life for use when fertilizers are restricted? Gardeners are faced with ever increasing controls on fertil-izer and water use in areas facing fertilizer run off prob-lems and drought. Use of Microbe Life products provide nitrogen from the atmosphere, helping meet customer needs for more vigorous plant growth while maintaining regulatory compliance. What do you mean by reduced shrinkage? Shrinkage is a term that refers to loss of inventory based on poor survival caused by drought, sun damage, disease and unattractiveness due to color change or spindly growth. By increasing water retention, maintaining health and vigor and providing a measure of protection against the sun’s rays, Microbe Life helps maintain a healthy inventory. How is Microbe Life different from competitive products? No other product in the Hydroponics and Lawn and Gar-den markets contain the same stable photosynthetic strains of Rhodopseudomonas palustris and Rhodospirillum ru-brum. These are extremely powerful microbes that pro-vide energy, protect plants from sun damage, fix nitrogen and carbon dioxide and provide a wide range of degrada-tive capabilities to break down chemical contaminants. No other product on the market contains as diverse a con-sortium of stable, vegetative strains that go to work im-mediately to break down both organics for food and toxic compounds that weaken plants, out compete pathogens, and support a healthy soil web.

What is the Calvin Benson Cycle? Plant photosynthesis is a two-step process. The Calvin-Ben-son cycle represents the second phase of plant photosyn-thesis. This light-independent Calvin cycle, also known as the “dark reaction,” uses the energy from electrons pro-duced in phase one to convert carbon dioxide and water into organic compounds such as glucose that can be used by the organism (and by animals that feed on it.) This set of reactions is also called carbon fixation. It was discovered by Melvin Calvin, James Bassham, and Andrew Benson at the University of California, Berkeley.

What is the difference between the photosynthesis reac-tion in a plant and the photosynthesis reaction carried out by Microbe Life bacteria? Plant photosynthesis is an oxygenic or oxygen producing reaction. The microbes in Microbe Life do not produce oxygen.

Like plants, the photosynthetic organisms in Microbe Life products harness the sun’s rays to produce energy, but they have a different form of chlorophyll (known as bacterio-chlorophyll) that utilizes a different and wider range of the light spectrum. Their metabolic capabilities are extremely versatile. They can metabolize with or without oxygen. Their photosynthetic process can produce hydrogen gas from either carbon-based or nitrogen-based compounds including hydrogen. Alternatively, they can convert hy-drogen sulfide to elemental sulfur. These highly versatile bacteria can degrade a wide range of complex organic compounds to release energy and make nutrients available to plants. Like plants, these bacteria use photosynthesis to generate energy for their growth and for utilization by other living systems.

How do Microbe Life products transfer energy to a plant? Plants produce root exudates through plant photosynthesis and exude sugars through the roots to support microbial growth in the soil or growth media surrounding the roots. These microbes then produce auxins, hormones, and oth-er substances necessary for plant growth and vigor.

Why are bio-chemical cycles important in nature? Nutrient cycles are nature’s way of recycling elements nec-essary for life, recycling dead organic matter into elements available to produce new life forms. Major cycles include nitrogen, carbon and phosphorus. Life on earth could not exist without recycling of elements.

Why is it important to have an active population of beneficial microbes in the soil to help plant growth and health? A dense and balanced microbial population in the plant ecosystem can:

1. Create natural, nutrient-laden humus by degrading organics. Organic content is key to water holding capacity.