A shot before the lights went off. They’re taking off.
Let’s talk bacteria. Bacteria are a cannabis growers best friends. Did you know your roots will NOT grow root hairs unless rhizophagy bacteria are in your medium? This process that plays out starts with the seed. Every single cannabis strain has certain bacteria they prefer over others. These bacteria live in and on the seed. This is why I am so against germinating anywhere other than where your plant will be, because you lose literally millions of years worth of carefully selected bacteria the very moment the seed initiates germination. This isn’t an opinion, it’s a fact.
Now, you obviously don’t lose ALL the bacteria, or those who germinate elsewhere and/or sterilize their seeds would never be able to grow. However what they are doing is breaking down the genetics. They are making weaker plants. You can’t turn this around. Many breeders will tell you stories about plants that started outdoors but can now no longer survive anywhere but indoors on synthetic nutrients. They’ll tell you about genetics they thought were strong, breaking down over time and lines being almost unworkable. This can almost always be traced right back to the seeds and methods of germination.
Back to the bacteria. This rhizophagy process that occurs provides up to 30% of a plants total nitrogen requirement. Read that again. This completely natural process that is responsible for root hair growth, can provide as much as 30% of a plants total nitrogen requirement. You don’t even need to provide N for this to happen, the bacteria take it right out of the air!
Not only that, during the process the bacteria are stripped of their cell walls which the plant again is able to take up the nutrients from that. I haven’t even touched on trichome and bacteria relationships yet and how to provide a very unique and high quality flower worthy of the word terroir. We’ll chat about that too, don’t worry.
These endophytes are why a coco grower can use a myco product like Great White and still see fantastic results. The bacteria in the great white enable the plant to build root hairs it wouldn’t otherwise be capable of building. This of course means greater water and nutrient uptake which leads to better plants. So those who are still skeptical about my myco claims can now understand why even though I said it wouldn’t work, they’re still seeing results. This also reinforces my point that it’s much more beneficial for synthetic growers to spend that myco money on bacteria specific products. You will get vastly more value from a bacteria product than a myco bacteria mix.
That’s a lot of information to hit some people with so we will break there to let it digest. As always, I have sources for those interested in more and am always open to questions and discussions!