I love the discussion and the searching I have to do.
Initially, the thought of a sterile soil seems unachievable. It's dirt. It will always be dirty.
Does synthetic nutes kill microbes? Soil can always repair itself if damaged.
Can plants tell a difference between synthetic nitrogen or not? Can scientists? Dunno...
Does synthetic nutes kill microbes? Not all, aye. Something comes about as it is favored. When my compost teas would froth up I would add vegetable oil. Those critters would break it down and it would froth up again.
My short reading at NCBI had not expressed effects on bacteria and microbes, but they mentioned a nematode population being affected. I guess there is a scale called the NICM scale. Nematode Index for Compost Maturity. Bleh...Nematode numbers are counted as an overall indicator of a soils health.
It's a lengthy read and I have not gotten to the results of the study. Skimming through it seems the impact may be negligible. Supporting this whole an ion is an ion idea.
I also pulled up another study by...uhh...sf-ucdavis...excerpt stated, "at high concentrations can inhibit or even kill fungi and bacteria".
Okay...lets say that an ion is an ion and a scientist can't tell the difference between the molecules, why can't a coco bed...ran with hydro nutes support a 2nd run? Or can it? I don't know... Hahaha.
A living soil (what I don't have...) just gets some organic dusts and bugs. That pot of junk can keep producing a plant to harvest.
A coco pot needs to be tossed out every run or does it have to be washed? Why...if an ion is an ion?
I get what you are saying. Fundamentally and molecularly at the atom level, there are similarities. I am not saying flora nova won't make a plant produce a good cola or 2.
What is nitrate build up and why does it happen? Why does it not happen in organics?
To answer your question, I don't know what to think. I need to read more.
thank you.