Rhizobacteria are bacteria that naturally live in the root environment of plants. They colonize the area around the roots and are referred to as beneficial soil life.
Rhizobacteria interact with the plant, and there are many different types. Healthy soil life helps plants develop natural resistance against diseases and attacks.
Poor soil life leads to disease and eventually plant death. Harmful bacteria can easily be displaced by adding beneficial bacteria.
Rhizobacteria can be divided into three groups:
- 1. Nitrogen-fixing bacteria
- 2. Phosphate-releasing bacteria
- 3. Hormone-producing bacteria
Roots emit sugars, which attract the bacteria. It's important that rhizobacteria outcompete harmful bacteria to prevent disease and supply nutrients to the plant.
The easiest way to do this is by adding bacteria with water every week.
Another benefit of rhizobacteria around the root zone is that they can correct an incorrect pH in the soil to the proper pH level.
With rhizobacteria, plants can absorb more nutrients, promoting growth. The bacteria receive sugars from the plant roots and live in symbiosis with the plant.
Trichoderma
Roots can only fill a maximum of 10% of a pot, but their capacity can be greatly increased with root fungi, known as mycorrhiza or Trichoderma fungi.
Trichoderma fungi connect with the plant roots. Their hyphae grow many meters away from the roots and are microscopically thin, reaching areas roots cannot.
This expands the plant's root system up to 100 times compared to plants without fungal hyphae.
Trichoderma absorbs nutrients and transports them to the plant roots. It lives in symbiosis with the plant in exchange for sugars from the roots.
The fungal hyphae also release some sugar they do not use, which attracts rhizobacteria, enhancing nutrient uptake and maintaining the correct soil pH.
Today, even hydroponic farmers using rockwool employ Trichoderma and rhizobacteria in their cultures.
However, bacterial preparations cannot be stored long in liquid form because bacteria need sugar to survive. Without sugar, bacteria live only 3 days in moisture.
Adding sugar can cause rapid bacterial growth, even potentially causing bottles to burst. Once the sugar is depleted, bacteria die. Hence, liquid bacterial or enzyme products are rare in gardening and agriculture (or may be counterfeit).