[Dr_Pepper]

There is a lot to be said for bio-fertilisers/bio-stimulants that help the uptake of phosphorus and micro-nutrients in some situations and I have seen evidence of improved germination and seedling development when seeds have been pre-soaked in solutions of some specific bacteria; however, in a domestic situation, just adding random mixes of bacteria and fungi to a soil can have no effect for one of two reasons:

1) the soil is well looked after with lots of OM and has good physical properties (mainly good oxygen availability) - in this situation all the ecological 'niches' within the soil are likely to be well-populated by beneficial microbes so adding more of them has little effect as there are no extra resources for them

2) the soil is poorly managed (e.g. low OM, low oxygen) and is unable to support beneficial microbes - although pathogens will often be present. Any new microbes to this environment will not be able to out-compete the microbial "bad guys".

My two pennies-worth!!

[John]

Thanks, Professor

That makes a lot of sense to me.