Assessing Soil Health Using a Microscope with Meredith Leigh Part 4

The most essential question for farmers and gardeners to ask about their soil is, "Is it alive?" We will explore the diverse microorganism communities present in soil and why it is so important to keep them thriving and in balance. Meredith Leigh will explain the importance of a dynamic soil food web. View multiple different local participant samples and apply that information on your own farm or garden to build your own soil enriching strategies. In part 4, participants put their own soil samples under the scope and share what they see.

[@ktownc936]

This teacher is flawless in apporach. It is passion for sure that drives her dialogue. Nothing needs to be though out or scripted when it is a subject you extremely enjoy. Thank you, I just wish more people were interested.

[@ceceliahuynh]

What an amazing workshop! Thank you for the video recording and sharing.

[@shawnmcgowan3557]

It was a riveting video. Loves watching the people watch scopes and talk about it. Honestly great stuff

[@jonmccroskey927]

Thank you so much for sharing this info! Fantastic video series.

[@redouaneelatbaoui9082]

thank you for the respectful content and the scientific generosity :D

[@sebastianmarin9362]

The workshop is absolutely great, very useful info! And the presenter... well, she really does make the class more enjoyable ;)

[@Kate-cr5jr]

I’ll have to check out more of your series, the soil biology came at a fantastic time for me as I’m trying to save my crop! I have a 40 X dissecting microscope which is not quite powerful enough to identify soil microbes. But I do feel more comfortable knowing that I could have a variety of nematodes flagellates slits protozoa, fungi, etc. I probably just need more predatory mites! And I must be doing something right, lots of color for colorful clumps and crystals and lots of movement. Half of my substrate os soil-less, The other half is sterilized compost. I’ve added fungal spores, beneficial bacteria, molasses, kelp et Cetera. So it’s kind of a hybrid of organic-hydroponic with a Living soil. Still don’t know what’s killing my plants, probably a combination of things hey but I’m a first timer. Thanks, Kate

[@johnbladykas4885]

Thank you for sharing

[@dadnar7615]

You are a very good speaker. Well done. Would love to know what model of microscopes you are using.

[@shamanking5195]

is there an affordable microscope that you would recommend ??? what is Dr Elaine new website ???

[@pbflynn3098]

I like my Accu Scope 3002 for 299. It’s discontinued and has no camera but it’s a great scope and having so much fun with it. I know there are AmScopes for 350 that come w a camera. I wish I had a camera

[@jahsunhandy]

Dr Elaine's school is called the Soil Food Web school now.

[@InquilineKea]

did anyone see microplastics in the soil?

[@sonnymery4193]

ok so all your students who brought soil with them had poor fungi activity going. what would you recommend they do to remedy this? buy some mycorrhiza to inoculate their soils with or something else? cheers

[@addammadd]

think about this: nobody is going to be pulling soil samples from the base of a living plant. It makes sense that you don't see mycorrhiza just living freely in the soil.

[@YannickDP]

@@addammadd I'm still learning so I'd like to follow up on your comment. So: in my understanding so far I thought that the mycorrhizal network interconnects plants. This way for example trees that are relatively far away from each other can communicate with one another. If this is true, then pulling a sample not directly at a plants roots could indeed contain mycorrhiza right? Otherwise how would you be able to determine (with a microscope) if your soil is bacteria-heavy or fungus heavy? Again, still learning here so not trying to say you are wrong. Just checking if I am misunderstanding something as your comment seems to clash with what I have understood so far. Cheers!

[@addammadd]

@@YannickDP I think you might be imagining the network as something which spans the voids between root networks such as how highways connect cities. I propose you visualize instead the roots as the highways, the mycorrhizae as the on-ramps and interchanges. Hence, they don’t so much span the voids between where roots do and don’t exist in soil but instead interface the roots of individual plants that would otherwise be nearby.

[@YannickDP]

@@addammadd thanks for your answer! Makes sense! Good analogy!

[@jahsunhandy]

A video that's a compilation of the best examples of each type of bacteria, fungus, protozoan, micorhyzzhae (endo/ecto), sand, silt, algae, spores, flagellates, nematodes(good & bad), indicators, plant materials, toxins, and structure, all separately pointed out with a digital pointer, & text on screen of the name & features to look for. Are you planning on making more vids. I'm considering taking Elaine's online course, although i would mucj rather have a hands on class like this, maybe mostly online, with a few in person classes. I tried to sign up for soil food web classes last year, but unfortunately I had some electronic harassment that kept interfering with my attempts to access her stuff online, and also erasing emails, as well as hacking that made it difficult to use my device. But id love the highlights of this video, with narration of the compiled highlights.

[@bodhipopo]

Friendly reminder: Take off your glasses b4 looking through the scope!

[@ericjenner407]

So I just a talk to 50+- people. Definitely would have preferred a smaller group. Knees started shaking! So baby steps.

[@lessmigrantsmorewalls8392]

As good as this was the girl got no solid knowledge and def is not suited to be instructing

[@jahsunhandy]

What available books exist on this subject? What books have the entomology, and micorhyzzhae identifications, of soil science. I just read a fabulous nook called "finding the mother tree" , which is the experience of a environmental researcher, who grew up loghing in Canada and figured out that the new way of logging and forest management was killing off the symbiotic biological systems yhat characterize a healthy forest.