1. Introduction
Why Learn About Microbes?
Terms Used in This Book
2. The World Under a Microscope
Microbes by the Numbers
Microbes Are Important to Plants
Microbes Can Harm Plants
Gardeners Affect Microbes
How Do Microbes Move Around?
How Much Do We Really Know?
3. Bacteria
How Do Bacteria Eat?
Where Do Bacteria Live?
Life Cycle of Bacteria
Nitrogen-Fixing Bacteria
4. Fungi
What do Fungi Eat?
Where Do Fungi Live?
Life Cycle of Fungi
Pathogenic Fungi
Mycorrhizal Fungi
5. Yeast
Life Cycle of Yeast
Yeast-Plant Interactions
Yeast in Hellebore Nectar
Yeast Creates Alcoholics
Yeast on Leaves
Yeast in Soil
A Bioindicator of Air Quality
A Possible Solution to Plastic Pollution
6. Nematodes
7. Protozoa
Life Cycle of Protozoa
Nutrient Cycling
Protozoa-Plant Interactions
Plant Diseases
8. Viruses
Viruses in Soil
Life Cycle of a Virus
The Spread of Viruses
Virus Infection of Microbes
Virus Infection of Plants
Rapid Mutation
Beneficial Interaction with Plants
9. More Microbes
Archaea
Actinomycetes
Cyanobacteria
Algae
10. Microbe Communities
Microbe Communities and Microbiomes
Signaling Between Microbes
Microbes Attack Microbes
Mycorrhizal Interactions
Lichens
11. Plants Love Microbes
Nutrient Availability
The Phyllosphere
Rhizosphere
Rhizophagy Cycle
Seed Microbiome
12. Manipulating Microbes
Fungal-to-Bacterial Ratio
Effect of Agriculture
Biodiversity
13. Bioinoculants for the Garden
Bioinoculants for Seeds
Bioinoculants as a Foliar Spray
Bioinoculants for Soil
Microbes Are No Longer Living
Should Gardeners Use Commercial Bioinoculants?
Compost Tea
14. Pathogens
You Suspect a Disease—What Now?
List of Plant Diseases
Fighting Plant Diseases
Commercial Pesticides
Human Diseases
Endnotes
Index
About the Author
Also by the Author
About New Society Publishers
[email protected] –
Robert Pavilis does an excellent job explaining the science of microbial life in terms that don’t require a PhD to understand yet are complex enough to honor the intelligence of the reader. I really appreciated all the side bars to understand which common gardening practices are based on myth and which are really useful. His final chapters give really practical applications for any gardener!
Theresa O’Connell –
I recieved this as an ARC from New Society Publishers. Thank you.
This is a book I wished existed when I was a kid. It would have made the 4-H years even more exciting. Aside from benefiting 4-H garden programs, it can assist people who are starting to garden and have questions about soil.
The information is presented in a concise and humourous way. It took me back to the days when I helped teach in a Biology classroom. If you never studied Biology in school, or have not come to that course of study yet, if you are a young person, it provides you with some groundwork that will help you with reading different parts of the book.
What I enjoyed most was the author’s debunking of certain gardening myths. You will need to read the book to find out which ones.
I look forward to reading some of the author’s other works.
Donna Hickling –
I received this book as an ARC from New Society Publishers. Thank you – I’ve been wanting to read this book for a while. I learned a lot about the organisms that inhabit the soil, how they work alone, how they exchange needed nutrients with plants, and how they exchange nutrients with other microbes. A lot of detail with excellent examples. I’d recommend this book to any gardener who wants to go beyond the simple ‘if it’s on the internet, it must work’. Would like more details of how microbes work with organic practices – will read the next revision too.
Juanita Wierzba –
From the owner of the Garden Fundamentals YouTube channel – Robert Pavlis, another great book in the Garden Science collection.
Understanding the science behind (or in this case beneath) what goes on in your garden is a fundamental tool for success.
Unveiling the secret life of microbes and their value in the garden, explained in detail but for every gardener to understand, this book is a must for your library and you will refer to it along with all the other books in the series time and time again through your garden journey.