Teaming with Microbes PDF Download

Author: Jeff Lowenfels
Publisher: Timber Press (OR)
ISBN: 1604690224
Category : Gardening
Languages : en
Pages : 196

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Book Description
When we use chemical fertilizers, we injure the microbial life that sustains healthy plants, and thus become increasingly dependent on an arsenal of artificial substances, many of them toxic to humans as well as other forms of life. But there is an alternative to this vicious circle: to garden in a way that strengthens, rather than destroys, the soil food web -- the complex world of soil-dwelling organisms whose interactions create a nurturing environment for plants.

Author: Jeff Lowenfels
Publisher: Timber Press
ISBN: 1604693142
Category : Gardening
Languages : en
Pages : 251

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Book Description
A 2014 Garden Writers Association Media Award Winner Just as he demystified the soil food web in his ground-breaking book Teaming with Microbes, in this new work Jeff Lowenfels explains the basics of plant nutrition from an organic gardener’s perspective. Most gardeners realize that plants need to be fed but know little or nothing about the nature of the nutrients and the mechanisms involved. In his trademark down-to-earth, style, Lowenfels explains the role of both macronutrients and micronutrients and shows gardeners how to provide these essentials through organic, easy-to-follow techniques. Along the way, Lowenfels gives the reader easy-to-grasp lessons in the biology, chemistry, and botany needed to understand how nutrients get into the plant and what they do once they’re inside.

Author: Jeff Lowenfels
Publisher: Timber Press
ISBN: 1604697296
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 173

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Book Description
From the bestselling author of Teaming with Microbes and Teaming with Nutrients Teaming with Fungi is an important guide to mycorrhizae and the role they play in agriculture, horticulture, and hydroponics. Almost every plant in a garden forms a relationship with fungi, and many plants would not exist without their fungal partners. By better understanding this relationship, gardeners can take advantage of the benefits of fungi, which include an increased uptake in nutrients, resistance to drought, earlier fruiting, and more. Learn how the fungi interact with plants and how to best to employ them in your home garden.

Author: Jeff Lowenfels
Publisher: Timber Press
ISBN: 164326169X
Category : Gardening
Languages : en
Pages : 248

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Book Description
A must-read handbook for organic gardeners and small-scale growers. Thanks to research conducted over the last few decades, we know that most plants get a significant portion of their nutrients by attracting endophytic bacteria—bacteria that live inside a plant’s cells. Through a complex process, plant cells harvest the nitrogen and other nutrients in a bacterium’s cell wall and expel the bacterium’s protoplasts back into the soil where they rebuild their cell walls, start feeding again, and repeat the cycle. Interesting, you may think, but why does this matter? As it turns out, it matters a lot. The bottom line is this: without endophytic bacteria, plants get fewer nutrients and cannot develop properly. Teaming with Bacteria not only explains the rhizophagy cycle; it shows you how to harness this amazing process to increase productivity and plant health. In addition, endophytic bacteria increase a plant’s tolerances to abiotic and biotic stresses and controlling pathogens. This is exactly what we need if we are to deal effectively with climate change, soil loss, and feeding a rapidly burgeoning population. Gardeners, farmers, and other growers must adjust best practices—and develop new ones—to ensure that the rhizophagy cycle can operate at its most efficient pace and that the right endophytic bacteria can do what they are supposed to do. Just as Teaming with Microbes introduced gardeners and growers to the soil food web, Teaming with Bacteria adds to that science by sharing the latest research on endophytic bacteria (bacteria that live inside plants) and rhizophagy (plants “eating” bacteria)—discoveries that have profound implications for the practices of home gardeners and small-scale growers.

Author: Jeff Lowenfels
Publisher: New Society Publishers
ISBN: 1771423048
Category : Gardening
Languages : en
Pages : 278

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Book Description
A totally new category of plants — as easy to grow as tomatoes, perfect for gardeners Cannabis prohibition is ending around the world, and there’s a new bud in town — auto-flowering cannabis. As easy to grow as tomatoes, auto-flowering cannabis is the perfect new plant for the home gardener who has limited time and space. Unlike commercially grown cannabis, auto-flowering cannabis plants are small, container-grown, day-neutral, require no special lights or equipment, and grow incredibly fast – from seed to harvest in as little as seven weeks. Written by gardening authority Jeff Lowenfels, DIY Auto-flowering Cannabis is a full-color, illustrated guide for everyone wanting to grow their own. It covers: The history and benefits of auto-flowering cannabis Its origins, chemistry, and growing habits Step-by-step growing methods, including tips, tricks, supplies, and seed sourcing How to harvest, process, and breed your new plants. If you are a home gardener or already grow cannabis, you too can learn how to grow this new plant with ease, all while reaping its many benefits, such as harvesting it for medical use, recreational use, or simply as a decorative, sweet-smelling flower to enjoy. If you like to grow tomatoes, you will love growing auto-flowering cannabis.

Author: Robert Pavlis
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781542465229
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 206

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Book Description
Garden Myths examines over 120 horticultural urban legends. Turning wisdom on its head, Robert Pavlis dives deep into traditional garden advice and debunks the myths and misconceptions that abound. He asks critical questions and uses science-based information to understand plants and their environment. Armed with the truth, Robert then turns this knowledge into easy-to-follow advice. - Is fall the best time to clean the garden? - Do bloom boosters work?- Will citronella plants reduce mosquitoes in the garden?- Do pine needles acidify soil?- Should tomatoes be suckered?- Should trees be staked at planting time? - Can burlap keep your trees warm in winter?- Will a pebble tray increase humidity for houseplants? "Garden Myths is a must-read for anyone who wants to use environmentally sound practices. This fascinating and informative book will help you understand plants better, reduce unnecessary work, convince you to buy fewer products and help you enjoy gardening more."

Author: Rob DeSalle
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300208405
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 260

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Book Description
Inspired by an exhibition at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, explores microbes and their implications for modern science and medicine.

Author: Rob Dunn
Publisher: Basic Books
ISBN: 154164574X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 343

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Book Description
A natural history of the wilderness in our homes, from the microbes in our showers to the crickets in our basements Even when the floors are sparkling clean and the house seems silent, our domestic domain is wild beyond imagination. In Never Home Alone, biologist Rob Dunn introduces us to the nearly 200,000 species living with us in our own homes, from the Egyptian meal moths in our cupboards and camel crickets in our basements to the lactobacillus lounging on our kitchen counters. You are not alone. Yet, as we obsess over sterilizing our homes and separating our spaces from nature, we are unwittingly cultivating an entirely new playground for evolution. These changes are reshaping the organisms that live with us -- prompting some to become more dangerous, while undermining those species that benefit our bodies or help us keep more threatening organisms at bay. No one who reads this engrossing, revelatory book will look at their homes in the same way again.

Author: Diane Miessler
Publisher: Storey Publishing, LLC
ISBN: 1635862078
Category : Gardening
Languages : en
Pages : 177

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Book Description
Growing awareness of the importance of soil health means that microbes are on the minds of even the most casual gardeners. After all, anyone who has ever attempted to plant a thriving patch of flowers or vegetables knows that what you grow is only as good as the soil you grow it in. It is possible to create and maintain rich, dark, crumbly soil that’s teeming with life, using very few inputs and a no-till, no-fertilizer approach. Certified permaculture designer and lifelong gardener Diane Miessler presents the science of soil health in an engaging, entertaining voice geared for the backyard grower. She shares the techniques she has used — including cover crops, constant mulching, and a simple-but-supercharged recipe for compost tea — to transform her own landscape from a roadside dump for broken asphalt to a garden that stops traffic, starting from the ground up.

Author: Martin J. Blaser, MD
Publisher: Henry Holt and Company
ISBN: 0805098119
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 289

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Book Description
“In Missing Microbes, Martin Blaser sounds [an] alarm. He patiently and thoroughly builds a compelling case that the threat of antibiotic overuse goes far beyond resistant infections.”—Nature Renowned microbiologist Dr. Martin J. Blaser invites us into the wilds of the human microbiome, where for hundreds of thousands of years bacterial and human cells have existed in a peaceful symbiosis that is responsible for the equilibrium and health of our bodies. Now this invisible Eden is under assault from our overreliance on medical advances including antibiotics and caesarian sections, threatening the extinction of our irreplaceable microbes and leading to severe health consequences. Taking us into the lab to recount his groundbreaking studies, Blaser not only provides elegant support for his theory, he guides us to what we can do to avoid even more catastrophic health problems in the future. “Missing Microbes is science writing at its very best—crisply argued and beautifully written, with stunning insights about the human microbiome and workable solutions to an urgent global crisis.”—David M. Oshinsky, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Polio: An American Story