Why would I use Ultra in the Fall?

We often get asked, “When is the best time to apply Ultra to my Garden?” This is a great question because visual results may vary based on the timing of the application. Especially if you do side-by-side trials of treated vs non-treated. Dramatic visual results may not be seen right away depending on the timing of a single application. This doesn’t mean that the product isn’t working. Rather it means that it is influencing different biological components of your soil. Ultra is a prebiotic formula that exponentially increases biological activity within the soil or plant foliage, but all biological activity is not the same. Different species of bacteria and microbes serve different purposes for the soil as a whole. Factors like temperature, moisture, sunlight, and oxygen influence the soil’s ability to deliver nutrients to the plants. All plants actually send out messages to the soil in the form of root exudates to tell the soil what that plant needs. To explain this as simply as possible, microbes feed plants and plants feed microbes. This is why frequent applications spaced every 2-4 weeks make the biggest difference for the growing environment. Frequent applications of Ultra help boost microbial populations to peak performance. Early Spring applications exponentially help your soil “wake up” from the cold winter temperatures. As the soil temperature increases so does microbial activity. Our prebiotic formulations help expedite this process. But what about fall applications?

The biological life within the soil contains different populations and species of fungi,  bacteria, nematodes, arthropods, protozoa, and earthworms. These six identifiers are referred to as the microbiota.  There are infinite combinations of populations and interactions between the microbiota. For example: A single teaspoon of soil contains between 10,000 and 50,000 different species of bacteria. Each species serves a specific function and purpose within the soil. This life within the soil performs roles like nutrient balancing and metabolic functions to help plants turn soil energy into growth. Every time that Ultra is applied to the soil or to the foliage of plants it provides a complex food source for the life within the soil and plants. This allows an exponential increase in this enzymatic activity.  As the seasons shift to fall, the cooling temperatures signal the soil life to prepare for the change.  Applying Ultra will help the soil life through this shift and because of cooling temperatures, this application likely will not produce rapid growth. Rather it will help develop the soil to better fight off pathogens and rebalance the microbiota within the soil. Soil health as a whole is a far greater goal for your garden, lawn, or landscape than just increased growth. What we really want is healthy plants. That starts with healthy soil. Frequent applications of Ultra over time in all seasons will yield the greatest long-term results. Don’t forget to apply Ultra this Fall.

Happy Growing,

Farmer Luke