Essential Plant Probiotic

Frequently Asked Questions

How is Essential Plant Probiotic made?

Like other fermented products, Essential Plant Probiotic is made by feeding a mother culture over several weeks. Our mother culture is sourced from research by a Japanese scientist who identified the most effective strains of plant microbes in the 1980s. His strain of Effective Microorganisms has been used worldwide to replenish (and sometimes even generate) cultivable soil.

After the brew has come alive, we then carefully select other naturally organic nutrients to benefit different kinds of soil:

If I use this, Do I need to fertilize, too?

Possibly. Fertilizer and microbes are partners in plant health and essentially serve two different purposes. Fertilizer acts as a source of nutrition that can be stored in the soil. Microbes convert nutrients found in the soil into a form that is accessible to your plants. If you only recolonize your soil’s microbial life without giving attention to its nutrient levels, your plant will only be able to convert the nutrition that is already there.

Our Essential Plant Probiotic indoor blend has added kelp which provides nitrogen, the nutrient most often lacking in indoor soil. We recommend using other organic fertilizers as well, such as blood and bone meal for the other macronutrients (phosphorous and potassium) and vital micronutrients.

Not all plants have evolved to have high nutrient demands, however, such as cactus. See our FAQ below on which plants do not need EPP.

I already fertilize/compost so my soil is pretty great. How does this benefit healthy soil?

See above. Healthy soil is arguably the most important factor in plant growth. It’s also something you don’t simply “have” — like all healthy living things, it’s happiest surrounded by good food and good friends.

Even if you fertilize your plants with high-quality organic fertilizer (which we recommend), you should still feed your soil with microbes. Adding fertilizer to your soil ensures that nutrients are available for your plants — adding probiotics to your soil ensures your plants can access them.

Composting is another great practice to support plant health, but is not as targeted as Essential Plant Probiotic. Although composting supports some microbial life, which microbes you’re enriching is anyone’s guess. Because Essential Plant Probiotic is sourced with microbes that have been shown to be the most effective microorganisms for plant health, you can rest assured that you are colonizing your soil with the rich and well-balanced microverse your plant needs.

Is this safe to use on vegetables and organic crops?

Yes! In fact, regular use of plant probiotic has been shown to increase yield, shelf life, and nutritional density of produce (e.g., brix levels, natural sugars), making for more nutritious, tastier vegetables, fruits, and herbs.

Essential Plant Probiotic is also made from certified organic ingredients and is free of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). It’s safe to use on organic gardens.

Does this work on cannabis?

Yes. Cannabis plants gain specific, unique advantages when Essential Plant Probiotic is added to indoor, outdoor, and hydroponic settings.

Cannabis plants require a lot of energy and nutrition when they move from a vegetative (green) state to a flowering (bud-producing) state and many growers increase their fertilizer frequency during this time. However, as already mentioned, fertilizer only acts as a source of nutrition for plants — plants rely on soil microbes to convert these nutrients into a form they can access. Cannabis growers throw their money away when they fertilize their plants without also replenishing their plant’s microbial life. Regular use of Essential Plant Probiotic added to the water source or sprayed on leaves will recolonize beneficial microorganisms and increase your plant’s ability to absorb nutrition. Cannabis plants with strong nutritional uptake have a heightened ability to produce trichomes and terpenes.

These differences are especially pronounced in hydroponic systems. Commercially prepared soil-less mixes such as peat moss, rockwool, and coco coir are typically sterilized to prevent contamination by harmful pests and pathogens. Sterilized mix is great as you get “clean” growing medium free of potential pests, but sterilization destroys all beneficial soil microbes as well. This means your special plants are starting off at a double disadvantage — not only are they at risk for nutrient depletion, but they are also vulnerable to pathogens colonizing their growing medium in the absence of other microorganisms. We recommend restoring your cannabis plants’ natural microbial balance by supplementing your clean hydroponic growing medium with Essential Plant Probiotic.

Are there any plants I should not use probiotic on?

The jury’s still out on this. One of the key uses of Essential Plant Probiotic, especially for indoor plants, is to mimic ideal outdoor growing conditions. For most plants, this includes a rich mix of available nutrients and microbes. Probiotic supports a rich microbial environment so that nutrients can be more accessible.

However, not all plants have evolved to grow in nutrient-rich conditions. Desert cacti, for example, grow in arid conditions where microbial life and nutrient levels are low. There are no studies to show the effects of feeding probiotic to desert plants, but we do not feed Essential Plant Probiotic to our own cacti.

Also, if you have a rare or fragile plants that you are nursing in an indoor or controlled environment, you may want to think about that plant’s ideal growing conditions and ask yourself if it can handle a sudden boost in nutrition. Delicate plants such as orchids should be treated with care. We recommend misting Essential Plant Probiotic on their leaves rather feeding directly into the soil, as the dosage is a little lower.

How many square feet does each bottle treat?

Using our recommended dosage of 2 tsp per litre water, one bottle of Essential Plant Probiotic will mix into 12.5 litres of water. Depending on the shape and size of your watering can nozzle and how deeply you saturate the soil, you can expect to cover approximately 112 square feet of soil per bottle.

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