Benefits

In the nearly three years of working with this product, here’s what we see quite consistently:

• Increased mineralisation rates of nutrients available in the growing substrate. Leaves grow larger with more sheen. Yields are better against controls with the same setup.
• Increased suppression of disease causing microorganisms. When the substrate is raw, disease has free reign, but when you apply hundreds of species of beneficial microorganisms from the Goop, they have less of a chance to take over
• Increased drought resistance - use less water, or water less frequently
• A chance to restore soils battered with chemicals in the past
• Faster germination and legacy effects when used as a seed coat. The best example we’ve seen was in chilli plants.

What it is

It is the essential component of your Living Soil growing system. It is a concentrated extract of an inoculation grade compost. The aim of this product is to deliver hundreds of species of beneficial fungi, bacteria, protozoa and nematodes into your soil.

Organism count (this is guidance only, each batch will come with its individual certificate. We are constantly striving to improve this product.):

• Fungi - minimum of 500 micrograms per ml.
• Nematodes - minimum of 500 per ml.
• If you're using other compost and mulches, you definitely have bacteria already, and perhaps some protozoa. This product complements the soil food web with two of the elements which take longer to establish (it still contains beneficial bacteria and protozoa even though we don’t put a count on them)

Bacteria, fungi, protozoa and nematodes are needed to allow your plants to grow to their fullest potential. If you are here you probably know that you can grow them out in compost and leaf mould, but if you don’t have the time to wait, the microscopy skills, or just would rather skip the steep learning curve and just get on with it, this product is for you.

The soil food web when complete is capable of providing your plants all the nutrients they need and when they need them without our interference.

Because the microbes don’t have hands, to prevent getting washed away they produce glues, and form soil micro and macro aggregates. This helps with water infiltration and storage, allowing for a more efficient use of this resource. The structure thus built also helps keep the soil aerobic, where the microbes and plant roots have access to oxygen. This prevents the creation of conditions in which diseases have a chance to take over.

Soil rich in fungi has a suppressive effect on weeds. This product will help you move the needle of fungal succession in the right direction.

When you buy this product you are supporting research into replacing all agrochemicals from food production with beneficial biology, which in turn will make all of your food organic by default, remove water pollution and allow soils to store carbon from the atmosphere.

Instructions for use

• Keep The Goop refrigerated for up to 12 weeks, stirring it occasionally to maintain oxygen levels for the microbes.
• To use, just scoop it out into water and rinse the jar from whatever remains.
• Mix it with water in a watering can, a backpack sprayer or other vessel. It goes into suspension very quickly. Make sure that when spraying the suspension keeps agitated enough not to settle to the bottom.
• Use at least five times the amount of water to the amount of Goop. If you’re mixing it into a new substrate, you can use the lower dilution. If you wish to water it into a garden bed or a pot, use 10 times as much water to Goop or more to allow infiltration into the substrate.
• The Goop is suited for all plants. Veggies, grasses, shrubs and trees will benefit from the fungal component, and the nematodes will provide nutrient cycling.
• When restarting your potting mix; at the time when you add new nutritional amendments, it’s especially useful to add when you have a large amount of rotting roots in the system. It accelerates the decomposition of old root mass.

Application rates

• For lawns or garden beds use between 1.5 to 5 ml of Goop per m2. For example, a typical lawn of 80 to 100m2 could use around 400 to 500 ml of goop.
• For preparing a substrate for a large pot or a new garden bed that will be a permanent living soil system, use 500ml of Goop in 10 litres of water per 100 litres of substrate.
• Maintenance applications could be less than the setup applications, we could use the same dose but focused in the top third of the pot; for example a 115 litre pot would be 35 litres (of the top third of the substrate). We would add 1-5 ml of Goop per litre of substrate (that would be 35-175 ml of Goop).
• You can apply up to every 2 weeks and as little as every 5 weeks. For simplicity you could have two applications - one during the vegetative stage, and one during flowering or other productive stage. With long flowering plants (10-12 weeks) you may want to consider two applications during that stage.
• Anytime your permanent living soil system dries out fully or goes a long time without living plants in it's useful to re-inoculate as if it was new.

Word of caution

All care is taken to create conditions where pathogens don’t survive our composting process, but as with any living product, please wash your hands, avoid ingestion and contact with eyes. In case it occurs, wash with plenty of water. One place we don’t recommend to use this product is things like ready to pick salad leaves which you are about to consume. The Goop contains hundreds of species of microorganisms, and we would hate you to find out for us which ones are problematic. We also take care to avoid all plant pests and pathogens from taking hold, but due to the nature of the maturation process we cannot guarantee none have ended up in the product. We advise that you have your own integrated pest management in place at all times. Use at your own risk, but let us know of any issues. We have a no questions asked 30 day guarantee covering the cost of the product.