Rhizophagy and the Growers Program
Since 1955, Growers Mineral, Corp.'s educational approach to explaining the success of the Growers Program has focused on the three phases of soil. Those three phases of soil are defined as physical, chemical, and biological. Of those various phases, the Growers Program placed the most emphasis on the biological phase.
By selecting the biological phase, Dr. V.A. Tiedjens focused the efforts of the Growers Program in a way that is in harmony with how the plant grows. Since the plant reproduces itself predominantly from the use of sugar it has harvested from sunshine, it is still true that the plant does require a small amount of mineral which the plant obtains mostly by trading its sugar to the soil microbiology life. The Growers Program concept explained that maintaining a high amount of oxygen (O) in the soil profile and limiting added toxins to the soil allowed the soil biology to furnish a very high percentage of minerals that were needed by the plant to create an economically profitable crop. Since 96% of healthy plant tissue is carbon (C), hydrogen (H), and oxygen (O), the other 4% of needed elements could be supplied mostly by assisting the mechanism of the soil biology.
The biological approach to growing crops has been disregarded for years by the agricultural establishment because the "science" of soil biology has not been accepted as the technology of added pounds of chemistry creating more pounds of harvestable production which can be monitored very accurately with mechanical technology. This probably explains why the agricultural establishment and agribusiness have focused on the physical (John Deere) and chemical (Bayer) phases of soil.
However, in recent times the biological phase of soil is receiving more attention, which is very similar to immune therapy becoming the fastest growing phase of human medicine. The physical and chemical solutions of human medicine are now making room for biological solutions.
As the research in human medicine is opening the doors for a more biological approach to success, research into the biological aspects of plant growth are starting to come on the scene. In 2011, Australian researchers proposed the idea of "rhizophagy" in plant growth. This proposed idea believes that plants physically consume soil microbes in order to obtain the nutrition they need for their existence. This physical consumption helps stimulate the immune system of plants in a similar way to how the human species nourishes its immune system. The early rhizophagy research and explanations seems to give the idea of the Growers Program a very high degree of credibility.
As the Research Team at Growers Mineral, Corp. digs deeper into the rhizophagy idea, our team will discuss the concept in more detail. For those who wish to get in depth sooner, search videos about rhizophagy authored by Dr. James White of Rutgers University. Recently, Dr. White and collaborators have been examining the roles of intercellular bacteria in modulation of development and nutrient acquisition in plants.
This is an excerpt from the Winter Growers Solution (2022) written by Jim Halbeisen, Director of Research.
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