Biologists at University of California, Berkeley have uncovered two surprising facts while working to understand the phyllosphere, or above-ground microbiomes on tomato plant leaves. The second was that fertilisers reduce phyllosphere protection, leaving plants potentially exposed to disease, while the first was that spraying a low dose of an artificial microbial community offered better protection to the plant than higher dosages. The team said the results demonstrated that there was more work to be done regarding the use of fertilisers and probiotics by organic farmers.
Biologists at University of California, Berkeley have uncovered two surprising facts while working to understand the phyllosphere, or above-ground microbiomes on tomato plant leaves. The first was that fertilisers reduce phyllosphere protection, leaving plants potentially exposed to disease, while the second was that spraying a low dose of an artificial microbial community offered better protection to the plant than higher dosages. The team said the results demonstrated that there was more work to be done regarding the use of fertilisers and probiotics by organic farmers.