[dice]

Interesting. The report did not mention any disease incidence
in any of the control solutions or the test solutions, so disease
control was apparently a non-issue in the hydroponic test. What
they ended up testing was SubCulture's ability to enhance
nutrient uptake (and its ability to clog hydroponic filters, LOL).

The paper suggested a follow-up test to see how far they could
reduce the dosage of SubCulture added to the hydroponic
nutrient solution and still get virtually the same result (since
the half strength solution seemed to work so well). I can think
of another one: comparing SubCulture with compost tea added
to the hydroponic nutrient bath (since compost, manure, and
earthworm casting teas may already contain many or all of the
organisms in SubCulture and similar products). Manure and
earthworm casting teas probably contain enough additional
N-P-K to make any results tested with growth comparisons
meaningless, and the compost tea would have to be tested
for that, too, before conducting a real research study.

(The tiny bit of N-P-K in SubCulture is probably in the sugar
substrate.)

It was interesting to me that the organisms in SubCulture
seemed to thrive even in a hydroponic system where the
N-P-K and micros are probably all synthetic chemicals.

I came across another soil inoculant product browsing
a Seeds of Change catalog, RootZone, a Down-To-Earth
product. The blurb describes it as a blend of mycorrhizal fungi,
beneficial bacteria, and humic acid, $11.50US for 8 oz.
Suggested application rate is 1/2 teaspoon per transplant
(more for trees and shrubs).