Great outdoors
Active member
Came across this the other day. Seems promising. Anyone here have any experience with one?
https://microbiometer.com/
https://microbiometer.com/
Anyone tried one of these microbiometer
- Thread starter Great outdoors
- Start date
Wet the {enzymes?) with a tea? Maybe the stuff you made the tea from is full of critters. Didn't specify what kind of water. Chlorine tap water OK? The ap? I call total BS.
If the soil is well inoculated, it will make my sinuses clog up from smelling it.
If the soil is well inoculated, it will make my sinuses clog up from smelling it.
Great outdoors
Active member
Dude you haven't even completed your first grow yet. Maybe chime in after you have been doing this for a long enough time to give a credible opinion.
to be fair, it's always best to ask yourself ..... who's The Dude with something to sell? 
Great outdoors
Active member
to be fair, it's always best to ask yourself ..... who's The Dude with something to sell?
It's not something I would run out and buy but it perked my interest.
Just seeing if anyone has any real world experience with it and their opinion.
I do think it could be a good tool if it can show you what different amendments do as far as stimulating microbial life.
Images don't seem to have the same fidelity as a real microscope. I think microbeman can give some insight as far as comparative value compared to a traditional microscope.
It looks like they use a simple microscope and some software to identify the basic microorganism type and extrapolates population based on samples. I am curious of the capabilities to discern specifics such as exact organism identification.
It looks like they use a simple microscope and some software to identify the basic microorganism type and extrapolates population based on samples. I am curious of the capabilities to discern specifics such as exact organism identification.
Great outdoors
Active member
Yes the website is a little vague on details. It's certainly cheaper than a quality microscope if it does work.
Great outdoors
Active member
I don't worry too much about specific species. I think as long as you have a healthy diverse population you are good.
I do a mix of aerobic and anaerobic teas, and it all seems to mix well for a healthy soil.
I am strictly outdoors in the ground though so I definitely have more natural buffer.
I inoculate with a product from Rootwise, but when we make the soil we use 1/3 compost to get microbes, and what are we getting? What kind do we want anyways? I just keep inoculating every now and then, and keep the soil wet, which IMO is key. My main focus is on CEC, and organic humics and fulvics.
I'll throw this out there again, my ignorant noobie discovery, and that is my pH probe showing some kind of activity which I call "Sparking". Soil that pH's to over 7, water pH's to 6.3ish. When the soil is working and there are lots of roots, that probe will be hard to push into the soil, and will shoot down to a reading of 4.0, or even lower. Might be galvanic activity with all the ion exchange.
I apologize for the size of these images, but they were already in my gallery and I don't know how to post them from there with this new fucking software.
I'll throw this out there again, my ignorant noobie discovery, and that is my pH probe showing some kind of activity which I call "Sparking". Soil that pH's to over 7, water pH's to 6.3ish. When the soil is working and there are lots of roots, that probe will be hard to push into the soil, and will shoot down to a reading of 4.0, or even lower. Might be galvanic activity with all the ion exchange.
I apologize for the size of these images, but they were already in my gallery and I don't know how to post them from there with this new fucking software.
St. Phatty
Active member
The Plant itself is a bio-meter.
Sunshineinabag
Active member
Not kool .......stop being so abrasive, his opinion is credible! Regardless of "grows under his belt"
now when one of you corners thd saffron market...I'll jump on ya leg
Switcher56
Comfortably numb!
40degsouth
Well-known member
Hey everyone l hope you’re all well,
I’ve got no experience with this meter and l only had a quick look but l must say I’m more inclined to learn towards Cosmic Giggle’s opinion. They make no claims about what the instrument can actually do, for the purchaser, in the opening paragraph, to keep you reading and if they’re claiming it can give a count of different microbes in a sample, the algorithms and recognition software involved would be enough to give Stephen Hawkings a brain fart. I’ve seen a myriad of canna gimmicks pass in and out of the site over the years and at face value, this seems to be another.
I’m sure l remember Microbeman saying that the only way to know exactly what’s in a tea is to scope it and perhaps the only way to know what’s in the soil is to brew it and scope it under isolated conditions.???
I agree with St Phatty, the plant is it’s own “bio-meter” but this meter comes with it’s own challenges and can take years to be able to read efficiently and effectively.
If this meter actually works, even in some small way, l guess it could help people to reiterate information they’re getting back from the plant.......but l remain sceptical.
Cheers,
40.
I’ve got no experience with this meter and l only had a quick look but l must say I’m more inclined to learn towards Cosmic Giggle’s opinion. They make no claims about what the instrument can actually do, for the purchaser, in the opening paragraph, to keep you reading and if they’re claiming it can give a count of different microbes in a sample, the algorithms and recognition software involved would be enough to give Stephen Hawkings a brain fart. I’ve seen a myriad of canna gimmicks pass in and out of the site over the years and at face value, this seems to be another.
I’m sure l remember Microbeman saying that the only way to know exactly what’s in a tea is to scope it and perhaps the only way to know what’s in the soil is to brew it and scope it under isolated conditions.???
I agree with St Phatty, the plant is it’s own “bio-meter” but this meter comes with it’s own challenges and can take years to be able to read efficiently and effectively.
If this meter actually works, even in some small way, l guess it could help people to reiterate information they’re getting back from the plant.......but l remain sceptical.
Cheers,
40.
No love for my $50 spark-o-meter? I have the bags intact with the stubs of a recent chop, and it will be interesting to watch them lose the spark, even if I keep the soil wet. How long will roots and microbes live in soil with a chopped plant? I am concerned for the worms in there too.
Somewhere along the line you have to ask yourself if the microbiometer is something we really need or just something they want us to believe we need.
Isn't most soil naturally teeming with microbes? Yes, I do believe it is!
Can't appropriate microbes/fungi be easily purchased or reproduced for free? Yes they can!
The starter kit with 10 tests costs $135 and the 10 test refills are $100 each.
........ and don't forget to read the end-user license agreement, you may be buying something but you don't own it!!!
Switcher56
Comfortably numb!
Somewhere along the line you have to ask yourself if the microbiometer is something we really need or just something they want us to believe we need.
Isn't most soil naturally teeming with microbes? Yes, I do believe it is!
Can't appropriate microbes/fungi be easily purchased or reproduced for free? Yes they can!
The starter kit with 10 tests costs $135 and the 10 test refills are $100 each.
........ and don't forget to read the end-user license agreement, you may be buying something but you don't own it!!!
We currently live in a "consumer society" Sellers sell, and consumers buy. With proper marketing, even the dumbest seller could sell a freezer to an Eskimo in the middle of winter!
Great outdoors
Active member
Well I was looking for someone who had used one and could give some real feedback. But it looks like I am just going to get opinions, and you know what they say about those.
I agree there is endless snake oil out there, that's why I look for someone with real world experience. Being able to measure the fungal/ bacterial balance cost effectively could be a very useful tool. And this is coming from someone who the only tool they use for growing is a $10 moisture meter.
I agree there is endless snake oil out there, that's why I look for someone with real world experience. Being able to measure the fungal/ bacterial balance cost effectively could be a very useful tool. And this is coming from someone who the only tool they use for growing is a $10 moisture meter.
chilliwilli
Waterboy
Don't think that it could work. The problem is the instant result approache. The known working routine to determine mo is to dilute the sample and then multiply an a workig substrate to count the cfu(colony forming units) there is no shortcut for that.
with a quick google search i found a german pdf about the "rusch test" for soil fertility.
u can just mix soil with physiological saline solution and incubate at 27°c and then microscope it. Further differentation is done with an ENDO-Agar (Fuchsin-Laktose-Agar)
dk042577.pdf
with a quick google search i found a german pdf about the "rusch test" for soil fertility.
u can just mix soil with physiological saline solution and incubate at 27°c and then microscope it. Further differentation is done with an ENDO-Agar (Fuchsin-Laktose-Agar)
dk042577.pdf
Switcher56
Comfortably numb!
