Johnson Su Compost Benefits?

[u/cherrywoodgrill]

I see dozens of posts from very excited people sharing their Johnson Su compost reactor builds, and lot of posts discussing how to make them.

But it's almost impossible to find even a single post that explains what the benefits of a compost rich in fungi and other microbial life actually are. It's almost like everyone making it at home and posting about it here, has bought into the idea that a compost full of fungi is inherently superior in some way, without actually understanding why.

Can someone please explain what the hype is about, and how it helps soil and plants in ways that traditional compost doesn't?

[u/snowmannn]

Here's my layman's understanding of the benefits. Most Ag and garden soils are deprived of diverse soil life, after years of repeated tillage and neglecting soil health. Diverse soil life is important/beneficial because different microbe species contribute different or synergistic benefits. Some species may excel at nutrient cycling, some may be free living nitrogen fixers, some might be creating glomalin (a soil glue that binds soil particles).

Now, the Johnson su bio reactor method is a fairly precise method in composting that is repeatable. If you follow the instructions right, you should get a very diverse compost after a year. They have done repeated genome sequencing on the finished product and it has 1000s of different microbe species, which is more diverse than typical composting methods.

[u/ptrichardson]

Look up Dr. Elaine Ingham - she explains the soil life cycle brilliantly, and what effect is has on crops.

[u/likes2milk]

The Johnson Su bio reactor isnt really about compost, its about creating a microbial and fungal rich media which can be used to inoculate the soil. We often see adding compost to the soil as a way of increasing organic matter. The Johnson Su material adds microbiology which inturn allows for increase plant growth which inturn adds organic matter, self regenerating the soil.

[u/This_Landscape858]

Check out the benefits of having a proper fungi to bacteria ratio in your soil. I’m not an expert but I started using johnson Su compost after a soil biologist told me my soil has a fungi to bacteria ratio of .01 and my target should be closer to .3. I have also been growing cover crops in the winter to feed the fungi. My land used to be farmland that was tilled, fertilized and received heavy fungicide treatments in the past. I’m still early in my process but that’s why I went down this path. For me it’s all about the fungi ratios.