The Foliar Food Web

What is the foliar food web?

Dr Elaine Ingham explains that:
“The foliar food web is the set of organisms, similar to the Soil Foodweb, on the foliage of your plant. The plant leaf, blossoms, stems, etc. release exudates, just like the roots, to feed these organisms and keep a protective layer around the plant so disease can’t attack, and nutrients will be cycled correctly for the plant.

Improving the activity of the biology on leaf surfaces increases the carbon dioxide in the leaf surface layer, which increases the length of time the plant stomates are open. This increases the nutrient uptake that can occur. Of course, in drought conditions, this doesn’t happen."

Below is a diagram of the foliar food web.

For more information see our glossary (A-K) - look under F.

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Leaf Colonisation Test Results

GroundGrocer.com occasionally carries out testing on the various performances of compost tea on soil and plants. This risk management research process is showing strong results. Below is a sample test result showing pleasing results we achieved with our BioActive Compost Tea Brewer and quality-tested ingredients. The farmer concerned is an active organic macadamia and coffee producer in the Norther Rivers region of NSW.


Pictured above: Microscope pictures of colonisation of bacteria and fungi on coffee leaves after spraying with BioActive compost tea. These close-up microscope pictures of the leaf surface show "excellent coverage" (95%) of active hyphae on the leaf.

The microscope pictures (above) of the leaf surface, show that there is a higher density of bacteria and fungi (seen as bright green) after the leaves have been sprayed with BioActive compost tea.

These results show a bacterial and fungal coverage of 95% on the leaf surface of the leaf, which is considered "EXCELLENT" coverage. Since, 60% to 80% coverage of bacteria and fungi can prevent disease significantly, these coffee plants are now very well protected against disease, after being sprayed with BioActive compost tea.