Hey dude, it’s time for some weed. . . KILLING.
This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science.
Pesky weeds are a problem for gardeners and farmers. Chemical-based herbicides work, but they’re so bad for the environment!
Enter Amina Hadayat and team from Huazhong Agricultural University in China. They treated soil with organic microbes that have natural weed-fighting abilities, both alone and paired with commercial herbicides. They tested their ability to control weeds and promote wheat growth, in a greenhouse and in a field.
The microbes alone increased greenhouse wheat growth by almost thirty percent! When applied with a low dose of herbicide, weed density fell by over eighty percent.
Microbial communities can make herbicide more effective, so less of the poison stuff is needed to really SMOKE SOME WEED!
Metaphorically speaking.
Reference: Hadayat, A., Zahir, Z. A., Cai, P., & Gao, C.-H. (2023). Integrated application of synthetic community reduces consumption of herbicide in field Phalaris minor control. Soil Ecology Letters, 6(2), 230207. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42832-023-0207-1