EMs: Organisms that breathe life into soil
Garden success starts beneath your feet in the intricate universe of your garden soil. One of the key players here is a unique group of microbes known as anaerobic effective microorganisms (EMs) that supercharge your soil, leading to healthier, stronger plants.
Anaerobic effective microorganisms are naturally occurring microbes that thrive in environments without oxygen. They typically consist of a blend of lactic acid bacteria, yeasts, photosynthetic bacteria and other beneficial microorganisms, each playing a unique role in creating a balanced, healthy soil ecosystem. These highly beneficial organisms work together to break down organic material in the soil into nutrient-rich humus that allows plants to thrive.
The fascinating thing about EMs is that they reproduce themselves. The microbes begin to multiply immediately when you spray them on the soil, forming a dense population that quickly overpowers pathogenic organisms. EMs help to manage the pH level, breas down toxins and improve the soil’s structure to create the optimal growth area for plant roots. They also make the soil more porous, so it can hold more moisture.
EMs work by fermenting organic matter in the soil. Through this process, they unlock nutrients that would otherwise be inaccessible to plants. The by-products of the fermentation process can also help protect the plant against diseases and send pests packing.
The Plettenberg Bay vegetable gardener, creator of the Moonbloom plant calendar, and regular Platteland contributor Gaye Boshoff and her husband, Pieter, have been making their own EMs for a number of years and have just introduced 500 ml bottles for sale on the Moonbloom website at R140 each. (These will eventually be stocked in selected stores.) The product has been tested by microbiologist and regenerative agriculture and soil expert Daniel Fourie.
Directions Dilute 5 ml EMs with 500 ml water and spray the mixture on plant leaves, garden soil and compost heaps once a month in the early morning or early evening. “It will not harm or damage your plants, as long as you stick to the 1% ratio of EMs to water. You can apply a fine spray using a spray bottle or, like us, put it into a gravity feed tank and water the whole garden through the sprinkler system – that’s fine too, and what’s nice then is that it also gets into your soil,” says Gaye.
EMs can also be used to clean toilets and activate septic tanks – in these cases, use a stronger 10% concentration (that is, 50 ml EMs in 500 ml water).
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