Over in the soil and composting forum I mentioned watching some interesting videos(about soil biology) . In the videos Dr. Elaine Ingham says that if soil is not in balance diseases and insects can acquire access to plants, but that healthy balanced soil (biologically) will repeal insects and disease.
I tend to think of the environment as being "air" related, but I guess to a plant the soil is very much a main part of it's environment. So when I think of microclimate, I normally think of conditions present in the air, but maybe for a plant we should think about the "microclimate" in the soil.
If it is true that the soil microbes can make a plant immune to disease and insect attacks, then the
air borne spores and their temperature and moisture conditions etc. would be of little consequence if the plants could repeal them. Maybe there are pockets of micro organisms, near some plant roots that allow the plants to fend off rust while other plants are in pockets without such micro organisms?
In the videos she states that tomato verticillium, was completely avoided by having proper soil balance, and that pests because a non issue on the plants. She even went so far as to say that crop rotation would not be necessary because if the soil micro organisms were in balance there would be no nutrient deficiency, no pests and no plant diseases, therefore, no need to rotate crops. As a side note, she also states that all soils contain enough nutrients for healthy plant growth (no need for any additional nutrients once the biology is corrected).
So I am just wondering if other research and science actually supports the claims, and that daylily rust could be totally avoided along with slugs, thrips, etc. just by paying more attention to the soil than to the "environment" around the plant.
It sounds great and I love the ideas behind it, yet remain very doubtful.
