According to the National Library of Medicine, bacterial infections have a large impact on public health. Disease can occur at any site on the body and can be caused by the bacteria itself or by the body’s response to its presence.

Bacteria are transmitted to humans through air, water, food or living vectors. A living vector may be a tick that could transmit the bacterial Lyme disease. Tetanus is an infection caused by bacterium called Clostridium tetani found in the soil. Gardeners should check with their physicians to make sure their tetanus vaccines are up to date.

This would suggest that bacteria are bad and should be controlled at all costs.

Wait a minute, hear me out. Did you know that there are good bacteria that lives in the soil?

The good bacteria in the soil fall into four functional groups.

Most are decomposers that consume simple carbon compounds found in organic matter. By this process, bacteria convert the soil organic matter into forms of nutrients that plants can take up. The second group of bacteria decomposes certain pesticides and pollutants in the soil. The third group of bacteria live in the roots of the Fabaceae family of plants. The fourth group of bacteria is called Actinomycetes. Several antibiotics are produced by actinomycetes such as Streptomyces.

Bacteria are tiny, microscopic, one-celled organisms – generally 4/100,000 of an inch. What bacteria lack in size, they make up in numbers. A teaspoon of productive soil generally contains between 100 million and 1 billion bacteria. That is as much mass as two cows per acre.

In the soil, bacteria live in small pores. These small pores are generally found in clay and in organic matter which in NW Ohio carry negative charges. When we apply fertilizer to the soil either in the organic or inorganic form, plants cannot take up the nutrients.

It is the amazing bacteria that breaks down the fertilizers into forms that plants can take up. This is part of the reason why “in most” of our sandy soils it is difficult to fertilize our gardens and turfgrass. Sandy soils have large pores, and generally carry positive charges.

Remember bacteria live in small pores. Also, for bacteria in the soil to be active, they need 55-degree Fahrenheit or warmer soil temperatures, some moisture, and oxygen.

Nitrogen in the plant is a very important subject. There is more nitrogen in plants than any other element, except for carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. Nitrogen plays an important part in many essential functions and compounds necessary for life.

When gardeners purchase nitrogen, it is often comprised of percentages of Urea, Ammonium and Nitrate nitrogen. Nitrate nitrogen is the form of nitrogen that plants prefer and take up. Both Urea and Ammonium nitrogen carry a positive charge and attach to the negative charges found on clay and organic matter. This gives soil the ability to hold nitrogen. In a process called nitrification accomplished by our amazing bacteria, they break down the urea and ammonium to nitrate nitrogen.

Unfortunately, nitrate nitrogen carries a negative charge. Though nitrate nitrogen is the form of nitrogen plants can take up, because of the negative charge, it is not attached to the clay or organic matter and can move out of the root zone of plants with gravitational water. Fortunately, plants grab the nitrate nitrogen as soon as it is available.

Did you ever wonder why your turfgrass, flowers, trees and shrubs green up within a day after a thunderstorm? Approximately 78% of our atmospheric air is Nitrogen gas N2, a form of nitrogen plants cannot take up. During a thunderstorm, lightning with its tremendous electrical discharge breaks the strong bond of the N2 nitrogen gas.

Once the N2 is separated, it is attached to the water molecule H2O and forms nitrate nitrogen that drops with the rain and enters the soil. Plants immediately grab the nitrate nitrogen and green up.

Finally, let’s talk about the Fabaceae family. The Fabaceae family includes the bean plants such as soybeans and the Redbud tree. Both the redbuds and soybeans have a bacterium that lives in their roots called Rhizobacteria. The Rhizobacteria grab the N2 atmospheric nitrogen and convert it to Nitrate nitrogen. Therefore, Redbud trees are flush with green growth more than other trees.