Smallest of the microscopic cellular organisms that inhabit soils, bacteria present a range of different shapes and sizes from rods, spheres, spirals to the fuzzy, branching filaments visible to the naked eye called actinomycetes, you may have seen these consuming amendments on the surface of soil or inside hot compost piles.
Within your living soil bacteria feed on mineral nutrients contained within the soil and also any top dressings on surface, most bacteria require largely the same macro & micronutrients as plants need to function at optimum. Once the nutrients are consumed bacteria then hold these plant available nutrients within their structure, being released when the bacteria are consumed by bacterial cycling organisms also found in the soil such as Amoebas & bacterial feeding nematodes as part of the soil food web. Bacteria can also be consumed through plant root hairs, while inside the plant it is believed that the plant strips the bacteria of these nutrients before releasing them back through the root hairs in a process known as Rhizophagy.
Bacteria and soil microbiology are incredibly complex subjects and knowledge in these areas are evolving everyday. These are just some of the known examples of how soil bacteria work within a natural system. We always encourage you to investigate these subjects further if you find them intriguing.
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