No Dig (No till) lack of microbes.

Two years ago I converted my veg patch to no till as per Charles Dowding in the UK.  I used green waste compost from our local city recycling and while things grow reasonably well they do 'run out of steam' at season's end.
Trying for an answer, I dug out my microscope and did some soil testing as per 'The soil food web' and Eilane Ingram. I couldn't believe the results, nothing, not one simple microbe in the whole garden, and believe me I did numerous tests!
Now the problem? Without microbes there will be little to no recycling of nutrients for the plants, which accounts for the lack of steam.
The answer would be to use compost teas to inoculate the growing area, but if there are no microbes anywhere that won't help, you cannot make something out of nothing.
If anyone has a suggestion, I would be grateful to hear it
Regards Dave......

My best guess is that you haven't got the right Microscope. In your soil must be any life form present because there is no place on earth where it is complete sterile, especially not in the garden.

I assume the compost is steamed and pretty sterile but in your soil are microorganisms for sure.

If you can find a Lab or agricultural student who has better equipment might be the answer..

Beside get some buckets dirt out of the forest and spread it under your compost, doesn't need much to revive your soil.
Your Veggies deplete the soil so towards fall the growth stunts if you not regulary refertilize...  

David, welcome to the forum!

David Eyre wrote:The answer would be to use compost teas to inoculate the growing area, but if there are no microbes anywhere that won't help, you cannot make something out of nothing. If anyone has a suggestion,

Your post makes me think of soil health or the need to start building up your soil.

My suggestion would be to start with woodchip, straw, compost, and mushroom.

Here are some threads that might help you or others:

https://permies.com/t/107880/Interesting-quick-fixes-work

https://permies.com/t/118870/soil-recovery-spring

https://permies.com/t/188976/building-fungal-soil



I would also like to recommend Dr. Bryant RedHawk's Soil series:

https://permies.com/wiki/redhawk-soil

Hi David, welcome to the forum.
There are several things you talked about in your post and here are my two cents.
First, you are worrying about no microbe in the soil since it came out negative under the microscope.  Did you test a positive sample such as a mouth swab to make sure the equipment is working? But even if you can't see them there are still plenty in the soil, active or dormant as spores. When the condition is right their number will come back quickly. I doubt adding compost tea at this stage would help much. 1)The amount of microbes in the solution could still be outnumbered by soil dwellers to make a difference and 2) if the soil is void of dead organic matters or living roots they will starve and perish.
What is your plan with the veggies? Do you want to revive them to continue harvesting? If so, how much of the compost layer has left? Maybe a top dressing will help. Or they are about done for the season? Then I would suggest planting a mixture of cover crops including legume and deep-rooted species to restore soil fertility and improve soil structure as well.

Just to make sure that it isn't some equipment error. Get some actively rotting food/compost, some pond/aquarium water, maybe even some saliva, or some yeast in a cup of water, some sea water also get some soil from the forest. If all of those come back negative with no life, then its your microscope that is broken somewhere. If they all come back teeming with life and your soil still reads as all dead, then I would say, you have invented something really cool and you should get a patent for it. Hospital have alot of super bugs/microbes that are resistant to all "anti-biotics" so once they identify what you have going on ask for some royality or even a lumpsum of money.