I think we have a bit of a chicken and egg situation here.

But whatever natural, technical or miracel amendment we put in broken soil it won’t make soil healthy. Only if we have growing plants we can get healthy to soil. If the plant is not healthy it can still help the soil, probably to a very small extent only.

Giving nutrients to the soil to ”heal and feed” plants is either a slow process or gives nutrients in a non desirable form. I usually call this the intensive care method – an infusion that may save lives but does not fix the problem. Giving the plant nutrients through soil in plant desireable form would mean we have to imitate soil microbiom. Something I don’t feel we have knowledge nor technology. Those usually quite substantial amounts of nutrients are also a source of stress for plant and soil. So feeding plants directly with foliars is basically our only possible way, which still poses enough challenges to analyze and find the right form of nutrients.

Potting mixes are some of the ”deadest” soils we get. They are usually sterilized to get rid of weeds and then stored in bags. A choked sterilized bag of peatmoss and shit. This is probably why you have good results if you use any kind of inoculation.

Interestingly enough, seeds can contain there own inoculation as well. They do contain some bacteria for example. So putting our tomato seed into the potting mix will automatically bring some inoculation but it remains a steep road for that poor litle plant…

The idea of combining inoculation with food source and nutrients is defenitely a better direction than standard procedure. I am convinced though that we have to think more above ground and in systems, but also not think in nutrients, amounts of nutrients but need to learn to think ”life”.