Application timing
When in the season, at what crop stage, in what order and on which mornings to apply, so each application lands when the soil and the crop are ready for it.
Draft, September 2026 · pending Anscari's reviewBook guidance is marked as such. Anything marked Proposal is the project's translation to Kansas row crops for Anscari to confirm or correct.
Conditions now
Live soil temperature, the next week's mornings and, for corn, growing degree days since planting, from Open-Meteo weather data. Needs a connection.
Fields with a location in the field tool appear here.
Principles from the book
- Timing is part of the dose. The same strain applied at the wrong stage can do nothing, or something different. Each crop and variety has its own windows.
- Plants are most receptive just before big transitions. The book's general window is 10 to 15 days before flowering, then early flowering, early fruit or grain development, and 15 to 20 days before harvest.
- Morning, around 7 to 8 AM. Plant daily rhythms make early morning the most receptive time.
- Basics first, then complexity. Start with the basic functions (nitrogen fixation, phosphorus release, soil structure), then add signaling strains. Leave time between different strains so each population establishes before the next arrives.
- Frequency follows the soil. In the book's lettuce example, degraded soils get an application every 3 to 4 days, soils in transition every 5, and soils above 2% organic matter every 7. For our first row-crop trial Anscari suggests weekly applications, even 4 in the first 4 weeks.
- Watch the plants. Visible stages (buds, flowering, grain fill), tissue tests and accumulated heat all tell you where the crop is. Adjust to what you see.
Soil temperature and active processes
The book describes which soil processes dominate through the year. It lists Mediterranean months, but the book ties each period to a soil temperature range, so here they're keyed to temperature. The live check above shows which band your field is in.
| Soil temperature | Book's name for it | Processes the book lists (examples) | SE Kansas, roughly | What it suggests for us Proposal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0–10 °C (32–50 °F) | Cold-season dominance | Cold-tolerant fermentation, denitrification | Dec–Feb | Little biological activity; plan, prepare and test rather than apply. |
| 10–18 °C (50–64 °F), rising | The activating transition | Nitrogen fixation, acid phosphorus release, root-growth hormones, mycorrhizal activity, residue breakdown | Mar–Apr | Start of the season: wheat green-up and pre-plant. Lead with nitrogen and phosphorus sources. |
| 15–25 °C (59–77 °F) | The metabolic peak | Peak nitrogen fixation, enzymatic phosphorus release, iron-scavenging compounds, natural antibiotics, growth hormones | May–mid Jun | Corn V4–V6 and soybean establishment. The main window for the basic-function cascade. |
| 20–35 °C (68–95 °F) | Heat adaptation | Heat-protective compounds, protective biofilms | Late Jun–Aug | Pre-flowering and flowering of corn and soybeans. Apply on cooler mornings; heat and dry soil stress the microbes. |
| 15–22 °C (59–72 °F), falling | Autumn reactivation | Residue breakdown, humus formation, carbon storage | Sep–Oct | After harvest: residue and cover-crop applications; wheat establishment. |
| 5–12 °C (41–54 °F), falling | Winter preparation | Spore formation, storage of reserves | Nov | Wind down; final residue work if soils stay above about 10 °C. |
Crop windows in southeast Kansas
Approximate calendar for the Iola area; the stage you see in the field wins over the date. Book guidance exists only for maize (V4–V6) and wheat (tillering); the rest applies the book's general principles and is marked as a proposal.
Corn
| Stage | Typical timing | Guidance |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-plant to planting | Early–mid April, soil at planting depth near 10 °C (50 °F) | Proposal First nitrogen and phosphorus sources, in-furrow or pre-plant. |
| V4–V6 | Mid–late May; very roughly 350–550 °F growing degree days after planting | Book The book's window for maize, about 600 L/ha of applied liquid. |
| V8–V12 | June, rapid growth and nutrient uptake | Proposal Continue the weekly cascade; structure and signaling strains. |
| 10–15 days before tassel | Late June to early July | Proposal The book's general pre-flowering window. |
| Silking to early grain fill (R1–R2) | July | Proposal Early grain development window. |
Soybean
| Stage | Typical timing | Guidance |
|---|---|---|
| Planting to V2 | May to early June (double-crop: late June–July) | Proposal Phosphorus and structure sources. Legume sources share soybean's family; confirm with Anscari. |
| V3–V5 | June | Proposal Weekly cascade continues. |
| 10–15 days before flowering (R1) | Late June to July | Proposal The book's general pre-flowering window. |
| Pod set (R3) | July to August | Proposal Early seed development window. |
Wheat
| Stage | Typical timing | Guidance |
|---|---|---|
| Fall emergence and tillering | October–November | Proposal Optional fall start while soils stay above about 10 °C. |
| Green-up and spring tillering | Late February–March | Book The book's wheat window is tillering, about 500 L/ha of applied liquid. The pilot's first application. |
| Jointing to flag leaf | Late March–April | Proposal Continue weekly. |
| 10–15 days before heading | Late April | Proposal The book's general pre-flowering window. |
Cascade planner
Lays out a weekly run of applications with the book's order: basic functions first, signaling last. The phases are a draft sequence to discuss with Anscari, who chooses the actual strains.
Defaults to the planting date; change it to start later.
Application-day checklist
- Book Apply around 7 to 8 AM, the same morning the 6CH is made.
- Book Chlorine-free water for the dilutions and, as far as possible, for the carrier.
- Proposal Wind under 10 mph at the time of spraying, for coverage and to keep it on the plot.
- Proposal No heavy rain (more than about a quarter inch) expected in the next 12 hours for foliar applications; a light rain after soil applications helps move them in.
- Proposal Soil moist, not saturated or frozen. Skip very hot, dry spells or apply earlier in the morning.
- Proposal Keep at least a few days between a Mikrobioma and any fungicide or insecticide pass until Anscari confirms which products interfere.
- Record the application in the field tool: batch, plot, time, crop stage, weather.
Weather data by Open-Meteo, free for non-commercial use.