Episode Details

This week, I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Larry Phelan, a professor at Ohio State University where he heads research programs studying the role of soil communities in plant health and susceptibility to disease and insect pests in biological farming systems. Larry also heads programs researching the identification and behaviors of plant secondary compounds and insect pheromones that affect host finding and other behaviors.

In this episode, Larry and I discuss plant and insect communications, soil communities, and the concept of biological buffering - the capacity of biology in the soil to absorb large amounts of nutrients that are applied and contain those in their cells and release them over a period of time. We also talk about Larry's new initiatives in the city of Cleveland to incorporate urban agricultural systems. I had a lot of fun with this episode - some of the topics Larry touches on are absolutely fascinating.

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Episode 8 - Larry Phelan - Highlights

3:10 - What are the memorable moments leading up to where Larry is today?

• Larry was trained as a chemical ecologist - where he would identify pheromones and plant attractants
• As he started talking to organic farmers, he noticed they had fewer issues with insect pests than conventional farmer neighbors

5:30 - What were the differences that Larry noticed in organic farming?

• During this time, many organic farmers were doing their own research
• Many organic farmers had animals integrated into their farms
• "If we have healthy soil, then we are going to have a healthy plant, and insects don't like healthy plants" - Larry was seeing the truth to this and wanted to test
• Larry wanted to figure out if insects could tell a difference between plants from organic farms, and if this was more related to the short-term effects of fertilizer or the long-term effects of mismanaged soil
• The results: Regardless of fertilizer used, the plants growing in soil from the organic farm received few insects eggs

9:20 - Biological Buffering

• With an influx of organic matter, you create a soil community that is beneficial to the plant
• Nutrients absorbed into the soil community are released over time - putting the plants in better nutrient balance
• Plants are almost always limited by nitrogen levels - they're going to take all they can get and will take more than they can deal with
• Insects are also limited by nitrogen, so plants with excess nitrogen are very nutritious for insects
• No difference in production between organic and conventional farms

15:20 - Why can insects not utilize plants as a food source that doesn't contain as many amino acids

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