08/03/2018
Introducing new OG Tea "LIVE"
OG Tea LIVE is taking the place of our PURE product. But it's a different and improved product.
Along with the name change we are improving the product formula with a more robust and powerful bacterial consortium (a grouping of different microbes living symbiotically).
OG Tea is committed to staying on the advanced edge of science for the benefit of growers. We don’t take lightly making changes to our proven products, which many thousands of growers have come to love and rely on. And yet, we also can’t ignore the ongoing advancements in microbial science and plant science.
Bottom line: Our new microbes give better results
The microbes used in OG Tea products are known as “Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria” (PGPRs) for a reason. After much testing, OG Tea is 100% confident that growers will get even better results with our new and improved microbial formulation. This new consortium is costing OG Tea MORE money to produce than our previous formula, so it is NOT about OG Tea saving money. It’s about providing an even better product that stays on the leading edge.
With beneficial Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria, there is a lot more going on than what is just listed on the label at the bacteria species level. Any given species of bacteria can have hundreds of “subspecies” or “strains”, which is where all the action is. This is also the proprietary “IP” of the product, and as such you will rarely see this information on a product label. The effectiveness of a bacteria consortium is about how the various subspecies work symbiotically with each other. Years of testing is done to discover which subspecies work best with other subspecies in order to create the optimum formula. The conclusion of all this work is what OG Tea provides for growers.
With beneficial bacteria, it’s about how the microbes will thrive once in your media. Included in LIVE is humic acid (derived from leonardite) and kelp (Ascophyllum nodosum) as microbe food that allows the beneficials to multiply in the media, confirmed by the rich, dark color as you mix it. LIVE is also more soluble than PURE and so you can run it through drip emitter systems without any problems.
Guaranteed to be more robust
OG Tea is also committed to ensuring that the microbes we sell can withstand harsh conditions such as more extreme temperature variations and still be fully viable at the end of a two-year shelf life. Shipping conditions, store shelf conditions, and end user storage conditions vary greatly. So OG Tea has been working closely with our science advisors, suppliers, state regulators, and third-party testing laboratories to provide a maximally robust product that we can guarantee will hold up under intense conditions.
Third party testing labs have confirmed that the microbe count in LIVE when the product is first produced and shipped from our plant is many times greater than the count we guarantee on the label, which is designed for a two-year shelf life. (Confirmation test results available upon request.) OG Tea guarantees that our microbes are what we claim on the label, all the way to the end of the expiration period. Many if not most other microbial products on the market cannot make this claim.
We are very excited to introduce this greatly improved product and we know growers will achieve astounding results using LIVE.
Deeper down the rabbit hole
Below is a summary of some of the benefits of the various Bacillus species included in LIVE.
• Bacillus subtilis
Superior enzyme production; Nutrient solubilization; Natural abiotic stress tolerance. Increased enzyme production triggering ISR. Breaks down organic matter creating macro-aggregates; Promotes plant vigor.
• Bacillus methylotrophicus
Produces siderophores that naturally chelate iron; Solubilize phosphate.
Converts atmospheric nitrogen into plant usable form; Retains nutrients in soil.
• Bacillus amyloliquefasciens
IAA and siderophore production; Increases rooting and mineral uptake.
Biosurfactants production; Holds nutrients in soil; Increases rooting; Promotes plant vigor.
• Bacillus lichenformis
Greater enzyme production; Disassociation of salts; Plant growth promoter.
Increases root growth, root exudates and nutrient uptake.
Produces biosurfactans; Holds nutrients; Natural abiotic stress tolerance.
Even deeper down the rabbit hole
For the most advanced growers and microbe geeks among you, here is more detailed information on the Bacillus species:
Bacillus is the most abundant genus in the rhizosphere, and the plant growth promotion activity of some of these strains has been known for many years, resulting in a broad knowledge of the mechanisms involved (Zahir et al, 2004). There are a number of metabolites that are released by these strains which strongly affect the environment by increasing nutrient availability of the plants. Being present naturally in the immediate vicinity of plant roots, Bacillus subtilis, B velezensis, methylotrophicus, B. amyloliquefasciens and B. megaterium, B. licheniformis are able to maintain stable contact with higher plants and promote their growth.
Bacillus subtilis
Bacillus subtilis is widely used in industrial applications for example in Japan it is used for producing the fermented soybean food, by the production of proteases which are responsible for flavor due to the hydrolysis of soybean protein.
D-Ribose is frequently used as a flavor enhancer in food, health food and animal feed. Several strains of B. subtilis are reported to produce significant amounts of D-ribose.
B. subtilis has been shown to produce more than two dozen antibiotics with a high diversity of structures and (Stein, 2005). For certain antibiotics, these functions go beyond antimicrobial action and have other biological properties, some of which are relevant to plant-soil-microbe interactions. The best examples are lipopeptides and the phospholipid bacilysocin, which are surfactants with low molecular mass that are able to alter the physical and chemical properties at interfaces, affecting survival of the bacterial strain in soil and the rhizosphere (Stein, 2005).
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3947403/
B. amyloliquefaciens
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacillus_amyloliquefaciens
From Wikipedia:
B. amyloliquefaciens is considered a root-colonizing biocontrol bacteria, and is used to fight some plant root pathogens in agriculture, aquaculture and hydroponics. It has been shown to provide benefits to plants in both soil and hydroponic applications. It takes action against bacterial and fungi pathogens, and may prevent infection though competitive exclusion or out-competing the unwanted pathogen. It has been shown to be effective against several root pathogens that hurt agricultural yields in soil and hydroponics, such as Ralstonia solanacearum in tomatoes, Rhizoctonia solani in lettuce, Pythium in tomatoes, Alternaria tenuissima in English ivy and Fusarium in bananas and cucumbers. It also appears to improve root tolerance against abiotic stress, allowing plants such as maize to tolerate high salt concentrations in hydroponic applications, while also reducing salt concentrations in the plant tissue.
Bacillus velezensis (B. methylotrophicus)
Those B. velezensis strains are Gram-positive, aerobic, motile rods. B. methylotrophicus is a bacterium recovered from soil and plant tissue (Abdulwareth et al, 2014. Mehta et al, 2014). The bacterium produces endospores that serve as protective structure for extreme environmental conditions, heat and desiccation. The enzymatic profile reveals that this bacterium produces a variety of compounds, when it is biologically active, that enable it to utilize different carbon sources and therefore that contributes to nutrient cycling. B. velezensis does not possess traits that cause disease and it is not considered pathogenic to humans or animals or plants.
B. velezensis can be classified as a beneficial bacterium that has plant growth promotion traits. Spores of this bacterium will become metabolically active and then will colonize the root system and contribute to health enhancement via different mechanisms. Reports found in the literature as well as in-house studies revealed that B. velezensis had a significant influence on growth resulting in higher roots and shoots weights compared to untreated seeds.
Bacillus licheniformis
Bacillus licheniformis is a saprophytic soil bacterium that contributes to nutrient cycling due to the production of different enzymes. It is being used in the fermentation industry for decades for production of proteases, amylases and antibiotics. B. licheniformis do not produce significant amounts of extracellular enzymes or virulent factors that would produce infections. No reports have been found regarding B. licheniformis as a plant pathogen and in general its use when released into the field should not cause any harm due to the fact that it is ubiquitous in the environment.

