March 19, 2026

Unlocking Your Soil's Potential: How the Microbes in Mammoth P Boost Yields and Plant Health

Unlocking Your Soil's Potential: How the Microbes in Mammoth P Boost Yields and Plant Health

If you’re a grower, you know that managing nutrients is one of the biggest challenges in cultivation. Even when fertilizer programs are perfectly dialed in, plants often struggle to access a large portion of the nutrients already present in the soil.

One of the biggest culprits is phosphorus (P). While phosphorus is essential for root development, flowering, and overall plant productivity, much of the phosphorus applied to soils quickly becomes chemically bound to soil minerals. In many soils, 70–90% of applied phosphorus can become locked up, making it unavailable for plants to absorb.

This means growers often apply more fertilizer than plants can actually use. Enter Mammoth P, a microbial biostimulant designed to help solve this problem. Developed by scientists at Colorado State University, Mammoth P uses naturally occurring soil bacteria to unlock trapped nutrients and improve plant productivity.

Below is a look at the science behind Mammoth P and what it can mean for your garden, greenhouse, or farm.

What is Mammoth P?

At its core, Mammoth P is a microbial consortium—a specialized team of four beneficial soil bacteria that work together to improve nutrient availability:

• Enterobacter cloacae
• Citrobacter freundii
• Pseudomonas putida
• Comamonas testosteroni

Instead of acting like a traditional fertilizer that adds nutrients to the soil, these microbes function as nutrient mobilizers. They release organic acids and specialized enzymes that break the chemical bonds trapping phosphorus in soil minerals, converting it into forms that plant roots can absorb.

These reactions occur primarily in the rhizosphere—the thin zone of soil surrounding plant roots where plants and microbes exchange nutrients, chemical signals, and energy. In this environment, beneficial microbes help unlock nutrients while plants provide carbohydrates that fuel microbial activity.

The result is a more efficient nutrient cycle in the root zone and improved access to phosphorus already present in the soil.

The Big Benefit: Increased Yields Across Crops

Research trials show that when these specific microbes work together as a consortium, their effects on plant growth are greater than when individual strains are used alone.

Across greenhouse and field trials, Mammoth P has been shown to increase plant productivity across a wide range of crops.

Cannabis

In controlled cannabis trials, adding Mammoth P to a standard fertilizer program increased bud yield by 16.5%. Plants also grew taller and developed thicker, stronger stems. Importantly, the product integrated seamlessly into hydroponic and soil-less growing systems without requiring changes to standard nutrient programs.

Vegetables and Fruits

In trials with crops such as cherry tomatoes and jalapeños, Mammoth P increased yields by up to 91% compared with fertilizer alone. Jalapeño plants treated with the microbial consortium also reached their first bloom up to 16% faster, accelerating the production cycle.

Wheat and Field Crops

In winter wheat trials, Mammoth P treatments produced yields equivalent to conventional fertilizer programs while improving overall productivity by 41% compared with unfertilized controls.

Turf Grass

Turf grass treated with the microbial consortium showed faster emergence, increased plant height, and darker green coloration, indicators of improved plant health and nutrient uptake.

These results are consistent with the expected behavior of plant growth–promoting rhizobacteria, which help plants access nutrients more efficiently and support stronger root development.

Is It Safe for My Plants and My Team?

When introducing any biological product into a growing system, safety is a top concern. Growers want to ensure they are not introducing plant pathogens or microbes that could harm workers or the environment.

Mammoth P has undergone extensive scientific evaluation and has demonstrated an excellent safety profile.

Genomically Screened for Safety

Each microbial strain in Mammoth P has undergone whole-genome sequencing and genomic safety screening. These analyses confirm the absence of known virulence-associated genes linked to plant, animal, or human pathogenicity.

No Plant Disease Observed

Across extensive greenhouse and field trials, plants treated with Mammoth P consistently showed improved vigor and productivity without symptoms of plant disease. In some cases, microbes within the consortium may even help suppress plant pathogens by competing for resources in the root zone.

A Decade of Safe Commercial Use

Mammoth P has been used commercially for more than a decade in greenhouses, hydroponic systems, field crops, and specialty crop production. During this time, the product has been applied to millions of plants across diverse agricultural environments.

Across this extensive history of use:

• No plant pathogenicity incidents have been reported
• No adverse environmental effects have been reported
• No human or animal health incidents associated with product use have been reported

Naturally Occurring Soil Microbes

The microbes in Mammoth P are naturally occurring environmental bacteria, not genetically modified organisms. These species are already widely distributed in agricultural soils and freshwater ecosystems.

Using them simply concentrates beneficial microbes that are already part of healthy soil ecosystems.

The Bottom Line

Even when fertilizer programs are well designed, a large portion of applied nutrients—especially phosphorus—can become locked in the soil and unavailable to plants.

Microbial biostimulants like Mammoth P help unlock this hidden fertility.

By mobilizing bound phosphorus and enhancing microbial activity in the rhizosphere, these beneficial bacteria help plants access more nutrients, develop stronger root systems, and grow more efficiently.

For growers, this means getting more performance out of the nutrients already in the soil—leading to healthier plants, faster development, and ultimately heavier harvests.

References:

Conant, R. T., Walsh, R. P., Walsh, M., Bell, C. W., & Wallenstein, M. D. (2017). Effects of a microbial biostimulant, Mammoth P™, on Cannabis sativa bud yield. Journal of Horticulture, 4(1), 1–7. https://doi.org/10.4172/2376-0354.1000191Conant, R. T., Walsh, R. P., Walsh, M., Bell, C. W., & Wallenstein, M. D. (2017). Effects of a microbial biostimulant, Mammoth P™, on Cannabis sativa bud yield. Journal of Horticulture, 4(1), 1–7. https://doi.org/10.4172/2376-0354.1000191

Wallenstein, M. D., & Bell, C. W. (2019). Synergistic bacterial consortia for mobilizing soil phosphorus (U.S. Patent Application No. 16/105,495). U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. https://patents.google.com/patent/US20190039963A1/en

Baas, P., Bell, C., Mancini, L. M., Lee, M. N., Conant, R. T., & Wallenstein, M. D. (2016). Phosphorus mobilizing consortium Mammoth P enhances plant growth. PeerJ, 4, e2121. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.2121