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Clean-up Crew; Predisposition - I define the clean-up crew as those organisms and microorganisms that are present as a plant is placed in a predisposition to receive. This is when energy reserves are low.
Predisposition is a condition where survival cannot be maintained because defense is low. So as energy reserves go from high to low to lower to lower to lower there is a point where the clean-up crew will come in and take over. Let us try to explain this in several different ways and maybe this will make sense to some people. Let us say we start with 100 units of something. Energy or stored energy is the best. This 100 unit system is unbeatable and just as we have everything in us and around us that could kill us anytime. Not so different from arm wrestling, our defenses are so much greater than the breakdown processes that we stay alive. However (here comes that horrible word again), as 100 goes to 90 then maybe your not so strong. As it goes to 80/20 you start loosing it. As it goes to 70/30 you are going down. As it goes to 60/40 – we do not know where that magic number is or if there is such a magic number, but at some point within our genetic makeup or trees genetic makeup the defense cannot be maintained. Remember a tree needs – uses energy 5 major way – it must grow, because if it does not grow (grow is an increase in mass) then the symplast only has one thing to do – die. So a tree has to maintain, take care of that which grows. So as it grows it must maintain and the tree must also pay taxes (exudates). Very few people realize these materials go out into the soil. Maybe nature or natural systems are such that once you go through and are able to survive, then you must help others to survive – so maybe this is what exudates is all about. Then after exudates we have reproduction. Its some individuals of the group, because we all come in groups whether we like it or not. Humans keep trying to make us all individuals but we still come as groups. Trees come in groups, bacteria come in groups, fungi come in groups. Individuals reproduce – we come in groups but individuals reproduce. So as we reproduce we repeat and again, because of the high arrangement, energy comes into the system. So we grow, maintain, have exudates as taxes and reproduce. And after some individuals reproduce, than you must store. You store for two reasons – you store so you can start the system again and so you can have some storage for defense. Defense is dynamic – that means its moving. By dynamic we mean it is moving. You never know, maybe you will not require or need that storage, but if you need it, it better be there or else somebody will take you over.
Let us play the game now. We start with 100 again and we have 100 units of energy. We use 25 because it’s a good year for growing. So we have 25 for growth, now we automatically must have 25 for maintenance because we must maintain that which we grow. So now we have used up ½ of our 100 already – 25 and 25 is 50. Then exudates, everybody must pay taxes. So it’s a good year, so taxes are 20 dollars. Now that’s 70 and you have 30 dollars left. So if you are a red oak you had your children last year and now you have to pay for them this year. If you are a white oak then you are a little different - you have your children the year you are growing. We don’t know how many people know this but some trees must have their children the year before, and some children are born and raised the year of current growth. So lets say you have a big family and now we are up to 80 or 90 which leaves 10 dollars left of your 100 to startup again and defend yourself. Let us say it takes 15 to start up. You can’t do this, you can’t do this, you can’t deficit spend. There is only one system in the world that can deficit spend, not in nature and not trees. So it has 10 and must startup slow, but where is the defense. So there is nothing left or maybe only 10 dollars for defense. So ha ha ha, we can see lurking in the background the little fungi (the nasty ones), the little clean up crew, saying hay boys its time to attack and they do. And you cannot defend yourself and you become part of the cleanup crew because you cannot violate the first law that says matter must be conserved. Think about all these things – predisposition. We fight secondaries constantly. Most of them are secondaries. You have to except the pathogen, you must have no defense. When you don’t heal, you die. When you can no longer compartmentalize the tree dies. Think, think, think.

See "Predisposition".

See Armillaria Root Rots, Predisposition and Poor Sorauer.