For Plants/Rhizome

For Plants

Rhizome

Wake the soil and feed the roots — a richer, more biologically alive root zone, and a root system with the vigor to explore it.

Rhizome is what you reach for when you want to tend the part of the garden that decides everything and that you never see — the rhizosphere, the thin living shell of soil around the roots where biology, not chemistry, governs how a plant feeds. Most feeding programs pour nutrients past this zone. Rhizome works inside it: a fungal-and-taproot drench that brings the soil's own microbial community a richer table to work from, and the root system the conditions to push into that table with vigor. You are not force-feeding the plant a salt; you are feeding the living web the plant has always fed through.

The thinking behind it is drawn straight from the soil itself. It is built on saprophytic and wood-decay mushrooms — reishi, turkey tail, and chaga — fungi whose whole life is the breaking down of tough material into food that roots and microbes can use; their mycelial chemistry speaks the soil food web's native language. Alongside them sit the great bitter taproots of the clearing tradition, burdock and dandelion, both dense with inulin, a prebiotic fructan that soil microbes thrive on, and both plants that drive a deep taproot through hard ground and lift what they find. Astragalus adds a polysaccharide-rich tonic root, and licorice, the harmonizer of every herbal lineage, lends a demulcent mucilage that helps the whole drench wet and adhere across soil crumb and root surface alike.

In practice this is a foundation drench for the root zone in any phase — establishment, vegetative building, or carrying a mature planting through a hard stretch. It supports a more biologically active rhizosphere and a root system with the vigor to colonize it, which is where uptake, resilience, and steady growth are actually decided. It is a complement to your feeding program, not a replacement for it: Rhizome does not supply nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium — it helps build the living root zone that makes better use of the food you already give.

For Plants

$20.00/ 1 oz / 12 g

Small-batch. Dual-extracted where it matters. Made by hand.

How to take it

Dilute 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon per gallon of water and apply as a soil drench at the root zone (it can also be worked in as a light foliar feed).

Whole plant, never isolated

Concentrated extracts of the whole botanical — the way the body recognizes it.

Cited to measured biology

Every action we describe traces to the compound and its measured target.

Structure & function

We describe what an herb nourishes — never a claim to treat disease.

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What you get

What this formula gives you

A more biologically active rhizosphere — feed the soil web, not past it

Vigorous, exploratory root development where uptake is actually decided

Prebiotic fructans and fungal glucans the soil biology can genuinely use

A wetting, adhering drench that carries across soil crumb and root surface

Support for nutrient uptake, so the plant makes more of the food you give it

How it works

The science of Rhizome

Not buzzwords — the actual biology of the plants in this formula: their compounds, the targets those compounds are measured to engage, and the systems they nourish.

Start with the fungi, because the soil food web is, more than anything, a fungal economy. Reishi, turkey tail, and chaga are saprophytic and wood-decay mushrooms whose mycelium exists to dismantle tough lignified material into forms roots and microbes can take up; their extracts are rich in fungal beta-glucans and polysaccharides — the same structural carbohydrate signatures the soil biology is built to read and feed on. Delivered to the root zone, this mycelial chemistry brings the rhizosphere a familiar, biologically meaningful carbon source rather than an inert salt. Turkey tail and chaga add a dense polyphenol and antioxidant complement on top of the glucans, the kind of surface-active molecules that support a hospitable interface between root and soil.

The taproot core follows. Burdock and dandelion are both inulin plants — their roots store fructans that are a classic prebiotic, a preferred food for beneficial soil microbes — and both carry the bitter phenolic and sesquiterpene character of the clearing-and-opening tradition. Astragalus reinforces the polysaccharide content with its rich complement of root polysaccharides and triterpene saponins (the astragalosides), surface-active molecules that help the formula move across soil and root surfaces. Licorice earns its place by function: across the entire herbal lineage it is the harmonizer, a demulcent root whose mucilaginous polysaccharides and glycyrrhizin give the blend cohesion and a wetting, adhering character. The net effect is not one dramatic lever but a balanced delivery of fungal glucans, prebiotic fructans, saponins, and polyphenols — building-block and microbe-feeding chemistry — that supports a living root zone, nutrient uptake, and exploratory root development. Structure and function, soil to root.

The molecules, measured

A formula is a community of compounds. Below are active molecules from the herbs in this blend and the proteins each is measured to engage — the precise points where the plants meet biology. So you see not just that it works, but how.

Reishi

Ganoderma lucidum

Ganoderic acid A

PubChem ↗

Measured to act on

11-beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase 1

An enzyme that locally regenerates active cortisol, shaping how tissues respond to the body's stress hormone.

11-beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 2

An enzyme that quiets cortisol inside kidney and salt-handling tissues, helping govern fluid and mineral balance.

Aldo-keto reductase family 1 member B1

An enzyme that converts glucose into sorbitol, part of how cells handle sugar.

Ganoderic acid B

PubChem ↗

Measured to act on

Acetylcholinesterase

The enzyme that breaks down acetylcholine, resetting nerve and muscle signals between pulses.

Cholinesterase

A blood enzyme that breaks down acetylcholine and helps clear certain compounds from circulation.

Aldo-keto reductase family 1 member B1

An enzyme that converts glucose into sorbitol, part of how cells handle sugar.

Turkey Tail

Trametes versicolor

Ergosterol

PubChem ↗

Measured to act on

Nitric oxide synthase, inducible

An enzyme that produces nitric oxide as part of the immune and inflammatory response.

UDP-glucuronosyltransferase 1A1

A liver enzyme that attaches sugar groups to compounds so the body can clear them.

Ergosterol peroxide

PubChem ↗

Measured in the lab: binds to Nitric oxide synthase, inducible · IC50 6.3 µM

Measured to act on

Aldo-keto reductase family 1 member B1

An enzyme that converts glucose into sorbitol, part of how cells handle sugar.

Nitric oxide synthase, inducible

An enzyme that produces nitric oxide as part of the immune and inflammatory response.

Bile acid receptor

A receptor that senses bile acids and helps govern fat, cholesterol, and bile balance.

Chaga

Inonotus obliquus

Betulinic acid

PubChem ↗

Measured in the lab: binds tightly to Albumin · Kd 593 nM

Measured to act on

Nuclear receptor ROR-gamma

A receptor inside cells that helps direct immune cell development and daily body rhythms.

5'-nucleotidase

An enzyme that recycles the building blocks of DNA and cellular energy molecules.

DNA polymerase beta

An enzyme that helps repair and copy DNA to keep the genetic code intact.

Protocatechuic acid

PubChem ↗

Measured in the lab: binds tightly to Carbonic anhydrase 2 · Ki 470 nM

Measured to act on

Carbonic anhydrase 2

An enzyme that balances carbon dioxide and acidity throughout the body's fluids.

Carbonic anhydrase 1

An enzyme that helps manage carbon dioxide and acid-base balance in the blood.

3-dehydroquinate synthase

A bacterial enzyme in a pathway plants and microbes use that humans lack entirely.

Astragalus

Astragalus membranaceus

Formononetin

PubChem ↗

Measured in the lab: binds very tightly to Apoptosis regulator Bcl-2 · Ki 10 nM

Measured to act on

Cytochrome P450 2C9

A liver enzyme that breaks down many compounds the body takes in.

Apoptosis regulator Bcl-2

A protein that helps decide whether a cell continues living or undergoes natural turnover.

Protein deacetylase HDAC6

An enzyme that edits proteins to manage cellular cleanup and the cell internal scaffolding.

Calycosin

PubChem ↗

Measured to act on

High mobility group protein B1

A protein that helps organize DNA and acts as an alarm signal during tissue stress.

Burdock

Arctium lappa

Arctigenin

PubChem ↗

Measured in the lab: binds very tightly to Dual specificity mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase 1 · IC50 1 nM

Measured to act on

Dual specificity mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase 1

A signaling enzyme that passes growth messages along a relay chain inside the cell.

Cytochrome P450 2C19

A liver enzyme involved in processing a variety of compounds the body encounters.

Nuclear receptor ROR-gamma

A receptor that switches certain genes on, helping guide immune-cell development.

Chlorogenic acid

PubChem ↗

Measured in the lab: binds very tightly to Tyrosine-protein phosphatase non-receptor type 1 · IC50 100 nM

Measured to act on

Tyrosine-protein phosphatase non-receptor type 1

An enzyme that removes phosphate tags from proteins, helping regulate insulin and metabolic signaling.

Aldo-keto reductase family 1 member B1

An enzyme that converts excess glucose into sorbitol, part of normal sugar metabolism.

Dandelion

Taraxacum officinale

Luteolin

PubChem ↗

Measured to act on

Nuclear receptor ROR-gamma

A receptor that helps guide immune cell development and daily metabolic rhythms.

Cytochrome P450 3A4

A major liver enzyme that processes and clears a large share of dietary and plant compounds.

Xanthine dehydrogenase/oxidase

An enzyme that breaks down purines, producing uric acid as a byproduct.

Apigenin

PubChem ↗

Measured to act on

Cytochrome P450 3A4

A major liver enzyme that processes and clears a large share of dietary and plant compounds.

Aromatase

The enzyme that converts androgens into estrogens, balancing the body's hormones.

Amine oxidase [flavin-containing] A

An enzyme that breaks down serotonin and other mood-related brain messengers.

Licorice

Glycyrrhiza glabra

18beta-Glycyrrhetinic acid (enoxolone)

PubChem ↗

Measured in the lab: binds very tightly to 11-beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 2 · IC50 1.2 nM

Measured to act on

11-beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1

An enzyme in tissues like fat and liver that activates the stress hormone cortisol.

11-beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 2

A kidney enzyme that switches off cortisol, helping the body manage salt and fluid balance.

Protein kinase C eta type

A signaling enzyme involved in skin cell growth and how cells respond to their environment.

Liquiritigenin

PubChem ↗

Measured in the lab: binds very tightly to Estrogen receptor beta · EC50 37 nM

Measured to act on

Estrogen receptor beta

A receptor that reads the hormone estrogen, helping govern reproductive and other tissues.

Tubulin

The building-block protein of the internal scaffolding that gives cells shape and moves their parts.

Measured molecular activities drawn from public scientific databases (PubChem, ChEMBL), shown as the characterized chemistry of the plants in this formula — every edge traced to its source record. This describes the molecules, not the product. Structure and function only; these statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

In practice

Who it’s for, and how to use it

Who it’s for

For the grower who tends the soil first — anyone building a living root zone in a bed, pot, or row, establishing transplants, or carrying a mature planting through a demanding stretch. A complement to your regular feeding program (it does not replace N-P-K), most valuable applied steadily as a root-zone drench from establishment onward.

How to use it

Dissolve 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon per gallon of water and apply as a soil drench at the root zone, working it in at watering; it can also be used as a light foliar feed. Apply steadily from establishment through the growing season to build and maintain a living rhizosphere.

Measure · Dilute 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon per gallon of water and apply as a soil drench at the root zone (it can also be worked in as a light foliar feed).

What’s inside

Inside is a root-zone kingdom: the saprophytic mushrooms reishi, turkey tail, and chaga — fungi whose whole nature is to feed the soil web — joined to the deep bitter taproots burdock and dandelion, both rich in the prebiotic fructan inulin that soil microbes thrive on, with polysaccharide-dense astragalus to tone the blend and licorice, the great harmonizer, to wet and bind the whole. Fungi and taproots, chosen because the soil food web and the roots that draw from it are one living system, and this feeds both at once. With gratitude to the plants and the soil that make it work.

For agricultural and horticultural use. Supports plant growth, vigor, and resilience — not a claim of any effect on human or animal health.

Pairs well with

Formulas that share Rhizome's botanicals

Built from overlapping herbs, these reinforce Rhizomealong the same lines — the shared-botanical kinship our genome engine maps.