Roots First: Preparing for a Drier, Hotter Spring in 2026

As the frost warnings fade and growers across South Africa start prepping beds and seedbeds for spring, this season carries a different kind of pressure than last year’s. The La Niña pattern that brought good rains and strong yields through the last summer season has ended, and the South African Weather Service, along with international forecasters, now expects an El Niño to establish through the rest of 2026 — with a real chance it strengthens into a moderate-to-strong event by late spring and into summer.

For growers, that forecast translates into something practical: below-average rainfall is more likely across much of the country this season, minimum and maximum temperatures are expected to run above normal into early spring, and the critical November-to-January planting and establishment window — exactly when young roots need to be doing their best work — is the period forecasters are flagging as most at risk of drying out.

None of this means spring should be approached with dread. It means it should be approached with the roots first.

Why root health is this season’s biggest lever

When soil moisture is unpredictable and heat arrives early, the plants that come through it best are the ones with root systems built to reach further, hold onto nutrients more efficiently, and lean on a healthy population of soil microbes rather than on the topsoil alone. That resilience isn’t something you can add in December once the heat has already set in — it’s built at planting, in the first few weeks after germination or transplanting.

This is where a biological approach earns its keep. Three things matter most in a season like this one:

• Deeper, more efficient root architecture. Silica and kelp-based starters support strong early root and shoot development, giving young plants a head start before heat stress sets in.
• A living, working soil biology. Beneficial fungi and bacteria that colonise the root zone — Trichoderma species being a well-studied example — help roots access water and nutrients across a wider volume of soil, and build a defensive buffer against the root diseases that tend to flare up when plants are already under moisture stress.
• Better water and nutrient holding capacity in the soil itself. Humic and fulvic-based soil conditioners improve structure and cation exchange capacity, meaning less of every millimetre of rain (or irrigation) is lost to runoff or leaching — a meaningful advantage in a below-average rainfall year.

A practical spring checklist

• At planting or transplanting: inoculate seed, seedlings or the planting hole with a root-colonising biological (such as Eco-T or RhizoVital 42) to establish beneficial microbes before the roots are under any stress.
• In the first two to three weeks: support germination and early vigour with a silica and micronutrient starter — this is the window where root architecture is set for the rest of the season.
• Ahead of known dry spells: work a humate or fulvic acid product into the soil or irrigation programme to build water-holding capacity before it’s needed, not once the topsoil has already cracked.
• Through the season: keep an eye on early pest pressure — warmer early-spring temperatures tend to bring aphids, thrips and mites forward, and catching them while populations are still small is far easier than managing an outbreak.
• The bigger picture

An El Niño forecast is not a certainty, and South Africa’s regional picture is uneven this year — eastern coastal areas are expected to see above-normal rainfall through winter and early spring, while the south-western and southern regions face a drier outlook. Whatever your region, the underlying principle holds: a resilient agro-ecosystem starts below the ground, not above it. Investing in soil biology and root health at planting is the single most cost-effective form of insurance a grower has against a season that could turn dry, hot, or both.

We’ll be watching the seasonal outlook as it develops and will follow up as spring progresses with guidance on managing early pest pressure and adjusting irrigation strategy through a potential El Niño summer.

Sources consulted for this article’s seasonal outlook: South African Weather Service Seasonal Climate Watch (June–October 2026); Daily Maverick, "Weather Watch: El Niño may emerge soon, dry winter seen for southwest SA" (4 May 2026); Financial Mail, "El Niño on the horizon and the key risks to watch" (24 April 2026); SAnews, "Parts of SA to experience heavy rain in winter and early spring".