I bought some milkweed seeds from a new seed company. And _again_ they didn’t grow. They also obviously had a fungus associated with them. As soon as I put them on damp soil, damp paper towel, anything damp the fungus just went crazy, and the seeds got all fuzzy.
But it started me thinking about how some seeds produce biologically active compounds and even anti-microbial agents. Oregano is a good example.
And I thought maybe that is why companion planting does so well at times. The antimicrobials and beneficial compounds produced by one plant benefit the second.
I fully believe that given enough time and research, we will be able to figure out compounds like that and resolve a lot of the phenomenology that is currently in place.