Mycorrhizae

Soildoc

We got started on this subject in the Fall Feeding thread so I thought I'd follow Jim's lead and start a new thread for mycorrhizae. Mycorrhizae are fungi that form a mutually beneficial association with roots of higher plants. Mycos invade a plant root similarly to an infections by pathogenic fungi. The difference is that both the plant and the fungi get something out of the deal. The mycos get sugars from the plants and the plants get more nutrients (especially P). The mycos act like root extensions. They can also limit the amount of salts and other toxins floating around. In a bonsai pot, where the roots have penetrated most of the soil volume, I don't think the mycos will help that much but they sure won't hurt at all. In pot where the roots haven't penetrated the entire soil volume, they can be extremely beneficial.

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TreeBay

I like your idea of starting a "thread" for Mycorrhizae!

I don't know the scientific cause & effect, but all of my healthiest white and black pines are very rich in hyphae, the white threads that make up the Myc's "feeder roots," if you will. It gets dense after a year or two and every soil space will become populated with a fluffy white matrix of this cottony stuff.

If you just scoop up a bit of this soil, even just under the surface, you'd find it rich with the fungus, so I'm always careful to innoculate the next batch of potting soil with some of the harvested Mycorrhizae.

They are said to extend the effective range of the root system, to protect the root sheath, to help buffer pH and fix nitrogen. *Is there anything they CAN'T do?

I understand that using organic fertilizer helps to develop Mycorrhizae, and that the fungus may suffer in the presence of strong chemical fertilizers. *Who knows, maybe the healthy trees are just supporting the fungus, or maybe it's the other way around; but I'm not messing with what works!

Regards,

Matt

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Soildoc

There isn't much that they can't do other than sing and dance. Your info on the inorganic fertilizer isn't too far off. Mycos will "burn" if too much inorgainic fertilizer is around. In terms of who is supporting who here, it is a two way street. The mycos provide increased nutrient and water uptake to the tree and the tree provides a carbon source (from photosynthesis) to the mycos.

P.S. Matt, I didn't know if anyone would catch the "thread" thing but I couldn't help putting it in.

ripsgreentree

Doc: I go along with Matt on this one. In working with my pines and repoting, I have had the worst luck when I washed the roots off and repotted into sterile soil. I now culture mycorrhiza in pine mulch and add it to all of the pines that I repott

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ripsgreentree

It requires an open hand to give and to recieve.

Soildoc

That's pretty much what I do. My biggest gripe is that you can't get a myco innoculum commercially.

TreeBay

I think you can, or you used to be able to.

About 5 years ago one of our club members ran a small business selling Rootmaker pots and Myco spores. _I bought a packet at that time and used in in transplanting some trees I brought back from Japan.
The instructions were to work it into the top inch or so of soil on established trees. _You use a fair amount of this stuff, like a tablespoon. _It wasn't cheap.

Shortly thereafter, a bigger company, one that makes those hydrophyllic granules that you can use to make soil-less hydroponic soil that you sometimes see at the mall. _Looks like clear jell-o crumbled up.

Anyway they didn't mark that on the package, and so I didn't know and mixed some of the stuff into the bonsai and went on a little vacation with instructions for my parents on watering. _When I came back, all of the trees were covered with what looked like about 2" of ice chips. _

I was shocked and ran around collecting all this alien crud and filled a 3 gallon tub with it. _Since that time I haven't bought or used the stuff, and have just harvested some of the myco when I repot.

I found a _few links on the web for inoculants:

http://www.agroforester.com/agfor/mycorrhizae.html

http://www.hortsorb.com/Biological_Specification%20.htm
(This one has a reference to a polymer gel, which I believe is that nasty stuff I was talking about)

http://www.bio-organics.com/FAQs.html

http://www.mycorrhizae.com/slides.html

http://www.btinternet.com/~colinlew...ading/Myco.html

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Travis

WOW And I was trying to kill the stuff. I was just about to start a new thread about the "White cottony Fungi" I had in some of my bonsai. And how could I kill it. I even tossed some soul that was heavy with it when I repotted some of my trees. LOL. I still have the Myco in at least three pots. I thought it was kinda funny that the three plants with the "White Fuzz" in the soil where doing so good.