Biofertilizers and Mycorrhizae

[amideutch]

Came across this article on the web. A good read. Ami

http://www.urbancreeks.org/Biofertil...ycorrhizae.pdf

Here's another link with suppliers of Mycorrhizae included.

http://www.ipa.net/~steved/mycorrhizae.html

And another.

http://www.reforest.com/pdf/symbios_faq_email.pdf

[mdvpc]

Ami-Nice article-I downloaded it for study. Thanks for posting.

[shoofly22]

Ami ' can you ship the mycorrhizae in freezing temperatures without killing them ?
jim

[amideutch]

Tell you the truth I don't know. I will ask the question and post the answer in this thread. Ami

[amideutch]

Jim, the answer is yes. Here is what the folks at fungi.com had to say. Ami
The fungi in question are in spore/sclerotia form and are quite stable from below freezing to desert heat although for optimal shelf life they should be stored in a cool (40-60F) and dry place out of direct light.

[shoofly22]

thank you Ami

jim

[geeboss]

i remember reading an article by those individuals growing giant pumpkins over 1,000 lbs. and the use of Mycorrhizae to stimulate more root development which enabled the plant to soak up more nutrients and water. Can't believe that now in such a short time they have gone from 1,000 lbs. to 1,600 lbs.

George

[amideutch]

These are the same folks that "Garden Grounds Concentrate" comes from that I have used and posted about. Ami

Kat, why aren't you able to use these products this year? Ami

[rnewste]

...but does a BIGGER tomato result in a tastier tomato?

I grow for taste - - not absolute size. This year, I will use Actinovate rather than Myco-Grow which I used last season. While I got a lot of large (sometimes malformed) tomatoes last year, I am still not convinced that Myco-Grow enhanced the taste of my tomatoes.

Ray

[~Duane~]

That's a tough question rnewste.
The tomatoes I didn't grow for size were extremely tasty but that could be due to variety selection, pruning and other factors rather than use of the myco product? The particular variety I had used for size is not very well known for it's flavor, but it wasn't chosen for that. Even though the myco product makes no claims to increase of flavor, I do believe that an increase in flavor is likely possible with it's use. Mycorrhizal fungi attaches itself to plant roots helping it absorb nutrients, resulting in a healthier plant. It makes sense to me that a healthier plant would produce healthier fruit, which are more likely to be flavorful. A healthier plant is a key here, if all nutrients needed by the plant are present in the soil and available, the more nutrients are also in the fruit of that plant and available to the consumer.

I have grown tomatoes for the culinary market, at one time over 600 heirloom tomato plants. Pruning was a key factor in flavor then. Focusing simple sugars to limited fruiting sites.

[rnewste]

Duane,

What is cautioning me about Myco-Grow is that I had a number of fruit that didn't develop as they should have done. Here is a photo of Indian Stripe which ought to have been a nicely rounded tomato. Instead:



Was this caused by the Myco-Grow treatment, I can't say for sure, but it was a HUGE tomato - - but as Carolyn said: "Malformed".

So this season I will stick with Actinovate as it is showing good results on my Snow Pea trials as of today.

Ray

[newatthiskat]

Ami-Taxes; Taxes and more taxes mixed in with this stupid injury that will probably eat up all my time at work +. I destroyed my right shoulder 2 years ago and it took 2 surgeries and 5 months off work. It works good now but then I just hurt the left (with alot of help) and I know that the complications I had the first time are possible this time as well. Workers comp will nowwhere near cover my salary. Can you believe I had a 6 hour fight with them on the phone today (while I was supposed to be sleeping) to try to get them to cover the vallium for the MRI on 2/5? I couldn't use my insurance because it was work related and they would not precertify it because they did not have a full 24 hours. So I am already out $12 for 2 tablets that are generics. This is the first day of coverage . No telling what they will do to me when I say I want something for pain! Have I ranted enough? Seriously right now I am just hoping to get compost for the garden. At least I have alot of leaves still in my side yard that have not touched the black walnut tree in the front. Looks like these tomatoes will really come in handy if I can keep them alive this year
Kat
PS remember Ami you asked so I had to open the whole can of worms! Hmm good idea. Dig up worms in the neighbors yard and run off with their dog poo!

[~Duane~]

Ray, Was this a problem throughout the season on this plant? Was the problem on this variety only? Those fruit are low on the vine which leads me to believe they were set early in the season. To me this problem looks like what is called "zippering" which is said to be commonly caused by abnormally cooler temperatures during fruit set, and possibly an anther or bloom which sticks to the fruit and does not shed properly.

I have never grown the Indian Stripe variety so I can not say wether or not it is prone to zippering.

[rnewste]

Duane,

Very good point. Yes, this was the first fruit on this Indian Stripe plant of the season. I was not aware of this "zippering" effect due to cold set conditions. Thanks for the observation. It will be interesting growing Indian Stripe again this season with Actinovate, to see if I get a similar (or different) growth pattern.

Ray

[velikipop]

Interesting thread. I picked up some Endofine Plus yesterday which is a mycrorhizal stimulant. I am not sure if it is the same thing as what you fellows are using. It was very expensive $20.00 for a packet that makes a litre of spray.

http://www.endofine.net/docs/Strawbe...tPractices.pdf

I'm just wondering when the best time to apply it is, how much and how many times in a season?

Thanks for the help.

Alex