Purchasing mycorrhizae

[Cole_Robbie]

I have just started playing around with aerated compost tea, and the first results are very promising.

[Stvrob]

Assuming purchase of a product is not an option, is there a good way to ensure that our gardens remain teaming with mycorrhizae? I have been growing mustard over most of the garden overwinter, but i just read an article that suggests mycorrhizae does not get along with brassicas.

I usually rake away the leaves at the edge of the woods and scrape up a few wheelbarrows full of the leaf mold and worm casts and place it in my beds just under the mulch. I always assumed that stuff was loaded with mycorrhizae, but I could be wrong.

[RayR]

Originally Posted by Stvrob

Assuming purchase of a product is not an option, is there a good way to ensure that our gardens remain teaming with mycorrhizae? I have been growing mustard over most of the garden overwinter, but i just read an article that suggests mycorrhizae does not get along with brassicas.

I usually rake away the leaves at the edge of the woods and scrape up a few wheelbarrows full of the leaf mold and worm casts and place it in my beds just under the mulch. I always assumed that stuff was loaded with mycorrhizae, but I could be wrong.

Right, Brassicas are not mycorrhizal plants
Mycorrhizal Status of Plant Families and Genera

If there are no mycorrhizal plants living in your soil year round then the mycorrhizae will die, that is if they were even there to begin with, which is unlikely because of the way most people grow annual vegetables. The only way to insure your plants are going to have a successful mycorrhizal relationship for that season is to inoculate them as early as possible as seedlings.

Endo-Mycorrhizal fungi live underground and reproduce underground near their host roots, so that would make it very unlikely that there would even be any spores above ground. You'll get lots of good bacteria and saprophytic fungi from leaf mold and worm castings though.

[Redbaron]

Originally Posted by Stvrob

Assuming purchase of a product is not an option, is there a good way to ensure that our gardens remain teaming with mycorrhizae? I have been growing mustard over most of the garden overwinter, but i just read an article that suggests mycorrhizae does not get along with brassicas.

I usually rake away the leaves at the edge of the woods and scrape up a few wheelbarrows full of the leaf mold and worm casts and place it in my beds just under the mulch. I always assumed that stuff was loaded with mycorrhizae, but I could be wrong.

It turns out that as a general rule grasses have the strongest mycorrhizal symbiosis. So I would suggest a cover crop blend that includes a cool season grass like winter wheat or rye. Mustard is a great scavenger, so it is good too. Then probably a legume like winter alpine peas or a hardy clover, vetch, or something like that. Or all of the above! When it comes to biodiversity, more really is better.

As for your forest humus, great stuff, but unlikely to have the same types of Mycorrhizae that a tomato needs. There are two main groupings, Endomycorrhizal fungi and Ectomycorrhizal fungi. Again as a general rule, Ectomycorrhizal fungi are part of the forest biome and good for trees, grapes, strawberries, blackberries and things like that, Endomycorrhizal fungi as a general rule are more adapted for the grassland and annual crops most gardeners grow. There is some overlap.

That leaves two strategies for inoculant products. The shotgun strategy uses a product with a bit of many species. Most home use products are like this including MycoGrow:

Endomycorrhizal fungi

Glomus intraradices, Glomus mosseae, Glomus aggregatum, Glomus monosporum, Glomus clarum, Glomus deserticola, Gigaspora margarita, Gigaspora etunicatum, Paraglomus brasilianum

Ectomycorrhizal fungi

Laccaria bicolor, Laccaria laccata, Pisolithus tinctorius, Rhizopogon villosullus, Rhizopogon luteolus, Rhizopogon amylopogon, Rhizopogon fulvigleba, Scleroderma cepa, Scleroderma citrinum, Suillus granulatus

The other strategy, usually used only for commercial Ag, is a specific strain for a specific crop and growing conditions.

Also, many plants like Grapevines form association with both types of fungi, but there is a tendency to find more endomycorrhizal fungi on young vines. When the vines are 4-8 years old, there appears to be a shift towards ectomycorrhizal fungi. This has been linked by some researchers with increased grape quality.

Hope that helps.

[ChrisK]

If you want to go full geek, here is a review from a few years ago.

[RayR]

Here's a recent study about mycorrhizae and tomato from India
Comparative efficacy of different arbuscular-mycorrhizal fungal spp.
(AMF) on tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.)

[snugglekitten]

Originally Posted by drew51

I buy them from the manufacturer. I agree I would not buy them in the store. Results have been remarkable. I will always use them. What a difference on my blueberries. Fantastic! It's estimated that spores can live for centuries, so I would always buy spore form.
Some bacteria estimates of spore viability are 6 million years. Fungi are more sensitive. They could die if stored poorly. Why I buy them direct. I'm totally sold on the product. It depends what I want to grow. I like to grow the tropical plant tomato. No native fungi are compatible with these tropical plants. So I add the tropical fungi that is symbiotic with tomatoes. I add more each year as it will not survive our winters. What sold me on them is the large body of scientific studies that show improvement. Some exceptions, and some plants do not use the fungi. Being a Medical Technologist and having worked with fungi my whole life, I understand them well.
I have seen better growth, but that is not proof. I rely on peer research. That is what convinced me to use them.
I usually don't comment as people believe whatever they want to believe and it's hard to change anybodies mind.
So I pay about 6 dollars a year to innocuate 250 plants.
http://www.fungi.com/product-detail/...uble-1-oz.html

Anything fungal from Paul Stamets gets extra points, thanx for link.

[snugglekitten]

Originally Posted by Cole_Robbie

I have just started playing around with aerated compost tea, and the first results are very promising.

I'm a big compost tea fan as well, I haven't done my own controlled group experiments, but my perception is that it helps.

[Cole_Robbie]

I tested some of my saved seeds last fall, two flats of the same seed-starting mix. The only difference is that one got an initial drench of ACT. The ACT flat all came up more quickly. They had four leaves when the other flat had only two.

[snugglekitten]

Originally Posted by Cole_Robbie

I tested some of my saved seeds last fall, two flats of the same seed-starting mix. The only difference is that one got an initial drench of ACT. The ACT flat all came up more quickly. They had four leaves when the other flat had only two.

And towards the end of the season?

any overall difference in taste, quantity, disease resistence, etc?

[Cole_Robbie]

I dumped them, so I don't know. It was too late to plant out. This upcoming summer will be my first time with ACT in field-grown tomatoes. I make my beds out of the same material I make the tea from, the black topsoil from a cow field, so I would not expect big results. Those plants are getting the same stuff anyway. I think the biggest use of the tea in the field will be to be able to spray it over a larger area than I can cover with the compost itself.

Here is a good link about it:
http://www.starrfarms.net/composttea.htm