Mycorrhizae Question

I'm looking around for mycorrhizae fungi and I've seen it in two different forms. One is in powder/granular form and the other is liquid form.
Any idea as to which is better?

Where are you finding it? I'm having difficulty locating it in any form.

What are you going to use it for?

camprn wrote:What are you going to use it for?

It's a beneficial micro organism for healthy root systems.

It's supposed to promote a better root system but I'm guessing that you're going to tell me it's not necessary.

Worms are easier to find...

RoOsTeR wrote:Worms are easier to find...

How do worms promote a good root system?

I'm not sure if it is necessary as long as you have a good balance of compost. It's very expensive and I have yet to hear that it's a must, but honestly I'm not sure. Good luck.

It is sold in dry form in a bag by the fertilizer at Lowes. The owner of a landscaping firm, said this is in most mushroom compost, just to put a bit in each bed and it will increase overtime. Don't really know what it's for.

Jo

I was just holding it at the store when I got some kelp meal. I figure it is kind of like inoculating the soil for legumes. It interests me because it is focusing on growing the soil to grow the plants to feed us. I assume it is a broad spectrum of varieties, because I suspect these are as specific as are the legume inoculates. I decided against it for now because my beds are full of my home grown compost that is very bio-dynamic. If I was starting a bed using store bought bagged composts I think it might be useful to use this to get the soil alive again.

I don't see my post on this topic so I apologize if there ends up being a double post at some point.

I just applied an organic compost tea called Buffaloam to my SFG squares to help with nutrient levels in my first year Mels Mix. Buffaloam contains seaweed, buffalo compost, and four types of mycorrhizae. Mycorrhizae build a relationship with plant roots, like adding thousands of root hairs that assist in uptake of nutrients.

It is from a ranch in Glendevy, Colorado and can be found at Menards and Whole Foods here in Kansas. It can be applied dry directly to the soil profile when seeding/ planting or mixed with water (two heaping tablespoons to 1/2 gal of water) to form a compost tea. It was around $8 for a tin container.

On a fun note, I took my 2 year old daughter out the last couple of days and taught her how to find earthworms in the dirt (digging in a soil pile that contained last year's coffee grounds from Starbucks and leaf litter). We found what looked like egg casings, teeny tiny baby worms, average worms, and some that were the size of small snakes. We transplanted about a dozen worms per square in the SGF boxes (we have four 4x4 boxes). She didn't do too bad...didn't like holding them at first but got the hang of it...only squished a few.

Too Tall Tomatoes wrote:I'm looking around for mycorrhizae fungi and I've seen it in two different forms. One is in powder/granular form and the other is liquid form.
Any idea as to which is better?

I personally think the granular is better, mosty because I find the granular versions tend to have more species in them then the liquid ones.

For example I use Plant Success granular product Great White....It has 15 species of mycorrhizae, plus 19 strains of beneficial soil bacteria, and 2 species of trichoderma (another type of beneficial soil fungus).

That compares the Plant Success liquid mycorrhizae product, Orca which has only has 4 species of mycorrhizae and 11 strains of bacteria and zero species of trichoderma.

I have not been able to find a liquid versions that are as complete as the granular stuff

Too Tall Tomatoes wrote:

RoOsTeR wrote:Worms are easier to find...

How do worms promote a good root system?

Worms loosen the soil with all their tunneling and leavings thus allowing room for more extensive root growth and fertilizing properties of the castings.

Everyone I know uses the granular. Not to say liquid is better or worse but have good results with granular so haven't worried about the liquid.

Going by "the book" (SFG that is), you would certainly build up a population over time of mycorrhizal fungi, which is nothing but a good thing.

Youtube has loads of videos on mycorrhizal fungi, how to use it and what it does.

I remember seeing it in granular form. I think it was Espoma brand but I can't remember which store I saw it in. Is it necessary? Probably not. I don't think it would hurt though.

The only only product Espoma makes that has mycorrhizae in that I am aware of is their Bio Tone Starter product.

Bio Tone

That actually could hurt your garden because its also a 4-3-3 organic fertilizer.......your Mel's Mix should already be rich enough....adding more even Nitrogen in a concentrated fertilizer form could be overkill.

I would go with non fertilizer mycorrhizae.

So, if I've used some compost from our nearby forest as a component of my Mel's Mix, does it explain why some morel mushrooms have sprouted in one of the beds? Doesn't mycorrhizae have a symbiotic relationship with plants? Our forest always has a plethora of different mushrooms, so have I already introduced the mycorrhizae to the beds?

..only squished a few.

So sad to squish worms, but digging in the garden,..... well it just happens....

Nonna.PapaVino wrote:So, if I've used some compost from our nearby forest as a component of my Mel's Mix, does it explain why some morel mushrooms have sprouted in one of the beds? Doesn't mycorrhizae have a symbiotic relationship with plants? Our forest always has a plethora of different mushrooms, so have I already introduced the mycorrhizae to the beds?

Yes. And you are incredibly lucky! Do you think you can keep them going?

Yes. And you are incredibly lucky! Do you think you can keep them going?

WOW you are lucky.
Just make sure that you give the mushies a good shake in the area you want them to grow after you harvest them.
Let the spores spread around.

Interesting.

So does this mean you could get some mushrooms, chop then fine, and then add then to your planting hole??

This small flush of morels is probably a fluke, though we occasionally find them down near the barn. The forests around us have lots of mushrooms, edible and not edible. From news articles, it seems there are even truffles to be found in Oregon, which makes me eye the trees right behind the house. But would I even recognize a truffle if I found one in the duff behind the oldest of the firs? Chantrelles, morels and shaggy manes are so easy to identify, guess I'll stick to finding, fixing and eating what I'm sure of.

Nonna.PapaVino wrote:This small flush of morels is probably a fluke, though we occasionally find them down near the barn. The forests around us have lots of mushrooms, edible and not edible. From news articles, it seems there are even truffles to be found in Oregon, which makes me eye the trees right behind the house. But would I even recognize a truffle if I found one in the duff behind the oldest of the firs? Chantrelles, morels and shaggy manes are so easy to identify, guess I'll stick to finding, fixing and eating what I'm sure of.

Years ago I used to work at a restaurant that specialized in using mushrooms in a lot of the dishes. The owner of the restaurant told me that there are mushrooms that look like morels but are actually poisonous.

Too Tall Tomatoes, it's true there are some poisonous mushrooms similar to morels, but they're enough different to eliminate mistakes. However, morels must never be eaten raw. They should be boiled a bit to leach out compounds that can cause upset, then drained, and used in a recipe. There are enough easy-to-identify 'shrooms, so we stick to what we know: chantrelles, morels, shaggy manes, immature puffballs, porcinis, and, when extaordinarily lucky, a Sparassis crispa aka sponge mushroom.

Nonna.PapaVino wrote:Too Tall Tomatoes, it's true there are some poisonous mushrooms similar to morels, but they're enough different to eliminate mistakes. However, morels must never be eaten raw. They should be boiled a bit to leach out compounds that can cause upset, then drained, and used in a recipe. There are enough easy-to-identify 'shrooms, so we stick to what we know: chantrelles, morels, shaggy manes, immature puffballs, porcinis, and, when extaordinarily lucky, a Sparassis crispa aka sponge mushroom.

It's actually very awesome that you know your mushrooms that well.