You can encourage the growth of mycorrhizal fungi in your garden by adding vegetable fiber, such as shredded tree leaves, peat moss, pine bark fines, or something similar, to the soil. Also, maintaining soil moisture by mulching will encourage fungi to grow. I don't doubt that products for sale in garden centers might jump start the process. I have not found these products necessary for growing blueberries.

rouge, what are you growing?

Annuals and perennials

Munbo jumbo ... any time the wind blows, it blows spores of the fungi around so you get free inoculants of the local varieties.

It MIGHT be worth it in a greenhouse

Not at all mumbo jumbo......but not necessarily something you need to go out of your way to purchase.

First, mycorrhizal fungi are not out there blowing in the wind - they are soil fungi that seldom see the light of day, so the likelihood of you getting what you may need arriving on the breeze is slim to nonexistant. But they do tend to be present in most soils in varying degrees as long as the site hasn't been recently scraped for development or subject to heavy cropping (former farmlands) or heavy synthetic fertilization.

FWIW, most wholesale growers understand the importance of mycorrhizea and use innoculants themselves so it is very likely you are getting a variety just hitchhiking in on the root systems of the plants you purchase. And a number of suppliers of organic fertilizers also include mycorrhizal fungi in their products (ditto suppliers of potting soils and other soil amendments).

gardengal, any brand recommendations? How would one know if the mycorrhizal fungi has been added to the product.

Thanks, Rosie

Well, I have been using the MYKE mycorrhizal fungi product for annuals and perennials this summer. It appears from its website that it is distributed in the USA.

rosiew wrote: How would one know if the mycorrhizal fungi has been added to the product.

One wouldn't. But this is true for most products one buys ie how does one really know the ingredients listed are actually in the product?

Mycorrhizal fungi grow in good, healthy soils and there are different fungi for different plants. If you get adequate levels of organic matter into your soil the the Soil Food Web, which includes mycorrhizal types of fungi, will be there without spending money on something that may not even work in your garden.
If your soil does not have a habitat, adequate levels of organic matter, to support those fungi you purchase they will not live or work, so you have just simply wasted your money. Maybe, possibly, adding something from someplace called mycorrhizal fungi, after working adequate levels of organic matter into the soil adding something purchased might start these fungi working sooner.

Read a few articles this morning, using MYKE mycorrhizal fungi product as keywords. Check out this article. If course there are many more. General consensus: BENEFICIAL.

Here is a link that might be useful: Scholarly article about mycorrhizal fungi

As far as I know though this fungi is beneficial only when it contact with the roots. And so as a supplement it needs be applied to plants as they go into the ground and hence it would be problematic getting any benefit for plants already planted.

rouge, I'm of the same mind as you. Perhaps someone can tell us if it can be injected into the soil of existing plantings.

Anyone??

rosiew here is part of the reply from a representative of "MYKE":

For existing perrenials, we suggest to dig some holes around the base of the plant, deep enough to reach the roots.
Then you apply the product in the holes and water generously but not to much to expel the product.
The effect will be good also but the symbiosis will take a little longer to occur.
The major point is to reach the roots, Then the fungi does the rest.

Way too much trouble for me.

I use my own compost. Local mycorrhizae, not MYKE. Stuff produced from MY local trees and turf. What good does something produced in the NE or NW or elsewhere do here? I think it is a bunch of hooie. Yes, mycorrhizae benefit root systems by symbiosis, but in their local, inherent, indigenous locale. Mycs are specialized to the ecosystems that they are natural to. MYKE can't be good for every ecosystem.
hortster

MYKE can't be good for every ecosystem.

And how do you know this?

I think such a statement would be almost equivalent to saying that leaf mold originating in Ontario Canada would not be a beneficial amendment to a garden found in Texas USA.

There is a lot of hype out there by people that want you to send them your money so they can send you something that might be of some use.
Mycorrhiza refers to a symbiotic, mutually beneficial, relationship that some plant roots develop with some species of fungi. There is no fungi known as Mycorrhiza.

Here is a link that might be useful: About Mycorrhizal fungi

My comment is that there is no mycorrhizae that develops a symbiotic relationship with ALL plants; they are specific to a particular plant or group of plants. So what you buy in a packet may be good for redwoods in California but likely will do nothing for pines in Georgia.
The OM in leaf mold would benefit about anything.
They tout MYKE as being a cureall for any soil. If it is mixed with "basement" clay void of any OM it would do zero good since it would have nothing to work on.
hortster

I think it would be difficult to grow anything in the native soil without developing a mycorrhizal community in the roots. The fungi are everywhere that humans and plants live. Adding compost or some other organic material will feed the fungi, and keeping the soil moist will keep the fungi healthy and active.

"There is no fungi known as Mycorrhiza."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mycorrhiza

Mycorrhizal fungi are divided into two groupings according to their mode of symbiosis, endo- and ectomycorrhizea (there is also a smaller grouping, ericoid mycorrihzae). There are literally thousands of species included in these groupings and they are not at all regionally based -- relying necessarily on "localized" species is impractical and to a large extent, irrelevant, as the fungi exist in virtually a global capacity.

It is estimated that upto 95% of the vascular plants on the planet benefit from mycorrhizal activity. Does one need to purchase mycorrhizal supplements? Probably not, unless you are aware of issues with your soils that would indicate a lack of fungal populations -- as ericwi notes above, developing a healthy, bioactive and organically rich soil will go a long way in creating mycorrhizal activity.

Novascapes, I'm not sure I understand your point......are you implying that link indicates there ARE fungi known as mycorrhizae? If so, you may be misinterpreting the intent. The word refers to a relationship, not an organism - "mycor" means fungus and "rhizo" means roots - and so describes a symbiotic relationship between various fungal organisms and plant roots. There are literally 10's of thousands of species of fungal organisms that function in this manner and are so grouped under the broad heading of 'mycorrhizal fungi' but there is NO single fungal organism referred to as 'mycorrhiza'.

"but there is NO single fungal organism referred to as 'mycorrhiza'. "
This is not what you said and is not what I quoted.
I just don't understand why semantics should be an issue on here anyway. There are plenty of other wrong statements, made by those that don't bother to read the links posted, on this thread to criticise other than this.

I just don't understand why semantics should be an issue on here anyway.

Really? Sematics is the study of meaning in language and since this forum is all about communication, being able to properly convey your thought process, point of view or opinion in an understandable, comprehensible manner is kinda paramount, wouldn't you say?

BTW, I was not intending to criticize you.....it was just very unclear in your post what point you were trying to make. And I'm not sure it was made any more clear with your last post.......sorry :-(

From the link novascapes posted, "A mycorrhiza (Gk. üÃÂúÃÂÃÂ, myk�s, "fungus" and ÃÂùöñ, riza, "roots",[1] pl. mycorrhizae or mycorrhizas) is a symbiotic (generally mutualistic, but occasionally weakly pathogenic) association between a fungus and the roots of a vascular plant.[2]"
Exactly my point.

"I just don't understand why semantics should be an issue on here anyway."
"Really? Sematics is the study of meaning in language and since this forum is all about communication, being able to properly convey your thought process, point of view or opinion in an understandable, comprehensible manner is kinda paramount, wouldn't you say?"

Yes really. If we got rid of everyone on here that did not meet your level of acceptable communication skills then we may have very few left. I would more than likely have to be one of the first to go. On the other hand I have not had a problem conversing with people having their doctorate in microbiology at TAMU over the last 5 years on this very subject.
Look up the definition of "sematics" (your word). Then look up the definition of "semantics".

Without a clear comprehension of the definition and meaning of the term, one will never understand that 'mycorrhizae ' is a relationship, not a fungus. Fungi are just part of that relationship.

Sounds like a WASTE of money.

Just read back to everything kimmsr said.....Why is that i can just about always agree with kimmsr? o yea, because it is science. :)

Oh.....pardon me!! I made a typo -- how very, very bad of me (like it never happens to anyone else??). Have YOU looked up the definition of semantics?? If you had, you would see it is exactly as I had written.

I'm not at all sure what your problem is or why you are being overly defensive and now progressing to rude. I merely questioned what your point was with that post.....it was not clear, as others have seemed to be confused as well.

"Oh.....pardon me!! I made a typo -- how very, very bad of me (like it never happens to anyone else??)."
Yet it is unforgivable for others not to use the precise language you prefer? I am being no more rude than you, requiring this scientific language, which most on here do not care about. All they really care about is wither the mycorrhizal fungi advertised would be beneficial to them or not.

Now to leave this trite discussion behind, I will give my point of view.
If you choose to try Mycorrhizal fungi you should choose a product that contains as many different species as possible because different fungi build their association with different plants.
Do not expect Mycorrhizal to be in your compost because many of the ones you need or want will not survive as there are no live roots in the compost. Also many of the spores are short lived and will not be available to the plants when the compost is applied.
Soil that is constantly tilled will have far less Mycorrhizal fungi due to the lack of live roots. If you till you must immediately replant.
High levels of nitrogen or phosphorus have been shown to kill mycorrhizal fungi. If you have very fertile soil then you may not have any or very few species of Mycorrhizal fungi, which probably would not be of any benefit anyway.
Mycorrhizal fungi is not only used to grow better plants but to build better soil without the use of so much commercial or organic fertilizer. It also produces a by-product called glomalin. Glomalin will aggregate sandy soil and reduce errosion. Glomalin also stores a very high percentage of the worlds carbon.

Novascapes, many species of fungi form that symbiotic relationship with plants known as mycorrhiza. There is no species of fungi that is a mycorrhizal fungi. What you are talking about does not exist in nature or the laboratory.
When fungi, that form a mycorrhizal relationship with a plant, do appear those plants do perform better, but the soil needs to be made to support those fungi or they will not be there even if you spend a lot of money buying some soil with spores in them.
The fungi that form these mycorrhizal relationships with plants are present in the Soil Food Web which lives in soils well endowed with organic matter.

Kimmsr, Then why does it work in potted plants grown in a nursery? Why does it also work in hydroponics? Why is it found in the desert? Why does in work in my pastures which have some of the worst soils I have ever worked with. Admittedly it does better in more fertile soils but also aids in building less fertile soils and feeding the plant.
To be more specific I am referring to arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi.
I do know there is not a specific fungi with the name mycorrhizal or mycorriza, and I do not beleive I ever said there was. Mycorrhizal or mycorrhiza is the description of a type of fungi. Therefore the statement "There is no fungi known as Mycorrhiza." is wrong.
Could you be more specific as to what does not exist in nature or the laboratory in my previous post. I do not mind being corrected when I am wrong.
By the way aren't there many mycorrizhal fungi that do not form the symbiotic relationship? For instance a mushroom growing in a cow pie.

Ugh.

Zog not know fancy words.

Zog not know 'semantics'.

Zog sad.

:-[

nova, a link you posted stated what I have been saying and Rhizo posted the same thing, "Without a clear comprehension of the definition and meaning of the term, one will never understand that 'mycorrhizae ' is a relationship, not a fungus. Fungi are just part of that relationship".
Mycorrhiza refers to a relationship, a mutually beneficial relationship, that some fungi form with plants. Mycorrhizal is a relationship not a type of fungus which is why I refer to people selling "Mycorrhiza Fungi" as snake oil salemen.

kimmsr, If that is how you want to look at it then it is fine with me.
As far as snake oil is concerned I will agree that some, in there desire to make a profit, over state it's benefits. There are companies that do not overrate it's usefulness. You should also note that scientists came up with the info. and capitalists made use of it to make money. This does not automatically make the product snake oil. Spend 5 years reading up on it and talking to microbiologists like I have and then you will have a much better understanding.
If one already has all the elements needed for nourishment and high organic soil then they more than likely will see no benefit. On the other hand if one desires to use less commercial fertilizer and improve their soil for better water holding, fertilizer uptake, control erosion, carbon storage, etc. then using the myco. fungi is a good idea.
Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi does not spread with the wind. It does not come along with compost. It spreads from root to root contact, worms, moles, armadillos, etc. The spores must come in contact with living roots to survive. The soil should always have living plants growing in order for the AMF to survive.
As far as communication is concerned, IMO, it is the duty of the speaker to communicate at the same level as their audience.
Why have I spent so long researching this? Adjoining my pasture is a beautiful field of Eastern Gamagrass. The man who owns it cuts the grass and has never fertilized it. So I planted a field of the same grass. Mine was terrible to say the least. After researching and sending a root sample to a close relative, who has is doctorate in microbiology, mine lacked AMF and my neighbors did not. If I had any I killed it off by my deep plowing while putting in a seed bed. I have just order 25 lbs of endomycorrhizal fungi to coat rye grass seed to be planted in with the existing grass in the pasture.
This may be of interest.
www.notill.org/LE_Articles/V9N2A2_hoorman.pdf

FYI, perhaps related, I think, maybe, ... about commercial mycorrhizae and how the beneficial spores that you think you're buying are usually dead when you purchase the package [Incidentally this brief article has an unrelated title.]

There is far more to the world of fungi than mere humans are aware of at this point in history. We really have very little idea what fungi are up to. I predict that fungal interactions with plants (especially crops) will be a big growth area in the coming decades.

I would call myself an educated layperson on this, but it seems from my limited study that many fungi are specific to soils and climates. I tend to agree with the viewpoint that 'just because it works in one place with certain plants doesn't mean it will work somewhere else with another plant'. Unless there is specific data showing a benefit, I would tend to stick to feeding and encouraging my local fungi.

There are scores of experiments showing positive effects, some of them quite striking.

Paul Stamets' recent book "Mycelium Running" is quite interesting even for the non-technical and is full of amazing photos.

Mycorrhiza, greek, myco = fungi, rhiza = roots. The word then refers to something that some fungi do with some plant roots, ie. they form a symbiotic, mutually beneficial, relationship with certain fungi providing to the plant needed nutrients and the plant, through the roots, providing the fungi with some needed nutrients.
If some fungi form that mutually beneficial relationsip that is a mycorrhizal fungi relationship but does make make those fungus species into a mycorrhizal fungi.

albert_135 wrote: the beneficial spores that you think you're buying are usually dead when you purchase the package.

That was in the back of my mind when I used the MYKE product this past November weekend when planting a tree. The average consumer has no idea as to the viability of the spores coming out of the container plus in my particular situation these bacteria/spores were being used in quite cold conditions....which also impact on their health.

There are certain Mycorrhizal fungi that are common throughout most of the world. Glomus intraradices would be a good example.
I beleive there are 2 important factor the should be looked at when choosing one of these Myco products.
The first is an expiration date. I have not been able to find any documentation on the shelf life of Mycorrhizal fungi spores.I personally do not buy anything over a year old.
The second thing is variate. As stated in other posts all fungi do not work on all plants, although the ones selected by most commercial companies have been found to work on most plants. Generally speaking the ecto work best with trees and bushes and the endo is best with grasses.
One way to infect the roots of established plants is to powder some cover-crop seed and plant adjacent to the plants you want to infect.

novascapes wrote: The first is an expiration date. I have not been able to find any documentation on the shelf life of Mycorrhizal fungi spores. I personally do not buy anything over a year old.

I had corresponded with the company and the shelf life is 2 years (maximum).

As well according PREMIER TECH BIOTECHNOLOGIES, the manufacturer of "MYKE", the product in the container must be kept at a temperature above 0 C to maintain its efficacy.

When you buy some magic elixir sold as Mycorrhizal fungi how do you know if your are getting the strain of fungi that will form that symbiotic relationship with the plants you are raising? What was the source of the fungi?

How was this magic elixir handled during shipping? The fungi are quite sensitive to temperature and moisture fluctuations.

Jeff Gillman (PhD in horticulture) has stated that spending money on something someone is selling as Mycorrhizal fungi is a waste of that money. Lee Reich, (PhD's in both horticulture and soil science) has written that same thing.

Keep in mind that the people that sell such things are simply trying to get you to send them your money, to separate you and your money whether what they sell has any benefit or not.

kimmq is kimmsr

Sure are a lot of years-old threads being resurrected lately. Anyway I still think this stuff is the gardening equivalent the 'kale is a superfood' fad.

Says it all...

http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6369

Very good article Kris, it does say it all.

kimmq is kimms

Admittedly, I skimmed thorough the above comments. What I did see that I would agree with is that if there are supposedly MF incorporated into the bag, probably not very factual. I'm sure the sources of good MF has been stated and hyperlinked all over above. That said, from a responsible agronomist standpoint, balancing your soil nutrients is going to be your most cost effective and efficient way of creating a healthy rhizosphere. The microbes will take of themselves if you give them organic matter and balance the soil minerals. This creates the most suitable environment for soil flocculation, proper moisture retention, microbial activity and a slew of other plant benefits!

Thank you Kimmq..marketing is very powerful... I would love to be a car salesman to some of these people who buy into some of this garbage and misunderstanding of basic science.... I love going on cruises!