Frequently Asked Questions
Q) What are Mycorrhizal Fungi?
A) "Mycor" - "rhiza" literally means "fungus" - "root" and defines the mutually beneficial relationship between the plant root and fungus. These specialized fungi colonize plant roots and extend far into the soil resource. Mycorrhizal fungal filaments in the soil are truly extensions of root systems and more effective in nutrient and water absorption than the roots themselves.
Q) What plants form specialized roots with mycorrhizal fungi?
A) They're different classifications of mycorrhizae due to their type of action in the soil and ultimately the type of plants that work with said mycorrhizae types.
- Endomycorrhizae (also known as Vasicular Arbuscular Mycorrhizae or VAM) work with 90% of plant species and most all commercial important plant species. This is the type we focus on.
- Ectomycotthizae work with 5% of plant species typically forest trees.
- Ericoid mycorrhizae work with the ericaceous family of plants. Blueberries, cranberries, azaleas, heaths, heathers, ect.
Q) How do mycorrhizal fungi increase nutrient uptake?
A) These fungi increase the surface absorbing area of roots 10 to 100x thereby greatly improving the ability of the plants to utilize the soil resource. Estimates of amounts of mycorrhizal filaments present in soil associated with plants are astonishing. Several miles of fungal filaments can be present in less than a thimbleful of soil! But mycorrhizal fungi increase nutrient uptake not only by increase the surface absorbing area of roots, they also release powerful chemicals into the soil that dissolve hard to capture nutrients such as phosphorous , iron and other "tightly bound" soil nutrients. This extraction process is particularly important in plant nutrition and explains why non-mycorrhizal plants require high levels of fertility to maintain their health. Mycorrhizal fungi form an intricate web that captures and assimilates nutrients, thus conserving the nutrient capital in soils. In non mycorrhizal conditions much of this fertility is wasted or lost from the system.
Q) How does phosphorus interact with mycorrhizal fungi and vise versa?
A 1) One of mycorrhizal fungi's benefits is it's ability to be able to access phosphorus and other immobile nutrients. Mycorrhizae fungi's advantage is it's ability to reach into more soil space and access immobile nutrients that the plant couldn't access otherwise.
A 2) High phosphorus levels reduce the rate of mycorrhizal colonization. Heavy phosphate fertilization results in a delay in colonization as well as a
decrease in the percentage of colonization of roots by mycorrhizae.
We recommend that you do not use any fertilizer with the rating of 7 or more percent phosphorus. So an N-P-K rating of 10-10-10 would harm mycorrhizal fungi while a N-P-K rating of 3-1-1 wouldn't inhibit it's growth.
Q) Don't soils already contain mycorrhizal fungi?
A) Undisturbed soils are full of beneficial soil organisms including mycorrhizal fungi. Research indicates, however, many common practices can degrade the mycorrhiza-forming potential of soil. Tillage, fertilization, removal of topsoil, erosion, site preparation, road and home construction, fumigation, invasion of non-native plants, and leaving soils bare are some of the activities that can reduce or eliminate these beneficial soil fungi. Reintroducing mycorrhizal fungi in areas where they have been depleted can dramatically improve plant establishment and growth.
Many routine nursery practices, such as fumigation and dousing with high levels of water and nutrients, produce non-mycorrhizal plants. When high levels of fertilizer and water are provided for non-mycorrhizal plants, they can thrive in this artificial growing media, but they are ill prepared to survive the eventual outplanted condition.
Q) How do you apply these mycorrhizal fungi?
A) Mycorrhizal application is easy and requires no special equipment. The goal is to create physical contact between the mycorrhizal inoculant and the plant root. Mycorrhizal inoculant can be sprinkled onto roots during transplanting, worked into seed beds, blended into potting soil. The type of application depends upon the conditions and needs of the applicator.