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Mycorrhizal Inoculation
Fungus For Your Humus, A Natural Enhancement
Mycorrhizal fungi are not only
important to the health of most plants, they can save on material and labor
costs for fertilizer, soil media and pesticides. This beneficial fungus occurs
naturally in soil but cannot survive steam pasteurization and fumigation (used
to eliminate soil pathogens) and certain fungicides. 
"I don't care if it is beneficial,
it gives me the willies."
The beneficial effect on plants is
manyfold. The mycorrhizal fungi grow in the plant's root cells or as a root
sheath. The fungus' filaments grow outward from the roots, penetrating into the
surrounding soil. The effect is that the root's reach is extended, sometimes by
as much as 1,000 times the length of the entire plant root system. These fungal extensions transport
nutrients from the surrounding soil back to the host plant. The fungi assist the
plant in its uptake of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), sulfur (S),
magnesium (Mg), manganese (Mn), copper (Cu), calcium (Ca), iron (Fe), silicon
(Si), aluminum (Al) zinc (Z) and water. All the mycorrhiza takes back from the
plant is carbon (C) that it needs for its own growth and reproduction. This
lopsided symbiotic relationship is truly beneficial to the plant.
Getting It Back Mycorrhizal fungi are not only lost
through soil sterilization, pesticide or fungicide use, they could be lost due
to long periods of fallow, flooding, construction grading or erosion.
Researchers have found that phosphorous and zinc deficiencies can result from a
long-fallow condition. The absence of host plants leads to absence of
mycorrhizal fungi as well. The good news is that the condition is
easily reversible by using a commercially available endomycorrhizal inoculum.
The inoculum is a mixture made of endomycorrhizal spores, host plant roots and a
sterilized media. Depending on the types of plants to be
treated, there are a variety of application methods. In nurseries and orchards
the inoculum can be mixed into planting soil, added during transplanting,
inserted into probed holes at the plant root zone or used in conventional
fertilizer banding equipment. For seed beds it can be layered 1/2 inch below the
seed or broadcast over the surface and rototilled in.
Fungus Affects Bottom Line According to University of California
scientists, mycorrhizal inoculation is usually most responsive at low fertility
levels, increasing growth rate, plant quality, and survivability and at the same
time reducing fertilizer, material and labor costs. Increased growth rates in citrus crops
have been shown to be up to 200 percent for field-grown and over 2,000 percent
for citrus in fumigated nursery soil treated with mycorrhizal inoculant. The
plants are more resistant to drought and environmental stress, and have
increased transplant survivability. These healthier plants are less vulnerable
to pathogens. Paul Albright and the knowledgeable
consultants at Albright Seed Company have full details on how
mycorrhizal fungi can work for you and for your bottom line. Give them a call
soon.Order AM 120 now.
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