Merit of adding Mycorrhizae to potting medium

[Kawarthapine]

I am wondering whether there is any merit in adding endo and ecto myco strains to my potting mix to enhance soil chemistry, nutrient uptake plant vigour.

Any experience or advice would be appreciated.

Duncan

 

[NYEric]

There should be some for seedlings. There are other posts here on STF about this.

 

[Kawarthapine]

I should have phrased my question better.

I am trying to figure out if one strain of myco is better than another, and if wet or dry applications make a difference.

 

[naoki]

Where are you getting those? In Europe, there are some source for fungi associated with terrestrial orchid such as Dactylorhiza (B1). In South Australia, I heard that native orchid society of Austria (NOSSA) is distributing some fungi. It was posted on their Facebook (April 2, 2016 post). In Japan and Korea, there is some orchid mycorrhizal fungi for sale (I'm not sure if it is still in the market). I haven't found a source of orchid related fungi in the US. Is it available in Canada?

To answer your question, the different species and strains will have different effects (there are some scientific experiments).

 

[paphioboy]

I have not used this but to my knowledge, orchid mycorrhizae can be quite host-specific. General mycorrhizae for other crops/flowers may not be compatible with orchids.

 

[troy]

Inocucor is a live culture beneficial, although I'm not sure what affect synthetic fertilizers has on it

 

[Ray]

Basically, nothing negative.

Nitrogen will cause the bacteria to grow and reproduce faster, having more effect on the plant.

 

[gego]

I have read and was mentioned here that urea is a better food for these critters.

 

[Kawarthapine]

There are several products available in Canada. Bustan urban Gardening Essentials, based in Toronto lists several products incl.:

Hydro Organics Rooters Mycorrhizae Blend
Mykos Pure Mycorrhizal Innoculum
Humboldt Nutrients Myco Maximum Granular

These products, available in dry and liquid formulations contain several different varieties of myco bacteria as well as nutrients.

Many of my indoor gardening friends swear by the stuff.

Duncan

 

[Ray]

I have read and was mentioned here that urea is a better food for these critters.

That may be, but nitrates and ammoniums are apparently also effective.

After the Exxon Valdez spill, Elf Aquitaine (now Total) sprayed an emulsion of olive oil and a commercial fertilizer (Elf used to make fertilizers, too, and being a petrochemical company, it seems likely they were a mix of nitrogen sources) on a few miles of Prince William Sound. The fertilizer stimulated the growth of the indigenous flora and fauna, who rapidly consumed the easy-to-digest olive oil carbon source, allowing the population to explode. When the olive oil was gone, they started in in the spilled crude.

In just 6 weeks, there was no trace of oil, and unlike the steaming going on elsewhere, the ecology was unaffected, as the microorganisms populations just subsided back to normal levels.

It was so successful, we made a business unit to apply the technology to other spills, such as rail yards. It turns out to be effective with in-situ toxic waste digestion, too.

 

[cnycharles]

Cool


Elmer Nj

 

[naoki]

Duncan, take a look at the species in these products. None of them seem to contain known fungi for orchids. When you are looking at the list, the following genus is known to form mycorrhizae with photosynthetic orchids (I'm excluding myco-heterotrophic orchids, which seems to be able to use quite different kinds of fungi). I'm grouping them based on the larger grouping (Order and family). I think I compiled this from
Rasmussen, H. N. 2002, Recent developments in the study of orchid mycorrhiza. Plant and Soil 244(1): 149-163. (link to abstract, which might not work).

## Order: Cantharellales, Family: Ceratobasidiaceae
Ceratobasidium
Rhizoctonia

## Order: Cantharellales, Family: Hydnaceae
Sistotrema

## Order: Sebacinaceae, Family: Sebacinaceae
Serendipity

## Order: Agaricales, Family: Mycenaceae
Mycena

## Order: Tulasnellales Family: Tulasnellaceae
Tulasnella
Epulorhiza

Most of the fungi seem to be sporophytic (breaks down organic matters), but you might notice that some of them can be plant pathogens. For example, Rhizoctonia repens is a mild pathogen for most plants, but they forms mycorrhiza with orchids (documented with Cymbidium goeringii).

Here is a link to a newer review:
Dearnaley, John (2007). Further advances in orchid mycorrhizal research. Mycorrhiza, 17 (6): 475-486. ISSN 0940-6360.

 

[gego]

From my readings, critters consume either amino acid or ammonium.

 

[gonewild]

From my readings, critters consume either amino acid or ammonium.

Not that limited. Here's one example for fungi...
http://scialert.net/fulltext/?doi=biotech.2012.296.306

 

[JAB]

I nominate Naoki for the "Most Awesomest Forum Member" Award! He is always sharing great info that is sound! Thanks amigo!! You rock!

 

[naoki]

Gego, which "critters" are you talking about? EM-1 and Inocucor are mostly bacteria with some yeast-type fungi. Obviously bacteria can use wide variety of N source (NO2, NO3, NH3, organic, and even atmospheric N2), and different species uses different subset. If you are talking about Orchid mycorrhizal fungi, I'm not sure if we know about it. Some fungi (including some ecotmycorrhizal fungi) appear to prefer ammoniacal and organic N over NH3 as you said, but I'm not sure if it is generalizable. Orchid fungi are completely different species from those other mycorrhizal fungi.

Thanks, JAB, but I should be clear that I'm not trained in mycology (I'm trying to learn because my 4 year old son is fascinated about mushrooms). It is all from my casual reading about the topic. So I can be wrong about what I say.

 

[gego]

Not that limited. Here's one example for fungi...
http://scialert.net/fulltext/?doi=biotech.2012.296.306

This is a different process, nitrogen removal. We are talking about critters having this relationship with our plants. They need organic source of nitrogen and the by product is exchanged to our plants as nutrient, in a very simple terms.
Please check Naoki's posts above. That is more scientific.
This topic is very popular with the cannabis guys and they use this principle. These critters if they are already present in the media, need to be fed with organic food. These guys either use amino acid from organic fert or urea in their regiment in addition to nitrates.

I also read that in high altitude tropical forest floor, amino acid (decomposing matters) is the dominant source of nitrogen for these little guys and so for our precious paphs.

 

[gonewild]

This is a different process, nitrogen removal. We are talking about critters having this relationship with our plants. They need organic source of nitrogen and the by product is exchanged to our plants as nutrient, in a very simple terms.
Please check Naoki's posts above. That is more scientific.
This topic is very popular with the cannabis guys and they use this principle. These critters if they are already present in the media, need to be fed with organic food. These guys either use amino acid from organic fert or urea in their regiment in addition to nitrates.

I also read that in high altitude tropical forest floor, amino acid (decomposing matters) is the dominant source of nitrogen for these little guys and so for our precious paphs.

What little guys are you referring to? Fungi? Sorry if I misunderstood what you meant when you said the critters only eat ammonium or amino acid.

If the critters you refer to eat urea (ammonia) then they are removing Nitrogen just as in the example link I gave.

I've been saying for years that micro organisms produce compounds including amino acids that orchids gain nutrients from, I do understand the process/relationship.

 

[gonewild]

Mycrorrhiza....

"It has been reported that extraradical hyphae take up inorganic nitrogen and transport it to intraradical hyphae in the form of amino acids (Govindarajulu et al. 2005). There, it is released in the form of ammonia into the apoplast where it can be used by the cells of the root (Chalot et al. 2006). In addition, the transport of nitrate via mycorrhizal fungi to the host plant has been demonstrated preferentially under drought when nitrate diffusion in the soil is reduced (Tobar et al. 1994)."

Quote from;
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2799628/

 

[Kawarthapine]

Naoki:

Thank you for the depth of information provided.

Most of my work-related botanical experience relates to tall and mixed grass prairie ecosystems, terrestrial and riparian ecosystem restorations.

Indoor orchid culture is a hobby slowly turning into an obsession.

I really need to learn more about soil chemistry and not 'leap before looking.'

Input and experience from you and your peers make this website a tremendous resource.

Thank you.

Duncan

PS: same goes for all you other orchid maniacs!