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Www.extremepumpkinstore.com

Who has used this? I hear growers saying that they use it on seedlings, if you have used it, please explain how it is used and when.
Thanks

11/9/2004 9:18:09 PM

[email protected]

I recently tilled 25 lbs/M of Bolster Granular with VAM Mycorrhizae into the patch. It's 4-4-4 Turkey Poop, Sea Kelp Meal, & SOP. I intend to repeat in the spring prior to the last till.

Myc. is a living fungus that performs in a symbiotic relationship between certain plant roots (VAM works only with several annual plants but not all) & assists in the oxidation & availability of the mineral elements of soil.

Other types of Myc. work with other higher plants. There are thousands of kinds. Some are very species specific & can actually harm some plants in an interesting natural herbicide like relationship that makes it possible for certain conifers to dominate an area of forest once established.

See this link if you want to read the "Bible of Mike".

http://invam.caf.wvu.edu/index.html

This next one isn't bad either.

http://www.mycorrhizae.com/

Don't be misled into thinking it's the end all of plant nutrition as some marketters would have us believe. There are plenty of huksters out there & there are no laws governing the claims or viability of Mycorrhizae.

11/9/2004 9:55:29 PM

Appalachian Mtns.

no noted differences here in using it -vs- not

11/10/2004 12:59:57 AM

Www.extremepumpkinstore.com

Thanks!

11/10/2004 7:55:00 AM

Western NY

i used a few times a couple years ago. paid dearly for the good stuff. i think i would avoid the dry powders, but rather focus on some "liquid suspeisions", that have some spores mixed in with other microbial innoculants. i've also heard actino with iron works great as a starter mix, or to add to a starter mix, but haven't tried it yet.

11/10/2004 8:25:00 AM

Oz

can you generate your own?

11/10/2004 9:22:44 AM

Western NY

yep, good old fashioned compost works best. higher carbon, with little to no turning is best for fungi.

11/10/2004 9:34:34 AM

Ljubljana, Slovenia

Correction:
Mycorrhiza is in fact an interaction or better an organ formed from mycelium (myco) of the fungus and root (rhiza) of the plant. The basic of this symbiosis between the plant and the fungus is that plant supplies fungus with sugars (made in photosynthesis) in exchange for water and minerals (mycelium gets this stuff much more efficiently than roots since it is thinner in diameter and spreads over huge area).
As I remember, there are two major types of mycorrhiza, classified as weather mycelium penetrates (endo) the plant cells or not (ecto). VAM type is endomycorrhiza and is typical for herbaceous species, while ectomycorrhize is typical for wooden species.

Take home message: practically all plants (and off course fungi) are dependent on mycorrhiza in nature.

In forest for example, the mycelium via mycorrhiza connects all the tress also from different species) into stabile ecosystem. That is, if one tree on the top of the hill suffers from draught it gets water from other parts of the forest. Indeed, socialism was invented millions (billions) of years ago... Jernej

11/10/2004 11:09:05 AM

[email protected]

Good work Jernej!

If no mycorrhiza is present in a pumpkin patch, then something is horribly wrong & pumpkins won't grow there either. If conditions favor pumpkin growth, then no effort to kill mycorrhiza will be successful in the long term.

This is all relative to extremism &/or seasonal weather paterns, etc.

One of the hitters summed it up good here last winter. There is NO HARM in using it & it could help. So why not?

11/10/2004 11:53:06 AM

Utah

So Steve ...
If someone put some in my patch last spring...
it is still there ?
if so is it still there in a high enough concentration so that they don't have to ever add it again?
or should they add some more every year?
and if it is symbitic with plant roots wouldn't you want to only add it when there are roots in your soil ?
or just is just lay dormant until spring and the pumpkin roots reach it ?

11/10/2004 3:43:10 PM

ENGLAND

This may or may not be relevant to this thread but early last summer (2003) we mulched some flowers beds with shreded hardwood bark. This bark was dug into the beds last fall and when digging over to plant this spring the decomposing bark bas covered with white thread type fungi. The bedding plants that were put into these beds thrived like never before. Was the white thread like fungi producing bennificial organisms that would result in these plants growing like never before ??

11/10/2004 4:01:15 PM

Www.extremepumpkinstore.com

What are your thoughts on dipping the seeds before putting in the peat pots, how much to add to the peat pots, the actual patch when planting, the trenches when you bury the vines.
very interested in this.

11/10/2004 4:51:18 PM

In the shade - PDX, OR

Check with the Hollands. - Land O' Giants

Bio Endo plus is added to the peat pots during germination and to the planting hole.
Joel also added to every root node along the main.

I used this product last year and will do again in '05

11/10/2004 8:06:27 PM

Sask, Canada

A quick note, with the endomycorrhiza fungi.

DO NOT use chemical fertilizer higher than 5-5-5 as it will kill the beneficial fungi and in some cases even kill your plants.

The fungi attached to the roots die and end up killing the roots they are attached to.

Trial and error here... Paid over $400.00 and applied to 50+ Thunder Creek Tomato plants plus the soil they were in, after they were all killed I found out from John Evans applying chemical ferts. was a no-no. Used the Bio-Vam product.

TTYL
Ernie
Giant Veggies

11/10/2004 9:10:59 PM

[email protected]

Gordon,

It doesn't die as much as it rests. It resumes activity when conditions favor.

Mike, The white threads you saw are Mycorrhizae. But not the VAM we need for pumpkins. Beech, Oak & Pine all support different yet similarly visible Myc. VAM is NOT visible to the naked eye.

Tom, It can't hurt. But roots are everywhere. Apply where roots will go.

Ernie, Fertilizer ettect is relative to more than analysis or percent filler. Mineral ferts can be formulated with filler to lower analysis yet will still exhibit high salt content. All Natural Organic low salt ferts are rarely as high in analysis as 5-5-5. 5-2-5 is considered fairly high for organics. Yet synthetics can be as high as 14-14-14 & if the release rate is properly controlled (rate of release) & the source material is properly selected (Salt index) & the material is properly applied (rate), then no harm will come to either the mycorrhiza or the plants. Honest.

11/10/2004 9:27:10 PM

Www.extremepumpkinstore.com

What is the link to the Land O' Giants website?

11/10/2004 10:58:55 PM

Ljubljana, Slovenia

Do not get me wrong but I was working on mycorrhiza for my diploma thesis so I feel that I have to explain some more…
Steve, the white threads that Mike saw were probably not mycorrhizae (yet) since there were no roots. Mycorrhizae could have formed later when plants were set in. In nature fungi are the most important decomposer of the wood, i.e. the most abundant organic matter on the Earth.

About mineral ferts: one of the basic functions of mycorrhiza is to provide minerals to the plant. The lack of minerals is one of the signals for the mycorrhiza formation. So when abundant minerals are provided by mineral ferts mycorrhiza disintegrates. The plant grows on as long you provide minerals but the fungi dies off because it can usually not live without the partner plant. However, without the fungi the plant looses other benefits that it gets from mycorrhiza like consistent water supply, balanced mineral supply and important protection against pathogens.

Finally, I totally agree that there is NO HARM in using inoculums of mycorrhizal fungi & it could help. However, the inoculated fungi need food to grow (and consequently to form mycorrhiza), so give them lots of organic matter. Jernej

11/11/2004 4:20:35 AM

Mastic Beach, New York

Tom go to odds and ends link on the main page

11/11/2004 10:31:50 AM