[askari]

Hello Everyone, I have joined this forum for a purpose. I am studying at the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh and my research focuses on Mycorrhizal Fungi. Would allotment holders use MF, I wonder how many have and what sort of results did you all see?

Thanks

Askari

Request for research help approved by John.

[angelavdavis]

I have only just started using it this last growing season. 

I have used it in planting holes when planting out plants I have grown from seed in my GH.  I have also used it when planting out fruit bushes.

The plants I mainly used it with were beans and mange tout.  I wouldn't say I did particularly notice much of a difference to be honest, but have recently taken over a new plot which has been over-cultivated so it will be interesting to see if it makes any difference there.

I manage my plot using no chemical except non-organic slug pellets and isolated glyphosate on my paths (only).  I cultivate using lasagne gardening and am probably 80% no dig cultivation. 

[LilacSandy]

Hi,

I see no reason to use it on my allotment, I do however compost everything in sight and last year I purchased some comfrey and will be using that in a lot of my plantings.

[Hamani]

I would probably buy some if I was planting out a rose bush or a tree ... but for day to day use I wouldn't expect to see any benefit.

[Jamrock]

I have used it with all my fruit trees and bushes and indeed would use it for anything perennial - like Asparagus

Not sure how I will tell if it has made a difference but all the research I've seen points to a big Yes!

I use 100% organic methods - no glyphosate, no round-up, no slug pellets. So if MF can be just a little bit helpful then happy days 

[Trillium]

A lot of folk really don't understand how to use mycorrhizal and I've even seen tv presenters incorrectly show how to use it, so if its not well known or used, it's not surprising. Considering the cost of the fungus and the thrifty nature of many allotmenteers, I doubt many would bother using it even if they knew how.

I've used it in my home garden for about 6 years now and it's a mandatory part of my planting. I've also found that the annual 'use by' date is not correct; I've used one extra large container for several years with the same excellent results as year one. I also expanded my use into the ones specifically targeted for trees, bulbs, etc.

Most importantly, I use it on all my shrubby veg (tomatoes, peppers, etc) rather than root crops. Into every planting hole, I first add a portion of a feed mixture that I make myself, stir it into the soil, then set in the transplant. I've already made sure the plants were well soaked, drained a bit, then the root area rolled in the fungus, then set in the hole.

How do I know if it works? One year I was in a hurry to plant some sweet peppers before it rained and I missed applying fungus to 2 (of 10) plants. I remembered after planting but didn't bother re-doing them. A month later it was very obvious which 2 plants I didn't apply the fungus to - the 2 shortest, thinnest plants. The other plants not only exploded with growth but were well ahead of larger plants I'd seen for sale in garden centres.

When I clear the garden in the fall, I'm always amazed at the very developed and fibrous root systems of the treated plants which is the purpose of the fungus. And the yields I get are quite impressive.

 

[gremlin]

A preliminary question might be how many of us have heard of it? 
I will admit ignorance.

Don't tell me though! - I will Google it now

[ilan]

Strangely The only time I have seen it for sale was in little Packets designed to use when sowing seeds. I doubt I would use it as I add a lot of compost to the soil It would come into its own tho If Planting into dead soil

[mumofstig]

I always use it when planting shrub roses in my garden, as the soil is poor - I'm sure it helps tham make good strong growth in their first years here.

I wouldn't use it on the allotment, except for planting fruit - as the soil is better there after years of being worked and manured.

[Trillium]

Mycorrhizal is nothing to do with soil mos, it's to do with encouraging lots of fine feeder roots so that the plant can better take up the nourishment in the soil.

We get 2 sizes of the fungus here - a container that holds about 2 cups worth, and another that holds about 2 qts.  I was lucky enough to get 2 of the larger ones on clearance for $1 each and I've only just run out  Means I'll have to stump up full price for more this year 

[New shoot]

If the area has been worked for years as an allotment, it is far more likely there is a healthy population of mycorrhizal fungi already in the soil   

Must admit it wouldn't occur to me to use it unless I was making a new fruit or veg growing area out of grassland, where the fungi present would be the grass species, rather than the ones I wanted.

We sell small pouches at work, but the only times you are asked for it is for roses.  The RHS did some work testing it for prevention of rose replant disease a few years ago and people remember that 

[JayG]

It's an interesting topic but I think Askari will be lucky to get any unequivocal data from this - if the very small number of posts about it on these forums is anything to go by it doesn't seem to be widely used in the UK, also you need to be able to demonstrate whether any improvement was due solely to the use of MF (i.e. an experimental "control" is required; Trillium has come close to providing that, but that was by chance.)

According to THIS RHS article cultivation activity tends to inhibit MF's, but whether replacing them is beneficial or better than just taking good care of soil condition and fertility is not clear (at least, not to me!) 

Please remember to update us with your findings when you've completed your project Askari. 

[mumofstig]

................ it's to do with encouraging lots of fine feeder roots so that the plant can better take up the nourishment in the soil.

Exactly - which is why I use it on poorer soil where there is less nourishment readily available.

It just seems to make sense to me 

[Yorkie]

Probably too vague to be of much assistance, but I recall an article some years ago in a gardening magazine where MF was trialled by someone who had a plot.  Half of the plants were grown with, and half without, the MF.

The half with the MF certainly did better.  I can't remember whether the plot was previously uncultivated or not.

[askari]

I would like to thank the members that gave me their views on Mycorrhizal Fungi - very interesting indeed. However, I did anticipate that most allotment holders would not use MF as it is quite expensive and not everyone is convinced of the benefits. Any disturbance of the soil, whether double digging or gentle hoeing is concerned will have a negative effect on the fungal mycelium.  There are two main types of MF, Ectomycorrhiza (ECM) and Endomycorrhiza (EDM). ECM associate more with trees and a few woody shrubs. EDM, also known as Arbuscular Mycorrhiza Fungi (AMF) associate with 85% of terrestrial plants including some carnivorous. Whilst ECM form symbiotic relations with most trees, there are a few  exceptions, such as Sequoiadendron giganteum that associate with AMF.

Scientific research has proven that AMF can reduce Pao annua on bowling and golf greens.

Anyway, thanks once again.

Askari