Mycorrhizae For Sale – The Most Helpful Soil Inoculant
$21.00 – $53.00
A common problem in many gardens is that plants have a difficult time getting certain nutrients out of the soil, finding enough water, and protecting themselves from soil-borne predators.
That’s why they started partnering – 100s of millions of years ago – with very special fungi called mycorrhizal fungi.
If I had to narrow it down to the single most important microorganism species for your garden, it would be a mycorrhizal fungus called Glomus intraradices.
That’s because it partners up with over 90% of plant species and plays a huge role in the health of our plants and soil.
There is no other microorganism that works so closely with plants to bring them nutrients and water and to protect them from root-feeding diseases.
I have mycorrhizae for sale. Actually, to be more accurate, ‘mycorrhizae’ actually refers to the relationship between the fungi and the root (‘myco’ means fungi and ‘rhiza’ means root).
So you can’t buy mycorrhizae, but you can buy mycorrhizal fungi, and it’s often very useful to do so.
What Mycorrhizal Fungi Do
Mycorrhizal fungi wrap around the roots (and often go inside the roots) of the plants in your garden and then grow out through the soil in every direction, effectively extending the root system of those plants by hundreds of times.
They get nutrients out of the soil that plants have a hard time getting themselves, especially phosphorus (which is good because deficient phosphorus is a common reason why our plants aren’t optimally healthy) and also many others.
They also hold calcium in the soil – you can go apply a whole bunch of lime, but if you don’t have fungi in the soil, a lot of that lime can leach out very quickly.
Mycorrhizal fungi also bring water to plants and protect plant roots from predators, and even invite other beneficial microbes into the root area by feeding them directly.
They even connect most of your plants together, giving those plants the ability to share nutrients and other compounds with each other!
The reason they do all this is that the plants give them food in return.
Some plants will give over 50% of the carbohydrates (which they produce through photosynthesis) to these fungi.
This mycorrhizal symbiosis is bartering that’s been going on for millions of years and it’s one of the most important foundations of all life on earth and of the health of your garden.
By the way, be sure to read the comparison to both compost tea and SCD/EM on the right side of the page.
How To Make Your Own Mycorrhizal Inoculant
When possible, I really like to teach you guys how to make these kinds of things for yourself.
And it actually is possible to grow your own mycorrhizal inoculant, an inoculant being a culture of microorganisms that you use to establish them in your garden.
But it’s no simple task and I don’t see it being worth the effort for home gardeners (other than for fun because it would be cool if you could learn to do it properly).
It takes a few months, but if you’re interested, here’s a nice little production guide from Rodale.
How Mycorrhizal Inoculant Is Made For Sale
What they have to do to produce the fungi is grow acres and acres of plants inoculated with mycorrhizal fungi on the roots and then pull up the roots, harvest the fungi, get the spores (which are kind of like the microscopic seeds of fungi), clean them, protect them with a carrier, and – well, it’s a very intensive and delicate process.
Some companies are now culturing the fungi in a lab. I have no problem with that in theory, but my understanding is that so far the quality is not there, so I stick with the tried and true method of using inoculants that were grown on plants.
So, you can take these mycorrhizal products and apply them directly to your seed and to the roots of your plants when you plant them, and the relationship should begin to form with a few days.
I’ve seen incredible results when seeding new lawns and planting new gardens with mycorrhizal fungi products.
Forward-thinking landscapers and farmers are onto using it now. Even people who grow world record giant pumpkins are using it, too.
Who Needs This The Most?
Soil that’s been tilled, compacted, waterlogged or treated with pesticides will often be severely deficient in these important fungi, so that’s when it’s our job to bring them back in.
Same goes if you’ve brought in topsoil, potting soil or even compost (they don’t generally exist in compost because they need a plant partner to grow).
That’s why I recommend this for almost everyone, as most of us have at least one of these conditions, and because getting these beneficial fungi back into partnership with plant roots can have a dramatic impact on plant growth.
If you’re working in more of a natural ecosystem, like on the edge of a forest or natural grassland, you can probably skip this one, although you’ll still want it for starting seeds or planting in containers.
Endomycorrhizal Vs Ectomycorrhizal Fungi
There are two main categories of mycorrhizal fungi: Source: Mycorrhizal Applications – manufacturer of quality mycorrhizal inoculants.
- Endomycorrhizal fungi (also called arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi or am fungi) partner up with well over 90% of plant species – most plants. G. Intraradices is included here, along with a few other less important species.
- Ectomycorrhizal fungi work with less than 5% of plants, so they’re not usually needed in a home food garden, although it doesn’t hurt to have them if you happen to get an inoculant that includes them, and they do associate with some trees including pine, fir, Douglas fir, spruce, hemlock, oak, birch, beech, hickory, alder, willow.
I carry a mycorrhizal inoculum that has just the endomycorrhizal fungi, which is the one you need if you’re growing food.
I also carry an inoculum that has a mix of both the endo and the ecto, which you may need if you’re planting a mix of deciduous and coniferous trees and shrubs.
How To Choose A Quality Mycorrhizal Inoculant
Unfortunately, most inoculants aren’t great, but there are a few good ones.
I’ve spent more time searching for this product than any other, and I was lucky enough to find an excellent manufacturer.
I actually worked with them to create a special size just for home gardeners, as they were focusing on creating high-quality inoculants for landscapers and farmers.
I’ve learned a lot along the way, so I can share a couple of tips on what you want to look for when buying a mycorrhizal inoculant.
The number of mycorrhizal spores is part of the picture. Some products have less than 1000 spores per pound. Some have hundreds of thousands. Spore count alone isn’t all that relevant, though – you need to compare it to price.
For example, if a product has twice as many spores as another but costs four times as much, then all else being equal, it’s not a good deal.
But spores per pound is not the only relevant part. The quality of the manufacturing process and the health of the spores are just as important.
If most of your spores are destroyed or if they’re being packed in an inappropriate carrier, you lose a lot of benefits. I would rather have a lower spore count from a quality manufacturer.
This particular product has about 35000 spores per pound, which is way more than the cheap products on the market but not as high as some others. But where these folks shine is with quality – they’re well known for producing a high-quality inoculant.
Some manufacturers count ‘propagules’ instead of ‘spores.’ Propagules can include root fragments and other inert materials, so the spore count might actually be much lower. When buying a product, make sure you figure out how many actual spores are in it.
And not just spores, but how many G. intraradices spores, or at least endo spores. Endo/ecto blends are going to have way more spores because the ecto are so much smaller and more plentiful, so that makes it looks like they’re a much higher value, but it’s really endo you want to pay attention to in order to compare apples to apples.
A point of controversy in the mycorrhizal inoculant world is diversity of species. Some people contend that G. Intraradices is really the only endomycorrhizal species you need, while others claim that a diversity of several endo species is better because each of them will do better in certain conditions with certain plants.
The latter has always made sense to me because more diversity is usually better in nature, but after a lot of reading into this, I believe it’s not as important as you might think.
G. Intraradices is the important one. If a product has a few other species, as mine does, that’s probably a good thing, but not too big of a deal.
When it comes to ectomycorrhizal fungi, if a product has it, there are usually a handful of species, and it is a good thing in that case because they’re specialists.
One more thing. In my opinion, it’s usually best not to buy mycorrhizae for sale with other microbes in it such as bacteria. It’s fashionable in the mycorrhizal fungi products world to add them in, but they probably aren’t helping all that much, and they may be detrimental.
Also, in my opinion, don’t buy mycorrhizal inoculants with trichoderma in them. It’s all the rage to include trichoderma fungi these days, and perhaps there are some benefits, but there’s also some evidence that they can interfere with the mycorrhizal fungi.
I’m not going to get into that here because I’ve already been rather long-winded, but I’m staying away from trichoderma mixed with myco until I see more evidence.
Mycorrhizal Applications – How To Use Mycorrhizal Fungi
The relationship occurs at the roots, so that’s where you need to do the mycorrhizal inoculation – there’s no benefit spraying it onto plant leaves.
That means when you’re sowing seed, sprinkle a little fungi on them first. I’ve often just finished soaking my seed in kelp or sea minerals, and so the fungi sticks to it nicely, but that’s not necessary – just a bonus.
When you’re planting, just rub a little bit of inoculant onto the root ball of the plant.
If you have an existing landscape with reasonably porous soil (i.e. not heavily compacted) and you’re using a powder inoculant such as my mycorrhizal fungi for sale here (rather than a granular product), you can mix it in water and spray it onto the soil and then water it in and some of it will work its way down to the roots.
How Much Do You Need?
Note: There’s a little more than 300ml in 1/2 pound of inoculant.
When planting:
- For small plants, just rub some powder onto the side of the root ball, less than 1/4 teaspoon for little “starts” such as tomato plants, and more like 1 teaspoon for a 1-gallon pot and 2 teaspoons for a 5-gallon pot. A little is all that’s needed.
- For seedlings, 1/2 pound can do up to 800 of them if you mix it in water and spray the roots, or just very lightly dip the roots into the powder.
- For trees, 1/2 pound will do about 30 of them – that’s 2 teaspoons per tree.
- For seed, use 1/2 pound per 1/3 acre worth of seed if you’re going to be mixing it in with your seed before sowing. That means if you’re seeding a typical home lawn, 1/2 pound will be more than plenty, as 1.5 Tablespoons per 1000 square feet is all you need to mix with the seed. If you’re seeding vegetables, 1/2 pound will be even more than more than plenty – they just need an incredibly light dusting.
When applying to existing lawns and gardens:
- We need to apply a lot more. It’s optimal to use at least 300ml (1/2 pound) per 1000 square feet.
- That said, I’ve discussed this with the manufacturer, and they said that 300 ml (1/2 pound) can do up to 4000 square feet. The fungi will take longer to get established, but it should do so in time.
- The dilution with water is 1 Tbsp/gallon of water. You can use a hose-end sprayer if you do a good job dissolving the fungi in some water first, or for small jobs, a watering can is great because there’s zero worry about clogging the sprayer. When applying with water, I’ll usually mix it with liquid seaweed.
- If the soil isn’t porous, you can instead dig a few small holes around each plant and tuck a teaspoon of powder down into each hole.
- Irrigate right after application in order to move it down into the root zone.
Get It Here
$21.00 – $53.00
In summary, this fungal inoculant:
- Helps plants take up phosphorus, nitrogen and many other nutrients, plus water, and also protects plant roots from soil-borne pests.
- Is probably needed in soils that have previously been tilled, compacted, water-logged, sprayed with pesticides, or left without plant cover.
- Is organic, OMRI-Listed and non-GMO, and 1/2 pound goes a long way.
As a free bonus when you order today, I’ll also enroll you in my Inoculants course.
Just choose your size and click ‘Add To Cart’ up above!
Notes
- I ship in the U.S. only. I ship 7 days a week.
- In the continental U.S., shipping is $15.
- All of my products have a 1 year 100% money-back guarantee.
- If you have a question about a product, leave it in the comment section below I'll try to respond within a few hours.
- Dry fertilizers and compost tea brewers ship separately so they will arrive on their own maybe a day or 2 apart from my other products.
- I send a percentage of every order to Thrive For Good and other similar organizations. They're working mostly in Africa to help communities grow organic, medicinal food for themselves, and then use the surplus food to generate income for themselves as well as feeding the orphans in their communities.
Free $25 Bonus When You Buy Today
When you buy this fungi, you get enrolled into my online Inoculants course.
Mycorrhizal fungi is so easy to use that I actually only have a couple of videos on it in there, but I have other videos on topics such as how to make your own bacteria-based inoculant and discussions on a few other inoculants.
The course includes 11 videos totaling about 40 minutes.
Need A Larger Amount?
$89.00 – $490.00
If you’re a farmer or professional gardener/landscaper who needs bigger quantities, here they are.
What is the lifetime of the Bio-Organics Endomycorrhizal fungi (in the container you ship it in)? I mean, can I keep it a year? Two years? And can I store it in an outdoor shed? I don’t want to kill the little things. 🙂
The shelf life is a minimum of 2 years if stored at room temperature – best to keep them inside.
I have a 2.5 acre old tobacco farm in the NC Piedmont area that I am turning into a botanical garden with native plants and pollinators. I am in year five. Have a .5 acre lawn that surrounds the house but the rest is either ponds, mulched beds or still untouched meadow that I am getting ready to plant in fall. I have roughly 65,000 sq ft of land I would like to treat with your Endo fungi.
I am confused about how to use it with a hose sprayer. Usually I put in undiluted seaweed or fish fertilizer in my sprayer at whatever the bottle tells me, usually one TBSP or one OZ per gallon.
I do not know how to mix this product and then use the sprayer as if I mix it re 1 TBSP per gallon it will get too diluted to use in the sprayer. Help before I order. TY. Kevin Ann
Hi Kevin, a hose-end sprayer isn’t right for this product over such a large area. Would you be able to instead directly inoculate the seeds/plants as you plant them? It’s more economical to do it this way and it works better, too.
Mr phil, am Patrick from Nigeria, is it possible to get shipment of your mycorrhizae in Nigeria?
Sorry, Patrick, I ship in the U.S. only.
How long is the expiration date?
Minimum 2 years if stored at room temperature.
It costs $15 to ship a mere 8 ounces of mycorrhizal inoculant? That seems pretty excessive to me. The real shipping costs can’t possibly be anywhere near $15 to ship 8 ounces of a powder. Can you lower the shipping costs?
I know, it seems excessive to me, too. But for real, I get charged anywhere from $12-$15 to ship this via UPS, and I actually get decent discounts from them. Plus I have to pay my guys just over $2 to ship it. So ya, I usually lose money on shipping. What most of my customers do is also order a couple of additional products and then the $15 shipping makes more sense.
Have you checked out using the US Postal Service? I believe they now offer tracking, and may be a lot cheaper.
Yes, I’ve looked into that. In the end, it wasn’t less expensive, but I’ll continue to look for ways to lower costs – expensive shipping hurts me too.
I ship lots of products for my online business and USPS is way cheaper and as reliable as the other guys. I ship everything priority mail and it is delivered in 90% of the cases in less than 48 hrs
Their flat rate boxes are also a great deal for long distance
Yes, I’ve started using them more often in 2017. I still lose money on shipping, but not as much. Thanks for posting!
I am sure shipping costs include the cost and labor of packaging; addressing; transportation to a carrier; etc;
Shipping prices are not just the carriers price, ( USPS FEDx etc )
Thanks Kalei, yes, I lose thousands of dollars each year on shipping. It’s a challenge, for sure.
Hi Phil,
I live in South Florida. My garden is only 1/4 acreage and so far I was able to plant 80 FL native species. Unfortunately there is a couple spots where nothing seem to thrive neither Palms or trees.
Before I buy your product I want to make sure what I need. I would love to plant a red southern cedar and bring another live oak. Which Mycorrhizal Fungi I need or should I buy both because of the different species of trees?
Thanks so much for your time and your effort and love for nature.
The soil is sandy mostly alkaline I use rain water as irrigation.
You want the endo-ecto blend, which will do cedar, oak, and basically all other trees. Sounds like an exciting project!
I, too, had wondered about the high costs of shipping, so I appreciate the frank discussion here. It is refreshing to deal with someone who is open about costs on “the other end” of the shipping deal. Thanks.
Are the products, combinations, and applications the same for a perennial flower garden. I don’t have any food plants other than some herbs. Thanks.
Yes, it’s all the same for an ornamental/flower garden.
Why dont you ship in the flat rate boxes by usps?
I have a fulfillment company do my shipping for me, and they don’t offer it as an option.
Hi, is it possible to ship to Zagreb, Croatia… and how much would shipping cost. Thanks for the reply. Cheers!
Sorry Zida, I can’t ship outside of the U.S.
What is the spore count per gram of your product?
77 spores per gram. It’s not the highest spore count in the industry, but we’ve had professionals, garden centers and product formulators who have moved away from this product to a product with a higher spore count, only to return later because they weren’t getting the results anymore. This is when I started to learn that spore count per weight isn’t a great comparison tool, and that mycorrhizal products are really hard to compare on paper because it’s all about quality. Challenging for a guy like me who likes to make spreadsheets and figure things out by the numbers.
For established plants and trees would you only need to apply once or would you do so annually?
Only once is all you need. If you end up with extra, it wouldn’t hurt to apply it twice, but once should suffice.
What is the spore count per gram of your product?
is this something that you would apply annually to an existing yard or would one application be enough for several years?
One application is enough as long as you’re not using chemicals or doing much tilling.
So to use on grass in a yard that is heavy clay, would I need to dig holes every few feet? Or would you still suggest spraying it on, and watering it in well?
For heavy clay, I would first rent a core aerator to aerate the lawn (or hire a gardener to do it), and then apply the inoculant immediately after. That will allow it to get down into the root zone. I would also use fertilizers and a light topdressing of good compost at the same time, when you have this opportunity to get it down into the soil.
Thank you!
So I imagine that I still want to use bean and pea inoculant, in addition to this?
Yes, that’s right.
I just read an article that said to use a legume inoculant when planting peas and beans. Is that what this product is, or is it something different?
This product is different. Legumes do associate with mycorrhizal fungi and benefit from it, but yes, they benefit from a legume inoculant as well.
Hi there! I have a cabin in Wyoming that my family and I visit once a year for two weeks in the summer, typically the end of July. I have two questions for you, 1) how long would shipping take to reach Wyoming (as we are here for only 2 weeks)? 2) will the endo/ectomycorrizhal fungi last through the harsh winter months?Thanks for your help!
Darn, I’m so sorry for missing this earlier – my sincere apologies. If you order this weekend, my best bet is that it will arrive on Thursday to Wyoming.Yes, as long as you don’t remove all the plant matter and don’t till the soil, the fungi go dormant in the winter and will be there to stay.
How, or where, can I get ahold of Ectomycorrhizal Fungi? I have several oaks and evergreens that I would like to add a little boost to. The Texas weather has them not looking too healthy and I understand that ectomycorrhizal fungi helps with water use and general health of the tree. Am I correct in saying that the ecto fungi will make my trees a little healthier? We water sufficiently but would like to give them a boost. Thanks for your help.
Of course it’s not a magic bullet, but yes, mycorrhizal fungi is tremendously important for tree health and can make a big difference. I sell Endo up above as ‘Endo-Ecto Mycorrhizal Fungi’. Ecto almost always comes with Endo, because Endo associates with over 90% of plants, including most of those trees.
can you send the product to west bank palestine
No, I’m sorry, I only ship in the U.S.
can you mention some names of endomycorrhizae with their scientific names.
The endomycorrhizal species are Glomus aggregatum, G. etunicatum, G. clarum, G. deserticola, G. intraradices, G. monosporus, G. mosseae, Gigaspora margarita, and Paraglomus brasilianum.The ectomycorrhizal species are Lacarria laccata, Pisolithus tinctorius, Rhizopogon amylpogon, R. fulvigleba, R. rubescens, R. villosuli, and Scleroderma cepa, S. citrinum.
PhilI am pretty sure I have salt toxicity problem in a high tunnel with strawberries. I know that this product cant fix my problem but from what I have read it could help the plants tolerate the problem. Can you speak to that?
I asked Graham Phillips, who produces my mycorrhizal product, for his advice. He in turn asked Don Chapman, a pioneer in the mycorrhizal world and the original creator of this product. Don says:”Well, there’s been quite a bit of mycorrhizal research done on toxic levels of salt. It can definitely give plants better resistance to salty soil. The fellow I first worked with did some experiments growing tomatoes in pure beach sand – very salty stuff.My advice is for this grower to drench a section of his plants with the powdered endomycorrhizal inoculant, mark it, and observe. If the plants are already stressed, their roots will be exuding a “help” signal that should trigger a fairly immediate and strong response from the beneficial fungi. I’d expect to begin seeing positive results in 4-6 weeks time.To test the inoculant for strawberries, I’d use ½ cup per gallon and drench 25 sq. ft. per gallon. This is a little heavier application than usual, but we want to be sure that each plant receives at least a few spores of each type to determine how well the procedure works. After the drench, spray water lightly on the plants to transport all the spores down to the root zones.Later applications can experiment with more dilute strengths if the grower has a large area to cover. The fungi will spread from one plant to its neighbors in time.”
How much do you recommend per pound of soilless potting mix containing equal amounts of sphagnum peat moss, perlite, coir, and vermiculite. Also, I plan to use the potting mix for indoor vegetable growing (under grow lights) and wonder if I can reuse the potting mix or need to start with new mix after every harvest. Thanks for your help.
The recommendation is 1lb of fungi per cubic yard of potting mix (or 2 Tbsp per cubic foot. Personally, I instead inoculate my seeds and plant roots directly, as that uses much less product.As for reusing potting mix, yes you can if it’s healthy and disease-free. But if you grow something that sends its roots all throughout the mix, you may find the mix to be largely unusable and to some extent lower in nutrients, but how much, I’m not sure.
I want to try and grow a mycorrhizal mushroom (truffles), will the organisms within the bio ag compete with the mushroom preventing it’s spores from growing? Thank you
No, if you use as directed (like at least a 1:250 ratio of bio ag to water), you will be fine.
Hey Phil,I’ve planted bare root pine seedlings and establishment is more than critical because soil erosion is the goal. I need root growth fast. If all 184 trees are already planted, is too late to apply ectomycorrhizae? How effective is the powder through a sprayer? Any information would be helpful. Thanks!(this is the product i’m referring to)
Hi Alex, you’re still fine to spray the ecto. A micronized product like this one goes beautifully through a sprayer, and since the trees were just recently planted, the water should quickly make its way down to the roots. Nothing to worry about 🙂
I am planting 200 bare root grape vines. Ho much of the endomycorrhizal innoculum would you recommend per plant?
1/2 pound will be plenty. That’s about 1/3 teaspoon per plant. You could use even less than that but it just becomes an issue of how to work with such tiny amounts, the best answer often being to mix the powder in water and spray all of the roots at once, which is certainly faster. If you do that, just make sure you use a sprayer that hasn’t had chemicals in it, and dissolve the powder really well before spraying. The other option, which for some reason I do more often, is to dust the wet roots with the dry powder by hand, doing a bunch of them at once. Hope that helps.
You put a chart showing that Orchids do not respond to this type of mycorrhizal fungus. Do you know what type do they grow in?
Various species of basidiomycetes – I don’t think any of them are available to purchase as an inoculant.
hHw do i apply micro. fungi to lawn what mixture (teaspoons per gallon) in water to be dispensed by way of 15 gallon tank mounted on golf cart.Should water be warm?Do i need to kill cholrine in water ?How much mixture per 1/2 acre?Morning or evening? Most Sincerely Charles Boone
Hi Charles, the manufacturer recommends 1/2 pound of inoculant per 1000 square feet as being optimal, but I asked them and they told me that for half an acre of existing lawn, the three pound jar should be sufficient – the more you use, the faster the spores will spread, but ultimately it should get to the same point.As for the amount of water, it doesn’t matter – just use whatever you need to cover the whole area. The water doesn’t need to be warm, and the chlorine isn’t the end of the world, but when I do this, I do let the water warm up to ambient temperature, and I do let it sit for 24 hours to dissipate the chlorine, because why not right? I do that even though I water it in afterwards with cold, non-chlorinated water, although ideally, I wait until it’s going to rain. Morning or evening also doesn’t matter much, as long as it gets watered in right away, but I prefer evening to give the spores a little more time to get down into the root zone before the sun is out.
Hi Phil!Just placed my order with you. It was difficult deciding which products to go with considering I’m on a $100 budget. But I done research and finally made my decisions. Cannot wait to incorporate them in! What I’m wondering though, is if you have a certain legume inoculant that is your fav? Thank you for doing all this research and making this way of organic gardening easy to understand! You have totally changed my way of thinking about how to grow organically!!
Sorry Dee, I don’t have a fav legume inoculant. It’s definitely worthwhile to use, but I haven’t put much time into researching the options.
I’m planting 250 bare root Red raspberries spring 2017. I would like to mix the powder in a 5 gallon bucket of water, then dip the roots into the solution and let them soak as I’m planting. I wouldn’t let them soak more than 2 hours. What is the ratio of your mix and water in the 5 gallon bucket for 250 bare root Red Raspberry plants?
Sorry for the delay on this – I wanted to ask the producer of this inoculant. I know it would be easier to root dip, but I wouldn’t do it because the spores won’t stick to the roots very well. Instead, I would either sprinkle the powder onto the roots after you’re done soaking them or into the planting hole directly, or water the plants with a water-powder solution after planting. If you sprinkle, 1/2 teaspoon is a good amount for small bare-rooted plants, so 1 pound of the powder for 250 trees. If you water, mix 1 Tbsp of powder per gallon of water and apply 1 quart per plant, which would be 1.5 pounds of the powder for 250 trees. Hope that helps!
Thank you for your reply, Phil. If I were to apply a water-powder solution to the roots of the Raspberry canes, how much water and solution would you recommend? Would this be poured onto the roots or sprayed onto the roots? Thanks!
I’d much rather it be sprinkled on (I sometimes line up all the bare root balls together and just sprinkle them all at once, so it doesn’t take any time), but if you’d rather mix with water, I’d prefer spraying over pouring because pouring means it may go right past the roots. For spraying, the recommendation is usually 1 Tbsp per gallon of water, but in this case, I’d go more like 4 Tbsp per gallon and then apply about 1 cup of water per plant, so 1.5 pounds of inoculant in 15 gallons of water. Make sure the powder gets dissolved before going through the sprayer, perhaps in some warm (not too hot) water.
I grow orchids and recently purchased a terrestrial from a grower who mentioned he plants all of his terrestrials in a peat moss that is mychorrhizal inoculated to help prevent fungus. I called later and spoke to his associate who says they were unable to source the specific product they typically use. I am wondering if I could use your product with the sphagnum moss I have, mix it with perlite and achieve the same medium he was using. I’m also curious as to whether using some in my spray bottle for the other orchids would be beneficial or not. I did find this product online: Premier Tech PRO-MIX HP-CC Mycorrhizae High Porosity Growing Mix, 3.8 Cubic Feet. It is peat/coir based. Do you have any experience or know of anyone with orchid experience and mychorrizal inoculated medium? If I used your product, how much would I use with the moss &/or spray bottle.
Orchids are one of the few species of plants that form relationships with different types of mycorrhizal fungi, not the ones I sell. I don’t know if they’re available commercially. Rhizoctonia is the most common fungal genus that associates with orchids, so you should search for that, although if possible, I would also search to see if there’s information on which species of fungi associate with your specific species of orchids. The Premier Tech product won’t work. Good luck!
If I took this product, tilled the soil to get ready for planting ( vegetable garden ), how much would I need to use and or would I add anything else needed ? Sick of in-store fertilizers that don’t seem to work
How big is the area? How many plants do you plant? And do you sow seed?
Sorry if this has already be addressed, but I am an commercial organic vegetable farmer on 8 acres. I would like to add this product to my potting mix for all of my transplanted crops with is 99% of them, but I have concerns about the tractor work we use for weeding of those crops, and if that will disrupt the mycorrhizae. Obviously we aren’t destroying the plants or their roots when using the tractor. Also, when the crop is finished and we till in the bed, how likely can there be a high survival rate of the fungi after two passes with the tractor? Thank you!
Sorry for the delay. The tractor implement for weeding shouldn’t disrupt the mycorrhizae much, if at all. The mycorrhizae will remain with the roots of the crops. As for tilling, there will be a lot of spores left in the soil even after tilling, but it’s difficult to estimate how the tilling will affect it. There certainly will be an effect but there may be enough in the bed to inoculate the next crop. That will always vary. Generally growers will add it again if they are tillingm but often at lower rates.
I have about 140 Black walnut saplings in the ground for 2-3 years. Some are doing very well but most are piddling along. I have emailed 2 other sites but for some reason get no response. How can I buy mycorrhizae for my plants?
Kent
Hi Kent, you can buy the endo/ecto up above on this page. 1.5 pounds will be perfect. Mix the whole container with 35 gallons of water and water each tree’s root zone with 1 quart of that. You don’t need to get all of the roots of each tree – just some of them.
When transplanting seedlings, they come out of a small container and I don’t typically break up the soil around the root ball if it’s not too bound up. Do I need to break up the root ball to apply the mycorrhizae? It is typically a 2″ x 2″ x 2″ ball. Do I just put a bit on any portion available? Do I need to cover the whole thing? Finally, I’m doing raised bed gardening using Mel’s mix 1/3 compost, 1/3 peat moss, 1/3 vermiculite. Since I’m not using my own soil, is it as important to use the mycorrhizae? I make my own compost and worm castings that I add whenever I plant something new. What are your thoughts about this?
Yes, you definitely want to use a mycorrhizal inoculant in Mel’s Mix, as the spores don’t multiply in compost (they need living plants on which to grow), so they very probably won’t be there. But no, you don’t need to break up the root ball, and you don’t need to cover the whole thing. Just a pinch on 1 side of each root ball will do.
That makes sense. I am wondering…this will need to be done yearly as most of the plants in a vegetable garden are annual. I am guessing that the fungi cannot survive from one season to another. I can also, yearly, coat the seed like you say in my transplant containers and they should be ready to go once I teansplant into the garden? Will the fungi do okay in the seedling container for the month-or-so they are indoors? Do you recommend anything else for the raised bed garden?
Yes, although there may be some spores that overwinter in the soil, it’s best (and quite economical) to inoculants annual plants each year. And the fungi will be fine in the container. As for other recommendations, yes, I recommend everything I sell, but nothing specific for raised beds that would be different from regular beds. My top 3 for most people are usually the fungi, the EM/Bio Ag, and the liquid seaweed or sea minerals.
Is the mycorrhizal inoculant the same as (or better than) IBA (indolebutyric acid) to use as a rooting hormone when planting cuttings?
I’ve never seen any comparison. They’re obviously very different, and both can be helpful.
1. I want to start some cuttings from my Japanese Maple, how would you do this? Since the cuttings have no roots how would you apply the Endomycorrhizal Fungi?
2. I buy compost from our local county government by the dump truck load and grow peppers. My understanding is to treat just the transplants not the whole load of compost? Would there be an advantage to treating the whole 20 yards?
3. I also have the Sea Minerals, Compost Tea, Basalt Rock Dust, Gypsum and ProBio Balance.
1. You can put the powder on anyway, as the roots will come soon.
2. No, it’s too expensive to treat the whole thing. Just treat the plants.
3. You can treat the whole garden with these, as the roots will eventually spread everywhere.
Hi Phil, Thanks for your sharing your knowledge.
My lawn was infected by Take all root fungus which I have been trying to control.
Quick question: How often should I apply Endomycorrhizal Fungi to my St. Augustine Lawn for maintenance?. I am already applying ProBio Balance (Mother Culture) along with Molasses every month.
Thanks
The endo usually just needs to happen once on a lawn, as the fungi should get established and then stay there for good. If someone was using pesticides, I’d probably recommend reapplying the endo every year or two, but that’s obviously not the case for most of my readers.
Hi, for research purposes, I´m looking for inokulum of Rhizopogon villosulus. It is for project about introduction of Pseudotsuga menziesi in central europe. Is there some chance to buy this specific species from you?
Not from me, but perhaps they could help: http://invam.wvu.edu/
Hello! Love your informative website! I purchased your Beginner Gardner three item set. The products arrived the day after I planted 50 plants in a garden pocket tower and ten additional edible plants and flowers in terra-cotta plants. Planted Thursday. Your Beginner Kit arrived Saturday. Sunday, today, I’m able to add the Beginner Kit to the already planted plants.
1. Can I just sprinkle some of the endow powder on the roots of each planted plant by simply moving soil aside and dropping a pinch on each side of root ball?
2. How to apply the liquid seaweed to just planted (within 72 hours) plants?
3. How best to apply the third liquid in the Beginners Kit to my recently planted (72 hours ago) garden pocket tower and potted plants?
Thank you!!!!
1. You could, but easier and just as effective in this case would be to mix the powder with water and just water each plant. That’s usually done at 1 Tbsp per gallon of water, but I’d probably do more like 1 Tbsp per quart for this. This only needs to be done once.
2. Mix it with water in a spray bottle at 1:50 (1 teaspoon per cup of water) and spray the leaves. You could also include 1 Tbsp per quart of water when watering the soil with the fungi. This can be done weekly or monthly.
3. Mix it with water in a spray bottle at 1:250 (1 ml per cup of water, which is slightly less than 1/4 teaspoon) and spray the leaves. Seems small, but it’s all you want to use. This can be done weekly or monthly. You could also include 1 teaspoon per quart of water when watering the soil with the fungi, but just do that once.
Thank you!!!
I look forward to applying your recommendation ASAP! I’m just excited to have found a resource such as you and your website.
Thank you for the quick response!
Hello, hello!
In the directions above, is #1 referring to the Endo Innoculant, #2 referring to Neptune’s Harvent Seaweed Plant Food, and #3 referring to BioAg?
Please clarify which instruction refers to which product. Thank you!
Sorry I missed this earlier, Stephanie. Yes, 1-2-3 were just as you thought.
II have an in=ground garden 45′ long by 8′ wide. I had a disease in the soil so I haver removed the soil 16′” deep and have brought in 1/2 topsoil and 1/2 premium potting soil. My plan is to let it settle over the next three months before planting. Here is my question. Do I apply the Endomycorrhizal innoculant now (even though there are no plants in the garden) or wait until I plant it in about three months? Thanks.
It’s better to wait until you plant. They won’t get established without plant roots there anyway.
Hi Phil, would mycorrhizal fungi work on macadamia trees, i have just received my first 1000 trees that i will be planting soon. many thanks
Yes, mycorrhizal fungi is good for macadamia. You want ‘endo’.
Hi, Can you ship AMF inoculant to China or Canada? Is that a pure innoculant ? And May I konw the accurate species name of the AMF?
Unfortunately, I can’t ship out of the U.S.
Hello, Im considering using mycorrhizal fungi in my vegetable garden. I use neem oil to control pest but it is also listed as a fungicide too. Do you have any experience using neem oil and growing fungi? Will the application of diluted neem oil negativly affect mycorrhizal growth?
Thanks!
My understanding, based only on anecdotes from other growers, is that diluted neem oil doesn’t negatively impact mycorrhizal fungi.
Hello, I am considering using mycorrizal incolulant in my vegetable garden. I use neem oil to control pest but it is also listed as a fungicide. Do you use both in the same garden? Will the neem oil negatively affect mycorrizal growth in my garden when applied to my plant leaves? Thanks!
Hi, I am doing a research project that involves inoculating Brassica juncea (Kodiak Mustard) to cleanse soil around tailing ponds to reclaim land especially in Alberta, Canada. I have read from another scientist that you can obtain AM fungi from a plant outside, like a sidewalk plant. You can dry the plants root, grind them down and apply it to your plant. How can this work! Please let me know as soon as you can!!
You’ll have to search around online a bit. Here’s one guide: https://rodaleinstitute.org/quick-and-easy-guide-on-farm-am-fungus-inoculum-production/
And how would I know if mycorrhizal if on a plant and what does it look like??
Hello, thank you in advance. Can I apply your product to plants already potted? Will it leach into the soil and benefit them.
Yes, you just mix it in water and water it in. That’s a very common way of doing it.
Hi Phil, Tx for the email follow up on my purchases. Am already excited about apparent results with endo powder I used on some sprouted seedlings I started in paper towel medium and transferred to soil blocks. Planted beet seedlings in pots earlier to set a jump start on these little guys and they developed first leaves, but did not grow much in height. Started some more after receiving the endo powder and just applied to the single root before sinking into the soil block. Dramatic difference within 3 day….second group much taller. I know that the first group will have substantially more developed root system, but what a difference!!! Also used endo powder on the single root of some Iris I started from seeds, and they have done GREAT!! Yep….Iris from seeds….who knew!! So just planted 10 raspberries in a new patch. Dusted with endo powder and watered in well with Pro-bio, seaweed and molasses in hose end sprayer….all this make sense on paper…..I hope to see great results in the ground!! I also am interested in this BIO-char product and possibly some home production…..any thought??
Thanks for sharing, Alexis. Biochar is one thing I haven’t gotten into myself. It may be worth experimenting with.
Just purchased some of your product. I recently planted bare root shrubs, berries, grapevines and trees. Can a small diameter plant stake be forced down into the roots and pour a small amount of mixed product into the holes to get it to the roots? If so what concentration?
thanks
Yes, the rule of thumb is 1 teaspoon for smaller plants and 2-3 teaspoons for bigger plants. Alternatively, you can mix the powder in water at 1 Tbsp/gallon of water and just water the plants, doing the math to make sure you end up getting about 1-3 teaspoons per plant.
During the growing season, do I need to continue to feed the mycorrhizae if so how much and with what?
No, once is all you need. You don’t even need to do it annually (except wherever you’re planting/seeding new plants).
Some extremely helpful information in this article.
I germinate my seeds using the damp paper method.
Is it useful to coat the seeds before germination or is it
better to apply to the tap root prior to transplanting?
Either way is perfectly fine. Personally, I put it on the seed.
hello again phil,
you mentioned in your other myco page that it’s better to let the soil dry out every watering to encourage the roots and myco with it to reach far below the soil;
1. wouldnt that stress seedlings and cuase it’s growth to be stunted or at the very least slow it’s growth?
also prior to re-visiting your very informative web community here, just bought some great white myco but it contains trychoderma in it.
you mentioned this might be detrimental, now kinda concerned bout this since i’m growing strawberries and am intent in letting mycorizae grow in the root system but also organically protect the strawberry plants using trichoderma since it rains a lot in the Philippines
2. would you be so kind to please elaborate on this statement of yours, possibly with evidence if you have any? (since you kinda didnt mention it in this page in detail)
best,
john
p.s. more power to this community and movement hehehehehehe 🙂
Hi John, seedlings obviously need watering more frequently than established trees. We just want to allow them to dry out enough that their roots begin to search a little further for water. We don’t want the leaves to get to the wilting point, but again, we do want those roots to go exploring.
As for Trichoderma, I doubt it will be detrimental. Some folks think it may not be as beneficial having them in there, but I believe that’s still inconclusive. It probably depends on the situation. Anyway, I wouldn’t worry about it. Go ahead and use what you have.
I currently use water soluble 20-20-20 miracle grow. If I hit my trees with Mycorrhizae will it be harmful to the
fungi if I use the miracle grow? I assumed the Mycorrhizae will increase the roots and would therefore absorb more
of the fertilizer but I have read the synthetic fertilizer will harm the fungi?
Thanks
It can harm the fungi but it depends on a number of factors, like how much fertilizer you use, if it hits the fungi directly, etc. What I would do is apply the fungi on a different day than the miracle grow and also be mindful not to overapply the miracle grow. It’s the same with huma s – spill some vinegar on your skin and you’ll be fine, but take a bath in 20% acetic acid vinegar and you’ll be in trouble.
I am doing a science fair project on using a bacteria inoculant to speed up germination of rye seed. I have used garden soil on an agar plate to grow the bacteria but it hasn’t helped speed up the germination. Do you have any advice? Would your product work for rye seed?
Yes, it often does speed up germination, perhaps not so much the initial radicle growth, but more so top growth. Of course, a number of factors contribute to germination success, but I would guess you’d have a bit better luck with endomycorrhizal fungi than with bacteria. But also, if you’re using garden soil for both the control and the test, you may already have similar numbers of bacteria and/or fungi in both. Would be better to use sterilized soil in order to control for this.
Where I live I have to treat the seed for peas and beans with a fungicide (I use captan). Seems to be a problem with a lot of people where I live. No treat, 3-10% stand — treated almost 100% stand, and I even tried letting the soil warm to 70 degrees or more for the untreated beans.
So my question is, would it do any good to still use Mycorrhizal Fungi. I was thinking maybe if treating the seeds was a waste (however this the easiest way), how about if I dug the trench a little deeper and put the Mycorrhizal an inch or two below the seeds. I usually plant double rows 6 – 8 inches apart, and was thinking of a single deeper application between the 2 rows.
Also last year I treated most of my vegtables with Mycorrhizol, but as a test left a few tomatoes and peppers untreated. The treated plants were almost twice as nice as the untreated.
So I will always treat with Mycorrhizal Fungi (well maybe not what I treat with a fungicide like peas and beans). My sisters also like it, so ordering more for them too.
What I would do is come through 2 weeks after planting with the mycorrhizal powder dissolved in water and then water the plants with it (water the soil).
I see you don’t ship to Canada, but why does your shipping address include province and postal code ? Is there somewhere in Canada where I can buy this product?
Thanks
I don’t know of any place in Canada that sells this product, but my friend Christina sells a different one here: https://www.gardenerspantry.ca/microorganisms/mycorrhizal-fungi.html
What is your exact number of Rhizophagus Intraradices..How many propagules per gram?
Our concentration is 10 per cc (about 12-14 per gram is the conversion I think – they are going to switch the label to grams in the future). Total with all species is 50 per cc. Note that their Intraradices are in vivo rather than in vitro. In vitro has higher concentrations but the actual propagules are not as durable or effective.
Will you sell Mycorrhizal spores without the diluent ?
Hi Joe, we can’t break down the species or sell it without any carriers. You can try INVAM: https://invam.wvu.edu/
Hi, I’m for sure need your help… I’m big on organic gardening, …. meant I really love the concept… I have been working so hard for the last 2 years . I do vermacompost and compost… but; nothing seems to work… my compost looks good but don’t do any good to my plants…. worm castings don’t impress me either… I have spent lots of money on so call organic fertilizers… at the end… I have not being able to grow any good veggies… only thing I have grown successfully are hot and bell peppers…. please Help… tell me what I need to buy from you to make it simple and grow tomatoes, lettuces and strawberries to name some. Please help… Don’t know what to buy….. my plants never seem to take over… I’m trying to grow my veggies on raised beds. I need to stick to few products and forget about to millions of them available…. it’s very overwhelming for me… please help….. thanks… I’m glad I found you page…. I start my veggies from seeds… organic which don’t grow good….
I saw you joined the Academy, which is great because it sounds like it will take us some time to figure out what the issues are. For now, I will say that although products may be helpful, they may not be the main answer. It sounds like it may have more to do with water/soil quality/etc. Give me some more details in the Academy and we can start to figure things out 🙂
Hi, yes I did, and I’m very excited…I have always wanted to have a better understanding on how to grow my own organic vegetables… As far as I know the soil in my garden is mostly clay… my flower garden does very good, but not my vegetables… important to mention…I’m trying to grow my vegetables in raised beds…. I’m very lucky to live an a beautiful property full of trees.. some are oaks.. my back property is about a Quarter of an acre. Unfortunately I don’t have enough sunny area in the back to grow vegetables…. Soooo I built few raised beds.. I make my own compost since I have more leaves that I can wish for. I filled up my boxes with about 70% of compost (mostly screened) 15% peat moss, 5 % worm castings and about 10% black cow manure… added some volcanic sand…. I did this last year and grew some bell peppers … that was about it…. this year I transplanted some of my seeding broccoli lettuces and arugula….. thay are not doing good at all…. looks like the roots don’t go deep and they don’t thrive at all. Too much compost? How can I fix it? Please help.
Yes, you’re trying to grow in 100% organic matter. Most plants can’t handle that. A good soil has only 5-10% organic matter (by weight, which is twice as much by volume). In raised beds, we often use 25% organic matter (by volume) when we’re building them and then 75% topsoil. So you’re going to want to remove some of the existing organic matter and save it for somewhere else in your garden, and then get some topsoil to add into the raised beds. That topsoil could be purchased or could come from your yard. If you don’t want to remove too much of the organic matter, you may get away with 50% of it and 50% topsoil, but that would be the minimum amount of topsoil. Be sure to mix them together well with something like a garden fork. You should have better results this year, and then even better next year because the first year with a new growing medium often isn’t as good as subsequent years, as it needs time to settle.
Thank you so much… I see light now!
Ok, this feels like a remedial question, but I don’t see it covered elsewhere. I coated my (wet) seeds with the inoculant, but I’m wondering if rain shortly after planting would wash all the benefits too deep into the soil before the roots had a chance to emerge and create the mutually beneficial relationship. (Same question for transplants, of course.) And if so, should I try to re-inoculate by the diluted watering technique? Thanks.
The rain shouldn’t wash the spores out unless there was flooding, which probably washed the seeds as well. Otherwise, it shouldn’t knock the spores too far down into the soil. They should be close enough to break dormancy from the root signals to then form the mycorrhizae.
Hi Phil,
I received all of my goodies I ordered a week ago! Thank you! I have 3 very tall and gorgeous Brugmansia trees (angel trumpets) that I have primarily ordered all of this for. I have been fighting off the worst pests of them all, spider mites, throughout this year. These plants grow so fast that those pesky things eat them alive. So through out all of this, leaves will yellow, fall off (which from what I understand is normal) but they still spot, wilt easily (we live in North Fl zone 9-10) and always look like they need something. I plan on Foliar feeding in the evening because of the heat. The soil is primarily all sand. I have been adding worm casings, using fish food and fertilize at least 2x week. Could you give me a little more guidance on how to apply all of these items? Do I add all together and spray? Or do I water some of these in? I probably ordered way too much for just this small bit, but these Trumpets are worth it!
-Boi Ag
-Inoculants
-fish and seaweed along with them
I also have nothing but flowering plants in containers..everyone is a full sun plant. I have made my own organic potting mixture.
Fertilizing 2X per week may be too much, unless you’re applying very small, diluted amounts. As for my products, this calculator I built should answer your questions quite nicely: https://www.smilinggardener.com/sale/calculator/
Can I use fungal inoculant when I’m planting bare root asparagus?
Absolutely. Just sprinkle a little on the roots beforehand. It’s fastest to do it before separating them, when you still have them all together in bundles, but either way works. And if you’ve already planted them, you can always mix the powder with water and water the soil instead, but yes, if you have a chance to put it directly on the roots, that’s great.
I am wondering if this can be used to inoculate dry seeds that will be run through a planter? I will be planting hemp seed.
Can’t do it wet as seeds would stick in planter.
The instructions say “Dust dry inoculant on seeds at minimum rate of 1 lb. per acre. Seeds may need to be slightly dampened.” But I just contacted the manufacturer to see if he had any extra advice. He says dry can work okay but slightly damp is better. What can happen with dry seeds is that there may not be even distribution of the powder. You could experiment with a small amount and try to see how evenly it is distributing through the mix. Or the other option is to water it in after planting.
Phil, I’m needing to have a dead Bradford Pear tree removed due to some kind of white fungal issue. I’m researching soil management, and ran across your site. Is it possible that this type of product could help the lawn fight against a fungal killer (not looking for guarantees, just your educated guess)? Our house is in a development, and there’s a magnolia tree and holly bush nearby… and an oak several yards away. I’d like to save them, as well as upgrade the health of this North Texas clay.
Hi Kathleen, it’s definitely conceivable that mycorrhizal fungi could play a role. I’d also encourage you to get an SCD Probiotics product and to spray it on the lawn and trees at least monthly. Neither of those are fungicides but they can do a lot to improve plant health. Then there are other interventions – watering consistently, topdressing with good compost, getting the soil tested and amending it based on that test, etc. There’s a lot to learn but it’s all interesting 🙂
Hi, I am doing a project where I create prairie plant seeds infused papers to distribute to people, and was hoping to include mycorrhizal fungi inoculant spore in some form in the seed papers, would it work to simply add some of the powder to the seed papers, or do you know of a better option for this purpose?
Thanks!
I expect that will work very well just as you’ve described it.
Hi Phil,
I want to buy 10 pounds of the Endo / Ecto hybrid and would like to ask if it will work well for this situation:
12 years ago I planted approx 100 green giant arborvitae as a hedge around my property and now I know I have been OVER Watering them and some of them are starting to turn brown from “Root Rot”. I have stopped over watering and want to use this product by digging small holes around the root zones and putting a teaspoon or 2 in each hole AND mixing it with water to apply. I’m very glad to have found your site and products and would value your advice very much! Thanks, Art
Hi Art, it’s possible it could help. If the endo/ecto can get past the root rot to colonize the plant roots, which I suspect it can, it can really help improve root health and plant health, which can help the plant win the battle against the disease. You may want to start with 1/2 pound to see how it goes. And the fact that you’ve stopped overwatering should make the soil less attractive to the root rot. I’d encourage you to include some Bio Ag while you’re at it. Good luck!
Hi Phil:
I am looking for a product that I can use on orchids. From some little research I have done it needs to be basidiomycetes or from that family? Can you offer me any advice. Will your product work? I am doing an experiment i have two plants of the exact same species and I want to inoculate one plant and not the other and see if there is any change.
Thanks
Regards
a
Most of the orchid-partnering fungi are indeed basidiomycetes, but my apologies, I’m not sure where to get them.
Hi Phil, I enjoyed reading about your product, and uses (from comments). I’d be buying for an established (30 y.o.) community garden. While much of it is organic, some areas continue to be fertilized with petro-chemical NPK. I have a hunch the latter does some damage to the mycorrhizae. I’ve added spores before, but figured it can’t hurt to do this every few years. Grateful if you could fill in some details on this.
Small amounts of synthetic NPK don’t generally cause problems for mycorrhizal fungi, but larger amounts, especially of P, do cause problems. Same for organic P if too much is used. I would agree with you that adding spores every few years is not a bad idea because there can be multiple reasons their numbers may not be optimal, especially if there’s a lot of tilling or if beds are left fallow over the winter, and because it’s quite affordable to add them back in. Ideally, you’d add them at planting time or right around planting time.
Thanks, Phil. My understanding is that the ornamental beds (and probably some of the fruit tree areas) have had typical biweekly feeds during growing season. Beds are a mix of subtropical (tree ferns, brugmansias) and more traditional plants like roses. While I’d prefer organic fertilizing done lightly and biweekly, our common areas have a mix of things going on. At least it sounds like they won’t be too harmful to mycorrhizae. // While I have you, could you go slightly deeper on your preference for SCD Bio Ag? It sounds good! That said, most write-ups are “copy/pasts” from one site to another. As much as foliar feed / molasses-multiplier method sounds amazing, I’ll probably have to mix in water and add to soil just out of time shortage. –Is it still worth it?
Yes, it’s still worth it. Just get the Bio Ag, which is made for direct application without the fermentation process. Is there any liquid foliar fertilizing that happens, whether manually or through an irrigation system? If you can tie the Bio Ag into that, that would be a bonus, but direct soil application will still bring benefits.
Phil, first off, hats off to you for your “follow through”, and thoughtful comments. Running a site and repping products with this much quality –that’s a *lot* of honorable skull sweat, and hustle. To your question, yes, but rarely. Like your work, if/when “it” happens, it’s usually myself or a handful of folks with not a lot of time. But that’s a good reminder to work that in. Given the season (it’s full-on post-Cherry blossom Spring, here) plants are definitely getting the “full steam ahead” calls to grow, so this would be a great time. I noted the sprayer you’ve used (I’ve gone through a few) so I’ll pick one up and give this a shot. We have marine air, so too much foliar feeding can hasten powdery mildew, etc. I’m maxed out for our budget this quarter, but look forward to ordering from you in a couple months —
Thanks Robert, I’d love to hear how your spring goes.
I only have perennial flowers plus some annual flowers. Do I use endomycorrhizal inoculant primarily or a mixure of endo and ecto?
Just endo is fine.
I grow dozens of dahlias, digging the tubers up after frost every autumn, and replanting in spring. If I inoculate the tubers as I plant them (starting this week), will I need to do it again next year, or will once be enough?
Once should be enough. The spores should go dormant in the soil and then activate when you plant again.
I really need help with my lawn. I know your supposed to water it but the cost gets to be too much. And I don’t have much time. I have a lawn all around my house. At least 5,000 square feet. How much Mycorrhizal Root Builder would I need and how would I apply it / Please send reply to my email address. I read that it will help make a greener thicker lawn and needs less water.
Grass has evolved to go brown when it doesn’t have enough water. It’s not a problem for the grass, but it does look bad and does make room for weeds to come in. Mowing the grass higher will help a little, and mycorrhizal fungi can help, too.
The ideal amount of powder is 1/2 pound per 1000 square feet, although it can be stretched as far as 1/2 pound per 4000 square feet, so for 5000+ square feet, I would do a minimum of 1 pound and a maximum of 2.5 pounds – somewhere in there. It can go through a sprayer if it’s dissolved well, or I also like to use a simple watering can because then there are no clogging worries, although at 1 Tbsp per gallon of water, that would take a while for 5000 square feet.
What is the best brand to buy?
I sell the Bio-Organics brand right on this page and they’re one of the best, but I’ve come across other good brands over the years. Sorry, I don’t have a list, though.
What type of mychorrizal inoculant should I buy for use in a flower garden?
Endomycorrhizal.
Hi Phil:
I received the Endomycorrhizal Fungi today and observed that the container was quite warm-even hot, as it had been delivered to a mailbox directly exposed to the Florida sun.
Question: 1.Will the high temperature exposure diminish the effectiveness of the product?
Question 2. The immediate use for the product is a fall garden with closely spaced plants like strawberries, lettuce, etc. Can I just till the product into the soil before planting or mix it with water and drench or spray it on?
Thanks
Murray
1. I’ve asked the guys who grow it a few times over the years and they always say the heat is no problem. They still recommend storing at room temperature or even fridge to have the longest storage life, but they aren’t worried about a few days or weeks of heat.
2. Yes, you can till it in, although on a big area, that’s an expensive way to do it. I tend to sprinkle on seeds before sowing, and sprinkle or water plants in containers before planting. Or if I forget, I water it in right after planting.
I’m curious about inoculating house plants. Would they benefit from this? Can these fungi grow in a pot?
Cheers.
Craig
Definitely. It’s probably even more important in pots because the growing medium is even further away from being a natural ecosystem.
Best way to get fugal spores to the root zone of seedlings, forgot to inoculate my onion seeds before sowing?
How long will spores survive in soil without plant roots present?
Spores can survive for a few years. I tend to inoculate each year anyway because it’s so affordable to dust my seeds, but in a vegetable garden that’s planted each spring, there should be enough healthy, dormant spores to re-inoculate the crop each year.
For your onions, you can dissolve 1 teaspoon of powder per quart of water the next time you water the seedlings and that will work great.
Thanks Phil, appreciate you getting back to me. Have another question.
Last winter I got myself a microscope. Made a 1:10 ratio of fungal spores to water solution, literally, finding very few spores. I see a ton of minerals, thinking I will dilute again in half.
I left the sample sit and will check it daily to see if there is any spore development.
Question is, should I be concerned about the low numbers of fungal spores I am finding?
I make up the same ratio from my compost or leaf mold and find a ton of fungal spores.
I asked the manufacturer. He says, “the recommended methodology for testing the presence of VAM is wet sieving and decanting followed by a sucrose gradient centrifugation. The sample would then be put under a slide chamber. I can send along some papers on how to do those if that was not how he had done it before. There are some other methodologies he may be able to try as well. The VAM is more difficult to detect than the type of fungi you would find in a compost.” Let me know if you’d like more info on this from him.
Thanks Phil,
I’m fine with what I see under my scope. I was more curious about the density of spores than anything else.
Do you know of a good manual or workbook on soil microbe morphology? For the life of me, I cannot find anything that helps me ID what I am seeing through my microscope.
Happy New Year!!!
I don’t know of a book, no. There are some helpful videos you can buy from Tim at http://microbeorganics.com/
Last spring I planted my annual flowers with endomychorrizal inoculant. Does this mean now that I do not have to reinoculate that area of soil to plant annuals again. I disturbed the surrounding soil as little as possible when planting.
It should be fine. I tend to reinoculate anyway if I have the powder because it’s so affordable (presuming a small area), but if I happen to have run out, I don’t worry at all.
Hi Phil, I am interested in buying some Mycorrhizae fungi for my Orchids. I know that a basidiomycetes type is the recommended type for orchids, but it is hard to find. Do you think the type that you sell will be ok to use with orchids will they benefit at all from the kind that you sell ? Thanks for your help.
No, you do need to find the basidiomycetes types. Apologies, I haven’t kept up on where to find them.
Phil, I live in the humid south and grow tomatoes. I get tomato fungal issues in the beds I use year after year so at the end of last year I bombed it with copper sulfate and I think I destroyed all the positive fungi because my tomatoes and plants this year look great but the tomatoes have a very bland taste. I’m about a third of the way into the growing season. Is it too late to water my plants with your product in hopes of getting better taste for my later tomatoes that set?
That’s a good question, Mike. It’s not too late to apply the fungi to the soil, but as to whether that leads to better taste, it’s hard to say. I would also hit the leaves with occasional applications of Bio Ag and Sea Minerals to bring in more biology and micronutrients. Not trying to upsell you, but those can help improve flavor among many other benefits (including decreasing fungal disease, although they obviously can’t be sold as a fungicide).
Is it ok to use both mycorrhizal inoculant alongside fast-release fertilizer (like liquid seaweed, liquid fish, sea mineral fertilizers)? I see warning against using them, particularly ones heavy in phosphorous, as they might inhibit the growth of the fungi. Is it better to use slow-release fertilizers?
The fertilizers you listed aren’t high in phosphorus or any other nutrient – they’re more broad-spectrum fertilizers that provide a little of everything – so they’re great for applying with the inoculant. It’s more synthetic fertilizers that are high in phosphorus that can cause issues.
Hi! I sheet mulched a 4’x47’ area 6 months ago to kill the grass- soil is dense clay. I just tilled it about 4” down, and am ready to start sowing seeds, mainly Louisiana natives, but possibly some veggies too. I came across your site when I started thinking about inoculating the soil before sowing. What product do you recommend for that? Also, I could use a hose end sprayer, but the city water is of course chlorinated. Will the chlorine kill the microorganisms that I’m trying to get to the soil? Thanks!
It’s possible the soil already has mycorrhizal spores if it was a lawn up until 6 months ago. That said, I do often use the encomycorrhizal inoculant anyway as insurance. These microbes can handle chlorine okay. The way I usually apply it, though, is directly to the seeds and/or plant roots right before planting, rather than mixing it with the soil, just because you can use a lot less doing it that way, and you’ll be certain the inoculant is right where it needs to be.