Hi Nick,

On 22 Feb 2008 22:39:59 GMT
(Nick Maclaren) wrote:


In article ,
Emery Davis writes:
|
| Mycorrhizae is making a fair amount of noise in the maple world
| "outre pond," I'm wondering if anyone on the rational side is using
| it. This is symbiotic fungus, essentially, although there are many
| different forms available.

Yes, they are used for a few plants which don't grow well without
mycorrhiza, and where the fungus is relatively tractable. Blackwood
(a type of eucalypt) is one, if I recall. You can also regard
truffles as mycorrhiza, and some of them are cultivated.

| I'm considering trying with this spring's plantings. Any experts
| recommend a brand available by internet?

You have been reading too much transpondian New Age drivel, haven't
you? :-)


Well, possibly, possibly.

Some fungi associate with many plants, and some plants associate with
many fungi (birch is the classic), but only a few combinations will
work. Some plants don't form mycorrhizal associations at all (e.g.
yew), and some are almost impossible to induce artificially (e.g.
many terrestrial orchids).

The first question is to ask what you want it for, the second is
whether those plants form mycorrhizal associations, the third is
whether it has been induced naturally, and the fourth is whether
that species is available. Only fifthly worry about the brand!


I could be more specific. What I want it for is to increase verticillium
resistance, via stress reduction, in various Acer taxa. These plants
are well known to form such symbiotic relationships, hence the
discussion in the maple community (including the Maple Society,
which I can attest is reasonably serious about the subject).

Maple growers often "juice" rootstock with mycorrhizae. It appears
that endomycorrhizae is preferred for the genus but some references
do appear to cite ecto.

I'm not quite sure what you mean by "induced naturally," the fungus
is almost certainly present in the soil here in places, but I may have
introduced it via plantings.

By "that species" do you mean fungus or plant? Americans in the
maple trade have mentioned www.mycoapply.com as their source,
there is anecdotal evidence there that these work well with A. palmatum
anyway. My collection is much wider ranging, so I'm thinking about
using the stuff across a wide variety of the genus. But some of
the plants I expect to receive this spring (A. diabolicum, A. distylum)
are really extremely rare, I am hesitant to try anything new with them.
(In fact I don't expect diabolicum in particular to have a verticillium
problem, but various other issues like pseudomonas are always a
problem in our wet climate, and I do find that general robustness
helps a lot with any sorts of cambium sickness.)

And so, I am asking about the brand, and if anyone in our climate
uses the stuff!

-E

--
Emery Davis
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