Any hydro-based peeps using micorrhizae?

[PetFlora]

Everything I read about it is in the context of soil.

I use FulPower, which is a fulvic acid. Will the two get along?

 

[NiteTiger]

Mycorrhizal Fungi Sticky at the top of the Organic Hydro Section

 

[PetFlora]

Thanks for that.

Spent 3 hours researching, reading.

Looks like I can call these guys. They might actually be a mfg http://www.mycorrhizae.com/

 

[Herborizer]

I use it. The one you use comes in a product called Great White. Root growth with it seems fantastic. Everything stays healthy.

 

[globel]

I use it with coco. Takes a long time to colonize in coco its almost instant in hydro...

 

[generalgrievous]

.

 

[NiteTiger]

+1......

2 local products in coco....soil secrets, earth ambrosia and earth nectar + a dry inoculum made by a hydro store owner....

my rootballs turn into solid root cakes it would seem....

So you're running Coco as soil? That doesn't really have anything to do with running it in a hydro system.

 

[generalgrievous]

.

 

[pimpjuice]

I use the great white after I transplant my cuttings into coco, I water it in by hand. Stuff is pricey I can't really imagine using it in the res on the daily.

 

[pray4pistils]

Mycorrhizae fungi only activates when it is in contact with roots and colonizes organic materials. So, if it's only drifting around a big reservoir... it's doing just that -drifting in a dormant state. With that said, I use it in my ebb & grow rig. However, I start my seedlings in coco/EWC in beer cups. They get innoculated with Great White (BB/myco) and veg until nearly root bound. Then I drop that into the hydroton. At first I feared that the coco would wash out and create problems, but that never happens.

Btw, I'm a big fan of semi-organic hydro. My strategy is mostly to cultivate a thriving aerobic microherd so that it overwhelms the anerobic nasties. That way I don't have to sterilize anything (which I haven't done in 3 years as a matter of fact). Meanwhile, I feed the plants directly with FloraNova.

 

[max_well]

Mycorrhizae fungi only activates when it is in contact with roots and colonizes organic materials. So, if it's only drifting around a big reservoir... it's doing just that -drifting in a dormant state. With that said, I use it in my ebb & grow rig. However, I start my seedlings in coco/EWC in beer cups. They get innoculated with Great White (BB/myco) and veg until nearly root bound. Then I drop that into the hydroton. At first I feared that the coco would wash out and create problems, but that never happens.

Hey Pray4Pistils
Thanks for the info. I'm curious about your coco / hydroton fusion and watering cycles.. I typically flood every 3 to 4 hours (lights on only) in my Ebb&Gro setup.. do you have any issues with overwatering the coco rootball? DO you plant it high in the bucket so that it doesn't saturate as much? I've always used hydroton in net cups in a mini flood table to preveg, and then just planted the cups. But having something that can be hand watered would be simpler.
thanks in advance
Max

 

[PetFlora]

WTF?

WTF?

Mycorrhizae fungi only activates when it is in contact with roots and colonizes organic materials. So, if it's only drifting around a big reservoir... it's doing just that -drifting in a dormant state. With that said, I use it in my ebb & grow rig. However, I start my seedlings in coco/EWC in beer cups. They get innoculated with Great White (BB/myco) and veg until nearly root bound. Then I drop that into the hydroton. At first I feared that the coco would wash out and create problems, but that never happens.

Btw, I'm a big fan of semi-organic hydro. My strategy is mostly to cultivate a thriving aerobic microherd so that it overwhelms the anerobic nasties. That way I don't have to sterilize anything (which I haven't done in 3 years as a matter of fact). Meanwhile, I feed the plants directly with FloraNova.

Only drifting around in a reservoir?????????? Are you high?

 

[opt1c]

my roots are insanely white and healthy in my rdwc system; i run only chem nutes and very very few additives; i toss a lot more stuff in my recirculating rockwool setup as shit can go south real fast in dwc when it comes to roots and ph shift/flux etc so i stay away from em in hydro

 

[The Mud Shark]

I have temp issues in my 5 Gal DWC, I am using "wonder dust" weekly and it has increased root and canopy growth dramatically. I figure get a huge colony of positive critters in the res and it will help keep the little beasties away.

 

[pray4pistils]

Only drifting around in a reservoir?????????? Are you high?

Why yes. I am.

But, that's besides the point. Mycorrhizae ("root fungus") increases the root's ability to exchange water and nutrients and effectively increases its surface area. It must be in direct contact with roots in order to provide this benefit. Thus it also requires a medium to colonize. Soil and coco are the most suitable mediums that I can think of. It is possible, however, to get healthy growth in a soilless mix. I'd be happy to elaborate on that, if you please.

 

[NUG-JUG]

Why yes. I am.

But, that's besides the point. Mycorrhizae ("root fungus") increases the root's ability to exchange water and nutrients and effectively increases its surface area. It must be in direct contact with roots in order to provide this benefit. Thus it also requires a medium to colonize. Soil and coco are the most suitable mediums that I can think of. It is possible, however, to get healthy growth in a soilless mix. I'd be happy to elaborate on that, if you please.

All that is true as well as the fact that Great White is pricey at $40 for only 4oz. I put a couple ounces into 5 cubic feet of my soil mix. I have a question for chem\organic hydro growers. How can your microherd stay alive with such high levels of chemical salts? Their poor little bodies would dry out and pop like miracle grow does to the soil organisms in the yard. High phosphorous also inhibits bb growth.

 

[pray4pistils]

I typically flood every 3 to 4 hours (lights on only) in my Ebb&Gro setup.. do you have any issues with overwatering the coco rootball?

Nope, there is absolutely no issue whatsoever. In fact, in my 12/12 schedule I flood every 3 hours during daylight hours and once in the very middle of the night. So, that's a total of 5x 15-minute feedings. When the plants are vegging they get wet every 6 hours (4x 15-minutes) with one of them during the dark.

Understand that the root ball is very small compared to the rest of the bucket. So, as the root mass grows out to support the maturing plant the risk of over watering diminishes.

DO you plant it high in the bucket so that it doesn't saturate as much?

Yes, the plants get buried in the hydroton so that they're about 3 rocks deep. Really, all that matters is that it stays above the water line when the system is in ebb mode. Either way the whole thing gets completely dunked.

I've always used hydroton in net cups in a mini flood table to preveg, and then just planted the cups. But having something that can be hand watered would be simpler.
thanks in advance.

Right, Max. Just grow'm out in coco-filled beer cups and then drop'm into the clay pellets when the plant is nearly root bound. (The roots will keep the ball from falling apart and the coco from washing away.) It works great.

I have temp issues in my 5 Gal DWC, I am using "wonder dust" weekly and it has increased root and canopy growth dramatically. I figure get a huge colony of positive critters in the res and it will help keep the little beasties away.

Yeah, man. That's exactly the point. Growing myco fungus is difficult in a reservoir but cultivating lots of happy bacteria is easy. Feed the right foods and aerate like crazy. You'll have a protective army of good guys at your beck and call. Or, at least that's what I get in my Ebb & Grow bucket system. DWC is different, but the same principles should apply.

Btw, when I grew with only FloraNova fertz the optimal pH range was around 5.8. Now, with lots of organics in the brew, things seem to be most happy at around 6.0 - 6.1. This is a serious challenge to maintain in a fresh rez when the microlife is blooming hard with lots of raw food to feed on. (The pH wants to shoot upwards.) After a week, though, it'll stabilize. Basically, you can look at my feed set up as an aerated compost tea + FloraNova base.

We're about to start week 3 of 12/12 in the current grow. Growth is stupendous and internodes are incredibly tight. There is no stress anywhere in sight.

 

[pray4pistils]

I have a question for chem\organic hydro growers. How can your microherd stay alive with such high levels of chemical salts? Their poor little bodies would dry out and pop like miracle grow does to the soil organisms in the yard. High phosphorous also inhibits bb growth.

It's easy. Bacteria doesn't care. Really. The organic bacterial process is to take ammonium (NH+4) and then process it into nitrite (NO2). Then, the nitrite is consumed in a successive wave during which it is converted to nitrate (NO3) -the form that cannabis absorbs most readily. These micro organisms are evolved and adapted to bathe in this stuff perpetually.

Myco fungus is a different story. High levels of phosphorous do as you say and inhibit root infection and grow medium colonization. But, you can easily establish a very complete "soil"/food web in even a semi-organic hydroton environment. You do so by relying on bacteria, protozoa, flagellates, and nematodes (but not fungus so much).

 

[Preacharound]

I use Great White in hydro and get all my bacteria there.

 

[PetFlora]

I wonder....

What if one were to put micco in a spray bottle and hand spray the roots occasionally? Gets it out of the rez and directly where it needs to go.

Anybody?