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dont put mycorrhizae in ACT

Was reading this blog, and they say to not put Myco's in Aerated Compost Tea

http://permaculturelist.wordpress.com/2013/03/24/permaculture-mycorriza-2/

Mycorrhizal fungi will not increase in number when added to compost tea. More than likely, they won’t even survive the brewing of your compost tea. Why? Because they work in a symbiotic relationship with plant roots…no root contact = unhappy fungi. So if you’re going to add them to your compost tea, do it immediately after brewing and right before applying your tea to the plant roots (ideal), or as a soil drench (not ideal). If you do make a soil drench, please do it away from direct sunlight (early morning or early evening).

since
1) They will not replicate in number in the tea
2) They may not survive the tea process


They recommend it is better to add them right before you pour your team if you are using a drench method. Does anyone have any opinions on the validity of this argument or other comments?

thanks!
 

OrganicBuds

Active member
Veteran
I would second the findings of this blog. I think there might even be an argument that mycorrize must be applied to the root zone, and is not water soluble at all. However, I am not smart enough to verbalize that, maybe once again MM can elaborate?

I tried to find MM's post on his myco findings, but I didn't find it. Why is that not a sticky?
 

rasputin

The Mad Monk
Veteran
I think there might even be an argument that mycorrize must be applied to the root zone

Mycos are best applied to the planting hole in order to have direct contact with roots. I've never understood why some add it to a tea or water and use it as a soil drench. Seems like a waste.

+1 what Neo said. MM has said this a number of times.
 
T

TribalSeeds

Putting it in ACT probably isnt a good idea if you want to brew the teas organisms. They might comptete.
It might be better to apply it to the rootzone than to do a drench. Im not sure though.
Ive applied it both ways. Ive noticed the fuzz form on damaged roots a couple of days after a drech.
Ive also applied it directly to the roots in plastic cups and the roots on the side never recovered from the damage. They just turned yellow and died. The roots on the bottom of the cup looked great though
 

Neo 420

Active member
Veteran
Putting Myco's in ACT''s is a complete waste of time and myco's.

Can't get more basic than that...
 
I've grown mushrooms a few years ago, and I would agree that putting any type of fungal spore or mycelium into a tea would not work.


Remembering how sterile everything had to be in order to grow out the particular strain of fungi you wanted. It only makes sense that putting that into a tea to "grow" doesn't make sense.

I would make live cultures with the fungi spores witha sugar like Karo syrup in water, sterilized in a pressure sterilizer before adding spores or mycelium. then keep it under a constant stir with a magnetic stir plate while they grew out into a live culture. then from there draw some of that live culture out and inoculate sterilized grains. Once the mycelium took over and filled the sealed grain jar, with a small filtered gas exchange vent. Then it was finally safer to transfer that into a container in room air to grow out. even then until the tray's medium (grains) got completely filled with the particular strain of mycelium, there was still a chance of foreign contaminated ruining it.

another good starter for the spores was growing them out on agar petri dishes. that way you could select dominate sections and ignore other molds that may be around.

then once it started growing out, you had to keep the humidity high and the medium had to go through constant moist to dry stages on the surface of the mycelium in order for the fruit to sprout.

Otherwise in an unsterile environment you don't know what type of mycelium/fungi or molds you would be growing


It probably works in the root system because of the environment there, it's going through similar medium to high humidity and gas exchange without being exposed to the surface drying out. Similar conditions that you would have if growing mushrooms..
 
T

TribalSeeds

A spray bottle will kill most of the species in your GW. You need a pump sprayer
 
T

TribalSeeds

Ive never used a scope to check, but Ive read about using ACT as a foliar can kill some microbes/fungi going through the pump on the sprayer, much like a pump in a res...
Here check out how it works.
http://home.howstuffworks.com/question673.htm
The garden pressurized sprayers just fill the tank with pressure and the water flows through the tube.
 

Granger2

Active member
Veteran
I'm pretty sure CTGuy also confirms this [Mycos die in brewing]. Shouldn't hurt anything, but will waste mycos. -granger
 
O

OrganicOzarks

It's not about it working or not working. It's about the fact that you can not replicate mycorrhizae in a tea. It is about not wasting them. So if you are getting good results now think about how good they would be if you applied them correctly.
 

vertigo0007

Member
What about all of the talcum powder in the package? Wouldnt that be detrimental to the root zone if applied directly? After brewing the caps tea you have to let the talc settle before dipping off the top.
 
C

CT Guy

I'm pretty sure CTGuy also confirms this [Mycos die in brewing]. Shouldn't hurt anything, but will waste mycos. -granger

That's pretty much correct. The issue is that mycorrhizal fungi requires a root host to grow/become active. Adding it to an ACT solution will not cause it to reproduce, and it may fall prey to other organisms in the tea, making it a waste of $. Mycorrhiza are expensive, so you might as well get the most bang for your buck by applying it 1X, directly to the roots, early in the plant's life.

Hope that helps.
 
O

OrganicOzarks

What about all of the talcum powder in the package? Wouldnt that be detrimental to the root zone if applied directly? After brewing the caps tea you have to let the talc settle before dipping off the top.

If you siphon off the water, and leave the talcum I can't see that there would be much of a problem.

If you recycle your soil then you won't have to apply all of the time.
 
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