I already posted this in another thread, but it can not hurt to post it again - list of associations plants-myc.
therefore, when you plant a chestnut you want to pick up a shovelful of soil from under an oak tree. If you plant an apple in a pasture, you don’t have to do anything. Of course, as Jesse says, the wider the community, the more myc. are supported, even if all members of the community are endo-types. the myc. will also interconnect and trade nutrients based on chemical signaling. I have at some point in my life make an experiment where I manure a square yard and see how far the fertilizer reaches.
I’ve heard a tiny bit about some types that only work with Ericaceous plants (blueberries, for one) and have wondered if the absence (I assume it’s absent, at least) in most home gardens is part of the relative difficulty of cultivation. Perhaps the fungi allow more soil flexibility?
yes, and a contributing cause to blueberry cultivation failure. Those myc. are not present in regular garden soil, being native to bogs and adapted to high acidity. it is a good plant to buy potted and inoculated. the fungi have an interface that is suitable to to blueberries, and viceversa. the other interfaces are not good for them.
Jesse,
Very interesting looking book! Thanks for posting that! Jesse I had read that about softwood trees somewhere and do grow them in between my orchards to serve as a wind break and for soil building.
Glib,
That’s a really good document. If I saw it before I don’t recall. Thank you for reposting!
I bought the correct fungi for blueberries and inoculated all my plants years ago. Territorial used to sell the correct fungi for blueberries. Here the soil is basic, and no wilds are around. I really wanted the fungi as I feel zero to no chance of natural inoculation. Now I can use soil around my plants to add to any new plants I obtain.
Do you happen to know anywhere to get blueberry inoculant now? I didn’t see anything for blues at territorial, just generic ones that don’t seem to have any ericoid fungi.
No, only commercial. I talked to Fungi Perfecti company about adding them, and they said if they could find a strain, they would add it, so I pointed them to two products, yet they never added it,
Rhizoscyphus ericae. is the one you need, and from the genus Hymenoscypus or other Rhizoscyphus species may help too.
I once found a commercial source, but I can’t find it now. It was expensive as they sold only in large amounts for blueberry farmers.
The only product I could find is from another country
Oh I found a US distributor. Expensive! And I’m not sure they actully have the right fungi? http://www.viaterrallc.com/_p/prd15/2042852505/product/rhodovit
It is typically sold as a bottled emulsion. It is pricey and has a half-day shelf life once opened. An alternative is to order a rooted native vaccinium (e.g. evergreen huckleberry) and get the mycorrhizae as a bonus.
for blueberry myc. I would go in the Pickney area here in SE MI, where I go sometimes mushroom hunting. I know where several wild blueberry are near bogs, but soil from other vaccinium would work too. But it is easier to just buy a bottle…
That sounds like a very good idea to me! I think I have the fungi in my raised beds kept very acid for blueberries. It’s been 5 years, and I used the soil for one I planted this year. It grew to two feet, it’s huge for a first leaf plant.
In my experience it’s sold by the pint. The effective method of application is one or two drops to the roots of each bareroot plant. For plants in the ground you’ll need to partially excavate them to make direct root contact.
Thanks for the links. Suzanne Simard’s talk was very interesting to me. It’s not new to me but her presentation was much more graspable than many, with practical ideas emerging. In our own old-fields-turning-forest the first trees growing, together, are white pine and wild black cherry. Of course, that certainly isn’t new to me but I hadn’t thought of their interrelationship before.
I happen to be expanding my orchard area into a section of those fields, with a “row” (roughly speaking) of white pines and scattered WBC within the area. I plan to plant experimental apricot, peaches and sweet cherries to the north of the pines, using them to provide winter shade. But now I’m more apt to leave more WBC’s. I know they aren’t real similar to domestic cherries but I wonder if the mychorizal (if that’s the correct term) relationship might be similar enough to benefit the planted stone fruit. I don’t know, of course, but it’s nice to think the local inhabitants might give them a boost.
I’m glad I planted my new gooseberries near to my apple trees as in the woods wild gooseberries often are found under the wild apples. The more I look the more I find.
Wild cherries can be a host for diseases for tame cherries. In some areas that’s not an issue. Sometimes relationships among plants can be tricky. I love the idea of the gooseberries! Apricots should do extremely well for you! Fantastic idea! Can’t wait to see all the things you wind up with in your orchard!
Interesting this fungi popped up at the base of a dead poplar. This property 20 years ago was farmground. I wanted a healthy soil long term so I planted a short life windbreak while the real windbreak of pears and apples was growing. I used poplar , willow and other soft woods.
