Mychorrizal Fungi

[Ryceman3]

I'm curious about whether mychorrizal fungi is species specific ... that is - does a certain kind of fungi form a mychorrizal relationship with certain kinds of trees, and how much (if at all) can these fungi therefore be used between species?
My question is geared mostly around pines - in that I have an Austrian Pine with obvious indicators of mychorizzal activity and I was wondering if I could innoculate my JBP with this at repotting time ... and if I did would it be just as effective with the JBP as it is with the Austrian pine? Then I was thinking ... could I innoculate other completely unrelated trees (natives for example) and would it still be effective?
Clearly I'm having a slow day ... hopefully my ponderings have not put you all in a coma ...

[Matt S]

Short answer is that Mycorrhizas can be very species specific i.e. what attaches itself to one species of tree won't attach itself to another.

I can't comment on the compatability between various pines but you can try to inoculate the JBP and see what happens. Best bet is to ensure the conditions are right in the soil and let the right fungi find it's way there by itself as spores are everywhere. If you have the same species growing in the wild you can always grab a handful of soil from around the base and use it on your bonsai, I know someone who does this with Casuarina quite successfully. If you're really keen and have deep pockets there are a number of broad spectrum products available at hydroponic shops that might contain the fungi that you need. You can google the listed species and see if they match your trees.

Cheers,
Matt.

[shibui]

I'm with Matt. I stopped transferring mychorizza between my pines long ago when I found it already established in a seed tray before I had put any in. It can move surprisingly well from one place to another.
I believe there are many strains of mychorriza. It is likely that some have broader range of hosts and some will be very specific. I'm not sure if the research has been done to test effectiveness of each type on each species.
If you introduce a small amount from another grower it is almost certain that it will then colonise all suitable pots quite quickly.

My understanding is that mychorriza have teamed up with trees to help obtain and process scares nutrients in hostile environments but where nutrients are freely available the trees can do very well without the assistance of the fungi. therefore adding mychorizza to bonsai pots will not actually help the trees.

[treeman]

"Ryceman3"
I'm curious about whether mychorrizal fungi is species specific ... that is - does a certain kind of fungi form a mychorrizal relationship with certain kinds of trees, and how much (if at all) can these fungi therefore be used between species?

Most ectomychorrizae - the kind you see on pine roots will colonize many if not all pine species.

My question is geared mostly around pines - in that I have an Austrian Pine with obvious indicators of mychorizzal activity and I was wondering if I could innoculate my JBP with this at repotting time ... and if I did would it be just as effective with the JBP as it is with the Austrian pine?

Yep.

Then I was thinking ... could I innoculate other completely unrelated trees (natives for example) and would it still be effective?

This is less certain. It's quite likely that native eucalyptus mycos will colonize pine roots. I once planted some non inoculated white pines in the ground where no other pines were and they quickly took up mycorrizae from the soil.
There are some famous mycos like aminita muscaria that can invade many different species from pines to birches.
https://www.ausbonsai.com.au/forum/view ... 13#p256028

[Ryceman3]

Awesome info, thanks to all 3 of you for taking the time to reply. I think I'll go ahead and give it a go based on your responses, I figure it can't hurt from the sounds of it ... and since it's there why not use it?
Much appreciated.

[MJL]

Hi R3,
Your topic got me reading.... because I had little concept of what you were taking about!
I found this article somewhat interesting and somewhat over my head ... but it does discuss the relationships to various Australian species towards the end too. I think it means the little mushrooms popping up in my paperbarks and moonahs might be a good thing? I think?

https://www.anbg.gov.au/fungi/mycorrhiza.html


Bonsai teaches me patience.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Ryceman3]

Thanks for the link MJL... some nice info and good pics in that article.