Inoculating

[squizzy]

Hi all.

I just thought i would start a thread about soil inoculants and the various methods of creating it and associated bacteria.

I have been watching a few YouTube videos lately and have been inspired by how easy it seems to create these. (Maybe too easy?). So with that said are there any members on here that have had experience with the use of inoculants and or made there own? How easy was it? Are there any tricks of the trade? Do you see an advantage in using it in bonsai?

I have limited experience in attaching links so please feel free to share YouTube videos on here if you wish. There was a great one the other day that showed how to culture your own microhiza(spelling?)

Squizz

[squizzy]

http://youtu.be/PNBd-y254vM

Hope that works????

[Kevin]

Hello Squizzy,

Mycorrhizae or mycorrhizal fungi is essential for healthy plant growth. I have read a few members POSITIVE quotes regarding their use of various inoculants. Personally i have read incredible, fascinating and SCIENTIFICALLY PROVEN FACTS regarding the incredible benefits that mycorrhizal fungi have provided to plants for 450 million years co-existing within a symbiotic relationship with plants.

I began using a commercial product several months ago to assist with several issues i was having with how some plants were or were not responding to treatments i was providing to my plants. The positive results i have witnessed since my trials began has astonished me - i have horticultural and arboricultural qualifications and worked within the industry for 28 years. I know what i was doing and i know what was not happening with my plants.

Mycorrhiza occur naturally within the soil and once a host / plant sp. has been found they multiply like yeast in sugar. However the ground for many reasons can be devoid of mycorrhiza. Inorganic potting mixes do not naturally contain mycorrhiza. Potting mixes - the better quality potting mixes do state on their packaging they contain Mycorrhizal Fungi, however no quantities are stated, is it 5 grams per 100 tonne of mix????

I can supply some excellent research material for members browsing if desired. I believe a good starting place would be THE AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL HERBARIUM they will supply links to MARK BRUNDRETT - University of W.A. He is apparently the most knowledgeable Australian on the topic. My hand written link to his site is http://mycorrhizas.info/ and http://mycorrhiza.ag.utk.edu/ and http://mycorrhiza.org/

I do have countless saved links which will need to be proofed before providing as some are extremely technical i.e. Research regarding the CP4 EPSPS Transgene proving my earlier statements on another thread which Joel THINKS is incorrect.

I have found this subject quite an opinionated area, where experienced Bonsai growers will chime in and THINK inoculation to be unnecessary and provide NO REASONING FOR THEIR STATEMENT.

Personally i do respect everyone's individual opinion, however..... As i said it can be touchy - i think it depends largely on your individual beliefs regarding the evolution process.

Again personally, I am a Christian, I am an experienced Horticulturalist, I have read scientific facts on mycorrhizas evolutionary developments and benefits to plants today and above all else I have witnessed first hand the benefits to plants when adding mycorrhizal fungi to the soil.

Life is too short to argue, if you are interested in improving your Bonsai, have a read. I do need to tidy my research work on this subject and if interested i can add a link or two if requested.

P.S. Proteaceae plants do not require and will not accept the fungi, this family have evolved with their unique Proteoid Roots.

Kevin

[squizzy]

Cheers Kevin.

I will be reading up some more. I am massively into organic gardening techniques and am often wondering the benefits of these on bonsai. I have a lot to learn Clearly. I should begin with the spelling hey.

Squizz

[dansai]

I have witnessed first hand the benefits to plants when adding mycorrhizal fungi to the soil

Have you witnessed, or done research on, the benefits, or otherwise, in soilless potting mixes, organic based or not? And wether there is benefit if plants in pots receive adequate nutrition through applications of fertilisers? Im not trying to be argumentitive, purely interested. I have heard various positions on this subject.

I once applied a professionally prepared compost tea which unfortunately I only had access to the once so I can not comment on its long term effectiveness. This would have been filled with microorganisms but I'm unsure about fungi. I noticed a general greening of plant and a flush of growth but did not have a control to check against, so not very scientific.

[squizzy]

Hi dansai.

When you say soiless do you mean no organic material at all. If so my understanding would be that the medium couldn't provide the sufficient environment for the bacteria to survive? Or am I wrong?

[dansai]

Soilless means no soil in the mix. In the past, potting mixes were made with soil dug from the ground with components added to it. Modern potting mix has no soil but is made of things like decomposed pine bark and sand. Modern bonsai potting mixes may contain no organics when first prepared. Both of these are soilless. One with organics, one without.

In the past the Japanese used different soils, with various particle size and clay content, to make their potting mixes, but most professionals probably don't anymore. So technically, bonsai mixes should be called media and not soils.

[squizzy]

Cheers

I suspected that is what you meant.

Squizz

[Kevin]

Hello Dansai,

I've done it again - the old foot in mouth when i should just zip it.

But honestly, i am extremely passionate about the benefits of mycorrhizal fungi. I have read far too many independent field and laboratory studies, research material and i even recall a thesis or two. Not from Wikipedia or YouTube or companies with commercial interests - but from professors and academics from across the globe. I seek out papers that report results, not generalise.

And yes, my plants have responded incredibly, their health has improved beyond my own beliefs i.e. 30 years of practical experiences.

I haven't purchased a consumer / commercial fertilizer for close to 20 years. Besides the Dynamic lifter for turf which i just opened my last 35kg bag - yes 35kg. Most of my chemicals came in 50kg bags - unheard of today. I buy chemicals and feed my plants exactly what they need, when they need it. Chemicals i have purchased include Ammonium Nitrate NH4NO2 34:0:0, Potassium Nitrate KNO3 13.5:0:46.2, Calcium Nitrate N 15.5, Ca 19, CaO 26.5, Monopotassium Phosphate KH2PO4 0:52:34, Librel BMX micronutrients, an old source of Vitamin B, now Seasol, there's others in storage, these are what i can think of at the moment, time poor right now. For the record i recently used up the remaining Ammonium Nitrate. No replacement required at the moment as seldom used lately, purchased for green crops many hydroponic years ago.

Then came my own research and testing. Everything i used it on - just unbelievable, in every plant, including all Bonsai, their improvement as stated, beyond anything i had expected in all aspects of well being. An example is this Plumeria - a broken branch from a historical Western Sydney Homestead reported planting is early last century, potted in about March 2013 and planted into the ground the following summer after strong growth. That was it, no more growth, not in 2014, 2015 or 2016, the plant began to slowly rot until about 4 - 8 weeks ago after 1 tablespoons of Mycorrhizal fungi, diluted into a can and shared 3 times in weekly intervals, possibly 1 litre per week. Now unbelievably it shot on every branch, grown 3 inches and is flowering for the first time. One product added only - mycorrhizal fungi. I took this photo the other day:

_DSC5047-3.jpg

Look, do your own research, purchase an authentic and effective fungi sp. Then make your own decisions.

I have to go now, the product i used contains 2 x TRICHODERMA SPP.

Quickly for now, as my saved links are a mess. One is a paper on the fungi spp. and the other is the product i purchased.

More links will follow, maybe tonight / tomorrow as i find them.

The top one is the product TRI-D25 and manufacturer ZADCO.


http://www.zadco.com.au/Biologicals/TRI-D25
http://www.hort.cornell.edu/bjorkman/la ... ooks08.pdf
http://www.biocontrol.entomology.cornel ... oderma.php

Make your own minds up.

Mine is.

Kevin

[treeman]

Where do you get your vitamin B Kevin?

[Kevin]

Where do you get your vitamin B Kevin?

Sorry Mike,
I wish i could purchase some, although i haven't seriously looked on the www.
I finished the last of what i had last year, only due to misplacing the container for many, many years behind some antique reel mowers, actually in the catcher in the far back corner of the garden shed. I think i purchased that from an old produce store in Camden NSW in 1990, since shut down. Several weeks ago i gave up on the vitamin B and bought 20 litres of seasol
Up here i believe Bunnings have murdered those boutique little hardware / produce shops. They used to sell everything NOT made in China.

Kevin

Hi dansai.

When you say soiless do you mean no organic material at all. If so my understanding would be that the medium couldn't provide the sufficient environment for the bacteria to survive? Or am I wrong?

I meant to mention earlier Sqizz - the mycorrhizal fungi only needs the roots of a host plant to survive. Even in the poorest of soil / media habitats, the mycorrhizae has a knack of ensuring the plant gets the water, nutrients and as one of those links showed - ensuring protection for the plant from pathogens and insects attacks. In return the plant then supplies the mycorrhizae with carbohydrates / food which the fungus requires to survive - symbiotic relationship - supplying each other with the required 'supplies' to survive.

Kevin

[squizzy]

Thanks Kevin

That makes sense. Would there be an advantage in feeding trees a starch like water from maybe soaked rice or something similar.

Treeman does your fert cake recipe serve more than the benefit of provide the plant nutrient. I assume the molasses would feed the mycorrhizal growth as well?

Squizz

[CraigM]

Very interesting article. Wonder, could I use to try give a spruce a burst, is there any harm including if a tree is taking strain? From what I've been reading can only help.

[Kevin]

Hello Squizzy'

Thanks Kevin

That makes sense. Would there be an advantage in feeding trees a starch like water from maybe soaked rice or something similar.

Squizz

Sorry mate, i cannot answer that specific question.

Whilst I too am passionate in providing my little green space with as much natural goodness as possible. Over 30 odd years i have always used manures, always mulched, never engaged a professional pest exterminator, never purchased Pesticides or Fungicides - always mechanically removing and endeavouring to attract natural predators. Unfortunately an occupational hazard is bringing home unwanted weed seeds which have required limited amounts of glyphosate and or Dicamba / MCPA for certain weed species like bindii and oxalis.

But i am not a greenie or organic or permacultural or.... as i use pure chemicals for fertiliser and enhancement purposes regularly. These chemicals when used sensibly and correctly will not adversely affect my environment.

I am fascinated and at times awe struck with the agricultural / horticultural principles, techniques and methodologies used many centuries or millennium ago by the Maya, Aztec and Inca civilisations of the Central / South Americas. These civilisations were incredibly and astonishing successful for the time period / era. There is far more to the moon than being that white orbital structure seen every night.

The Moon's impact on the Earth's Flora is an area of study / research that i will get to one day.

But for now it's all about optimising another natural phenomenon in aiding my plants health - the subterranean portions of my plants and ensuring i am optimising all of our 'Mother Earth's' natural resources.

Kevin

Oh.... nearly forgot - another link Squizz which may help with your question. Besides the entire document and all its other links. Paragraph 6 - "Commercial mycorrhizal inoculants" gives you another link for helping enhance the mycorrhizal activity and populations.

http://www.maiaustralia.com.au/more-inf ... -a-b-seeds

Happy reading.

Kevin

[Kevin]

Hello Craig,

Very interesting article. Wonder, could I use to try give a spruce a burst, is there any harm including if a tree is taking strain? From what I've been reading can only help.

Definitely, IMO, do it. Go to the produce store or internet and buy some Mycorrhizal Fungi. Follow the instructions and let us all know your results. Please.

Thanks.

Kevin