First, what is Mycorrhizae? Myco is greek and means Fungus and Riza mean roots, so "root fungus" would be a good description. It's a symbiotic association between the roots and the plant where the fungus helps the roots to absorbe nutrients, grow faster and more vigoriously, keep unvanted microbes away, and yield more, and the roots feeds the mycorrhiza with carbohybrates (whitch they need to thrive).
There has been a lot of research on mycorrhizae fungi and the conclution is clear ..This Stuff Will Rock Your Garden(!).
The mycorrhizae is an important part of your grow and will naturally develop outside the roots of almost all green plants, including cannabis (95% or so of all green plants). Only problem is that it takes time to develop, and that is why we should help our plants speed up this prosess by feeding the roots with this fungus. The earlier we introduce these beneficials to our plants roots, the better.
You can purchase mycorrhizae in your local grow shop or online, or you can grow these bad boys your self, and that is exactly what we are going to do. It costs from about $80 to $100 for 1 lb (~ 450 gram), or you can grow as much mycorrhizae fungi as you want for Free.
Expected time from start to finish is about two weeks.
What you need:
1. 3 boxes
2. 5 gallon bucket
3. Ceese cloth (or similar) to keep dirt and bugs off
4. Boiled rice
5. Lactobacillus
6. Wire netting, or similar to keep rodents and other animals away
7. Raw sugar or molases
8. Locate an old forest (check the Internet for an old deciduous forest in your area). Oak forest would be preferable, but all decicious trees will do. Just make sure that the forrest is classified as old - eg. untouched for more than 100 years (you wont be able to collect these microbes in your backyard).
How to collect the microbes:
1. Boil up the rice from the Lactobacillus you have already made.
2. Locate a "Hot-Spot" in your choosen forest, preferably under an old and helthy oak tree (oak tree is the bomb). Look and smell out the "Hot-Spot" ..You Will notice a good "microbe hot-spot" when you see it. It looks healthy..
3. Spread out the boiled rice (loosly to alow airflow) in the bottom of your box and cover the box with the netting and then the cheese cloth.
4. Collect leaf litter and dirt from about a foot down and out this on top of your nettig and cheese cloth. Place the box with your carbs on the ground in the shade, keeping it moist if it is very hot outside.
5. After 7 days, peek under the cheesecloth, and you should find a colorful array of fungi growing on your rice (Start over if you see any black mold). Remove and discard the leaf litter, scrape the rice into a 5 gallon bucket, and add your sugar sugar (1 part sugar to 3 parts rice). Fill bucket with non-chlorinated water.
6. Repeat these steps, but choose a nearby grasland and the boundary area between tree and the grasland. Plan this ahead so you can place all your boxes on the same trip.
7. You have now collected all the fungi and microbes you'll ever need. Combine your collection from the different habitats in to one batch. combine this concoction 1:1 with your lactobacillus. Lacto is the workhorse and is good to have in combination with other microbes.
How to aply:
Brew a microbe tea. Add 1-2 tbs per gallon of water (remember to de-chlorinate your water - chlorine kills microbes). Poor over your root base with every feeding.
Note: The more habitats you collect your microbes from the greater the BIM. Use your imagination. Maybe you have a fellow grower far away that you can swap BIM with, to get an even greater collection? Diversity in microbes is the key here. I strongly recommend reading more about this subject if you find it interesting. Best of luck!
There has been a lot of research on mycorrhizae fungi and the conclution is clear ..This Stuff Will Rock Your Garden(!).
The mycorrhizae is an important part of your grow and will naturally develop outside the roots of almost all green plants, including cannabis (95% or so of all green plants). Only problem is that it takes time to develop, and that is why we should help our plants speed up this prosess by feeding the roots with this fungus. The earlier we introduce these beneficials to our plants roots, the better.
You can purchase mycorrhizae in your local grow shop or online, or you can grow these bad boys your self, and that is exactly what we are going to do. It costs from about $80 to $100 for 1 lb (~ 450 gram), or you can grow as much mycorrhizae fungi as you want for Free.
Expected time from start to finish is about two weeks.
What you need:
1. 3 boxes
2. 5 gallon bucket
3. Ceese cloth (or similar) to keep dirt and bugs off
4. Boiled rice
5. Lactobacillus
6. Wire netting, or similar to keep rodents and other animals away
7. Raw sugar or molases
8. Locate an old forest (check the Internet for an old deciduous forest in your area). Oak forest would be preferable, but all decicious trees will do. Just make sure that the forrest is classified as old - eg. untouched for more than 100 years (you wont be able to collect these microbes in your backyard).
How to collect the microbes:
1. Boil up the rice from the Lactobacillus you have already made.
2. Locate a "Hot-Spot" in your choosen forest, preferably under an old and helthy oak tree (oak tree is the bomb). Look and smell out the "Hot-Spot" ..You Will notice a good "microbe hot-spot" when you see it. It looks healthy..
3. Spread out the boiled rice (loosly to alow airflow) in the bottom of your box and cover the box with the netting and then the cheese cloth.
4. Collect leaf litter and dirt from about a foot down and out this on top of your nettig and cheese cloth. Place the box with your carbs on the ground in the shade, keeping it moist if it is very hot outside.
5. After 7 days, peek under the cheesecloth, and you should find a colorful array of fungi growing on your rice (Start over if you see any black mold). Remove and discard the leaf litter, scrape the rice into a 5 gallon bucket, and add your sugar sugar (1 part sugar to 3 parts rice). Fill bucket with non-chlorinated water.
6. Repeat these steps, but choose a nearby grasland and the boundary area between tree and the grasland. Plan this ahead so you can place all your boxes on the same trip.
7. You have now collected all the fungi and microbes you'll ever need. Combine your collection from the different habitats in to one batch. combine this concoction 1:1 with your lactobacillus. Lacto is the workhorse and is good to have in combination with other microbes.
How to aply:
Brew a microbe tea. Add 1-2 tbs per gallon of water (remember to de-chlorinate your water - chlorine kills microbes). Poor over your root base with every feeding.
Note: The more habitats you collect your microbes from the greater the BIM. Use your imagination. Maybe you have a fellow grower far away that you can swap BIM with, to get an even greater collection? Diversity in microbes is the key here. I strongly recommend reading more about this subject if you find it interesting. Best of luck!
