There is this very detailed manualI would like to share, about the propagation of Mycorrhiza.
It is a fairly simple method involving the collection of naturally occurring mycorrhizae in you area, propagating the fungi in the roots of plants such as lentil and oats, or corn and beans (and many others), then killing the host plants to induce the Mycorrhiza fungi into producing spores; this soil loaded with spores becomes the inoculum for your new plants!
I am really exited to try this, I will make a tutorial and share my results!
Good thing is already have corn in the vegetable garden and would need to add lentils or beans only. I will also try to harvest the roots of other bushes and threes in my zone!
An excerpt from the document:
A SIMPLE METHOD FOR MAKING YOUR OWN MYCORRHIZAL INOCULUM
This is a method of inoculating your plants with beneficial fungi. You can make your own from your own
local soil. The soil that you make will be rich in beneficial fungi. This will be the ‘inoculum’. It takes about
an hour or less to set up and is very simple to maintain.
Contents:
Introduction
- What are mycorrhiza?
- How do you know if a particular plant species can be a host to this type of fungus?
- Results that you can expect
Method for making a mycorrhizal inoculum
- Collecting your ‘Starter Soil’
- Multiplying the mycorrhiza
- Maintaining your trap-pots or trough
- Three months later…
- Using the inoculum
Things to consider when setting up a trial
- Inoculating
- Setting up a trial
- Designing the trial
How to record progress
INTRODUCTION
What are mycorrhiza?
Mycorrhizal fungi are a group of soil fungi that infect the roots of most plants. The fungi is not a pest or
parasite as it supplies the plant with nutrients like phosphorus, copper and zinc, as well as increasing
water availability. The plant supports the fungus with carbon in the form of sugars. This symbiotic
relationship does not affect the plants, as they produce excess carbon. In fact, lack of water and
nutrients is more often the limiting factor to plants’ growth and establishment.
Mycorrhizal fungi are found in most environments, although their importance is greater in more
extreme environments, where nutrients and water may be limited. There are very few plants that do
not form mycorrhizal associations at all, although most can grow without it. In plants that have been
infected by mycorrhizal fungi, the fungus is actually the chief method of nutrient uptake, not the roots.
There are two main types of mycorrhizal fungi. The type that we are interested in is by far the most
common, and is called arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). These are invisible to the naked eye but
form a fine mesh through the soil. The fungi enter the cells of the roots where they form branched
arbuscles within these cells, this is where the exchange of nutrients and carbon occurs.
I have also thought of buying a product that contains micro life and try to start a living soil and use it as inoculum for my plants. Here is some of the micro-life it has:
Endo-mycorrhiza:
•Glomus intradadices
•Glomus clarum
•Entrophospora colombiana
•Glomus geosporum
•Glomus mosseae
•Glomus etunicatum
Rhizo bacteria:
•Bacillus subtiles
•Paenibacillus azotofixans
•Bacillus pumilus
•Bacillus polymixa
•Bacillus megatrium
•Bacillus lichenifmis
in general for sharing this valuable knowledge!
