Mycorrhizae Product?

It's a matter of chemistry.

JimLewis wrote:It's a matter of chemistry.

Your absolutely correct Jim. the process of nutrient absorption in plant roots and microorganism metabolization are both functions that can be correctly grouped under organic chemistry.

-Jay

Ha!Ha! True that Jim, and we're not chemists, and therein lies the rub!

Thanks everyone for sharing your thoughts and information. I didn't mean to change the topic. I set aside an area of my garden to overwinter my bonsai. I either set them in with just their root mass or sink them into the ground in a plastic container. My larch trees are always full of mycorrhizal fungus weather in or out of their pots. I've had several of them since the early 1970's (and they've hardly grown an inch).

I've been cutting wood charcoal throughout the winter into tiny bits 1/8 to 1/2 inch size and soaking them in fertilizer and trace elements to create a sort of time release charcoal base. This process might happen naturally in the soil but I thought I'd expedite matters by presoaking plus I'd have some idea of what might be available from the start. My soil was originally very acidic but I've modified it for decades with compost and organic matter. I'm not doing scientific tests at this stage I'm just curious to see what happens over the next few years. I plan to grow several different kinds of plants plus a few bonsai starters. I'll grow the same plants in my regular soil for comparison. My regular bonsai soil base is primarily Turface and crushed stone that contains dolomite. The dolomite is another reason why I thought to try charcoal directly.

Charcoal is good for Endo-Mycorhizae !you can replace it with...honey (good for endo and ecto).
(4% in water, once by week after normal watering, march to june, and september to november)
Charcoal or honey ....or glucose, are carbon resource necesary for the growth of the mycelia

For endo you can buy inoculants and introduce some various species of Glomus
for others (Ecto) just add spores or pieces of mushroom in the substrate
(for spores proceed like this

and what mushroom ??? : for ecto you can mix, for all trees !!! :
Suillus, Laccaria, Hebeloma,Pisolithus, Thelephora, Rhizopogon...
they are sufficient , and generic for all trees with ectomycorrhizae...in fact they have the capacity
to live in bonsai pot with young or old trees and various substrate...It's not really the same case with some specific
mushroom associated with specific trees in nature...impossible to have them in pot.

for ecto , you can add 3 % of bark compost in the inorganic substrate...just for having good bacteria (not necessary in a old substrate)
for endo , 3% of charcoal.

For nitrogen :
Ecto :proteins, amino acids and ammonium (NH4 +)
Endo :Nitrate (NO3-)

Phosphore ;
use fertilizer wih - 10% of phosphorus !


My study about mycorrhizae and bonsai in french, if there is someone who want to translate it in english....!!!!:
http://www.parlonsbonsai.com/Mieux-comprendre-les-mycorhizes-en.html

a young pine , 1 year after collecting (in coco substrate, inoculated by myself with Hebeloma and Suillus)



Laccaria Amethysta inoculated to a young oak one year before : in last november ..2 mushrooms !!!!


...my production of mycelia (suillus)

other

....i can introduce it in a pot for ioculation !

Pascal, ton article est un trisor!
Merci bien!

...merci !!!! thanks !

If you have question, i'll try to answer...with my good english !

...

http://babelfish.yahoo.com/translate_url?doit=done&tt=url&intl=1&fr=bf-home&trurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.parlonsbonsai.com%2FMieux-comprendre-les-mycorhizes-en.html&lp=fr_en&btnTrUrl=Translate

Thanks for posting and nice photos!

Bob

...palmatum cuttings done last year, in coco substrate (mixed with river sand). I add commercial product with vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal (VAM): Glomus (intraradices,Mosseae)...
I use the same product for : juniperus, ulmus, other acers....


endomycorrhizae are not visible...

...For this case : it is not mycorrhiza !
It's a juniperus !...and all juniperus have VAM (endo)mycorrhiza,...and not visible.

it's a saprotroph fungi, probably Trichoderma.

other photo of ectomycorrhiza on pine :