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Mycorrhizal Fungi, Nature's Key to Plant Survival and Success

pacifichorticulture.org

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Re: Mycorrhizal Fungi, Nature's Key to Plant Survival and Success

#31

Post by sharedptr »

My_Name wrote: post #20

For my work, I spent roughly a year studying the mechanism of roots, on and off. The different routes for nutrient and water uptake, transport, the different types of fungus, the differing ways plants interact with those fungi. And, of course, this is without going into the nematodes and how the plant attracts specific species by emitting tailored carbohydrate packets to both attract the nematodes and feed fungal gro…

Is there q good book you’d recommend to learn about this topic? I know the basics of biology but never went too deep into the basics of plants fb I always wondered how they actually work. Kinda worried when I have to transplant something on how long they can stay without soil etc

Re: Mycorrhizal Fungi, Nature's Key to Plant Survival and Success

#32

Post by ch4s3 »

hnmullany wrote: post #24
My_Name wrote: post #20

For my work, I spent roughly a year studying the mechanism of roots, on and off. The different routes for nutrient and water uptake, transport, the different types of fungus, the differing ways plants interact with those fungi. And, of course, this is without going into the nematodes and how the plant attracts specific species by emitting tailored carbohydrate packets to both attract the nematodes and feed fungal gro…

Organic grown food is more nutritious and I'm glad we have a significant percentage of farms who have gone organic, but the yield gap is very well documented. Organic fertilizers release nutrients slowly and unpredictably and can't match artificial nitrogen for plant uptake. E.g. a 25% average yield penalty in this meta-analysis: Alvarez, R. (2022) ‘Comparing Productivity of Organic and Conventional Farming Systems:…

> Organic grown food is more nutritious

This isn't categorically true if you're comparing the same variety of crop. Vaclav Smil does great work compiling data on this in his book "How to Feed the World". The overall environmental picture is also more complicated[1].

[1] https://ourworldindata.org/is-organic-agriculture-better-for...

Re: Mycorrhizal Fungi, Nature's Key to Plant Survival and Success

#33

Post by ch4s3 »

goda90 wrote: post #19
DivingForGold wrote: post #17

Although mycorrhizal fungi have their place in plant ecosystems, in commercial horticultural production their benefit is typically outweighed by fertilizers, which result in considerably faster growth and crop cycles. We have trialed and encountered significant results with other "natural" products, such as harpin proteins for ~20% increased plant growth, entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana for insect pest con…

Regenerative agriculture advocates would argue that cultivating a permanent mycorrhizal fungi ecosystem in fields will lead to longer term yields and few if any inputs in the end. Adding a fungal product into a system that wasn't already conducive to natural growth seems like a recipe for minimal benefit. For anyone not familiar, look up Gabe Brown's talks on growing soil.

> would argue that cultivating a permanent mycorrhizal fungi ecosystem in fields will lead to longer term yields and few if any inputs in the end

They should show up with data. My other concern is that regenerative farming advocates always seem to leave out labor inputs.

Re: Mycorrhizal Fungi, Nature's Key to Plant Survival and Success

#34

Post by jessetemp »

sharedptr wrote: post #31
My_Name wrote: post #20

For my work, I spent roughly a year studying the mechanism of roots, on and off. The different routes for nutrient and water uptake, transport, the different types of fungus, the differing ways plants interact with those fungi. And, of course, this is without going into the nematodes and how the plant attracts specific species by emitting tailored carbohydrate packets to both attract the nematodes and feed fungal gro…

Is there q good book you’d recommend to learn about this topic? I know the basics of biology but never went too deep into the basics of plants fb I always wondered how they actually work. Kinda worried when I have to transplant something on how long they can stay without soil etc

Jeff Lowenfels has a series of books about fungi, microbes, bacteria, and nutrients that I really enjoyed. They’re all fairly short and accessible for someone without a bio background.

https://www.jefflowenfels.com/

Re: Mycorrhizal Fungi, Nature's Key to Plant Survival and Success

#35

Post by 9dev »

sharedptr wrote: post #31
My_Name wrote: post #20

For my work, I spent roughly a year studying the mechanism of roots, on and off. The different routes for nutrient and water uptake, transport, the different types of fungus, the differing ways plants interact with those fungi. And, of course, this is without going into the nematodes and how the plant attracts specific species by emitting tailored carbohydrate packets to both attract the nematodes and feed fungal gro…

Is there q good book you’d recommend to learn about this topic? I know the basics of biology but never went too deep into the basics of plants fb I always wondered how they actually work. Kinda worried when I have to transplant something on how long they can stay without soil etc

Not OP, but for a gentle introduction Merlin Sheldrake‘s Entangled Life is pretty amazing.

Re: Mycorrhizal Fungi, Nature's Key to Plant Survival and Success

#36

Post by troyvit »

My_Name wrote: post #20

For my work, I spent roughly a year studying the mechanism of roots, on and off. The different routes for nutrient and water uptake, transport, the different types of fungus, the differing ways plants interact with those fungi. And, of course, this is without going into the nematodes and how the plant attracts specific species by emitting tailored carbohydrate packets to both attract the nematodes and feed fungal gro…

Hey can you share any papers you've published on both of these topics? My partner just finished her Master's thesis in a similar vein and in her direct conversations with farmers and they have seen similar frustrating dynamics using fertilizer in their fields. She would like to share your work with them.

Re: Mycorrhizal Fungi, Nature's Key to Plant Survival and Success

#37

Post by tastyfreeze »

This topic is endlessly fascinating. Facilitating interactions between fungi, bacteria and plant roots in the root zone is my goal as a gardener. All I have to do is feed the soil properly to maintain a general balance between fungi and bacteria and the plants will thrive. Mycorrhizae physically join with plant roots and make a partnership. Bacteria are both fed by and consumed by plants. The whole soil ecosystem continually builds nitrogen and carbon in the soil.

I live in a rain forest. Every winter washes the soil clean of the majority of nitrogen that was built up the previous summer. To keep a raised bed alive I have to amend with bulk compost in the fall and spring. Without the fall amendment the soil starves and the spring amendment is less effective. That was until I added biochar(innoculated charcoal) to my beds. The charcoal prevents nutrients from being washed out of the soil when there are no plants replenishing it. In beds amended with biochar I get higher production and lower inputs. Biochar can help reduce inputs on chemical farms too. But, the combination of healthy living soil and biochar, for me, makes gardening easy. I am more concerned with whether a plant has enough sun than anything else these days.

Re: Mycorrhizal Fungi, Nature's Key to Plant Survival and Success

#38

Post by tastyfreeze »

Aurornis wrote: post #4
flenserboy wrote: post #3

I have added spores to my garden for a few years, & the results have been excellent. Not only have the plants thrived, the network spread through the lawn to a further extent every year, & the grass in that zone looks much healthier than the rest of the lawn. Mostly I sprinkle a bit in with each seed or row — it does the work from that point on. Trees have shown the same pattern — we had a large, older tree go down,…

Do you mind sharing which product you use? Every time I look into this I have a hard time telling which products contain useful amounts of good strains.

Really the best you can do is with local mycorrhizae. Collect it wild and inoculate your yard. But, if you don't even really need to do that. Make the environment hospitable to mycorrhizae and it will appear.

Re: Mycorrhizal Fungi, Nature's Key to Plant Survival and Success

#39

Post by quantumink »

alwa wrote: post #28
emschwartz wrote: post #7

If you haven’t read Entangled Life: How Fungi Shape Our World, I can’t recommend it enough. https://www.merlinsheldrake.com/entangled-life

Couldn’t agree more. And for what it’s worth, its aptly-named author Merlin Sheldrake is an absolutely charming human too. As quirky iconoclastic woodland enthusiasts go. For a taste, Joanna Steinhardt for the LA Review: https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/the-mycophiles-plea-on-m... I suspect some folks here might also appreciate his early-career (2011) musical collaboration with brother Cosmo Sheldrake and friends,…

Cosmo is his brother, wow! (have deeply adored his solo work since discovering it last year)

Aaah, it all connects - a web within a web indeed...

I have got some weekend reading and listening to get to now - thank you all kindly. As a contribution wanted to mention Paul Stamets and his works - it's all somehow about fungi (and bees sometimes!), and all deeply fascinating

Re: Mycorrhizal Fungi, Nature's Key to Plant Survival and Success

#40

Post by culi »

anonymous_sorry wrote: post #23
culi wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wouldn't say that. There's plenty of behaviors where plants and fungi act in the interest of the community as a whole. Mature forests are made of late-successional species. These species could only possibly grow after earlier succession species had "prepped the soil" (nurtured the soil ecology, transitioned the nitrogen cycle from ammonia to nitrates, etc) and provided shade to allow them to grow. Since these trees…

I think it would be be more illuminating to call it "enlightened self-interest".

Ah yes, the old "rule utilitarianism collapses into act utilitarianism"

I don't completely agree but it's a better position that what's currently dominant

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