Trichoderma Harzianum & Vesicular Arbuscular Mycorrhizas

[burninbushhifi]

I hope you'll excuse me if I'm intruding on the thread with the question, but it seemed more apt than starting a new thread for the question(s)

You can get mycorrhizal fungi from {name removed as spam}, who make Rootgrow at about £2.50 a packet. However, you should note that ecto-mycorrhizas only infect woody perennials (trees/bushes) and only endo-mycorrhizas will infect herbaceous. This symbiotic relationship involves P and Water being passed to the plant from the extended hyphal network, and sugar being passed/payed to the fungi in return (a Carbon economy). If you add liquid P freely available as a fertilizer then you circumvent this relationship. Therefore, benefits of using VAMs are for in the garden with fresh plantings/establishments, low ferts. or low water and mothers.

Trichoderma will basically crowd out any other organisms from the surface of your plants (harmful or otherwise) and will serve as an effective innoculant for your seedlings. The root juice from Biobizz will stimulate new root growth and nourish your seedlings, and is available in smaller bottles for approx. £9.95. Your growshop is being a little bit shit.

Edited April 8, 2009 by pro_libertate

[dr don]

just been giving some pirhana and trantula is the same stuff and good to use????

[dr don]

yes but expensive

cool,lucky me didnt for it

[first-timer]

I've been given some spores for Trichoderma Harzianum and have been reading that it will quickly colonise the entire plant and once in association with the host plant the Trichoderma H will actually attack and kill pathogenic fungi trying to attack it's host. It does this by coiling it's hyphae around another fungi and strangling it too death

Now that sounds pretty cool to me (no more fungal problems ever) but one thought occurs - I use the fungal soil innoculant RootGrow (along with bacterial soil innoculants) and was wondering if the Trichoderma H. will perceive the VAM's (Vesicular Arbuscular Mycorrhizas) to be pathogenic as they invade and colonise the rhizosphere ?

Or will they work together ? Does RootGrow contain Trichoderma's and if so which species ?

Thanks in advance,

Felix.

Just something i read somewhere:

An experiment was performed with commercial and noncommercial Trichoderma harzianum strains to test whether they have any effect on the growth of tomato seedlings. The tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill. cv. ‘Caruso’) seedlings were grown in a greenhouse and watered daily by hand. 18-day old seedlings were inoculated with Trichoderma harzianum strains PlantshieldTM, T22, and T95 (107conidia plus mycelial fragments/ml) and transplanted into plastic pots filled with Pro-MixTM potting mix. Randomized complete block design was used and treatments were replicated three times. At six weeks, the seedlings were sampled for growth comparisons on seedling emergence, number of true leaves, fresh and dry weights of roots and shoots, stem caliper and shoot height. The data were subjected to ANOVA and the means tested by LSD. The results demonstrated that Trichoderma harzianum strains improved tomato seedling growth. There were differences between the untreated control and the treatments for all of the growth parameters at 4 weeks after inoculation with the exception of root fresh and dry weight.

[spinachboy]

Great thread

While I was researching Trichoderma I came across this article which I thought would also be of interest.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/...70628063211.htm

Can The Right Potting Mix Replace Fungicide?

ScienceDaily (July 3, 2007) — Potting mixes custom-tailored to fight plant diseases can work much better than systemic fungicides.

Agricultural Research Service (ARS) plant pathologists Leona Horst, James Locke and Charles Krause found this was true for a mix of peat, compost and the beneficial fungus Trichoderma hamatum strain 382. Horst and Krause are at the ARS Application Technology Research Unit in Wooster, Ohio. Locke is part of the unit's relatively new Greenhouse Production Research Group in Toledo, Ohio.

In a test with begonias, the scientists found that the mix reduced Botrytis gray mold, caused by the Botrytis cinerea fungus, better than the standard fungicide chlorothalonil did. Botrytis gray mold is the most common disease of greenhouse floral crops such as begonia, carnation, chrysanthemum, cyclamen, geranium, impatiens, petunia and marigold.

The beneficial Trichoderma fungus seems to enter the plants through the roots and spread through the entire plant internally. One advantage of systemic biocontrol—as opposed to spraying the plant leaves with a solution containing beneficial fungi—is that it doesn't leave a residue on the plant that harms plant market value.

Begonias grown in this mix had much fewer gray mold symptoms and much higher market value that those grown in straight peat and sprayed with chlorothalonil. The improvement in plant quality and market value makes the Trichoderma-compost mix very promising for greenhouse operations. Also, Botrytis has developed resistance to several fungicides.

The Trichoderma fungus thwarts Botrytis on more than one front. It prevents Botrytis from infecting fresh wounds, and produces compounds that keep Botrytis spores from germinating.

Surprisingly, the compost mix had a similar effect even without Trichoderma. This means there could be naturally occurring beneficial fungi or other biocontrol agents in the compost.

But, growers need to add beneficial fungi like Trichoderma to their mix, because they can't count on commercial composts to have them naturally.

ARS is the U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief scientific research agency.

[sky]

great thread ! im obsessed with all this stuff now and cant wait for my essence kit to be delivered

[Az.]

i have a quick question, I've read as much of this thread as I can without my eyeballs melting but my question is:

how important is the use of mollases / essence for using trichoderma and micorrhizal fungi?

Im using a 50 / 50 mixture of All-mix and B&Q mp with John Innes and rockdust, will the compost without the mollases / seaweed or whatever be sufficient to support the fungi?

cheers

[Felix Dzerzhinsky]

i have a quick question, I've read as much of this thread as I can without my eyeballs melting but my question is:

how important is the use of mollases / essence for using trichoderma and micorrhizal fungi?

Im using a 50 / 50 mixture of All-mix and B&Q mp with John Innes and rockdust, will the compost without the mollases / seaweed or whatever be sufficient to support the fungi?

cheers

Hi Az,

Mollasses feeds bacteria and a seaweed extract like Maxicrop feeds fungi. Neither is absolutely necessary, once the fungi have formed a symbiotic bond with the plant roots they'll obtain most of their nutrition from the plant. Mollasses on the other hand will provide a massive population boost to the soil bacteria as they consume the sugars and their metabolism goes into overdrive, beneficial if you've just repoted and want to encourage the bacterial populations to expand or if the plants nutrient needs are increasing as it comes into flowering.

At the end of the day you don't need to use either if you don't want to or can't obtain them providing your compost is of good quality but they are beneficial if you do apply them.

Hope that helps,

Felix.

[Az.]

i have a quick question, I've read as much of this thread as I can without my eyeballs melting but my question is:

how important is the use of mollases / essence for using trichoderma and micorrhizal fungi?

Im using a 50 / 50 mixture of All-mix and B&Q mp with John Innes and rockdust, will the compost without the mollases / seaweed or whatever be sufficient to support the fungi?

cheers

Hi Az,

Mollasses feeds bacteria and a seaweed extract like Maxicrop feeds fungi. Neither is absolutely necessary, once the fungi have formed a symbiotic bond with the plant roots they'll obtain most of their nutrition from the plant. Mollasses on the other hand will provide a massive population boost to the soil bacteria as they consume the sugars and their metabolism goes into overdrive, beneficial if you've just repoted and want to encourage the bacterial populations to expand or if the plants nutrient needs are increasing as it comes into flowering.

At the end of the day you don't need to use either if you don't want to or can't obtain them providing your compost is of good quality but they are beneficial if you do apply them.

Hope that helps,

Felix.

thanks felix!

[Felix Dzerzhinsky]

I gotta clock 50 posts before I can pm

Then you can pm me about the friend request once you've reached 50 posts

As you've noticed Greens sell it and they offer a good service

[Felix Dzerzhinsky]

Cheers Felix, soz about the friend thing I was being nosey and just clicked the box, didn't know

I'm down to be a friend if you don't like me

you will love my plants tho', guaranteed

they've been a bit poorly of late but eri has helped 'em along.

No worries,

I just prefer to get to know someone before adding them to my friends list is all , you'll be up to 50 posts in no time

Good luck with the plants.

[Herbal Kint]

As OT says

Pirahna is 65 pound

Root grow is 12

Can't see AN selling very many

Its too expensive I used to be an AN man all the money I spent my god

All you need is Bio bizz grow bloom

Rootgrow

Inoculant

If I can do it any one can

EM2

Ok i am reading this over and over again and cant figure some things...

You fellas use inoculants/ Is trichoderma , canna AKtivator , Essence,Rootgrow all inoculants ?

In short as addition to my usuall compost i add rock dust and inoculants? I am confused,wich one is best to go with?

Do i use Essence as inoculant?And simply add rock dust to my compost ? At what point is best to add inoculant?

e2a ill rephrase my question / What do i add as aditon to my compost when you are talking about inoculants and rockdust? pls add exact names of products so i can google it and now what exactly i am looking for.

is thi rock dust ok?

Edited January 4, 2010 by Herbal Kint

[Felix Dzerzhinsky]

Hi Herbal,

Let me try answering this one for you.

First up, yep that is Rockdust

You fellas use inoculants/ Is trichoderma , canna AKtivator , Essence,Rootgrow all inoculants ?

Yes, different inoculants contain different species of bacteria and/or fungi. Canna AKTrivator contains only Trichoderma Harzianum spores, RootGrow is made up of a mixture Mycorrhizal fungi and Essence is composed of T.Harzianum spores along with a mix of beneficial bacteria. Plantmagic also do Granules which is a mix of Essence along with Mycorrhizal fungi.

What do i add as aditon to my compost when you are talking about inoculants and rockdust? pls add exact names of products so i can google it and now what exactly i am looking for

Only add inoculants at potting up time. As for additives you've already got Rockdust, mearl (calcified seaweed) can be beneficial and adds calcium and manganese to your compost. Seaweed meal is another useful soil amendment, it adds trace elements, organic matter and helps retain moisture within the compost.

Hope that helps :wink:

[Herbal Kint]

Ok great Felix so rockdust is ok.

Now the inoculants i still dont get

Do i simply go with Plant magic Granules as inouclant or do i mix mearl , canna AKtivator andd Rootgrow with Granules? What combo is best to use along rockdust?

And i spray my plants and root zone when potting up? Like drench i did with neem oil right?

Thanks and sorry but i am having a hard time understanding all this ,its confusing me

Ok i read this again and if i figure it good i mix rock dust in compost along with granules and pot up,that s it. And i use Essence just in case i see fungus apearing,not as an inoculant. Am i on track? i have read the Granules thread and i feel educated now

Edited January 4, 2010 by Herbal Kint

[Felix Dzerzhinsky]

Ok i read this again and if i figure it good i mix rock dust in compost along with granules and pot up,that s it. And i use Essence just in case i see fungus apearing,not as an inoculant. Am i on track? i have read the Granules thread and i feel educated now

Pretty much man, except I'd mix the rockdust in to the compost at some point before using it, I normally do that a few months before but if you don't have the space no worries. Then I add either Granules or RootGrow (or any other mycorrhizal inoculant) as I pot up my plants into larger pots.