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Goodwood, Ontario, Canada

A botanist friend claims that treating seeds prior to germination with Glomus Intraradices endomycorrhizal fungal spores would super charge the plant from the get go. Has anyone heard of this? I've done a little internet research and can only find talk of patented processes for super charging the seeds.

3/23/2012 4:37:51 PM

South East

Endomyccorhizeal spores need time to germinate and establish a relationship with the plant. This can take up to 30 days. Seedlings do not look better, greener or grow faster because of myccorhizea a couple of days after germing.
Its not untill the plant hits the patch, the myccor spores have germinated, found roots and shoot out mycelium before the actual benifits start to happen.
And pre treating a seed with myccohizea is impossible. The fungal spores must be germinated and very close to a root to form an association. Un germed seeds have no roots, lol.

3/23/2012 5:27:19 PM

Goodwood, Ontario, Canada

Oh well...I haven't spoken to him this weekend but will post his comments after I grill him.

3/24/2012 1:02:36 PM

Goodwood, Ontario, Canada

Well we seem to have a difference of opinion. I'm being told that pre-treating a seed with Glomus Intraradices endomycorrhizal fungal spores is very beneficial. The spores will attach to the root upon germination and will give any grower a leg up over other methods.

3/31/2012 6:31:37 PM

East Jordan, MI

pburdon,
I'm no scientist, or expert of any kind, but most of the things I have read is the mychorrhiza spores take a while to germinate themselves and the need to be in contact with the root to stay alive or they die quickly. Additionally, I'm pretty sure the mychorrhiza would need nutrients to add any benefits to the sprouting seedling. Most of the growers in my area use seed starting media (sterilized stuff with no added nutrients) and transplant the seedling between 3 and 5 days after it germinates. They add the mychorrhiza during transplanting, ensuring that it directly contacts the roots. While we try to get every advantage possible, given those factores, I am sceptical that those 3 to 5 days are going to make much of a difference -- especially if the spores die or do not germinate before the roots touch them -- but that is just my opinion.

I also wonder how you would "pre-treat" the seed anyway. What is the method he is suggesting to pre-treat them?

4/1/2012 12:01:11 AM

Piqua, Ohio

if mychorrhizae dies quick then how does it survive so long in a bag? My pumpkin pro don't expire until Dec. 2013. Quinn Werner told me at a weigh off to mix 5 lbs in my patch and not under vines. I've been told different stuff by different growers, it's hard to know what will work! Any suggestions?

4/1/2012 7:56:58 AM

Circleville, Ohio, USA

What I wonder is what causes mychorrhiza to germinate? Temperature, moisture, or just the presence of a root ?

4/1/2012 4:42:46 PM

East Jordan, MI

Can't argue with Quinn, if you had a cover crop that would be a very effective way of getting a good network started, but if you till, then you destroy that network and it has to start over. Everytihing I have read or heard says it needs roots to multiply and live. It is dormant (spores) in bag. I've been told that moisture and heat cause it to germinate, and it can live for a while on compost until it attaches to a root or more hypea. If none ever come along then it dies. There must be some way that it could stay dormant, but I haven't found anything that supports that in my searching.

4/2/2012 1:03:45 AM

Piqua, Ohio

that's more of an explanation of mycho's than I've ever got Thanks!

4/2/2012 8:39:10 PM

East Jordan, MI

Spurred by melons statement that quinn said to broadcast on the patch I have found the following:

The shelf life of our standard products are 2 years with a 10% decrease in viability in year 3. Cold temperature, even freezing, does not affect the viability of mycorrhizal propagules that are most commonly used as inoculum. High temperatures, above 140 degrees F, damage mycorrhizal propagules and should be avoided. Once the propagules are mixed with the soil, they remain in a dormant state until there is root activity. Mycorrhizal propagules germinate in the presence of certain root exudates. Once the spores germinate and attach to the root system, the mycorrhiza will remain with the plant for the life-cycle of the plant. Plants growing on stressed sites or frequently disturbed sites may require several inoculations.

4/3/2012 8:11:34 AM

East Jordan, MI

And this:

1. Since the mycorrhizae germinate in the presence of root exudates this is the key to successful inoculation.

2. Mycorrhizae are probably more hardy than you might think, which has helped them to survive the last 450 million years. There are some conditions to avoid:

High temperatures of 140 degrees F and above can kill the mycorrhizae, which could be important to people who want to use before Composting.

Not all, but certain Fungicides can also damage mycorrhizal fungi. Pick a mycorrhiza friendly fungicide.

Mycorrhizal fungi actually attach and become part of the plant, they are not free living soil organisms, they require that symbiotic relationship, meaning they will stay with the plant for the life-cycle of that plant. When annual plants die, or a field is tilled, etc those mycorrhizae do not remain indefinitely, they die along with those plants.

3. High levels of available Phosphorous does not harm or kill mycorrhizae, but it can slow there progress. One of the main functions of mycorrhizae is to extract phosphorous. However, if there is already an over abundance of phosphorous available to the plant the mycorrhizae have to reason to "go to work" so to speak. This means they won't be performing some of their other important tasks like water uptake, and other nutrient extraction as well. You really want to keep available phosphorous at a low to moderate level. This is most important at the time of inoculation when those spores are trying to attach to the plant and assimilating to their new environment.

4/3/2012 8:14:16 AM

East Jordan, MI

And this (see chapter 2 -- page 15 -- From a germinating spore to an established arbuscular mycorrhiza:signalling and regulation)
http://books.google.com/books?id=rZc9rJTNTagC&pg=PA41&lpg=PA41&dq=Mycorrhizal+propagules+germinate+in+the+presence+of+certain+root+exudates.&source=bl&ots=1ZYGMKY7rm&sig=qwE5jbyMLNeKwajlSZ6_vj9lr2g&hl=en

4/3/2012 8:23:27 AM

East Jordan, MI

All state that:

"Mycorrhizal propagules germinate in the presence of certain root exudates".

4/3/2012 8:27:36 AM

Goodwood, Ontario, Canada

I've confirmed with my friend who clarified that he soaks the seeds for a couple of hours and then rolls the seeds in a mychroriza product that has 3200 spores per grain. The seed is then planted in a pot within germination chamber. Additional mychroriza can be sprinkled when the plant is transplanted into the patch.

4/5/2012 8:19:40 AM