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Www.extremepumpkinstore.com

A very important part of fall soil prep that is over looked each year is adding mycorrhiza. Yes, you heard correctly, By mixing Mycorrhiza with your cover crop and broadcasting it over the patch, you can innoculate the entire patch, the mycorrhiza will attach to your cover crop roots then over winter until spring where it will awaken and give you an advantage of having the entire patch innoculated.

10/5/2009 8:41:14 PM

South Bloomfield, Ohio

Great advice Tom.

10/5/2009 9:24:15 PM

Paradise Mountain, New York

A better thing to do Tom is what I did this past Spring.I covered my whole patch as the sun went down with Mycorrhiza, then I tilled it in deep. Then I planted a crop of alfalfa. This was done to allow my mycorrhizia to grow like crazy this whole summer and the spot to grow pumpkins next year will be full of mycorrhizia. It takes 90-120 days for new spores to grow to any attached roots that has mycorrhiza already attached.. One thing to remember about spreading mycorrizia, don't do it on a hot sunny day. The rays can kill the mycorrizia. Best done on a cloudy day or after the sun has set. Good post Tom.

10/5/2009 9:41:32 PM

Mill Bay, British Columbia

Thanks Tom, I had some left over and wondered if it would keep/store for use next year. I'm gonna till it in before I plant my cover crop.

10/6/2009 6:23:15 PM

Waterville, Ohio

Tom do you have any advice as of how much mycorrhiza to apply per 1000sq ft? Need an idea so I can purchase some off of the extremepumpkin site.

10/6/2009 9:08:44 PM

Gig Harbor, Wa

If I am on a limited budget regarding how much I can invest in mycorrhiza, should I innoculate the entire patch this fall before I plant a cover crop? Or am I better off putting the mycorrhiza in my starting mix and using it when I plant my starts and as I buty my vines. I would like to get the most bang for my buck as possible but I don't know which option I should try.

10/16/2009 9:31:29 PM

Www.extremepumpkinstore.com

I am going to broadcast the 3 remaining lbs i have over approx 3000 sq ft.
As far as which is better, applying mycorrhiza at each leaf node while covering vines and in the planting hole is proven to work, broadcasting it in the fall was tested and the result showed that the soil samples taken from the rootzone of the cover crop in the patch of a very well known grower had more spores then the mycorrhiza being offered from another vendor.
If I had to make a choice, I would stick to applying during the season, but if you can afford it, i would recommend both.

10/16/2009 11:39:29 PM