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nafex - Re: [NAFEX] mycorrhiza

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  • From: "Stephen Sadler" <Docshiva@Docshiva.org>
  • To: "'North American Fruit Explorers'" <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [NAFEX] mycorrhiza
  • Date: Fri, 15 May 2009 14:04:07 -0700

In what kind of environment?  Garden, orchard?  You would have to match the fungi to the environment.  And not every fungus is beneficial to every plant.  They do have a bread tendency to exclude other fungal populations; for instance, the genus you favor shows some antimicrobial action against filamentous fungi such as fusarium.  That would be a good thing.  But Cantharellus is unlikely to grow in a garden or orchard.  They like mature trees, Doug fir in our local foothills, Oak farther north.  They might like oak here, but maybe Armillaria-in-waiting (for the Oak to be in distressed or in late maturity) occupies the space Cantharellus would like.    Cantharellus will fruit around healthy trees; it associates with the roots (as do truffles) rather than feeding on decaying roots.  I don’t think there are any good-tasting mushrooms you’d be able to grow in association with orchard tree roots, except perhaps truffles in association with filberts – and that’s a long-term unguaranteed proposition, considered only possible at all in certain climates (think Oregon). 

There are a number of good-tasting species that will grow in a garden, and it’s likely that they would provide some protection against soil-borne pathogens.  This isn’t to say they would form a happy  or symbiotic association with your garden-or-farm plants roots.   However, they’ll fruit within a year.  I don’t believe the mycorrhizae that might associate with living food crops produce edible fruiting bodies.

 

~ Stephen

CA Central Valley

 

From: nafex-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org [mailto:nafex-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Kevin Moore
Sent: Friday, May 15, 2009 11:08 AM
To: North American Fruit Explorers
Subject: Re: [NAFEX] mycorrhiza

 

My point is not simply to achieve mycorhizal associations, but specific associations with fungi that also produce edible (and preferably delicious) fruiting bodies. Why not make them do double duty? Not only do they benefit the plant, but you also gain a valuable crop, though they can take a decade or more before they start to produce, as in the case of Chanterelles. (My favorite.)

 




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