To: NAFEX Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
Subject: [NAFEX] mycorrhizal fungi native in the soil
Date: Sat, 15 Aug 2009 20:35:05 -0400
We used to have discussions here about whether it was helpful to add
mycorrhizal fungi when planting. I tried it once or twice, but never
did anything like a controlled experiment, and after a year or two I
decided that if the stuff worked my garden ought to be well-
innoculated, and shouldn't need new spores.
In the back, by my oaks, I've noticed a nice crop of Indian Pipes in
recent years. It's a weird saprophytic flowing plant . . . or so I
always thought. But I dug some up for a friend, and thought I'd
research it a little on google. Apparently, it's not only a
saphrophyte, but a parasite that--get this--tricks mycorrhizal fungi
into giving it sugars derived from nearby photosynthetic plants.
I'm pretty sure the backyard oaks can spare enough sugar to sustain a
dozen little clumps of Indian Pipe, and it's sort of a fun plant to
have around because it looks so odd. So I plan to leave it where it
is. But I also sort of suspect there's plenty of wild mycorrhizal
fungus in my soil.
Ginda
eastern MA
zone 6
p.s. after reading how the stuff grows, I doubt it transplants well.
But I've already dug the clump up (with a lot of nearby soil) and I
suppose it won't do any harm for her to plant it and see what
happens. It's pretty much done for this year, just ripening its
seeds. Maybe, even if the parent plant dies, some of the seeds will
survive in her back yard.
[NAFEX] mycorrhizal fungi native in the soil,
Ginda Fisher, 08/15/2009