To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
Subject: Re: [NAFEX] mycorrhizal fungi native in the soil
Date: Sun, 16 Aug 2009 07:46:03 -0700 (PDT)
Ginda, my understanding of Mycorhizzae is that they transfer nutrients both from the soil to the plants and from plant to plant. That is how many forest understory plants, including young trees, are able to survive in such deep shade. I suspect that if your friend plants the indian pipes under an established tree they may well survive, especially if they are going dormant .
From: Ginda Fisher <list@ginda.us> To: NAFEX Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org> Sent: Saturday, August 15, 2009 7:35:05 PM Subject: [NAFEX] mycorrhizal fungi native in the soil
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
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