ROOT fungus and Benificial bacteria trying it out

[Kyle]

A sample was given to me when i stopped in a local hydro organic store for some square pots.
The owner asked me if i was using a beneficiary in my HVH potting media?  He insisted i try this product and swore by it. 
The product is called Great White.      Mycorrhizae, Trichoderma, beneficial bacteria.
The fungi spores absorb nutrients, water and feed the plant in exchange for sugars.
Benefits are vigorous growth, white roots, and more root surface area.

My hibiscus have been indoors since Oct and won't be back out till May.   I started using the product in Feb twice a month @ 1/2 tsp per gal.   I use all HVH soil, fertilizer and most of my plants are only a year old in small pots.
Its only been 3 weeks and 2 doses,  but my plants are doing well or at least accepting the root fungus.
My Pinot Nor is 9 months old stil in the original 4" hvh container.   The plant arrived late fall and will not be in direct sun until May.   The indoor hvh formula has kept it healthy but just not getting the branching and root development.
I can slide off the liner and see the roots and observe any changes or whitening.
The first thing i noticed is the perlite in the potting mix.
Over the winter it has slowly turned brown and not attractive.   
Since i started using the fungi spores the perlite is turning from brown to white slightly more appealing.     

[farmer d]

Kyle thanks for the update on Great White.  I have a tub of it too and have used it a few times when I thought I might have had root rot going on.  Unfortunately for me it didn't stop those plants from eventually dying but I still think it is one of the better mycorrhizae products out there.

That is an interesting observation about the perlite.  I have used it a bit too on some planters where they soil completely dried out as I wanted to reintroduce beneficial microorganisms back into the root systems.

Keep us posted on your progress.  I would like to know if you see substantial improvement in your plants over time when using it.

Farmer D

[Charlie]

The theories and lab results regarding beneficial micro-organisms in soil are all very supportive about the benefits. I've tried many different products, including old fashioned worm castings which are also a good source for beneficial organisms, and would not discourage anyone else from giving them a try.

Truthfully, I cannot tell if they have helped my hibiscus or not, simply because good varieties of hibiscus, grown in warm and bright places with plenty of nutrition available, grow well. Adding beneficials does not give an obvious burst of health and performance. The beneficial organisms are almost certainly helping, and fending off disease organisms, but the benefits are not easy to document without controlled trials and so forth.

Anyway, potting mixes are mostly about holding the roots in place and storing water and nutrients for the plants. Just as we must add water and fertilizer to potting mixes, we also should add living micro-organisms to create a live soil that does many things, including turning some types of nitrogen into the plant useable form plants require.

Kyle, thanks for your report and please let us know of anything else you notice.

Charlie

[Kyle]

FarmerD I read your post about your root fungus and prior mycorrhizae.
Charlie I keep forgetting the beneficial worm castings in the hvh media and all their good.


I do have some concerns with  the root fungus I am using.   From what i read mycorrhizae main function is Phos uptake with this product.   Do i really want more phosphorus uptake or i just don't understand this form of PK   

[farmer d]

From what I have seen growing my hibiscus for four years now I have seen a few patterns that I find worth sharing.  I agree with Charlie that I haven't seen any outright proof that adding these products has helped my plants in any obvious way.

What I do find interesting when focusing on root fungus issues is the time of year and conditions.  I just lost 4 baby seedlings this past month to root rot.

Two were in a shady area with lots of moisture - so the soil does not heat up and dry out at all.  I see this each year around this time at the end of winter here.  Now I thought that it was the same old story with the cold soil temps combined with high levels of moisture too.

But I also lost two to root rot in my greenhouse growth chamber where it is nice and toasty 24-7.  So I am thinking the soil temp is not the culprit as is the moisture content in the soil combined with the time of year where these pathogens seem to do their thing.  Their spring is winter.

Once they get it it is really tough to overcome.  I completely change out the soil, clean the roots off best I can and in extreme situations I let the infected area dry out but if the disease is already inside that is it.

Farmer D

[Kyle]

I am trying to gain more root surface area with  Mycorrhizae, Trichoderma, beneficial bacteria.   Facing east is wonderful half of the year for me.    The other 6 months my plants are inside and need all the help they can get.
No problems with mold or fungus but i do practice not to over water being inside and constantly pruning/pinching my plants don't take up much water.
Indoor formula did a whole lot of good and made things real easy on me but i need more branching and root growth.
Even if i had 2 of every plant and did everything the same, there are to many variables that would effect a with and without  experiment in my situation.
I have some perlite soaking in the fungi/bacteria to see if i am imagining the whitening.      My point and shoot takes 2mb photos cropping down to 400kb will not happen.

[Kyle]

Update.    The perlite soaking in water with the fungus/bacteria is did not turn white.   If anything, the water alone may have rinsed off some of the stained perlite.

[Kyle]

Update here.    Great White is decent product.  It is outdated however and packed with to many species  and some don't even benefit plants and they use clay instead of carbs.  
This product contains bacterias and fungi spores, a  2 in 1 product without any sugars for activation.

Hibiscus are considered a hardwood.
Endomycorrhizal fungi spores do nothing for hibiscus because Endo attach to the root and only benefit soft wooded plants like tomatoes and produce.

Hibiscus benefit from EctoMycorrhizal.
Ecto (think ghost) floats around soil and attaches to organic material like sphramnum peat moss waiting for a root to grow and attach.
There are some additives that contain Ectomycorrhizal but they are expensive and hard to find.

Sphagnum peat moss is an excellent way to incorporate Ectomycorrhizal into your soil.
Coco is dead and Ectomycorrhizal won't attached to coco, perlite, rockwool or other inert mediums.

Guys without mycorrhizal there is no life.   It is the middleman that takes nutrients from bacteria and passes it to the roots.
This is what I mean when i say garden with organics.
Photo below is from an organically grown softwood plant that i used Endomycorrhizal by dusting the roots, rootball, and the surrounding soil after I transplanted from a pellet to 4" pot.

Most of the mycorrhizal should be added during the early stages of growing and I recommend dusting  during transplant.   The spores are inactive until they touch soil or roots.

Great White is still beneficial to hibiscus but only the bacteria in the product.
The fungi spores are not for hibiscus since it's all Endomycorrhizal in G.W.

Worm castings contain bacteria from worms stomachs and some nutrients from their diet.
There are no mycorrhizal  fungi in worm castings.  Neither  Ecto or Endomycorrhizal.