RE: [gardeners] Re: Mycorrhiza questions...
Catharine Vinson (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Mon, 19 Oct 1998 12:47:46 -0400
Liz wrote:
For example, Don in CA is selling the fungi for use with tomatoes --
he has a strain that will grow and work with tomatoes. It may grow
and work with a few other plants, too. But there is no general
purpose mycorrhiza that is the answer to everyone's problems or that
will work with every plant.
I've bought and used the strain from Don in Calif. I've been very pleased....both with the results on tomatoes and the no-hype approach Don makes in selling it...he's been straight about the product and known limitations. It seems to work best in soils that are relatively "sterile".....replacing the mycorrhiza (and/or helping to create a favorable environment) that have been destroyed by continuous application of commercial fertilizer.
I have real questions about the usefulness of using any form of these
fungi in an organic garden such as yours -- one in which tomatoes are
planted in the same location year after year. My own anecdotal
experience is that tomatoes replanted year after year in the same
soil grow exceptionally well. My guess is that part of that result
comes from soil microbes that become established and flourish year
after year -- not necessarily just a single type of fungus but a
balance of many types of organisms.
Nicely said.
Catharine