Re: [gardeners] Re: Mycorrhiza questions...
Marianne Lepa (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Mon, 19 Oct 1998 15:57:55 -0400
I don't know if Bill & Harvey are still on this list, but I do know that
they experimented with mycorrhiza in Connecticut and found no difference
between plants grown in soil amended with compost and the fungus, and
plants grown in soil amended with compost alone.
I would suspect, as Liz has suggested, that if some people are having
sucesses with mychorhizza, then it more than likely has to do with their
particular soil type rather than the fungus alone. From what I've been
able to see, the majority of people claiming success by adding mychorrizza
come from areas that have been grassland or desert for eons. Those of us
who live parts of the continent that are, or were, known for lumber, seem
to do well enough without the benefit of adding mychorrizha. I'm not a
botanist either, but to me, it looks like mixed deciduous forest has more
benefit than just autumn colour.
And speaking of compost -- when I moved to this place in May '97, I brought
along 4 or 5 composting worms from the farm and dropped them into what
appeared to be a woefully inadequate, township supplied, compost bin. After
16 months of heavy use, I emptied the composter yesterday and found, not
only beautiful "chocolate cake" type compost, but billions and billions of
worms! I kept back a hundred or so to reseed the composter and the rest
have been put to work out in the veggie garden along with the organic
matter. :-)
Does anyone have any suggestions as to what I need to do with
not-quite-ripe fennel seeds and a below-freezing night coming up this week?
Marianne
Southeastern Ontario AgCan zone 5b