In sitting down to write this article, I wanted to go deep into the soil food web. I wanted to start from the ground up on how the different bacterium and mycorrhiza work together with plants and trees and help make them a better, stronger version of themselves. I wanted to inspire you the way I have been inspired. Then I came to the realization that I would just be repeating information that was already out there. I would just be siting sources of this wonderful knowledge and rewriting it in my own voice. That’s boring, for me and for you.
What I want to do is show you how to use this knowledge the way I have this past year. I want to show you how to make mycorrhizal fungi on your own. You could go out and buy it (as I did for experimentation) and do it that way, but like I have asked in past articles “what if there was no home depot?”
Mycorrhiza: The Basics
Mycorrhiza can be broken down to its root words and translated literally to “root fungus”. Whether fungus makes you think of yellow toenails or mushrooms on a pizza, most don’t realize the impact they do and can have on all life on Earth. They are an amazing life-form that we are just scratching the surface of their potential. One use that commercial growers and nurseries have known for a while but is now starting to trickle to the average gardener is the symbiotic relationship mycorrhizal fungi has with plants.
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Creating Soil Helpers: They Work Hard So You Don’t Have To
Fungi and Bacteria are classified as decomposers. If they weren’t around we would quickly be swimming in un-decomposed organic matter. Though paradoxically, without them we would not have that organic matter in the first place. Bacteria are nitrogen loving and capable of ingesting only the simplest of micro-nutrients and sugars. Woody carbon-filled matter is what fungi are good at breaking down with the enzymes it creates. Knowing this I set out to establish different environments for both organisms to grow.
For the bacteria I made sure to have lots of small organic materials for them to munch on. Layering my compost pile with a good ratio of carbon to nitrogen ensures that the organic matter breaks down enough for the bacteria. Air and water are needed for this as well so a moist and aerated compost pile with plenty of brown and green material is a perfect breeding ground for beneficial bacteria. Lots of worms showing up in your compost pile are a sign of many decomposers present since this is the worm’s main diet. The excreted material leftover by the worms is also a great addition for soil fertility. I cover my compost pile with straw or leaves since UV light can kill the bacterial colonies you are encouraging to grow.
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Article source: Mother Earth News
Image source: Prezi