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mycorrhiza in container plants in the southeast?
I've seen a lot of testmonials about mycorrhizae, but I'm trying to find out if it would be of benefit in a specific situation. Japanese maples and camellias, container production in bark/sand mix, southeast heat and humidity. Does anyone have any experience here that they would share? Thanks.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Steve on -
I doubt very seriously it would be of benefit. The best response from these products is when the landscaper is going to plant them in a residential area where the developer has come in and scraped off all the topsoil in order to build the new subdivision. The landscaper would apply the mycorrhizea to the soil at planting time. In that instance it would be beneficial otherwise spend that money on fertilizer you will at least recoup your investment.
Best Wishes,
s.
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Permalink Reply by Tom Broome on -
I can tell you that it works in some situations. I'm in the SE and I use a peat and sand mixture in my containers. Maples and camellias, I can't tell you. I CAN tell you though that using mycrrhizae is a long term process. If you are selling these plants within two years of potting up, it won't do much to help YOU. However your customer might see it in the long term. They usually take a year before the colony builds up to see any difference in the way the plants grow. I can also tell you that certain species of mycorrhizae work well for certain types of plants, so if you aren't putting in something that works on these maples and camelias, then it won't work at all. Another thing is that once you colony is going good, you see the best results when you feed the mycorrhizae from time to time, like mixing up some Karo syrup in warm water and drenching with that.
I used a lot of this on cycads and had control plants in each experiment and in some cases, I didn't see a whole lot of difference, or at least not enough to make me get all worked up about using mycorrhizae in general. BUT, on Cycas debaoensis, for whatever reason, my plants tripled in stem diameter in a 9 month period, where the control plants just grew a little. Stem diameter might not make a whole lot of difference to many of the people reading this, but at the time, these plants were going for $250 an inch, and these plants grew from an inch and a half to over 4 inches in 9 months, thats good money!
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