Harvesting wild Mycorrhizal Fungi

[hecno]

Can it be done ,

Now I have done a lot of reading about this amazing stuff and as some of you know I live next to tropical rain forest and this stuff is every where . At the moment I have gathered some and planted it under the soil next to a watermelon plant after I transplanted it into the soil , [ my own mix ] I also have one growing in the same soil and same water and feed but no fungi , At this stage I can see a difference . The one with Fungi is bigger , so would I be right in thinking you can harvest from the wild Now both seeds came from the same packet sprouted the same time , It was around 3 weeks ago I put the fungi in , so would that be long enough for the fungi to start doing it's magic stuff , or is it just a case of one plant being stronger than the other . @Eyes on Fire any thoughts on this . Ps I'll post some photos a bit later in the day of the 2 plants .

 

[Chester]

I think 3 weeks is time enough to see the difference .... I'm not surprised it's 'portable' ... :smoking:

 

[hecno]

Photos .

 

[CrystalLakeCounselor]

It seems there really isn't much difference other than the vertical growth on the main stem with the fungi. The one without fungi looks to have four long bottom branches, whereas the one with fungi has two long ones on top and two on bottom. It looks more like a trade off of growth areas more so than a difference volume.

Don't get me wrong, the vertical growth is very noticeable and you have a better point of view since you can touch the plants and look from other angles so you know more than me. Even so, I'd need to see like 10 of these side by side to make a call. I'm not doubting the fungi

 

[hecno]

Makes ya wonder .

 

[Rhyce Saroni]

I swear by my fungi... Most folks kill it with too much water...

Ideally the seedling will get infected in the nascent stages of life. The mycorrhizae will form a hyphae or fungal network in the soil and act like a super root for the plant causing extremely efficient nutrient uptake and subsequent vigorous growth and bountiful harvest...

I've seen hyphae a couple of times when transplanting...

 

[Jraven]

So just any fungi/mychorrizae? For instance, should I just look for it here (temperate rain forest) or would there be a better strain a person could buy and cultivate?

 

[Rhyce Saroni]

So just any fungi/mychorrizae? For instance, should I just look for it here (temperate rain forest) or would there be a better strain a person could buy and cultivate?

Temperate rain forest = ground zero for fungus harvesting imo

 

[dingo]

Hecno, what are the trees in the forest where the fungus grows? There is Endo and Ecto fungus. Our plants need Endo fungus and trees like Ecto. So you may have Ecto....sorry to burst your bubble. However if you can find Endo amongst small plants in the forest, you may have something useful to improve your garden.

 

[Rhyce Saroni]

This is a cool website devoted to mycorrhizae and it's applications... http://mycorrhizae.com/faqs/difference-endo-ecto-mycorrhizae/