Mycorrhizae & Mycorrhizal Soil Amendments 

Hallelujah!!! Finally a gardening video on RU-vid advocating not to over-fertilize, or add inoculants, or all those other things we do to soils. Great discussion. You two make a good team.

I cannot express how grateful I am to you and ***** for debunking and/or questioning some of the claims made in other gardening channels. And you guys are always very respectful on top of that. Well done. Thumbs WAY UP!!!!

I brought some Xtreme Mykos and Azos to Thailand with me from back home in Southern CA. Works wonders for all of my plants here in Southeast Asia.

Wow! Fantastic episode. It's so cool your channel has been around long enough to have "hidden" gems like this! I've really enjoyed following your journey, and have acquired a volume of knowledge thanks to your generosity.

Patrick, thank you for the time you spent educating and helping others to become successful gardeners. You and Stephen helped me a lot when I made the transition from traditional to no-dig organic gardening. This is my 5th year using no-dig and shifting my focus from growing healthy plants to growing healthy soil was the key. Since I spend much less time maintaining, I am now expanding my growing area every year. I am able to grow a much larger variety with bigger harvests than I did in the previous 30 years. Thanks to you, I am getting ready to plant Sun Chokes which arrived just yesterday. As I was unpacking them, I thought of you. Been wanting to give them a try since I watched your video about growing more perennials in the garden. You, Stephen and Charles Dowding are by far my favorite You Tubers. Sad, 2 out of 3 are no longer posting. Again, thanks for all your help, it is much appreciated!!!

Older video but timeless information. Subbed as a result, thanks!

I love the idea of both channels working together. Both you guys bring such valuable information to all of us Thank you

What wonderful advice for gardeners who have rich, alive, vibrant soil. For the rest of us, soil innoculants are THE reason that accelerated succession can even happen. My garden and most of my yard even are nothing but backfill, clay, rocks, no organics, no life. There are no mycorrhizal spores, nor are there really anything to even begin succession. Waiting for migration, especially in a suburban setting away from natural sources, would take years to decades. Any place that has been a yard for twenty years will probably have this problem. Over time, spores germinate and fail to find a host (death), get eaten (death), or become unviable (death). Typical care for a yard will also kill spores easily. Spores that germinate and associate with grass or pioneers are not the fungi that garden plants need. Innoculants reverse the neglect and quickly bring in succession necessary to grow food. And anyone who wants to grow blueberries, raspberries, or trees will certainly not have the correct species without helping the process.

Glad I watched this before wasting money. Thanks again Patrick.

I must say that you two guys sure do know your stuff, and work very well together! Excellent video, Guys!

A knee high nylon stocking filled with rice and buried for a month in 'happy ground' somewhere on your property is a good way to collect and deliver fungi to your raised bed, seed starter trays and planting holes. Put about a pound of rice in the stocking, tie a knot, dip it in honeyed or molasses water and plant deep enough to discourage squirrels and such...and wait. The fungi collected is local and correct for your area. Best, if you're a guy, to avoid being seen fooling around with stockings.

Nature is Amazing! Great educational video on Mycorrhizae and Mycorrhizal soil amendments. Thanks Patrick for sharing!

Another wonderful and helpful video. Patrick and Stephen you both provide the best and most accurate and truthful gardening information I have found. I have never had a garden before so need as much help as I can muster. The Harley and leathers are going away to be replaced with good soil, sun and sore knees. Thanks again.

Great video guys! I would like to add to the other end of the debate. I have been working on my soil for several years now and also do competition growing. How ever I do not use in organic fertilizers which may leave me short of the competition makes me feel better about how I garden. I do use mycorrhizae and nitrogen fixing microbes in my soil and starter pots to give the root system and early jumps start. Since starting this process I have seen dramatic increase in growth, vigor and disease resistance. Yes I do agree that at some point you will max out on how much your soil can sustain, but as a starter and a spring boost it has helped me. Thanks again and keep the garden knowledge coming fellas.

Great video! Both of you explain gardening terms and practices so well.

I have used Mycorrhizal Fungi amendments and seen a great benefit. Here is why though. I am not trying to inoculate the soil. My soil already has plenty. I use no till, no pesticides or synthetic ferts, and always has a living root in the soil all year round.. Instead, I am inoculating the seedlings. The whole Idea is to have that seedling be able to connect with the existing mycorrhizal fungi network already in the soil as quickly as possible. This is really important in my part of Oklahoma. Last year we went from last frost to highs near 100 degrees in about a week! Try growing a tomato in those conditions! Frost kills tomatoes and 95+ degree weather usually halts pollination. That beneficial network needs to be functioning just as soon as the plant hits the garden soil!

Glad to see you two in a video together! I am learning from both and look forward to continued learning! Thank you

this is one of the best gardening channels on youtube

This is an excellent video explaining the function of Fungi plant relationship!

I love that my two favorite gardening gurus work together!! More joint videos!

Wow, thanks for so much great info. My summers are over 120 degrees so I suppose I might want to introduce these in the Fall each year, in my raised beds and tires. I have been experimenting with this and found that water evaporation is much less when this is introduced into a tire planter (two tires high). I live in a large wash so the soil does not have a lot of nutrients in it (not too many native plants either). I have been using two compost bins constantly and emptying them out and sifting them about every 3 months. The two year old garden is slowly improving and thanks to all the great advice and info from people like you I have been enjoying great food from my garden. Thank you again so much.

Thank you for this video, I appreciate the work you guys put into it. I purchased a small package of Mycorrhizae for a couple of bucks at the garden center on sale. A couple of dollars + tax are not going to break the bank, I might as well use it. My beds are new and the native soil was terribly dry, hard and rocky. After watching this video I'll just continue to work on improving the soil.

Thanks for the video Patrick and Stephen. It is always nice when you can have what you have been doing for years validated even though you didnt know why you were doing it for a long time :) Of course I have known the importance of soil biology for a while now and do what I can to support :)

Patrick you know I'll have to make an episode animation with "Mike" the fun guy fungi. I can't resist.

Great video guys ...it was very informational. Cant wait for next one.

Grato a você e ao Stephen,pelos ensinamentos.

Very good video. I really enjoy learning about what is really going on in the garden with mycorrhizae. In my gut, I always thought that all of these little dusts and powders that I buy are gimmicks and that nature will find a way to grow the microbiology without me having to buy it. I bet one application of compost tea from great compost would innoculate a million times better than a bunch of spores from one species that may or may not like my garden conditions. It gets hard to separate garden-product marketing from good garden management practices. Your videos are really helping me cut through the fog.

great collaboration, I inoculate with beneficals every spring or in new plantings. Thx for the share

Great information. :) Thanks both of you! :)

My situation is a bit different than what most gardeners experience. We constructed a new Hugelgarden about a year ago. It hot composted by itself with soil temperatures exceeding 130F 4-6 inches below the surface, for most of that year. We had to water constantly for fear of a fire! I believe it self sterilized since I had trouble growing anything except some tenacious weeds. I also have to till in leaves and such for now. We added about 6 inches of 3-5 year old rotten wood chips to the surface. A few got mixed in the soil but I don't think it will be a problem. We plan on inoculating it with Mykos M.fungi to reestablish the soil web. Note on tilling deeply: tomato hornworms (at one stage) hibernate in the soil over winter and to get about a 90% kill rate you have to till the soil multiple times and deeply too. Tilling *can* be beneficial because it lets air into the soil. The other parts of the garden would depend on the amount of organic matter I get for free and the content of it in the existing soil. We usually till in double mowed leaves. If I discover the hornworms I will have to till annually to keep them under control. I won't use pesticides or herbicides either. I did sow borage but that may take a while to sprout (IF it sprouts). Without tilling and having the hornworms I would have to pitch a tent in my garden and patrol it 3 times a night/day. If no hornworms then no need to till unless I need organic matter (wood chips should fix that problem). If I need nitrogen I will use blood meal. I did sprinkle some potash on the garden. In the winter I can sprinkle wood ash lightly.

Thanks for that valuable information. It's a very interesting subject,

Great collaboration and love the message. Stephen You're in my climate zone. I have perennial sorrel and lovage if they survived my move to the acreage and your interested I'd be happy to share next spring.

Good job you two! Patrick you know I'm an amateur mycologist, I'm totally enamored with mushrooms, I pick them, cook them, dry them, inoculate them....Still waiting for that stump I inoculated 2 years ago with Shiitake to produce!!! I'm a big fan of Paul Stamet, that guy might just be the Einstein of this century! We just touched the tip of the Iceberg with the fungal world, so much to discover still.

Great video you guys, I have been using Mycorrhizae most of this growing season in small amounts and find it a nice addition to my plants and vegetable harvest. Thanks for getting another informative video out there.

Interesting topic. I was waiting for this one. Thanks for sharing.

Every time I replanted, I would lose fifty percent or better from transplant shock. now with mycorrhizal near 100% success!

Thanks to showing the other side of the coin. I tend to believe when you give something extra to the soil it'll work better. But it seems it doesn't -always- work like that. Rock dust, biochar, pine needle, mycorrhizae ... what's next?! :) I really would like to see John Kohler responses to your (both, Patrick and Stephen) videos.

Thanks for the information. This was exactly what I was looking for.

Very educational! Thanks for sharing.

Nice work guys. Thanks for doing it.

@4:30ish The things Steven is talking about contain spores, but are called sclerotia. All the things that matter are right afaik though. Completely agree with the conclusive message. Even one little addition - the species that occur in your area will also be better adapted to you conditions. Innoculants are for weird situations where you're working with otherwise pasteurized materials, and/or you've got disease in your natural innoculated resources, but still need to preserve something which you can't in synthetic conditions. They have applications, but those are uncommon for the home gardener and much narrower than advertised.

After reading about how fungi work in Paul Staments books, it would seem that local fungi would out compete many introduced fungi. As you said the local fungi have risen to the top because they have adapted and out competed all others that came before. I have found that no till with compost added as a top dressing is absolutely superior to amendments. And far cheaper. Thanks for the segments....

Thanks to both of you for this! Very interesting discussion. I had thought about this a lot and attempted to inoculate my home garden soil with soil from a forest type bed from a property that I own. I've seen no conclusive results but I'm sure things like soil pH and other factors are coming into play as well that may make transporting mycorrihizal amendments not as feasible as many had hoped.

Yeah, there is a lot of online buzz promoting these products and I personally have never used the stuff to make my garden grow. I did try a packet on my beans last summer and am unsure if there was any improvement (total loss 1.49). After introducing organic material and worm castings, nature takes over. I do use a sprinkle of Jobes fertilizer with some type of beneficial microbes, not sure if that makes a difference other than feeding my plants as the nutrients get used up... Your channel is honest and does not promote products.

I added some Myco-Grow to my potting mix to start some true potato seeds in an effort to displace damping off organisms. So far so good!

We enjoyed this conversational format (as well as your 2-minute episodes). We incorporate a lot of "leaf mold" (partially composted leaves with white webbing) as well as fully composted organics back in the soil. This makes for very lush growth. Could the white webbing be mycorrhizae fungi?

My property borders the Nantahala National Forest.. There is Mycorrizhae EVERYWHERE.. Drop a limb on the ground, go back a week later, IF,, it is sitting directly on the ground, and the bark on the bottom will be gone already, and it will be growing all over it... Pull back 2 or 3 inches of leaves, and it is matted all over the ground under it.. Leaves blown in the fall are broken down by the Spring, but, you won't notice it, unless you know how tall the pile of leaves were, because, it always leaves a nice 2-3-4" pile of leaves over it, to keep the soil moist, and black under the mat of leaves.. I blow Huge Piles of leaves into the edge of the woods.. In these Huge Piles, it takes longer, but, the piles will be in layers.. Like they like to feed on both the almost decomposted leaves, and the more fresh/dry leaves above it.. Usually every 2-3 inches you pull back, there will be a layer that you can see the dryer Mycorrhizae Hyphae root webs, but, just under them will be slightly moist.. It appears just enough to keep them living.. Dig down a few more inches, and you find the same thing. A few more, and you find the Black Gold, just Covered with the web of white fuzzy strings and mats of the Fungus.. I'll pay more attention.. Never did before.. Just know, sometimes before I blow, I will take a potato hoe in and try to pull the tallest of the piles further into the woods before blowing another mass of leaves into it... My bet would be, put your leaves in layers, wet them down good, cover that with some wood chips for weight, more leaves, and some greens, but, keep the air or fluffy stuff to a minimum.. Like, twigs, and green leafy branches would be best shred and applied.. My bet would be both a higher concentration of Bacteria and Fungi and work the piles much faster.. It would probably still be an enzymic decompostion vs a bacterial Heated composition, if, it were kept more like a woody forest floor, more than a back yard everything goes in it compost pile.. I doubt putting kitchen or garden waste would hurt, and probably be pretty beneficial, if you followed it up with a leaf season in the fall with a few layers of leaves mixed in... Bet it would really help to keep it tarped and moist.. If I were stuck in the woods on a cold night, I would get under the leaf bed and would be fine.. Not hot, but, I would say, "Insulated".. Hope that helps.. Next time I get out in that area, I will take a hoe and some gloves and a thermometer and learn a bit more..

Great video! Thanks. I wonder if certain locations benefit more from store bought bagged fungi than others. Here in south Texas it's difficult to grow anything so the perception is add whatever you can to the soil to help out. The soil here is devoid of nutrition and rocky. I have not seen any naturally occurring MFungi in a while. Just bought some and figuring out the best way to add it to the raised beds.

Is this the only way to create humu? No tilling, and letting woodchips slowly compost as a mulch. It would be like recreating the forest floor as your mulch without disturbing the soil.

AMF is very useful here in Australian soils that have been damaged by Prescription Commercial farming. It also significantly reduces the need for the very expensive DAP.. win. win. ;]

I wonder if my ground has become what looks like dead dirt instead of rich soil from decades compacted grass/lawn and "weeds" for mycorrhiza to survive.

Loved the video, Guys! Keep them coming!!

What a couple of fun guys!

Great work but again you all live and garden in Eden. We live in a lunar landscape from home development and neglect. We all need help bringing back some semblance of nature. After watching several of your posts I’m fairly convinced you have reached the pinnacle hence anything other than what you are doing will be dismissed. There are so many of us struggling to find solid solutions that are organic driven. I would love to see content on improving the lawn landscape beds as well as the garden

i learned something again today thank u so much for both of u

Good information explained simply.

Oh dear. Yesterday I planted several shrubs and put some Myke and a little Shake and Feed and peat in the hole along with water. We have clay soil here. Is this too much phosphorus? Thank you for the video. I will know for the future!

Thanks for the info OneYardRevolution & *****... Very interesting clip folks.. Cheers..

Great video guys. You two are obviously very knowledgeable and have a good way of presenting sometimes complex information. I have always been curious about mycorrhizae and its relationship with plants in the garden. Could it be that store bought mycorrhizae has a hard time establishing itself in a soil that already has a strong and well established fungal ecosystem? Kind of similar to planting a few store bought flowers in a field of wild flowers and grasses. Thanks again for another great video.

Excellent video. Subscribed. We are newish gardeners but love it. Question, in annual/veggie gardeners and compost piles how does the fungi remain alive without benefits of plants when they die?

Heya Stephen & Patrick. I did my own little experiment with a mycorrhizal powder I bought. I wanted to see whether it was a complete waste of money or whether the powder had some impact. I used a small patch of poor soil and did nothing other than mulch to assist the tomatoes. No water and no fertilizer at all. I'll have to knock up a video so you can critique it. Cheers guys.

Am confused about mention of stress response (~4min,) - spores. Had thought when a mushroom (you say appears when conditions are well) comes up it has spores on it gills/pores...,are you saying goes from good conditions to stress quickly? Had found this YT after looking up fungus found in yard (Dog poo or dead mans foot0 Pisolithus tinctoria), wondering if it gave off mycotoxins as considering using for fabric dye. Most websites say use for mycorrhyzil.

Hope you're well.

Should I add mycorrhizal fungi when planting a new (to me) fruit tree (asian pear multi-graft)? It's a 6 foot 4-in-1 Asian pear tree coming from a nursery in Georgia. I'm in SoCal. They also sell a package of mychorrhizal fungi. Where I'll be planting it, I cleaned off the area a few months ago, put about 4-5 layers of paper down, put about an inch of organic compost on top of that, and then a couple inches of citrus mulch. I did that for about a 10' x 20' section where this tree will be planted.

So the white shark micro amendment powder is not a good or helpful additive to big outdoor potters?

I have a indoor no till garden. How can I ensure good myco fungi populations especially without using a product? Ive used soil from my garden as well as my own compost.

Interesting video. I didn't know that soil was sterilized. This video also raises my interest on growing mushrooms around some of my plants?

Are there good and bad fungi, just like bacteria? So when do you use fungicides?

Would this help growing healthy plants with 1,5,20 gallon potted plants like cacti, dragon fruit, and hanging baskets?

Excellent and accurate information, guys. One question that I have not been able to find an answer to: Are mycorrhizae more or less effective based on average soil temperature? Specifically, are mycorrhizae applications more effective in the southern US than in the northern US or Canada?

This is an interesting video. Do you have a back ground in Soil Biology? where did you source the information for this video about mycorrhizae?

Great team work. Nice presentation. Packed full of helpful information. Question: I have been purchasing John & Bob's soil amendments. Would you please share your opinion on the effectiveness of this product?

Have you seen Rodale's blog posts on DIY on-farm mycorrhizal fungi inoculant? You can use it to cultivate local varieties for seedlings and stuff... might make for an interesting test, I have to admit I'm pretty interested.

Great video. I'd also add that brassicas (kale, broccoli, cabbage, etc) do not make mycorrhizzal relationships

New information. Thanks

Do you know of any ways to increase or bring in new mycorrhizal fungi naturally?

using organic lemon citric acid to regulate water ph is good for mycorrhizae? 6.3 - 6.5

Am passion fruit famer I have been using NPK, but now wish to try mycorrhizal. At what stage can I apply, is it at the seedling stage or after transplant? And what quantities should I use, kindly reply @ lutete mixed farm on RU-vid. I will be very grateful Stephen.

Great breakdown and information, you guys rock! To add to my comment I was wondering if you've any recommendations towards water filtration if you are using city supplied water.

Do you inoculate your beans and peas?

Can Mycorrhiza be used with trocoderma n psedumonas as a soil drench for apple trees..

I would like to know more about having too many nutrients causing the fungi to become parasitic. It might be the problem I'm having with two of my no-till raised beds. This is the third year that my plants just don't grow. I'm totally lost for answers.

If mocorrhizae are not currently existent in my soil, is it likely that the micorrhizae will find their way into my soil on there own in ideal conditions?

dear can u give solution to produce micorrhiza on large scale by the components that can be easily available

You have my gloves, love them.

so I'm a lil confused, is it a good idea to use mycorrhizae in an indoor setting for veggies when using organic based or even some synthetic nutrients? I use pro mix hp.

What are your thoughts about inoculation in a new lawn where the soil has not had time to develop these beneficial relationships?

Is micorrhizae a type of fungus ? Does it mean that whenever I find mushrooms in the garden or in a pot, there's micorrhizae in the soil?

My plant need soil that has ph of 5.5-6.5 so how can i grow it with mycorrhiza if I understood right it need ph of 7-8...

Is there a way to tell if mycorrihizae is working in your garden soil.

can you type what each of the ways is called ?

I'm waiting ur new video.

Why did I not come across this 2 months ago when I was researching such amendments, then spending 20 bucks on one? Lol. Going to try it out anyways, I guess.

What if I put some rotting wood from uprooted and decaying trees in the woods that are laced with fungi onto my soil? My understanding is that mycorrhizae are ground fungi and the fungi in trees are different. Will that help or harm the existing mycorrhizae in the soil?

thanks for the vid and saving me $$$

Initially I was happy n excited to hear about the symbiotic relation of the mycorrhizae fungi and the plants, and the benefits of inoculating them in my soil. But when you said there is a chance of them being in Parasitic mode, that made me a lil cautious. So do you think that their benefits outweigh their risks (parasitic mode or any other problems) These little info make me very much concerned. :)

this is interesting thank you

Thank you very much for this informative video! OneYardRevolution *****

Not that hard to follow, so, the responses are surprising. I thought the message was clear.

fun-guy :)