Subject: [Market-farming] Producing Mycorrhizal Fungi Inoculant

From: "Lawrence F. London, Jr." <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 17 Sep 2006 04:42:27 -0400

<http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/market-farming/2006-March/022602.html>
  >Marty Kraft wrote:
  >Has anyone had experience producing their own mycorrizal fungi
  >inoculant using the bahia grass method described in the New Farm
  >article referenced below? Would anyone recommend a place to purchase
  >the bahia grass, the spores, or both?

Hi Marty -

Here is the quick version in reply to "where" you can
get Bahia grass seeds and mycorrhizal inoculants, with
a few resources on methods.

1.1  Bahia grass

Seed of Bahia grass is available in the southern states.  It is
sold as a turfgrass and for wildlife plantings.   The 'Pensacola'
cultivar has been mentioned in literature on mycorrhizal colonization.

The Seedland, Inc. company in Florida sells a 5-lb
bag of 'Pensacola' Bahia grass for $21.95... but of
course there are other seed sources.

Bahiagrass from Seedland
http://www.seedland.com
http://www.wildlifeseeds.com
http://www.bahiagrass.com

1.2

For general cultural information on Bahia grass as a cover
crop or forage crop, here are three Extension-style database
entries.

Bahia Grass, Paspalum notatum
Cover Crops and Green Manures Database
CTAHR, Univ of Hawaii at Manoa
http://www2.ctahr.hawaii.edu/sustainag/CoverCrops/bahia_grass.asp

FAO Grass and Pasture Crops Database:  Bahia Grass, Paspalum notatum
http://www.fao.org/WAICENT/FAOINFO/AGRICULT/AGP/AGPC/doc/GBASE/Data/pf000291.HTM

Tropical Forages:  Paspalum notatum
http://www.tropicalforages.info/key/Forages/Media/Html/Paspalum_notatum.htm

2.0

There are many commercial suppliers of mycorrhizal inoculum.

Mycorrhizal inoculants usually contain spores and propagules
of multiples species of Glomales, which is what you want.

The ATTRA database for "Sources of Organic Fertilizers and
Amendments" lists 31 suppliers that sell mycorrhizal inoculants.
Most suppliers have web pages where you can read about
their mycorrhizal products.

Sources of Organic Fertilizers and Amendments
ATTRA
http://www.attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/orgfert.php

Separately, I will send you my resource list, "Symbiotic
Mycorrhizal Fungi:  Quarterback of the Microbial Herd"
which provides a listing of mycorrhizal inoculant suppliers
as well as educational resources.

3.0

There are several approaches to on-farm propagation of
mycorrhizal fungal.

The one that NewFarm.org refers to deals with research
by Rodale Institute in collaboration with Dr. David
Douds with the USDA-ARS Eastern Regional Research
Center in Pennsylvania.

The following journal article in Canadian Journal of Plant
Science was published in 2005.  It reviews some of the
on-farm methods in practice on a worldwide basis, then it
summarizes the USDA-Rodale approach by Douds, et al.

Douds, D.D., Nagahashi, G., Pfeffer, P.E., Kayser, W.M.,
Reider, C. 2005.  On-Farm Production and Utilization of
Mycorrhizal Fungus Inoculum.  Canadian Journal of Plant
Science.  Vol. 85.  pp. 15-21.

Normally, web access to Canadian Journal of Plant
Science is restricted to fee-based subscribers, such as
university library systems.

But if you type the following into Google, the third hit on
the display page provides free acceess to the PDF article,
at least for the time being.

[Douds, Nagahashi, Pfeffer On-Farm Production and Utilization
of Mycorrhizal Fungus Inoculum]

This paper is helpful because it provides essential details on
raising mycorrhizal inoculated Bahia grass in a nursery mix,
using a 1:4 vol/vol mixture of compost and vermiculite. Once
the colonized Bahia grass roots fill the nursery mix, you have
a giant volume of mycorrhizal fungal inoculum containing
infected roots, external fungal hyphae, and spores.

In addition, you should add the following 4-page
manual to your mycorrhizal fungal inoculum toolbox.

"Manual on Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungus Production and
Inoculation Techniques"
College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources (CTAHR),
Univ of Hawaii at Manoa
http://www2.ctahr.hawaii.edu/oc/freepubs/pdf/SCM-5.pdf

Fyi, a second on-farm approach is to raise mycorrhizal
host crops in rotation, thus building mycorrhizal fungal spores
and propagules in the soil.   These host plants can double
as cover crops and as a biological-inoculating green fallow.

In addition to Bahia grass, other crops that serve as host plants
for mycorrhizal fungal increase (in the field or in pot culture,
variously) include sudan grass, sorghum, corn, carrots, white
clover, sunflower, and barley.

In addition, several greenhouse suppliers now provide mycorrhizal-
inoculant containing potting mixes, ready-to-go.  So that is probably
the very easist way to get started with transplant production
integrated with mycorrhizal inoculation on your farm.   I hear
good things from growers who are using these mycorrhizal-mixes.

Hope this helps.

Steve Diver
http://www.attra.ncat.org
[Market-farming] Producing Mycorrhizal Fungi Inoculant

Steve Diver
steved at ncat.org

Mon Mar 20 19:32:25 EST 2006

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>Marty Kraft wrote:
>Has anyone had experience producing their own mycorrizal fungi
>inoculant using the bahia grass method described in the New Farm
>article referenced below? Would anyone recommend a place to purchase
>the bahia grass, the spores, or both?

Hi Marty -

Here is the quick version in reply to "where" you can
get Bahia grass seeds and mycorrhizal inoculants, with
a few resources on methods.

1.1 Bahia grass

Seed of Bahia grass is available in the southern states. It is
sold as a turfgrass and for wildlife plantings. The 'Pensacola'
cultivar has been mentioned in literature on mycorrhizal colonization.

The Seedland, Inc. company in Florida sells a 5-lb
bag of 'Pensacola' Bahia grass for $21.95... but of
course there are other seed sources.

Bahiagrass from Seedland
http://www.seedland.com
http://www.wildlifeseeds.com
http://www.bahiagrass.com

1.2

For general cultural information on Bahia grass as a cover
crop or forage crop, here are three Extension-style database
entries.

Bahia Grass, Paspalum notatum
Cover Crops and Green Manures Database
CTAHR, Univ of Hawaii at Manoa
http://www2.ctahr.hawaii.edu/sustainag/CoverCrops/bahia_grass.asp

FAO Grass and Pasture Crops Database: Bahia Grass, Paspalum notatum
http://www.fao.org/WAICENT/FAOINFO/AGRICULT/AGP/AGPC/doc/GBASE/Data/pf000291.HTM

Tropical Forages: Paspalum notatum
http://www.tropicalforages.info/key/Forages/Media/Html/Paspalum_notatum.htm

2.0

There are many commercial suppliers of mycorrhizal inoculum.

Mycorrhizal inoculants usually contain spores and propagules
of multiples species of Glomales, which is what you want.

The ATTRA database for "Sources of Organic Fertilizers and
Amendments" lists 31 suppliers that sell mycorrhizal inoculants.
Most suppliers have web pages where you can read about
their mycorrhizal products.

Sources of Organic Fertilizers and Amendments
ATTRA
http://www.attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/orgfert.php

Separately, I will send you my resource list, "Symbiotic
Mycorrhizal Fungi: Quarterback of the Microbial Herd"
which provides a listing of mycorrhizal inoculant suppliers
as well as educational resources.

3.0

There are several approaches to on-farm propagation of
mycorrhizal fungal.

The one that NewFarm.org refers to deals with research
by Rodale Institute in collaboration with Dr. David
Douds with the USDA-ARS Eastern Regional Research
Center in Pennsylvania.

The following journal article in Canadian Journal of Plant
Science was published in 2005. It reviews some of the
on-farm methods in practice on a worldwide basis, then it
summarizes the USDA-Rodale approach by Douds, et al.

Douds, D.D., Nagahashi, G., Pfeffer, P.E., Kayser, W.M.,
Reider, C. 2005. On-Farm Production and Utilization of
Mycorrhizal Fungus Inoculum. Canadian Journal of Plant
Science. Vol. 85. pp. 15-21.

Normally, web access to Canadian Journal of Plant
Science is restricted to fee-based subscribers, such as
university library systems.

But if you type the following into Google, the third hit on
the display page provides free acceess to the PDF article,
at least for the time being.

[Douds, Nagahashi, Pfeffer On-Farm Production and Utilization
of Mycorrhizal Fungus Inoculum]

This paper is helpful because it provides essential details on
raising mycorrhizal inoculated Bahia grass in a nursery mix,
using a 1:4 vol/vol mixture of compost and vermiculite. Once
the colonized Bahia grass roots fill the nursery mix, you have
a giant volume of mycorrhizal fungal inoculum containing
infected roots, external fungal hyphae, and spores.

In addition, you should add the following 4-page
manual to your mycorrhizal fungal inoculum toolbox.

"Manual on Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungus Production and
Inoculation Techniques"
College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources (CTAHR),
Univ of Hawaii at Manoa
http://www2.ctahr.hawaii.edu/oc/freepubs/pdf/SCM-5.pdf

Fyi, a second on-farm approach is to raise mycorrhizal
host crops in rotation, thus building mycorrhizal fungal spores
and propagules in the soil. These host plants can double
as cover crops and as a biological-inoculating green fallow.

In addition to Bahia grass, other crops that serve as host plants
for mycorrhizal fungal increase (in the field or in pot culture,
variously) include sudan grass, sorghum, corn, carrots, white
clover, sunflower, and barley.

In addition, several greenhouse suppliers now provide mycorrhizal-
inoculant containing potting mixes, ready-to-go. So that is probably
the very easist way to get started with transplant production
integrated with mycorrhizal inoculation on your farm. I hear
good things from growers who are using these mycorrhizal-mixes.

Hope this helps.

Steve Diver
http://www.attra.ncat.org

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