Mycorrhizal fungi are a type of fungus that have a symbiotic relationship with many types of plants such as trees, shrubs, evergreens, perennials, and many crop plants. About 90% of land plants rely on mycorrhizal fungi for access to mineral nutrients like phosphorus. The name comes from the latin words mycor (fungus) and rhizae (roots). The fungi grow on the roots of plants and create feeding networks between the roots and the soil and even the roots of other nearby plants.
Many factors should be considered when creating a mycorrhizal network such as plant diversity and soil composition. Mulch and wood shavings should be used to simulate natural forest conditions and to encourage healthy fungi growth. The roots of plants in micorrhizae-rich environments get covered in small hair-like filaments called hyphae which grow in every direction giving roots access to much needed nutrients hidden in the soil. These hyphae spread in such a way that can effectively increase the surface area of a plants roots a hundred or even a thousand times over!
The mycorrhizae exchange carbohydrates from the plants for many vital nutrients such as phosphorus that are otherwise not easily accessible for the plants. This reduces the need for excessive use of phosphorus fertilizers which often end up in rivers and lakes creating massive colonies of blue-green algae. It also means that those carbohydrates are being stored underground as glomalin.
The hyphae secrete a white, gluey substance called glomalin. The glomalin forms web like structures which are key in starting the process of soil aggregation where sand, silt, debris, and nutrients are clumped together and stored in these glomalin webs where they can’t be washed away by rainfall. This gives plants access to nutrients for years to come. But my favorite part about glomalin is it’s carbon storing properties. A vast network of glomalin producing mycorrhizal hyphae is therefore an important part of any carbon sequestration machine.
If you know me, you know I love my carbon sequestration!
Many cultivated, highly fertilized soils in our lawns, landscapes, gardens, and even farms, are void of these vital mycorrhizal fungi and instead infested with other less productive bacteria. This provides a great habitat for annually flowering, high seed producing, plants that are generally considered weeds. By inoculating soil with mycorrhizal fungi we not only create an environment that supports the growth of our trees, shrubs, evergreens, and perennials, but also an environment that discourages the growth and spreading of common weeds, and – most importantly – removes carbon from our atmosphere.
This is why we use Root Rescue Transplanter MS-CS when transplanting new plants into all of the gardens and landscapes we work on. Root Rescue was developped at the University of Guelph and has been proven to help plants thrive during the crucial weems after a stressful transplanting. The formula has a high concentration of mycorrhizae globules to help speed up the natural process of inoculation. Mycorrhizal fungi treatments have been proven to restore nutrient-barren soils and reduce stress in plants from drought and flooding. This helps roots grow rapidly and anchor the plant deep in the soil. One 45g pack of Root Rescue can make enough solution to treat 6 ten gallon trees or 40 one gallon plants! Each plant only needs one treatment as the fungi will continue to reproduce over the lifetime of the plant.
