The World Beneath Our Feet - Mycorrhizal Fungi

[teresaq]

Mycorrhizal Fungi: The Amazing Underground Secret to a Better Garden

 

Nurture the ancient, symbiotic relationship between mycorrhizal fungi and plants’ 

roots for increased garden harvests and healthier soil.

August/September 2014

 

By Douglas H. Chadwick

 

We still define natural habitats primarily in terms of plants and animals, 

the two kingdoms of life we can see with unaided eyes. The greatest amount of 

biological activity and the largest diversity of species and genes, however, come 

from the other four kingdoms science now recognizes: bacteria, archaea (a less-studied 

division of life-forms formerly considered bacteria), protists (mostly single-celled algae and protozoans), and fungi. The vast majority of these members are 

microscopic in size. They cannot be seen with the naked eye, but we now know they 

permeate soils and suffuse waters. They drift en masse through air. They thrive not 

only on the surface of every plant and animal, but within them as well. From the upper 

reaches of the atmosphere to the bottom of the seas, down into the rock layers and 

outnumbering the stars in the known universe, microbes are literally the creatures that 

make Earth a living planet.

 

 

Microbes remain mostly in the “out of sight, out of mind” category of nature for a 

lot of folks. Others, chemical spray in hand, can hardly stop thinking about them, 

envisioning “germs,” mold spores and other unseen swarmers poised to unleash disease 

and rot. Either way, a broader understanding of the life-forms that truly put the 

“bio” in “biosphere” has been slow to emerge. Interest is building, though, as the 

public learns more about the positive roles microorganisms play, including how some 

types can boost yields in gardens. These mycorrhizae — extraordinary fungi that 

interact with our garden crops — are what we’ll be zooming in on.

 

Copy and paste link to continue reading:

 

http://www.motherearthnews.com/organic-gardening/mycorrhizal-fungi-zm0z14aszkin.aspx

 

 

 

 

 

[Tom Wetmore]

By the title, my first thought was that this was about foot fungus!

[phkrause]

By the title, my first thought was that this was about foot fungus!

[LynnDel]

Very interesting. I wonder how healthy the fungi are in a cold, dry place vs. a hot, moist place. Judging by what grows, I guess we can tell.

[teresaq]

 

Tom Wetmore, on 25 Oct 2014 - 1:07 PM, said:

 

By the title, my first thought was that this was about foot fungus!

 

I share that reaction. LOL

[teresaq]

I don't know LynnDel, nor had thought about it...Is it possible the type of fungi depends on location?