Mycorrhizae Fungi And April Onions

[tj Wise]

I think I found the answer to the question I was about to post. Next April, maybe six weeks before I transplant my girls outside... I will pre-plant some early onions to build some roots and a mycorrhizal network. I want to get the nutrient superhighway going early so my girls can plug in and get quick access. Pretty cheap, too. What do you think? From the link below:

" ... Here is one way we speed up plant growth next month. After dipping them in our mycorrhizal inoculant, we have already started planting onions and shallots into areas that we will later be planting with other plants like tomatoes and peppers. The onions are very good at feeding mycorrhizal fungi and, over the next month, they will establish a stronger mycorrhizal network for other vegetables to tap into. This gets the other veggies off to a better, faster start since they already have an established root system to grow into. ..."

http://canterburycreekgardens.com/mycorrhizal-fungi/

 

[Homesteader]

I don't really know anything about these early onions nor do I know the weather conditions in your area in April but I think you may be better off going with something more cold hardy like a radish.

 

[tj Wise]

"... Frost happens on a clear, calm night as the temperature briefly drops to a few degrees below freezing. Your onions usually survive this bit of cold with relative ease. A freeze, on the other hand, is prolonged cold below 28 degrees Fahrenheit that damages onions by allowing ice crystals to form in the tissues. Semi-hardy vegetables like onions can recover from one or two light frosts of around 31 degrees F. ..."

 

[Homesteader]

Onions grow very slow compared to the speed of a radish.

 

[tj Wise]

But radish is a non-host of mycorrhizal fungi, sadly.

 

[Seamaiden]

I was just gonna mention that. Neither is mustard.

What do you think of interplanting something like Austrian winter peas or garbanzos with them thar onions?

 

[Homesteader]

http://igrow.org/agronomy/wheat/fal...buscular-mycorrhizal-fungi-which-can-lead-to/
I see! This article suggest that oats may be particularly good at hosting.

 

[tj Wise]

Those are GREAT options. How the bleep do you know so much? I searched for frost tolerant mycorrhizal hosts... with fast & expansive roots... and I got... onions. I'm usually a pretty fair google master. THANKS!!!

 

[Homesteader]

In case you cannot find OG seed

http://www.fedcoseeds.com/ogs/?cat=Farm Seed

 

[Homesteader]

I also read that corn was one of the better hosts as well. Lost the link though. Don't think that would be ready by the spring though.

 

[tj Wise]

This suggests I need to get my sterile soil delivered and into my smart pots, plant my fall oats... and then in the spring do an early transplant of garbonzo and Austrian winter peas. This all started because the fancy soils/compost that I plan on getting, they are all dead. So what questions have I not thought of yet? LOL.

 

[Homesteader]

Do you plan on using EWC?

 

[Seamaiden]

Those are GREAT options. How the bleep do you know so much? I searched for frost tolerant mycorrhizal hosts... with fast & expansive roots... and I got... onions. I'm usually a pretty fair google master. THANKS!!!

I don't know about Homesteader, but I read Acres, USA magazine. It's chockful of some batshit crazy shit, but also some truly golden nuggets.

 

[Homesteader]

I've never checked it out, but I will now!

 

[Homesteader]

 

[Homesteader]

 

[tj Wise]

How many anaerobic microbes do you need? A month in a bucket of water?? They will feed whatever aerobic microbes are already in the soil, right? But... If that rice was added to molasses/water with a vigorous air bubblers ... 36 hours... I think that might work?

 

[Seamaiden]

A note about the rice: Texas-grown rice is well known to have significant levels of arsenic present in the grain. The advice is to use California organic rice, because the soils where it's grown don't have the same levels of arsenic present. Apparently rice will accumulate arsenic.

 

[Seamaiden]

I wonder if that's even possible in a place like the Mojave. Hrm. I've got such a learning curve ahead of me.

 

[Homesteader]

A note about the rice: Texas-grown rice is well known to have significant levels of arsenic present in the grain. The advice is to use California organic rice, because the soils where it's grown don't have the same levels of arsenic present. Apparently rice will accumulate arsenic.

I am going to have to look more in depth with this. Sounds like arsenate was used in cotton production and may contribute or chicken litter commonly used in organic farming unless I am reading it wrong.
http://www.motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2012/09/waiter-theres-arsenic-my-rice