Here is how the email train chugged along today with the dude who supplies all the big players:
ME: Can you tell me how the mycorrhizae work with different media? I am looking specifically at the difference between soil, coco (hydroponic), and maybe something like hydroton (hydroponic). Do the mycos basically just attach to the roots, and then find food/water for the plant, and in return feed off of plant waste? Or, are they feeding off something else? Do you really need to reapply in hydroponics if you colonize early, and if you aren’t using
hydrogen peroxide or any other products that will potentially kill them?
HIM:
The media is really unimportant. As long as there is root growth it is the exudates from the roots that cause spores to germinate. The fungus gets simple sugars and carbos from the plant in exchange for fueling their activities in the soil excreting chemicals that break down all the 15 micro and macro nutrients and translocate them into the plant. If you get colonization over 30% MIP then you do not have to re-appl. Hydrogen P is not good.
ME:
In a pure hydro setting, where plant roots are pretty much suspended in water with access to nutrients at all times, are there any advantages to using endos?
Will the endos “force feed” the plants more than the the plants would take up without them?
HIM:
You need to have ebb and flow as mycos are aerobic. Yes colonizing the roots extend them and their abilities to get more nutrients in the plant.
ME:
Will endos survive and thrive in an environment artificially loaded with sugars/carbs, and no plant roots? For example, If I make a tea with black strap molasses and soak a rock wool cube in it, then I add the mycos.. will they germinate and live without a plant?
HIM:
No they will not germinate without a living plant root.
ME:
So when you apply with water, is it the water that brings them out of hibernation or is it the presence of plant roots? This is really interesting. We have always been told that it is a good idea to “feed” the plants with something like black strap molasses or another car source, so the mycos will have something to eat before they come in contact with the roots.
HIM:
The only thing that germinates these spores are the specific root exudates from a living plant root. Other fungi and bacteria need a carb source; not the mycorrhizal fungi as it is in a symbiotic relationship with it's plant host which provides everything it needs.