MikoMax 10 kg

Why is this cooperation good for the crop and how is it achieved?

Plants sense when their environment is low in water and nutrients. They then secrete messenger molecules that attract the mycorrhizal fungi and encourage them to grow their hyphal filaments into the fresh hair roots of the crop plant. In other words, the plant senses whether it can cope on its own with the task of growing thewater and nutrients in the soil on its own, or it can ask nature for help. If it senses that it needs help, it secretes tracers through its roots into the soil. This signal is sensed by the mycorrhizal fungus and it moves towards the root and then penetrates the root.

If the plant perceives that it can cope with the water and nutrientuptake, it will not secrete any material at all to attract mycorrhizae. If a chemical (non-organic) fertilizer is applied near the root of the plant, it may perceive that symbiosis with the mycorrhizal fungus is not necessary. However, this is deceptive because fertilisers are easily bound to the surface of soil colloids and are then difficult for the plant to take up. Organic manures do not cause this problem.

Why is this relationship good for mycorrhiza?

Mycorrhizae supply nutrients - such as phosphorus for rooting - and water to the plant during symbiosis. It's as if the mycorrhiza supplies a large part of the raw materials to the "kitchen" and in return receives delicious ready meals - sugars, amino acids ... So this symbiosis - mutually beneficial cooperation - is beneficial for both organisms.

What nutrients can mycorrhizae provide to the plant?

It helps the plant to take up all nutrients, but the most important of these is phosphorus. Phosphorus is fixed outside the ideal pH range of 6.5 to 7.5. At higher alkaline pH it forms insoluble compounds with calcium, while in acidic low pH soils it forms insoluble compounds with iron and aluminium. These can be broken up by the mycorrhizal fungus by the hyphae filament and phosphorus can be taken up and transferred to the crop plants. Mycorrhizae also play a very important role in the uptake of microelements and water.

What else is mycorrhiza useful for?

Mycorrhizae, like fungi, once they invade the plant, trigger its natural defence mechanism, as it senses that there is a "fungal attack". However, since mycorrhizae are not dangerous fungi - in fact they are allies - the increased defence does not result in an attack. However, if other fungi or bacteria then try to attack the crop, it has a harder time because of the increased resistance.

Also of great importance is the ability of mycorrhizal fungi to secrete substances - glomalin protein - that help to form soil aggregates. These aggregates are small micro 'clumps' of soil colloids, beneficial fungi and bacteria, nutrients, humic substances, water and calcium, almost glued together. They are extremely important soil components because they contain water and nutrients that are easily absorbed by plants and improve soil structure. You can see this when you pull a plant out of the soil and there are pieces of soil on its roots. Then you have good soil structure.

A recently discovered property of mycorrhizal fungi is their ability to bind plants together. It's like the internet of soil. Plants communicate through mycorrhizal fungi and can even transfer nutrients to each other. In the case of trees in forests, mycorrhizal fungi have been shown many times to be usefulas a messenger channel, supporting weaker species through them.

Why can mycorrhizal fungi provide more water and nutrients to the crop?

The filament of the mycorrhizal fungus is an order of magnitude thinner than the hair root of the host plant. This allows it to enter places where the crop plant cannot. The fungus also secretes other acids and enzymes that make it able to absorb extra nutrients.

Which plants are colonised more or less by mycorrhizae?

In the case of grapes and fruit, and 90% of the crops we grow, a very strong symbiosis develops. However, there are some plants that are less able to establish a symbiotic relationship with mycorrhizae, such as pig(Amaranthaceae family), such as sugar beet, or Brassicaceae, such as the Brassicaceae family. Brassicaceae such as rape, cabbage, mustard and horseradish.

There are also crops such as. pines, where the hyphal filament of the mycorrhizal fungus does not penetrate the roots of the plant - and creates arbuscules where the exchange/barterel takes place - but only grows around the roots. These latter are the ecto mycorrhizas.

Are all mycorrhizae able to invade and symbiose with the host plant?

Only the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, the oldest and most widespread type of mycorrhizae, are capable of such contact. The hyphal filaments of these fungi are able to penetrate the cell wall of the plant root's cortical cells. In the root, hyphae can form special formations, called vesicles and arbuscules, which have a storage and surface-enriching role. These symbiotic mycorrhizal fungi are uniformly classified in the phylum Glomeromycota.