Travis I hope you will pursue your idea of finding ways to grow species not yet in cultivation. Doubtless there are beneficial combinations of soil microorganisms for some, if not all, geophytes. However, consider that soil fumigation is practiced on many valuable crops, such as berries, at great expense not out of ignorance or a failure to practice good stewardship of the soil, like crop rotation, but because it really does protect plants from many deadly soil pathogens. I am not advocating fumigants, just saying that what is natural in your air and soil is not inevitably beneficial. Just as deer are a charming component of natural environments, doesn't mean they can be tolerated in a garden. What you choose to do to improve your bulb cultivation should closely correlate with the value of the plants. Spores of really deadly pathogenic fungi like verticillium and fungus-like organisms such phytophthora are ubiquitous. Experiment as you can but whenever possible include expe rimental controls or checks as they are called in agricultural research, and plan replicates when you set up your experimental design. Change only one variable at a time. And the best growers keep good records as I have seen you already do. Many people are unaware that statistics as a mathematical field was invented for agricultural research. I bring this up because it really Is difficult to tell if the difference you observe between the experimental and the check is really different or only seemed to be different. What is the best fertilizer ratio? Does pasteurizing soil improve bulb growth and survival? Does addition of mycorrhizal fungi help? Have fun speculating and experimenting, but from my own blunders, I can advise caution with valuable plants. Have fun experimenting on those you can afford to lose. Mark Sent from my iPhone > On Feb 4, 2016, at 4:36 PM, Karl Church <64kkmjr@gmail.com> wrote: > > Travis, > > As a Master Gardener, I've heard several speakers talk on need to protect > the microorganisms in the soil if you want excellent growth. So I suspect > you have a good idea regarding those bulbs that tend to be difficult to > grow outside their native location. It would be interesting if someone did > the research. > > Karl Church > Dinuba zone 9b >> On Feb 4, 2016 4:09 PM, "Travis O" <enoster@hotmail.com> wrote: >> >> Hi, >> >> I've been reading 'Teaming with Microbes' by Jeff Lowenfels and Wayne >> Lewis (Timber Press 2010) and it has got my imagination going. Most >> gardeners are familiar with or have at least heard of the ability of >> leguminous plants to "fix" nitrogen from the atmosphere into a form plants >> can use, a result of a fungal symbiosis. The book describes in detail the >> complex microscopic ecosystems that inhabit healthy soil and interact, in >> many cases symbiotically and beneficially, with (according to the book) 90% >> of all plants on Earth. >> >> Now it seems that the common practice amongst this group, and many other >> specialized plant groups, is to use completely sterilized soil (or >> "medium"). Could there be a benefit to inoculating our bulb seed, or >> perhaps the dormant bulbs themselves, as one may do with food crops? >> >> To me, it seems entirely reasonable to assume that many wild bulb >> populations have some sort of positive relationship to the microfauna in >> the soil they share. Keeping with this line of reasoning, I wonder if some >> of the "difficult" bulbous species out there, unknown in cultivation, may >> only need the correct fungal association (or bacterial, or whatever) to >> survive in cultivation? Or could using beneficial bacteria/fungi to >> inoculate our current bulbs improve their vigor, or other unforeseen >> benefits? >> >> Is there any research out there on this? >> >> Travis Owen >> Rogue River, OR >> >> http://www.amateuranthecologist.com/ >> http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/ >> >> _______________________________________________ >> pbs mailing list >> pbs@lists.ibiblio.org >> http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php >> http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/ > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/