A superior innoculant can be purchased at Fungi Perfecti called Myco Grow, both water soluble and as a powder. It contains broad range of beneficial bacteria and fungi. Sterility is stressed in horticulture due to the fear of introducing and dissemination of plant pathogens. Species in their native habitats are without doubt growing amongst an environment teeming with both pathogenic and beneficial microbes, its this balance between the good and bad that keeps disease in check (for the most part). I have never heard of any downside to adding mycorrhizae or other beneficials to soil, and its regularly used in many divisions of plant trade. Preferably a pasteurized soil would be used, knocking whatever pathogenic microbes might be present and then introducing a large population of beneficials. Colin Davis Northern California On Thu, Feb 4, 2016 at 4:55 PM, Mike Rummerfield <mikerumm@gmail.com> wrote: > Travis, > Very good questions. I have long taken the opposite approach to > sterilization as it's never made biological sense to me. Plus, it seems it > is often that the pests/pathogens are the first to colonize a sterile > environment. I always use an unsterilized medium and add beneficial > microbe inoculants, and it usually works for me, though I have no research > on it. > > It only makes sense to me that plants/bulbs that have their own > idiosyncratic, symbiotic, synergistic microbes available to them are much > better to ward off pathogens and to thrive; both in the soil, and on the > above ground parts where the beneficials take up all the "real estate" so > that pathogens have nowhere to set up house and do their damage. > > Nature has had much longer to work this out than we have. > > Hopefully, someone with real knowledge on this subject will respond to your > queries. > > An aside: I do sterilize something like coco husk chips that are imported > from a foreign country so as not to possibly introduce organisms that are > not native to the local biome, but then reinoculate it. > > Regards, > Mike > Washington state > rain, 44℉ (7℃) > > On Thu, Feb 4, 2016 at 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/ > _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@lists.ibiblio.org http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/