dizzlekush
Well-Known Member
The word Mycorrhizae stems from the greek words Mykes (fungus) and Rhiza (root), and literally means "fungus root." Almost all mycorrhizae can be separated into two large groups, endomycorrhizae (endo meaning internal) and ectomycorrhizae (ecto meaning external). Endomycorrhizae can also be called Endotropic Mycorrhizae, Arbuscular Mycorrhizae (AM) or Vesicular-Arbuscular Mycorrhizae (VAM). Both AM and VAM are nowadays considered more appropriate nomenclature (with AM in the slight lead) for non ectomycorrhizae fungi, but both names are actually less accurate, since not all endomycorrhizae produce vesicles and not all established endomycorrhizae connections have arbuscules. Out of simplicity, I shall be referring to Endomycorrhizae as AM from now on.
Over 80% of all plant species (including those from the Cannabis genus) can ONLY form a relationship with ENDOMYCORRHIZAE (AM). Adding ectomycorrhizae to your cannabis will not benefit it, because cannabis plants (like most plants) cannot form a symbiotic relationship with ectomycorrhizae. In fact, when trying to inoculate plants with AM and ectomycorrhizae (like with products such as Great White, Piranha, Myco Madness, and Oregonism), the formation of ectomycorrhizae prevents AM from creating symbiotic bonds with the host plant:
"Vesicular-arbuscular (VA) mycorrhizal fungi and ectomycorrhizal fungi were observed together in the same root system, and even within the same root apices, of seedlings of Eucalyptus dumosa A. Cunn. ex Schau. On a population basis, there was a succession of two overlapping mycorrhizal epidemics-VA mycorrhizas followed by ectomycorrhizas. This succession was interpreted as follows. Early build-up of VA mycorrhizas was related to initial higher inoculum potential of that fungus and to rapidity of colonization of individual roots. The ectomycorrhizal fungus was more successful later in achieving secondary infections by hyphal spread and in colonization of lateral root branches. The ectomycorrhizal fungus had no difficulty infecting pre-existing VA mycorrhizas, but the ectomycorrhizal sheath provided a barrier to subsequent VA mycorrhizal infections." 1
So the natural invagination (not a dirty word) that ectomycorrhizae form actually prevent AM form establishing their connection with roots, so it is important to never buy a "wide spectrum" product that has both ectomycorrhizae and AM.
Now that we've established that only AM can form a symbiotic relationship with cannabis, lets take a look at a simple understanding of what this symbiotic relationship actually is. this is the most simple explanation i could find describing the relationship between host plant and mycorrhizae. "Mycorrhizae facilitate water and mineral exchange with soil, contribute to disease and toxicity resistance and help in the colonization of barren soil or degraded landscapes. In exchange for these benefits, the fungi gain access to carbohydrates produced by the plant and transferred from the leaves to the root system". 2 Sounds like a sweet deal. your plant gets all those benefits and only has to give up some carbohydrates. but is that actually a good deal? since carbohydrates are easily usable forms of energy my plant has already took the time to make, should i really be giving some of that energy to a fungus? will my plant really be growing faster that way? lets take a harder look at the details of AM inoculation.
It takes several weeks to form a solid AM colony in a previously uncolonized roots system. Making a "bennie tea" out of your AM will serve no benefits (pun intended), as AM can only propagate with the assistance of a host plant. probably the most important and overlooked aspect of mycorrhizae is its ENTIRE relationship with phosphorus. it is fairly well known that Phosphorous is the element made most available by AM, what is less known about the relationship between the 2 is that 25ppm of phosphorus in soil or in plant food, prevents AM from propogating, and even higher levels change the relationship between AM and the host plant from symbiotic to parasitic:
"The extent to which the plant species depended on AM fungi for dry matter production decreased as the levels of soil P increased, but the degree of this decrease differed in the two species tested. Acacia nilotica colonized by AM fungi showed a significant increase in shoot P and dry matter at a soil P level of 10 ppm whereas in Albizzia lebbeck, such increase occurred at 20 ppm. Mycorrhizal inoculation response disappeared beyond soil P levels of 25 ppm in Acacia nilotica and 30 ppm in Albizzia lebbeck. Levels of soil P greater than 25 ppm suppressed AM fungus colonization in both species. Soil P levels of 30 and 40 ppm caused negative mycorrhizal dependencies (MD) in Acacia nilotica and Albizzia lebbeck respectively." 3
So AM becomes useless at 25 ppm or phosphorus and parasitic at as little as 30ppm... you might be thinking "Well Dizzlekush, these tests are done on trees, not marijuana, there's no scientific evidence that AM negatively effects marijuana, no way nutrient companies are THAT big of assholes." well that's where your wrong again:
"The effect of arbuscular mycorrhiza on heavy metal uptake and translocation was investigated in Cannabis sativa. Hemp was grown in the presence and absence of 100 microg g-1 Cd and Ni and 300 microg g-1 Cr(VI), and inoculated or not with the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus Glomus mosseae. In our experimental condition, hemp growth was reduced in inoculated plants and the reduction was related to the degree of mycorrhization. The percentage of mycorrhizal colonisation was 42% and 9% in plants grown in non-contaminated and contaminated soil, suggesting a significant negative effect of high metal concentrations on plant infection by G. mosseae. Soil pH, metal bioavailability and plant metal uptake were not influenced by mycorrhization. The organ metal concentrations were not statistically different between inoculated and non-inoculated plants, apart from Ni which concentration was significantly higher in stem and leaf of inoculated plants grown in contaminated soil. The distribution of absorbed metals inside plant was related to the soil heavy metal concentrations: in plant grown in non-contaminated soil the greater part of absorbed Cr and Ni was found in shoots and no significant difference was determined between inoculated and non-inoculated plants. On the contrary, plants grown in artificially contaminated soil accumulated most metal in root organ. In this soil, mycorrhization significantly enhanced the translocation of all the three metals from root to shoot. The possibility to increase metal accumulation in shoot is very interesting for phytoextraction purpose, since most high producing biomass plants, such as non-mycorrhized hemp, retain most heavy metals in roots, limiting their application."4
Now let me just straighten a few things out. This is the only experiment i could find that was specifically testing cannabis inoculated and cannabis not inoculated with AM. now the main goal behind the experiment was to see the relationship between AM and heavy metal uptake, not the relationship between AM and Cannabis. Now unfortunately the experimenters put too many variables in the test to intimately see the relationship between cannabis and AM, but this is what I got from that expirement " In our experimental condition, hemp growth was reduced in inoculated plants and the reduction was related to the degree of mycorrhization... Soil pH, metal bioavailability and plant metal uptake were not influenced by mycorrhization. The organ metal concentrations were not statistically different between inoculated and non-inoculated plants, apart from Ni which concentration was significantly higher in stem and leaf of inoculated plants grown in contaminated soil."4
There you have it folks. You can choose to take from this what you will, but ultimately AM can only be beneficial when providing your plant with less than 25 ppm of phosphorus, which is not enough phosphorus to support budding( in my experiences), even with the help of AM, and at 30 ppm it becomes parasitic, stops providing water and nutrients for your plants while your plants continue to photosynthesize for it. not exactly the relationship you're looking for.
Sources:
1 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1469-8137.1987.tb00195.x/abstract
2 http://www.ehow.com/about_6702102_importance-mycorrhiza.html
3 http://www.springerlink.com/content/t0531w63471h5rqj/
4 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15698640
Over 80% of all plant species (including those from the Cannabis genus) can ONLY form a relationship with ENDOMYCORRHIZAE (AM). Adding ectomycorrhizae to your cannabis will not benefit it, because cannabis plants (like most plants) cannot form a symbiotic relationship with ectomycorrhizae. In fact, when trying to inoculate plants with AM and ectomycorrhizae (like with products such as Great White, Piranha, Myco Madness, and Oregonism), the formation of ectomycorrhizae prevents AM from creating symbiotic bonds with the host plant:
"Vesicular-arbuscular (VA) mycorrhizal fungi and ectomycorrhizal fungi were observed together in the same root system, and even within the same root apices, of seedlings of Eucalyptus dumosa A. Cunn. ex Schau. On a population basis, there was a succession of two overlapping mycorrhizal epidemics-VA mycorrhizas followed by ectomycorrhizas. This succession was interpreted as follows. Early build-up of VA mycorrhizas was related to initial higher inoculum potential of that fungus and to rapidity of colonization of individual roots. The ectomycorrhizal fungus was more successful later in achieving secondary infections by hyphal spread and in colonization of lateral root branches. The ectomycorrhizal fungus had no difficulty infecting pre-existing VA mycorrhizas, but the ectomycorrhizal sheath provided a barrier to subsequent VA mycorrhizal infections." 1
So the natural invagination (not a dirty word) that ectomycorrhizae form actually prevent AM form establishing their connection with roots, so it is important to never buy a "wide spectrum" product that has both ectomycorrhizae and AM.
Now that we've established that only AM can form a symbiotic relationship with cannabis, lets take a look at a simple understanding of what this symbiotic relationship actually is. this is the most simple explanation i could find describing the relationship between host plant and mycorrhizae. "Mycorrhizae facilitate water and mineral exchange with soil, contribute to disease and toxicity resistance and help in the colonization of barren soil or degraded landscapes. In exchange for these benefits, the fungi gain access to carbohydrates produced by the plant and transferred from the leaves to the root system". 2 Sounds like a sweet deal. your plant gets all those benefits and only has to give up some carbohydrates. but is that actually a good deal? since carbohydrates are easily usable forms of energy my plant has already took the time to make, should i really be giving some of that energy to a fungus? will my plant really be growing faster that way? lets take a harder look at the details of AM inoculation.
It takes several weeks to form a solid AM colony in a previously uncolonized roots system. Making a "bennie tea" out of your AM will serve no benefits (pun intended), as AM can only propagate with the assistance of a host plant. probably the most important and overlooked aspect of mycorrhizae is its ENTIRE relationship with phosphorus. it is fairly well known that Phosphorous is the element made most available by AM, what is less known about the relationship between the 2 is that 25ppm of phosphorus in soil or in plant food, prevents AM from propogating, and even higher levels change the relationship between AM and the host plant from symbiotic to parasitic:
"The extent to which the plant species depended on AM fungi for dry matter production decreased as the levels of soil P increased, but the degree of this decrease differed in the two species tested. Acacia nilotica colonized by AM fungi showed a significant increase in shoot P and dry matter at a soil P level of 10 ppm whereas in Albizzia lebbeck, such increase occurred at 20 ppm. Mycorrhizal inoculation response disappeared beyond soil P levels of 25 ppm in Acacia nilotica and 30 ppm in Albizzia lebbeck. Levels of soil P greater than 25 ppm suppressed AM fungus colonization in both species. Soil P levels of 30 and 40 ppm caused negative mycorrhizal dependencies (MD) in Acacia nilotica and Albizzia lebbeck respectively." 3
So AM becomes useless at 25 ppm or phosphorus and parasitic at as little as 30ppm... you might be thinking "Well Dizzlekush, these tests are done on trees, not marijuana, there's no scientific evidence that AM negatively effects marijuana, no way nutrient companies are THAT big of assholes." well that's where your wrong again:
"The effect of arbuscular mycorrhiza on heavy metal uptake and translocation was investigated in Cannabis sativa. Hemp was grown in the presence and absence of 100 microg g-1 Cd and Ni and 300 microg g-1 Cr(VI), and inoculated or not with the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus Glomus mosseae. In our experimental condition, hemp growth was reduced in inoculated plants and the reduction was related to the degree of mycorrhization. The percentage of mycorrhizal colonisation was 42% and 9% in plants grown in non-contaminated and contaminated soil, suggesting a significant negative effect of high metal concentrations on plant infection by G. mosseae. Soil pH, metal bioavailability and plant metal uptake were not influenced by mycorrhization. The organ metal concentrations were not statistically different between inoculated and non-inoculated plants, apart from Ni which concentration was significantly higher in stem and leaf of inoculated plants grown in contaminated soil. The distribution of absorbed metals inside plant was related to the soil heavy metal concentrations: in plant grown in non-contaminated soil the greater part of absorbed Cr and Ni was found in shoots and no significant difference was determined between inoculated and non-inoculated plants. On the contrary, plants grown in artificially contaminated soil accumulated most metal in root organ. In this soil, mycorrhization significantly enhanced the translocation of all the three metals from root to shoot. The possibility to increase metal accumulation in shoot is very interesting for phytoextraction purpose, since most high producing biomass plants, such as non-mycorrhized hemp, retain most heavy metals in roots, limiting their application."4
Now let me just straighten a few things out. This is the only experiment i could find that was specifically testing cannabis inoculated and cannabis not inoculated with AM. now the main goal behind the experiment was to see the relationship between AM and heavy metal uptake, not the relationship between AM and Cannabis. Now unfortunately the experimenters put too many variables in the test to intimately see the relationship between cannabis and AM, but this is what I got from that expirement " In our experimental condition, hemp growth was reduced in inoculated plants and the reduction was related to the degree of mycorrhization... Soil pH, metal bioavailability and plant metal uptake were not influenced by mycorrhization. The organ metal concentrations were not statistically different between inoculated and non-inoculated plants, apart from Ni which concentration was significantly higher in stem and leaf of inoculated plants grown in contaminated soil."4
There you have it folks. You can choose to take from this what you will, but ultimately AM can only be beneficial when providing your plant with less than 25 ppm of phosphorus, which is not enough phosphorus to support budding( in my experiences), even with the help of AM, and at 30 ppm it becomes parasitic, stops providing water and nutrients for your plants while your plants continue to photosynthesize for it. not exactly the relationship you're looking for.
Sources:
1 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1469-8137.1987.tb00195.x/abstract
2 http://www.ehow.com/about_6702102_importance-mycorrhiza.html
3 http://www.springerlink.com/content/t0531w63471h5rqj/
4 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15698640
even tho hemp and cannabis are from the same gene-pool, they aren't the same.
