DoloZest News - July 2011

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There is a great deal of information available on Mycorrhizal fungi and the benefits they provide.  The following is an article from malcolmbeck.com.
 
Mycorrhizae: Beneficial Fungi in Fertile Soil
 
“Mycorrhizal fungi form a symbiotic association with the roots of most plants. The fungi grow into or between the cells of the roots and use ten percent of the carbohydrates the plant passes from the leaves to the roots. The fungi do not have chlorophyll in the presence of sunlight, so they can't manufacture carbohydrates. In return for the energy taken from the plants, the fungi grow out and search far and wide for nutrients and moisture. They feed the plant so it can continue to manufacture more and more carbohydrate energy. A plant well colonized with mycorrhizal fungi will have the equivalent of ten times more roots than one without the fungi.
 
Another benefit of this association is that, as long as the fungi is flourishing, it can prevent all root pathogens and damaging nematodes from attacking the plant root.
Decaying organic mulch on the soil keeps both the plant and the many beneficial soil species, such as the mycorrhizal fungi, flourishing so they can help each other.
 
The appearance of mycorrhizal fungi was reported in 1885 by a German botanist, A. B. Frank, who believed that water and soil nutrients might be entering trees through these fungi. This fungus acts as a link between the soil and rootlets of the plant. It flourishes in humus. When the association is present, plants are strikingly vigorous, achieve good growth, and gain resistance against attacks by insects and diseases.
 
Among forest trees and other plants, including food crops, the mycorrhizal association is widespread, habitual, and at times essential. It is stimulated when there is ample light, adequate pH of the soil, good aeration, humus, and moderate soil fertility. It is inhibited by the presence of many chemical fertilizers.
 
It has been found that these fungi can play an important role in plants grown in infertile soils where phosphorus, zinc, and copper are especially scarce. Mycorrhizae assist tree growth in such soils. As the plants prosper, so do the fungi, since they depend on food from the plants for their own energy. They use about 10% of the carbohydrates transported from plant leaves to the roots. 
 
The efficient system works as follows: As plant roots grow, they encounter zygomycetes, a family of soil fungi. These fungi enter the roots through root hair or root epidermal cells, and grow in the soil. They form hyphae, a network of tiny, thread-like tubes. The hyphae seek out nutrients that are poorly available in the soil areas unexplored by the roots. Hence, the root system is extended by the fungi, since the hyphae enable the plant to explore more areas and to obtain more essential nutrients in useable solution forms than could be possible otherwise.
 
Within the root, the fungus forms two different structures: vesicles and arbuscles. The former are round, balloon-like structures that store carbohydrates from the roots. The latter are highly branched structures that accumulate nutrients, absorbed by the hyphae, that can be released to the plant.
 
In studies at Ohio's Agricultural Research and Development Center, it has been learned that the more fertile the soil, the less need there is for mycorrhizae. Also, it has been found that certain fungi perform nutrient-uptake function better than others. By inoculating apple seedlings with an effective mycorrhizal fungi before planting, growth is stimulated.
 
The practical beneficial effects of mycorrhizae have been demonstrated convincingly in different parts of the world. Attempts to reforest areas, which failed because of a lack of mycorrhizal fungi, became successful after the soil was inoculated with pure cultures of mycorrhizae-producing fungi or with soils taken from an old forest stand. In the U.S.S.R., for example, certain steppes have been re-forested with oak, after it was found that seedlings inoculated with mycorrhizal fungi were able to resist the extreme climatic conditions. Similarly, high mountain regions of Austria were successfully reforested with spruce by means of mycorrhizae.
 
In the United States, experiments of prairie soil inoculation produced beneficial effects on poplar cuttings, with better growth and higher survival rate. White pine seedlings cultivated in inoculated prairie soil contained 86% more nitrogen, 230% more phosphorus, and 75% more potassium than plants in untreated soil. It has been demonstrated that mycorrhizal associations unlock food elements from the soil. In experiments, pine seedlings with the fungus had four times as much phosphorus as pine seedlings without it.
  
Mycorrhizal association is of prime importance in tree nurseries and plantation practices. But it is also important to a variety of other plants too, including many cultivated food crops such as cereal grasses, legumes, fruit trees, and berries.”
 
Mycorrhizal fungi have always been an essential input in CalciZest and DoloZest.  Our initial information came from Dr Robert Hill a scientist at the time with Hort. Research at Ruakura.   Robert had been instrumental in the development and use of these fungi in pine tree seedling development.
 
In pastures we believe that these fungi play a vital role in the harvesting of both phosphorus and moisture.  The ability of CalciZest and DoloZest to significantly increase plant sugar levels relies in part on their ability to provide a steady supply of both moisture and particularly phosphorus, as required by the plant.
One aspect of our field and monitoring work that has become increasingly apparent is the degree to which daily management affects overall farm performance.
 
Each farm is different, with each decision maker’s view of their operation based on their experiences, aspirations and goals unique to them and their family.  Recently we have spent an increasing amount of time working with Brendon and Kara Walsh of GrowFARM and their clients discussing their fertility needs and providing recommendations for CalciZest and DoloZest based mixes for their properties.
 
For more information on GrowFARM, please go to www.growfarm.co.nz 
 
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Pasture growth rates

 
Pasture growth rates at Berrymans for the month of May were:-
                                                                          (ave. per day for May from these sites over the last 3 years)
51.0kgDM/ha/day on one site, and                                        (36.3kgDM)
31.2kgDM/ha/day on the other.                                             (25.5kgDM)
 
Given that growth for every month since December has significantly exceeded the growth for the same period in each of the last three years there is almost certainly going to be a marked slowing of growth prior to October.
 
After prolonged wet periods there is likely to be a temporary shortage of plant available sulphur particularly on the low and medium Anion Storage Capacity soils.  Even high ASC soils may be affected.
 
Sulphur is an essential component of protein and the easiest and most effective means of ensuring sulphur sufficiency is to apply a little Sulphate of Ammonia, especially when accompanied with Base Mix, containing carbon and carbohydrate and our special blend of beneficial microbes.  
 
 
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After having dug to a depth of ten feet last year, British scientists found traces of copper wire dating back 200 years and came to the conclusion that their ancestors already had a telephone network more than 150 years ago.
 
Not to be out done by the Brit’s, in the weeks that followed, an American archaeologists dug to a depth of 20 feet, and shortly after, a story published in the New York Times: “American archaeologists, finding traces of 250-year-old copper wire, have concluded that their ancestors already had an advanced high-tech communications network 50 years earlier than the British”.
 
One week later, the New Zealand Herald, reported the following: “After digging as deep as 30 feet in his backyard in Onehunga, Bill Brown a self-taught archaeologist and avid Motorhomer reported that he found absolutely bugger all.  Brown has therefore concluded that 250 years ago, New Zealand had already gone wireless.”
 
Just makes you bloody proud to be a Kiwi!!
 
Remember, major change seldom comes from mainstream.  If you are looking for change, look to the fringes.