From

Location

Message

Date Posted

Paradise Mountain, New York

Mycorrhizal Applications, Inc. Grants Pass, Oregon is the world's largest grower of Mycorrhizal Fungi. You can sign up on the site and you can send questions to be answered. Dr. Mike Amaranthus has been studying Mycorrhizal Fungi for years. I joined up and have asked several important questions regards to growing Atlantic Giant pumpkins.
Now, what do you think is one of the worse things us pumpkin growers do every fall?
We ripe everything out of our patch for fall clean up. Every vine and root system. Then we plow or till our patch as deep as we can and plant a cover crop.
This is wrong. Most people don't understand the whole life cycle of ENDO-Mycorrhizal Fungi. Many growers are using five pounds of Mycorrhizae per plant. This is mostly being wasted. Dr.Amaranthus says that ten pounds will treat a ten acre field. One pound per plant using 1/4 teaspoon per leaf nobe is enough.
The cycle of Mycorrhizal Fungi. We apply it to the soil. The roots from the pumpkin plant finds it and the root system multiples 100's to thousand's times it's size.
Now this is (missing link)what most growers are missing. Once the roots finds the spores placed in the soil, the spores are used up. The Mycorrhizal is now in the root system. Now it takes 90 to 120 days to reproduce new spores.
So, if you want to re-establish Mycorrhizal Fungi for the future of your Pumpkin Patch, what you need to do in the fall is, cut the root system off from the main and secondary vines. Take the dirt off of the vines, then run a knife along the bottom of the vines to cut them off. DON'T pull the vines out of the dirt then cut them off.

4/30/2008 11:53:08 AM

Paradise Mountain, New York

Clear your patch and roto-till it just a inch or two. No deeper. This leaves the root system and new spores in the soil. Now plant a cover crop of Winter-Rye. The Winter-Rye will find the spores and your Mycorrhizal Fungi will survive the winter and you will have lots of Mycorrhizal Fungi next spring. Dr. Mike Amaranthus says if things are done right, there is "NO" need to apply Mycorrhizal Fungi every year.

4/30/2008 11:53:44 AM

Paradise Mountain, New York

Go to this web site and spend a few hours on it. Watch every movie they have on the site. sign up and send questions you might have. it might take a few days to get an answer. But once you learn the whole life cycle of Mycorrhizal fungi, you will have a better patch.
http://www.mycorrhiza.com/index.php?cid=39

4/30/2008 11:58:02 AM

Seattle, WA

Good info. on the mycorrhizae. Thanks for sharing!

4/30/2008 12:37:55 PM

Www.extremepumpkinstore.com

excellent info!

4/30/2008 4:26:06 PM

Decatur, IL

Great info! Thanks! Really clears up some of the questions posed in my post dated 4/28/08, 3:04 PM. Hopefully, Dr. Amaranthus knows his stuff.

4/30/2008 4:53:21 PM

Dr Mike knows his stuff, he's the guy that actually makes his living being the producer of most of the myco used in this country.

4/30/2008 7:39:50 PM

No Place Special

Thanks for the good info!

4/30/2008 11:23:26 PM

Rhode Island

this is very sound advise and the type of research and sharing we growers need to continue to do to help one another.

i also have been told of having the mycrrhiza product available and working out in from of the growing plant.

while i dont agree with leaving the old root system in the ground because of any disease carry over ,etc? i do believe there are ways to accomplish the same results while still pulling the old plants in the fall.

also a shallow tilling of just a couple surface inches of the patch will eventually cause a hard pan situation below the surface.the soil need around 10 inches deep of till to be broken up and allow ammemdments to be worked in

pap

5/1/2008 7:50:08 AM

Rhode Island

ps--- most patches once the plants are removed are still littered with wed grasses ,etc, that if not tilled in during the fall will also accomplish what brian was suggesting.
pap

5/1/2008 8:09:16 AM

Little-TON - Colorado

NIce!

5/1/2008 8:40:47 AM

Darfield, British Columbia, Canada

Using a cultivator would loosen the soil up to 18 inches deep with minimal soil disruption. As long as the cultivator has narrow tines but wide cutting blades. It also turns up very few rocks. (if you have lots of rocks in your patch that is)

5/1/2008 11:30:44 AM