From lflondon@mindspring.com Tue Jul 4 22:54:18 2000 Date: Tue, 04 Jul 2000 19:00:06 -0400 From: "Lawrence F. London, Jr." To: london@metalab.unc.edu, lflondon@mindspring.com Subject: (fwd) Fungi FAQ On Tue, 04 Jul 2000 03:32:57 -0700, in alt.permaculture jko@xprt.net (Jeff Owens) wrote: Garden Fungi FAQ ---------------- Revised 7-2-2000 http://www.xprt.net/~jko/faq/fungi.htm Why should i be interested in fungi? Building good soil begins with fungal activity and many diseases are both caused and solved by fungi. Some plants are so dependent of fungi that they can't survive without them. This relationship can be at the root zone or in the leaves. It is now known that some fir trees have a fungi which activate when the needle is attacked. This in essence is the immune system and adapts in areas where the tree is unable to adapt. It is also suspected that the decline in forest and farm soils is related to fungi diversity loss. This view seems to be mainly among mycologist at present but the supporting evidence is growing. Some interesting facts about soils and fungi: * Of the estimated 6 million species of fungi we have cataloged about 50,000. * An important component of soils are actinomycetes which have been called both fungi and bacteria. * Fungi can selectively modify soil pH * Fungal die off is an early sign of ecological collapse. All this indicates fungi part of one of our biggest frontier to be explored.. soil. If we encourage fungi won't that also encourage fungal diseases? It is usually a question of balance. The fungi are always around and we want to make sure their predators are also around. Often those predators are other fungi. Also, some non fungal pests can be controlled by fungi, so usually we end up gaining more than we lose. Can i buy fungi and add them to the garden? Yes, many people add sprays which contain fungi. Often, these are mycorrhizal fungi which form relationships with plants. The brewing of compost teas is another way to improve the fungi balance. One major consideration is fungi habitat. If we fail to build good habitat then it may be necessary to buy replacement fungi each year, not a very sustainable approach and possibly expensive. What is ideal fungi habitat? It is doubtful that all the fungi in the world will be known or all the roles they play. This makes precise answers difficult but we can make some generalities. Fungal dominated soils occur in forests and grass lands with the following characteristics: 1. Stable perennial plant cover to interact with. 2. Mulch layer as food supply. (For prairies it is reversed, root death provides the food) 3. Mostly undisturbed soil (not tilled) Another characteristic is diversity and change. It is common for a fungi to find a home and spread slowly consuming its preferred food and leaving a open center. This appears as a ring of mushrooms after a few years. It is called a fairy ring and may not seem interesting, but consider this: a fairy ring 150 miles across was discovered in the American midlands. This suggests slow change everywhere these rings are growing and interacting. The diversity factor consists of fungi populations eating each other, being eaten by just about everyone, and constantly changing. It is impossible to predict all the soil interactions so one answer is diversity. Have the good guys present and ready to fill the niche. How do i know if my soil has a good fungal balance? Observation is the best method. Soil tests do not work very well when dealing with living tissue and diversity. Some of the clues come from plants and others come from looking at the soil. The smell, feel, and moisture retaining properties are all clues. Weeds are probably the best indicator of all. If we can identify the weeds and know what environment they prefer we can predict how similar crops will perform. Some plants who prefer fungal soils are: conifers, grape, apple, forest plants, most deciduous trees, citrus, strawberries So how do i use all this information? Increasing soil bioactivity and being aware of how balance works is a good place to start. Another is to look at all the techniques which use perennials mixed with annuals to build habitat. This includes: alley cropping - nitrogen fixing trees coppiced to provide mulch. Mixing alders and potatoes for example. This appears to provide sustainable yield. The alders work in conjunction with actinomycates at their roots. Forest Gardens - This technique mixes perennials with annuals and attempts to build a diverse eco system. Several books exist on this topic. The study of agroforestry includes other systems with similar characteristics. Other things to consider are no-till and limited crop rotation. Where soils need to be tilled the use of compost teas can help restore the soil life balance. Teas can be brewed for increased bacteria by increasing the sugars or for fungi by increasing the cellulose, starch, and gums.. Year round gardening is another good technique. Having plants around also helps their supporting fungi to survive. If we combine this with mulching and a few perennials our diversity is maintained and the soil is much more adaptive. What about pesticides and herbicides? Caution to the point of complete avoidance is the safest approach with pesticides. Some of the natural compounds are useful, but where possible building healthy eco systems with predators is much preferred. Often this is more labor intensive and can impact profits. On the other hand, it provides meaningful work and connects us back to the land. Can i grow edible mushrooms? Yes, but reliable results are difficult without careful procedures. There are also problems with identifying mushrooms which need to be considered. We are surrounded by fungal spore looking for a home and this presents some problems. In commercial mushroom farms about half the work is maintaining spore and propagating it. This spore is then used to quickly inhabit a sterile medium. Even these commercial methods sometimes fail. Some things gardeners can do are: 1. buy a mushroom kit and spread the inoculated medium. Then spread a woody material on top. 2. buy mushroom kit and grow the mushrooms, then spread the spent spore and cover. 3. buy mushroom spore or plugs and inoculate the garden directly. For most gardeners the first method is most reliable. Another method is to obtain a known mushroom from the store or other source. This can be mixed with a dilute molasses slurry and left to grow. The result can be sprayed in a good habitat and may take up residence (see THE FARM web pages for techniques). Which mushrooms are recommended? Gardeners should first decide it they have a site suitable for mushrooms and then pick types that will fit the habitat. Here are some candidates: Oyster, one of the easier mushrooms to grow but it can be confused with other mushrooms. Habitat would be compost piles or a prepared medium. King Stropharia, can be grown in soils amended with chopped straw. Shiitake, can be grown on wood Shaggy Manes, can be grown in manured soils and near compost piles. The Mycorrhizal species (chanterelles, king boletes, matsutake, and truffles) are possible candidates for seeding by slurries or inoculated trees. This seems to be a controversial issue still. A few people claim success and others are questioning the results. A good source of information on mushroom gardening can be obtained from Paul Stamets books and from local mycological societies. Trial and error procedures can be risky with mushrooms so good information is important. Mushroom Sources Fungi Perfecti http://www.fungi.com/ Gourmet Mushroom Products http://www.arrowweb.com/mushroom Mushroom Adventures http://www.mushroomadventures.com Mushroompeople (The Farm) http://www.thefarm.org/mushroom Fungal Sprays Compost tea FAQ http://www.xprt.net/~jko/faq/tea.htm Don Chapmans inoculants http://www.bio-organics.com/acreart.html Western Biological http://www.catscan.com/western/western.html Other Fungi Information Canadian site for agroforestry http://www.ecoforestry.ca/default.htm Agroforestry site with newsletter http://www.agroforestry.net/afg/index.html MycoWeb http://www.mykoweb.com/links.html The Farm, Summertown, Tennessee intentional community http://www.thefarm.org Books Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms by: Paul Stamets The Hidden Forest by: Jon R Luoma (Special thanks to Guy Clark for translating the following book into eco-speak) The Nature and Properties of Soils Nyle C. Brady Disclaimer ---------- This FAQ probably has errors and would benifit from additional information in some areas. If you see potential improvement please help others and yourself by sending comments to jeff owens at: Email: jko@xprt.net Web Page: http://www.xprt.net/~jko or to the ecopath discussion list at ecopath@csf.colorado.edu This FAQ can be found at: http://www.xprt.net/~jko/faq/fungi.htm text version available, email author @UnCopyright - This FAQ belongs to you. Pass it on, put your name on it, modify it, consider it a seed to be planted. Lawrence F. London, Jr. Venaura Farm ICQ#27930345 lflondon@mindspring.com london@metalab.unc.edu metalab.unc.edu/intergarden InterGarden metalab.unc.edu/permaculture PermaSphere metalab.unc.edu/intergarden/orgfarm AGINFO