My vegetable farmer friend used to have mold problems in his transplants. It was a blue-green mold that did not really harm the plants but made the surface of the mix hydrophobic and resulted in stunted plants. This year he switched to Promix with Biofungicide, which uses Bacillus subtilis bacteria. No mold at all so far this year for him. Just thought I would share that.

That's sounds like a good one.  Not to take away from your original post, I have had great success with the Pro Mix MX with the mycrorhyazae (SP) and the roots have always come out really well, thick and furry, they seem to transplant really well too.

Thanks for commenting Chivas, wherever this thread goes is fine by me. Promix has registered a brand name for Glomus intradices, that is MYCRORISE® PRO. It is still just a common soil fungi though, they make no note of selecting a strain or anything.

I had a good experience with Promix Organic years ago, it had Glomus intradices and I actually identified some of the mushrooms conclusively. The fig did great too, obviously there was mutual benefit.
I use Paul Stamets' Mycogrow products now, one contains this bacteria but I use that for veggies. I root dip with the gel after cuttings come out of baggies.  Have also used the endo-ecto seed mix to water last year. I have been very happy with the results.

That seems like an interesting product, I was planning to inoculate my garden this year anyways so I just ordered some of the powdered and some of the gel for the figs as I put them up in the pots, thank you for sharing.

Sounds good, the bedrock of organic gardening are beneficial organisms like this out-populating pathogens. Not that you have to be an organic gardener to benefit though. Although, these fungi do better with organic fertilizers, I have read that chemical fertilizer is not beneficial to them at all.

Thanks for the good info! I just ordered some Mycogrow from Fungi Perfecti.

Sweet! I firmly believe that you cannot go wrong by adding beneficials to the mix.

I was just poking around Fungi.com and found this 6th grade science fair project. Proof that the products (he does not actually say which) work and confirmation that Miracle Grow products are garbage.

My friends and I did a similar science fair project at about the same age, we determined that sugar was beneficial to some plant (totally forget which type), orange juice was very bad and there was a third variable that I forgot as well. My friends mom was a gardener and guided us along, we probably would have killed the control!

And also, seeing those peas in the science fair project reminded me of my new favorite salad ingredient- pea shoots. The tender growing tips and flowers are picked and taste just like peas, not quite as sweet. But ready to start picking in only about 3 weeks. I have a nice variety named Gonzo this year but don't see it for sale anymore, I grew plain old field peas last year and they tasted just as good but didn't look as cool.

All I use is blood and bone meal, manure and manure tea with alfalfa and some molasses with Kelp Meal.  This year I may start using the fish emulsion though.

The smell is the worst thing about the fish emulsion, do not run it through any irrigation lines either or raccoons and cats will chew them. Mixed with other things at a much more dilute rate than the manufacturer recommends is a good way to get around the odor. Or use a diluted solution more often.

I did a little more reading, it seems that high levels of phosphorus are what suppresses mycorrhizal fungi. So organic P fertilizer like bone meal is better for mycorrhizal  fungi because the phosphorus is released slower. Sandy soils need the most P but adding organic material helps greatly.

Teas are a great way to feed the fungi, and a great way to feed plants in little containers because there are plenty of fertilizer salts available from the bacterial decomposition. A really nasty smelling tea is a bad thing, I cringe when reading the 55 gallon drum rose recipes. Anaerobic bacteria produce organic acids that inhibit plant growth. If the tea is not aerated efficiently and stirred regularly, or if the recipe has too much fertilizer, or sugars for the oxygen diffused in the water supplied, then aerobic bacteria will multiply as they should but quickly use all available O2 and then die off below the surface, leaving anaerobic bacteria (which produce the worst smells) to do the work. Alfalfa has a funky aroma to begin with so the smell of a finished product is relative, it never really smells "good". I am interested in trying out nettles this year, will begin a brewing soon. Here's a really good resource on the subject.

I always use an air stone to pump loads of air in and add molasses, I always end up with a sweet smelling tea, I use it within 24 hours of starting it then use the gunk left over as a top dressing or in the compost pile.

We have lots in common :) The tea does store for a week in the refrigerator for me once done brewing. I use about half of it after a few days and add back water, then let it finish a little longer. I monitor each new recipe's progress with a TDS meter so I know about how strong it will end up. I usually use lots of alfalfa so mine smells ripe when ready to use, but after using the smell disappears right away. I use Earthjuice Catalyst which has molasses in it but not much because I brew fungal teas usually, it smells really nice though and helps I think.

Brent ,
I've used stinging nettle tea often over the years and find it very helpful for plants at all stages of growth.
It can get quite smelly after a few days , but many of the old gardeners that I know who have used it think it is best as the smell gets stronger.
For my use I prefer it before it gets too strong, usually I use it up in three to four days. If you haven't used it before , be sure to bruise the material very well before you add water so that it releases its goodness more rapidly.
By the way I have found if you use it just after 24 hrs or so it is helpful in deterring ants.
Stinging nettles are used to make one of the Biodynamic compost preparations. It is an exceptional plant.
Wear gloves !
Best ,
Kerry

Have you ever tried making comfrey tea?  I hear mixing it with nettles is supposed to boost the phosphorus quite nicely.

Comfrey tea is another great idea.
Has worked well for me like nettle for foliar feeding or watering.
In greenhouse work for veggie crops or seedlings I have used a common Biodynamic technique of alternating weekly sprayings of stinging nettle tea one week folowed the next week by comfrey or chammomile tea.
 Idea is to promote general health of the crops. Always saw beneficial response.

Great! we have tons of nettles around here as well as pineapple weed. I'll get some dinner out of it too :)

Just a bump, we have being using this on a commercial farm for well over a year now, in the us I believe the product is called serenade, it is really wonderful stuff, good for mildew, downy mildew, fusarium and gummy stem blight (cucumbers) but needs to be applied when you first see disease and in the case of cucumbers every 7-10 days it should be applied.

Hey Chivas, I was thinking why not use Bacillus subtilis in compost teas? I am really cheap so not likely to buy a product over and over again but if i can grow the bacteria myself and never run out then that is right in line with my values.

Brent, Without some specialized (read expensive) equipment, you will find growing pure cultures of B. subtilis more difficult than you might first imagine. Also, compost teas are going to have a pretty broad array of microorganisms that might well interfere with B. subtilis when co-applied.

Do worm castings contain humic acid, or mychorrhizae in them and is that the same as anything you're talking about here?  I just bought a bag of worm castings, but I don't know why.  :/

Thanks,

noss

Noss, earthworms form various humic acids during their process of breaking down organic matter. The humic acids produced by worms have been shown to be superior to commercial humic acids. Worm castings may be the single best nutritional supplement you can add to any potting mix. The attached paper may be of interest to you.