How important are MycoGrow Soluable and Actinovate

[barryla61]

Are these a "MUST HAVE" for optimum growing success?

If so, are they more important for containers?

I see they come in extremely small quantities, how are they applied?
Is one application enough?

What are some other similar products?

Reccomendations please!

[rnewste]

Barry,

I did trials a few years ago with - and without Actinovate. To me in the EarthTainers, there is a noticeable improvement in plant vigor and yield. For me anyway, it is a "must use" every year.

I apply 2 doses in a soil drench about 2 weeks apart after initial plant-out. One small pack will therefore last for the Season.

For the mycos I use Great White, using the same treatment:



Raybo

[barryla61]

Originally Posted by rnewste

Barry,

I did trials a few years ago with - and without Actinovate. To me in the EarthTainers, there is a noticeable improvement in plant vigor and yield. For me anyway, it is a "must use" every year.

I apply 2 doses in a soil drench about 2 weeks apart after initial plant-out. One small pack will therefore last for the Season.

Raybo

Mine are not self watering containers, will soil drench work in them? Explain Soil Drench please.

[rnewste]

Barry,

Same treatment recommendation for those plants in other containers / in-ground. A soil drench is simply making a batch in water then pouring it over the root system around the plant. The Manufacturer's instructions on amounts per gallon, etc. are on the labels.

Raybo

Most plants are initially rooted in a soilless potting mix, and that mix remains in place even when transplanted into the garden. If you mix up a gallon or two of the products, you can break it down into small portions, and pour that directly at the base of each plant. It should be absorbed very quickly. Depending on your mix strength, and plant size, I would imagine you would use 4-10oz per plant.

There are a lot of things out there, and it is hard to determine what is always good and what is not. I am using Actinovate this year for the first time, but I have it on all my plants and can't do a comparison. Raybo did the one test side-by-side before(maybe snowpeas) and it seemed to work. Of course, that is just a single data point, and it wasn't on tomatoes. The MYCO will offer microbes/fungi that are naturally in most plants, but aren't always in new transplants and/or worked garden soil. You can still get amazing results without them, but they supposedly will improve the overall vigor of the plants, and they will better withstand the problems that occur in many gardens. Here in Texas, we need every bit of an advantage we can get, as most tomato plants here are dead by July, so we have to get them in early, and harvest in May and June. I have seen some studies that show these applications give better drought/heat performance, so I am going to try and make them a habit.

Ami has a much better handle on all this stuff, but this is the basic summary I have gotten while researching them myself.

[amideutch]

Are these a "MUST HAVE" for optimum growing success?

If so, are they more important for containers?

Barry, Yes for optimum growing success and Yes for containers and especially for SWC's.

The reason why I emphasize SWC's is because they provide an excellent environment in the aggregate for plant growth, keeping soil moisture at optimum levels to include the beneficial bacteria and fungi. This also provides that same environment for the bad fungi and bacteria to proliferate that cause disease. Plus the oxygen exchange is not as good in SWC's as is in open containers that are top watered which draws the oxygen down through the aggregate each time you water.

Problem is we have no idea of what kind of animals (fungi/bacteria) good or bad that are residing in the medium we choose to grow our plants in unless it is sterilized or inorganic and in those cases none. So by adding known good bacteria and fungi spores to our mix they will now help protect our plants from soil borne diseases by attaching themselves to the plants roots (symbiosis) and at the same time enhances the nurtient exchange between the aggregate (Rhizophere) and the plant through this symbiosis of the roots.

So in container gardening you are the care provider nutrition wise as well as disease prevention. And now through study we know the functions of the individual bacteria and fungi and what their place is whether it be making nitrogen or phosphorus available to the plants or disease prevention. The bacteria strain used in Actinovate was found to fight fungal diseases not only in the soil but also as a foliar for airborne disease.

So in the last 5 years there has been an explosion as to the Myco blends that have become available (Biofertilizers and Biopesticides) and now they are being added to fertilizers as well. Now what we can do and what I do is make up a solution with MycoGrow soluable, Actinovate and Biota Max to dip the plants roots into during plant out to get this symbiosis process going at the get go with the Bioferts and Biopesticides to enhance growth and
disease resistance which is very important at the seedling stage. This is a one time application and no further innoculations are required unless you choose to do so. Your Giant Vegetable growers have become avid users of myco products and has become a growing regemen for them.

My growing philosophy is this. For the amount of time and money I have invested in growing my plants from seed to plant out I want to give them the best possible treatment to assure a bountiful harvest. It's a one shot deal and if your plants do succumb to disease all that work went down the drain and the season is over. The investment you make at the start is minimal as to what you have to gain. There are alot of products out there and the products I mentioned have worked for me and the Actinovate which is the most expensive of the three is used as a foliar spray for the rest of the growing season as a fungicide. The MycoGrow Soluable is $6.00 for an ounce which is enough to innoculate 125-200 plants. Biota Max is under $10.00 and the Actinovate which is the most expensive is around $20.00. Ami

[Barbee]

I use mycorrhiza (RTI Mykos) mixed in with the starting medium and also use in the planting hole. I use Actinovate as a foliar about every 2 weeks. I plant in ground. I'm a big fan of both
Hope this helps

[fortyonenorth]

Excellent advice from the previous posters. I'll just add a bit of background on mycos to help you understand where they are most likely to make a difference.

Mycorrhizal fungi evolved to form a symbiotic relationship with plants. The fungi help to make mineral nutrients available to plants and, in exchange, the plant secretes certain substances that the fungi require. This was especially beneficial in areas of low naturally occurring fertility - where plants had difficulty accessing adequate phosphorus, for example. In situations of high-fertility, mycorrhizae are less prevalent or even dormant.

The same goes for your home garden. If you are using synthetic fertilizers (e.g. Miracle Grow) which have adequate levels of soluble nutrients, you're not going to see much additional benefit from mycos. If, on the other hand, you're using organic fertilizers where the nutrients have to be mineralized by soil bacteria and fungi before the plant can access them, then you should see very positive results. This is especially important when using organic fertilizers in container culture where the "soil" mix is significantly "soilless."

Originally Posted by Barbee

I use mycorrhiza (RTI Mykos) mixed in with the starting medium and also use in the planting hole. I use Actinovate as a foliar about every 2 weeks. I plant in ground. I'm a big fan of both
Hope this helps

I tell you, doing research on the companies for this stuff can be both fun and irritating. RTI is a perfect example. They have a website that doesn't function, but the Xtreme Gardening line seems to be their marketing vehicle now. On certain 'medical' forums, they are absolutely blasted as being dishonest. Of course, they also have some of the highest spore counts listed for the Myco strains that we utilize.

From what I can tell, there are only 2-3 actual producers of Endo-Myco spores, and they sell to the wholesalers, who rebrand and then sell to consumers. One of the source suppliers created a 'seal of approval' for Myco products, called MycoApply or something. I have no idea if that seal actually means anything, or if it is just for companies that buy the source Myco strains from them. I would really love to be able to get some actual scientific tests on the products, and see what truly has the higher spore counts, and best medium for delivery.

I am starting to look at BioAg and their products. They seem to have a pretty good reputation and they offer a lot of products such as Myco strains and trace mineral products that seem helpful. The problem is that between those products, and the others I want to test, plus the living mulch that I want to test, I need a garden the size of Texas to get them all done. Well, there is always next year...

[fortyonenorth]

Eltex - you raise some good points. Mycos have become so fashionable that the market is fertile ground for unscrupulous vendors. A couple of examples:

I encountered one major organic fertilizer brand which was packaging their blueberry fertilizer with mycorrhizal fungi. While blueberries do form symbiotic relationships with certain mycos, they are among the minority of plants which do NOT associate with the commercially available endo and ecto mycos. I quick call to the company confirmed that they were aware of this and that they agreed that their inclusion would provide no benefit to blueberries.

Another major fertilizer distributor is selling their non-myco 4-6-4 for around $22 for a 50 lb. bag. Their 4-6-4 "with mycos" (drum roll please) $38 for a 25 lb. bag.

I'm also interested in the claim that they need to be reapplied annually in field situations. The argument being that tilling will destroy the fungi. Have you ever tried to get rid of mold or other fungi? Not so easy. Certainly stirring it up isn't going to kill it. Common sense would dictate that it isn't necessary for all the spores to survive - only for enough to re-establish the population the following year. These are, of course, very durable little critters which have existed in the natural world for tens of millions of years. But, "apply once and never again" isn't going to generate as much revenue as "apply annually." I haven't looked for any research on this point, but would be interested if anyone can point me to it.

Overall, I have no doubt that mycos are beneficial in many situations--tremendously beneficial in some situation--but there certainly are a lot of folks trying to cash-in on the craze.

[TightenUp]

i am planning on dipping my seedlings in a bath of mycogrow and actinovate before planting in garden. should i then pour the remaining liquid from the bucket around the seedling in the garden?

[amideutch]

i am planning on dipping my seedlings in a bath of mycogrow and actinovate before planting in garden. should i then pour the remaining liquid from the bucket around the seedling in the garden?

By all means. Ami

[gssgarden]

All I can add is that AMI posted about them a few years ago and WOW did I notice a difference the first year!! Great color, healthy, disease free!!
Lost alot of plants when I first moved to NC due to disease. Actinovate helped tons!!
Soak them right before planting, a few more during the first couple months, every other week. That's it!!

Greg

[John3]

MycoGrow Soluable - $5.95 shipping $2.59 to $6.95 (from site) [not offered at Amazon]
Biota Max $7.88 and this includes shipping from their site here http://www.biotamax.com/ORDER.html [not offered at Amazon]
Actinovate - listed retail price $26.00 for 2oz - Amazon lists $17.97 and eligible for Free Super Saver Shipping (orders over $25)
Total low end - $34.39
Total high end - $38.75
By ordering one of each you get four applications because of the BiotMax - it comes in a tablet which (per Raybo's instructions) you use 1/4 tablet per gal. The combination of the mixture is from Ami. I have used this mixture last year and liked the results - I did also use Saltwater Farms Fish Kelp fert (cold pressed kelp) and tried some SeaCrop on a few plants.

Now a new product has arrived:
Great White - listed retail price $71.95 for 8oz - Amazon lists $62.95 and ships free with Super Saver Shipping. I used the 8oz size as that is the only size listed at Amazon with free shipping.
Total - $62.95
I have tried to find information on it's use not finding much - when it says to mix it says to use a cup or 1/2 cup to water with the provided cup but does not say if the cup is a full cup measurement or they are just calling their measure a cup. I have not been able to find out if all the items listed in the above listed products (MyGrow, Actinovate and BiotaMax). In other words if one was to use Great White would you have to buy the other products to make a mixture? And how many gals. would 8oz of Great White make. And what is the expiration date for the Great White (if you buy it fresh) - one year, two years etc.

I'm thinking of using Watering Stakes for some of my baby fruit trees to apply the three product mixture and/or the Great White (which I would like to find more info about) - the watering stakes would be something like these:
Achla Designs AQC-01G Green Aqua Cone
http://www.amazon.com/Achla-Designs-...d=RITERQ8ZJASX
What do you think about using these to get the mixture to the roots once in ground and/or a better brand that is durable. I haven't done this so any info would help.

[roamwhereiwant2]

I used Ami's method of dunking seedlings into a solution of Actinovate, Mycogrow, and Biotamax last year. I didn't even bother to soak the plants again after they were planted, but I did use an organic fertilizer with lower phosphate levels. I live in hot and humid Georgia and didn't have ANY tomato disease in the garden during 2011. Plus this solution stops damping off disease in its tracks. I know this sounds far-fetched, but I really didn't have any tomato diseases last year and I didn't use any other fungicide.