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T 1r. Mike Amaranthus spent 20 years with Oregon State University and JSDA Forest Service where he authored over 50 research papers on rrycorrhizae. He is a recipient of the USDA Department of Agriculture iighest Honors Award for sdentific achievement and has been featured m several major national and international television programs. He is tresident and chief scientist for Mycorrhizal Applications Inc. . ~ a, re tl~~e rt~- ,~ ar rr~~. Mike Amaranthus Ph.D., Mark A Webber Chief Scientist Consulting AdmdsUHoriiculturist Mycorrhizal Applications, Inc. Nursery and landscape professionals today are faced with a bewildering array of conditions and. treatments. Propagate, aerate, irrigate, fertilize, mulch, and transplant are but a sampling of the activities utilized by today's practicing industry professional. One of the activities that fuels the greatest debate in the industry is using Mycorrhizae. What are they and are they really useful? The answer to these questions depends on what you, the professional, are dealing with. For years the nursery and landscape industry has responded to plant problems with conventional solutions sur~t as fertilizing, pruning, spraying, and other cultural practices. Some practices are successful, many are not. !n most cases, tfte choice of practices failed to consider "the root" of the problem that lies hidden from view beneath the soil surface. ~~~ ~; - . lUuture~ ~angest and most successful exp~rir»ent ~t . ~ ~ ; '° Below the soil surface some 400 million years ago, long before plants had "help" to survive man- ,~:~ ' made environments, plant communities were faced with many natural stresses. Infertile soils, +~?_ ~'~:~tliseases, drought, extreme temperatures, competition, and wind are not new. To survive, plant :r~ "species adapted strategies to persist in the physical, chemical and biological stresses that :~, ~ ~ ~~sGrrtiunded them. Perhaps the most fundamental and successful strategy, the mycorrhizal v,~ „~,; , f~R `~telationship, has allowed plants to adapt to the harsh conditions of life on Land. Radiating out r ~ „ ~ from the roots of plants are miles of #iny filaments that occupy great expanses of soil volumes ;~. ~ u~,~~~~~,, and trap mineral nutrients and water essential to support plant growth needs (Figures t & 2). .e tiny filaments (mycorrhizal fungi) actually attach and penetrate between and within the outer of the root cortex of plants and effectively become extensions of the root system itself (Figure 2). lte assoaatiat between roots and fungi has been known or suspected since classical times. Theophrastus, t Greek naturalist of some 2000 years ago, traced the mycelium of certain mushroom species back ~ oak trees. The word Mycorrhizae is of Greek origin (fungus-roots) and defines the mutualty beneficial elationship between an estimated 90% of the world's land plants and this specialized group of root Ionizing soil fungi. The mycorrhizal relationships with plants have been found on every continent cept Antarctica. It is likely that there is no woody plant on the face of the earth that does not form a ungus-root" in some part of its range. Mycorrhizal relationship with plants have been found in the artiest fossil records. It is quite possible that the fungus-root relationship spawned the evolutionary ap that allowed plants to colonize the harsh terrestria{ land surface. rtigure 1. dose W photograph m mycprhvsl haculated rom system. , While Nreads radarug han brain toms are mycordiral h°rgi e~ptm:rg sou ar mrtrients and water.