Myco Grow

Does anyone know if this material expires? And how soon? I want to save money by buying a pound but the usage instructions for the soluble form are not on the web. How much is mixed with a gallon of water for a root drench. I've been using a pinch per cowpot but that's a bit inexact. I lost the instructions that came with it but I don't recall directions for root drench.

Thanks,

Maggie

I read this:
MycoBoost Directions
MycoBoost is a combination of beneficial fungus in a concentrated powder form. MycoBoost blends well with other powder products or seed. It’s perfect for hydro mulching applications and improving germination and cover on tough sites. MycoBoost can be broadcast, worked into seed beds, placed under cuttings, blended into potting
soil, or sprinkled near roots at transplant time. When applying MycoBoost for any plant types the goal is to have MycoBoost come in contact with the plant’s roots.
As a watering solution for general use: For use on trees, shrubs, flowers, fruits and vegetables as part of your watering schedule, mix at least 2 tablespoons of MycoBoost per gallon of water to make a healthy compost tea. You can use a higher ratio if desired, especially with problem plants. Higher amounts will not harm plants. Mix well and keep well mixed while watering. 1 lb. of MycoBoost makes 50 gallons of watering solution. Apply several times throughout the growing season.
Lawns/Turf: Apply 1 lb. (2 cups) per 4,000 square feet. Use dry in a lawn spreader or mix with water for spray applications. Water thoroughly after dry applications. You should apply MycoBoost several times throughout the first growing season until healthy levels mycorrhiza are established.
Planting Soil: MycoBoost can be mixed into potting soil when filling planters, pots and trays. Use ¼ to ¾ pounds (½ -1½ cups) per cubic yard.
Indoor or Outdoor Potted plants: Mix 1-2 tsp. in each pot at potting
time.
Compost Tea: MycoBoost can be mixed in at a rate of 1.5 oz. of dry MycoBoost per 5 gallons of water.
Seed Coat: Use 1-2 lbs. per acre. Mix dry or use as a solution with enough seeds for 1 acre of coverage.
Transplanting: Touch damp roots to Mycoboost so a small amount sticks to the roots or sprinkle ¼ tsp into each planting hole. You can use the compost tea as root dip during transplanting. Simply spray or mist the root system thoroughly before planting or dip the roots in the compost tea.
Transplanting Trees: Mix ½ oz.. (3 teaspoons) of Mycoboost with water per inch of tree trunk diameter (stem caliper).

I just bought some of this so I had their website handy.
As for expiration, you would probably have to call and ask them.

This is where I got the information:

http://www.megagro.com/pdf/MegaGro_Catalog_Instructions.pdf

Hope this helps!
Pam

This message was edited May 1, 2008 7:47 AM

Thanks Pam!

Maggie

Shelf life on all mycorrhizae is about two years. After that the spore counts diminish about 10% per year. Try to buy every two years and throw the leftovers into your compost piles.
The compost is good at extending the value but does not bring it back to new high counts on the spore. It is questionable if it will live through freezing temperatures. It does require a host plant to stay active. Warm climates may hold enough over if cover crops are used.
This subject is often argued to no absolute conclusion. The best plan is to use it yearly. For general gardening the ENDO spore is what most plants will host. For general landscaping the ECTO spore is what most plants will host.

The difference in cost is most often the higher or lower spore counts in the product.

You would be wasting your money if the soil is also being nuked with any man made fertilizers or excessive use of the cides. The cides are all salts that cripple and kill the soil biology. This is not true of properly applied and composted manures.

Docgipe,

Hmmm, I use no cides at all but I do use low dose fertilizers. My compost pile and my vermicompost are not quite big enough yet to support all my plants. I also use that harpin protein spray.
The cides are salts or the fertilizers are salts?
"Excessive use" of the cides or of the fertilizers?

Thanks,

Maggie

cides = insecticides, fungicides, herbicides and fungicides.
Any use, of cides, will cripple or kill your natural biology that you are trying to build up in your soil.
......Early changing goals should be to eliminate or decrease the cides and work on building the organic content and quality of your ammendments.
......I do not know the proteins product you mentioned. Your posts indicate you are moving in the right direction to build better soil and get healthier growth.

Hi Doc'gipe,

I don't use any of those. I raise B'Flies for fun and those of course kill my BFs. The only time I did was when Jacksonville and I had a huge tick infestation. I had to prune off all my flowers to protect the BFs. It was not a good year. Here's the link to what I'm using to protect my plants. It just boosts their own immune system. http://www.edenbio.com/garden/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=36&Itemid=36

Maggie

Maggie..............that looks like a very interesting product.

They have co-ops for it every now and then. I'm anxiously waiting to see how my Gardenia does this year. Last year, the thrips nearly finished it off with their honeydew blocking the light and clogging their pores.

Thanks,

Maggie

Maggie............Ten years ago my wife nurse RN drug home a horrible looking nursing home badly neglected big lobby Gardenia. I thought the sucker was a goner if ever one was going to give up and die. We placed it inside our home by a Southeast window and started my usual tea therapy. At that time I had on hand nothing but dehydrated kelp meal and compost I use all the time. That was the begining of recovery. As time went on and my tea expertise and trust brought into the weekly watering additional teas. I now rotate tea use in a very weak form with the weekly watering: kelp, worm casts, compost and bat guanna teas. Once a year in the early spring I scratch in some organic Fertrell 4-2-4 fertilizer. That has been the total care as far as fertilizer is concerned. About once a year we spray it with Neem Oil to chase a tiny spider mite which I likely import from the greenhouses on other plants. Neem Oil used two times a week apart cleans it and all my house plants with the exception of violets. Violets do not like oils. When we got the plant it was two feet in diameter and about two feet tall looking like the kiss of death. Today we can say it boomed in the third year of recovery and more with every year that passed. Since the forth year it commonly has had four to six blooms and eight to ten buds showing between March and on through the summer into fall. The loser has become a winner. It is now over three feet wide and tall. It loves that Southeast window. We have it on a platform including caster wheels so we can rotate it while it sucks up the sun.

If you read the internet gathering of growing information most say gardina is a difficult plant. I do not find that to be true in any way. Since it has been in our care it has never seen a harsh fertilizer or any insecticides made by man in the great salt factories producing expensive petro based products.

Switch your baby over to modest organic care and you will have a happy gardenia.

Maggie,
I bought a gardenia about 2 years ago at Lowe's. It was just a small bush. I planted it under a live oak tree, so it gets dappled sun. I give it a little miracle grow once a year. The sprinkler system waters it daily. And there it is!
Good luck with yours!
Pam

Pam, I lived in Orlando zone 9 and found that gardenias just seem to thrive in the heat and humidity. Can't say the same for myself though. I prefer air conditioning.

Hmmm, no sprinkler here. Too dry is what my FIL said stressed out the plant to make it vulnerable.

Maqggie

Great info. Just ordered the Myco Boost. This IS different from Messenger, correct? Now I'll have both.
margaran - What are B'Flies?

yes, MycoBoost is very different from Messenger.
MycoBoost provides naturally occuring mycorrhizae (benefical fungi roots) while the Messenger product is a harpin protein extracted from genetically engineered microbes.

Butterflies

Maggie