Can I brew a myco (fungi) tea?

G

gliese581g

Member
I recently purchased some Myco Madness (contains a biologically active package of 8 mycorrhizal species, 12 beneficial bacteria and 2 Trichoderma species).

Now, I see tons of stuff on compost teas, but haven't been able to scrounge up much on fungi teas.

I'm wondering if it would be possible to use a very small amount of this Myco product (significantly less than the recommended dose) and just brew more spores, vastly increasing how long this product lasts and saving me some future $$$.

If this is possible, how should I go about it. What will get the spores multiplying? Will a couple tbsp of blackstrap molasses do the trick?

Right now I am using the following compost tea recipes (pasted below). Is it better to add the myco to these mixes or to have separate bacteria and fungi dominant teas.

Also, I assume that any myco application(s) should be done very early in the growth cycle. I don't see much point to a myco infused late-flower tea.

Thanks.

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Here are the compost tea recipes:

Seedlings less than 1 month old nutrient tea mix-
5 TBS. Black Strap Molasses
1-cup earthworm castings/5 gallons of water every 3rd watering

Vegetative mix-
1/3 cup Peruvian Seabird Guano (PSG)
1/3 cup High N Bat Guano (Mexican)
1/3 cup Earth Worm Castings (EWC)
5 TBS. Maxi-crop 1-0-4 powdered kelp extract
5 TBS. Liquid Karma (optional)
5 TBS. Black Strap Molasses
@ 1-cup mix/5 gallons of water every 3rd watering.

Flowering nutrient tea mix:
2/5 cup Peruvian Seabird Guano
2/3 cup Earth Worm Castings
2/3 cup High P Guano (Indonesian or Jamaican)
5 TBS. Maxi-crop 1-0-4 powdered kelp extract or Liquid
5 TBS. Black Strap Molasses
Dilute as needed. Generally, 2 to 3 cups per 5 gallons of water @ every watering
 
Don't use that in the tea because you'll just waste it. I'd save that stuff for transplants. I don't bother making fungi teas anymore. Because my results were uncertain with fungi teas. Instead If I want fungi in soil(before flowering), I put a pound of compost in a wide, sealable opaque container and sprinkle 6 tbs of either baby oatmeal, dusted/grounded oats(simple proteins) and rock phosphate(habitable surfaces for fungi) onto the compost. Spray A LITTLE water on the combined mound. Cover and put the container in a dark place on a heat mat at 27C(80F). In days time, there should be a gooey fuzzball inhabiting most of the container. I just take some of the culture work some of it into the soil like dry ferts then water/molasses drench.
 
elduece said:
Don't use that in the tea because you'll just waste it. I'd save that stuff for transplants. I don't bother making fungi teas anymore. Because my results were uncertain with fungi teas. Instead If I want fungi in soil(before flowering), I put a pound of compost in a wide, sealable opaque container and sprinkle 6 tbs of either baby oatmeal, dusted/grounded oats(simple proteins) and rock phosphate(habitable surfaces for fungi) onto the compost. Spray A LITTLE water on the combined mound. Cover and put the container in a dark place on a heat mat at 27C(80F). In days time, there should be a gooey fuzzball inhabiting most of the container. I just take some of the culture work some of it into the soil like dry ferts then water/molasses drench.
Click to expand...

Awesome. This sounds great. I can't wait to try it.

I have a couple questions though.

For the compost, can I use pure worm castings? And do you mix the ingredients thoroughly or do you sprinkle the phosphate, oatmeal and myco on the surface? How much rock phosphate should I use per pound of compost? Never worked with the stuff before and don't want to overdo it. And how much myco do you apply to this concoction? 1 tbsp?

Last question: how often do you apply this stuff. Do you do it during every transplant in the veg stage or just once early in the cycle. I repot two or three times in veg.

Thanks so much.
 
i have considered this because i have always mixed my myco supplement with my bacteria tea. i have heard that the fungi get over ran by the bacteria in a sugar rich environment like my teas.
 
gliese581g said:
Awesome. This sounds great. I can't wait to try it.

I have a couple questions though.

For the compost, can I use pure worm castings? And do you mix the ingredients thoroughly or do you sprinkle the phosphate, oatmeal and myco on the surface? How much rock phosphate should I use per pound of compost? Never worked with the stuff before and don't want to overdo it. And how much myco do you apply to this concoction? 1 tbsp?

Last question: how often do you apply this stuff. Do you do it during every transplant in the veg stage or just once early in the cycle. I repot two or three times in veg.

Thanks so much.
Click to expand...

Like I said, using mycos in tea or as a top dressing is pointless IMO because mycos are only activated by direct contact with roots. You can try and "scratch" the myco onto the root crown and top roots but I've never tried that with single mycos products. Don't confuse mycos with

I did not mention or used worm castings for the fungi culture or stirring up the ingredients. Just sprinkle on top, spray LITTLE water, cover and let it go.

I think EWC is mostly bacteria based stuff and probably overrun any fungi population in the same container. The goal is to create a favorable environment for fungi inhabiting in compost so it can multiply and eventually out populates the bacteria in that container.

So far, I do this treatment per flowering plants only once before 12/12 switch. My REsults from this was pretty obvious since doing this. Dig/scratch the stuff into the top soil. doesn't matter how much. btw I forgot to mention that I apply regular tea between two-four weeks after the fungi treatment because that's just me. I think the fungi introduced needs time to amass itself and dominate in the potting soil before introducing bacteria tea(the common EWC/compost tea everyone here makes). Keep in mind that bacteria outnumbers fungi 15:1 and multiplies much quicker according to those that use powerful microscopes.

I suppose it couldn't hurt to apply the culture again or every month to rebalance the bacteria/fungi ratio.
 
elduece said:
Don't use that in the tea because you'll just waste it. I'd save that stuff for transplants. I don't bother making fungi teas anymore. Because my results were uncertain with fungi teas. Instead If I want fungi in soil(before flowering), I put a pound of compost in a wide, sealable opaque container and sprinkle 6 tbs of either baby oatmeal, dusted/grounded oats(simple proteins) and rock phosphate(habitable surfaces for fungi) onto the compost. Spray A LITTLE water on the combined mound. Cover and put the container in a dark place on a heat mat at 27C(80F). In days time, there should be a gooey fuzzball inhabiting most of the container. I just take some of the culture work some of it into the soil like dry ferts then water/molasses drench.
Click to expand...

Interesting.....
Think tossing some oatmeal directly on cooking soil would have a simmilar effect (inoculating the soil)?
 
Mycorrhizae themselves do not germinate until they make contact with roots. The tea will serve to soften the spores and prime them for germination, but they will not multiply in a tea, or in an aquatic environment. Other types of fungi will, such as trichoderma, but not the mycos.
 
Heisenberg said:
Mycorrhizae themselves do not germinate until they make contact with roots. The tea will serve to soften the spores and prime them for germination, but they will not multiply in a tea, or in an aquatic environment. Other types of fungi will, such as trichoderma, but not the mycos.
Click to expand...

Heisenberg, are you saying that, in your opinion, elduece's method of reproducing myco is also ineffective?
 
elduece said:
Like I said, using mycos in tea or as a top dressing is pointless IMO because mycos are only activated by direct contact with roots. You can try and "scratch" the myco onto the root crown and top roots but I've never tried that with single mycos products. Don't confuse mycos with

I did not mention or used worm castings for the fungi culture or stirring up the ingredients. Just sprinkle on top, spray LITTLE water, cover and let it go.

I think EWC is mostly bacteria based stuff and probably overrun any fungi population in the same container. The goal is to create a favorable environment for fungi inhabiting in compost so it can multiply and eventually out populates the bacteria in that container.

So far, I do this treatment per flowering plants only once before 12/12 switch. My REsults from this was pretty obvious since doing this. Dig/scratch the stuff into the top soil. doesn't matter how much. btw I forgot to mention that I apply regular tea between two-four weeks after the fungi treatment because that's just me. I think the fungi introduced needs time to amass itself and dominate in the potting soil before introducing bacteria tea(the common EWC/compost tea everyone here makes). Keep in mind that bacteria outnumbers fungi 15:1 and multiplies much quicker according to those that use powerful microscopes.

I suppose it couldn't hurt to apply the culture again or every month to rebalance the bacteria/fungi ratio.
Click to expand...

Are you able to recommend a commercial product I can use as compost that is suitable for what we are trying to do? I'm new to organics. I also live in a small apartment and can't really make my own compost in this space...my partner would kill me. My growing already drives him crazy enough lol.
 
gliese581g said:
Heisenberg, are you saying that, in your opinion, elduece's method of reproducing myco is also ineffective?
Click to expand...


That method seems like a traditional and effective way to propagate fungi other than mycos. There are many beneficial fungi besides mycos.

I would just get some ZHO powder if I only wanted fungi. I would dilute it in water and then drench the soil. Ancient forest from GH is a great source of benefical microbes and makes a diverse tea, but you will also get bacteria from it.
 
It's hard to grow fungi in tea as it takes 6 to 10 days for the fungi to grow, most teas are bad by then. The fungi are very delicate and can be broken and destroyed very easy, even by an air stone, pouring and pumping. Your will get much better results top dressing or tossing some in the bottom when you transplant from clone. IMHO
 
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