Mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) produce sporocarps with spores.
Pretty much any root material has spores ready to go, as long as the root hasn't been sterilized.
I've never been a fan of ACT for the reasons St0w mentioned. Males compulsively tweak stuff. It's our nature, but not always necessary.
thanks to this i was lead to this :
Hi Ivo & Donia, ... et al
I wish it was always that easy... As per my above comments re Ectomycorrhizal, Ericoid & Orchid mycorrhizal fungi, it is possible to culture these Basidiomycete & Ascomycete fungi in artificial media & in the absence of a living plant 'host' (symbiont partner). These fungal groups reproduce sexually & may produce many 1,000,000s of spores from above ground or below ground fruiting bodies.
However, unfortunately Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are asexual Zygomycete fungi & are also obligate biotrophic symbionts (i.e. .can't grow let alone reproduce without the presence of a suitable & living plant root partners); & they don't produce 'fruiting bodies' like mushrooms, puffballs, truffles etc ... AMF do however asexually produce relatively tiny sporocarps which contain very few spores. Evidence indicates the importance to AMF spores of bacterial communties living within AMF sporocarps, these bacteria are believed to be important co-symbionts of AMF spores. Some AMF species can contain 'vesicles' within plant roots, some of these may also contain AMF spores.
In aeroponically produced AMF inocula, it is relatively easy to collect 'extradical' spores, sporocarps & hyphae, & likewise root segments containing 'intra-radical' hyphae & spores. However, with soil-borne AMF & 'pot-cultures' it is usual to use 'wet-sieve' methods to separate & collect AMF inocula .... quite time consuming, but relatively low tech & very effective. As a general rule for AMF inocula collection, soil aggregates attached to host plant roots are more likely to contain AMF spores than in soils more distant from plant roots, thus there's a bit of an art involved in getting watering & soil moisture optimal for adhering to roots at harvest, rather than too dry & fragile.
AMF spore germination & root inoculation is most effective if spores are placed relatively close to roots of plants to be inoculated. Likewise viable AMF hyphae inocula needs to be fresh and placed in close proximity to potential symbiont plant roots. It is also possible inoculate plant roots with AMF hyphae placed on moist paper in a Petri dish, & to germinate AMF spores close to roots.
It is tempting to believe the marketing 'hype' about some commercial AMF & Ecto-M inocula, freeze dried fungal spores are very good / ok, (but are often mono-cultural strains), mycorrhizal fungal hyphae are best used fresh !!!
As per my previous message, for further details see free download PDFs from:
http://aciar.gov.au/publication/MN032
FINALLY A way to culture !!! and the fruiting bodies i saw were not from my innoculates...
thanks rrog