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[mj]

I was looking at a link today which discussed how beneficial adding used Coffee grounds to your soil was, it adds carbon nitrogen and micorrhizal fungus into the soil (I am not so sure about this statement so I am looking into it and have not yet found confirmation). Well Coffee is of the same family as P. Viridis (Rubiaceae) so any fungus on a coffee plant would be a natural for Psychotria. I expect that ground up green beans would be best for good quantity of viable bacteria. Then I thought what about sprinkling a bag of organic green tea into my soil and then I thought that a teaspoon of brown rice would also have beneficial bacteria (I use that to make nato) it is easy to grind in the coffee grinder. These are all inexpensive and most of us have them at home in the cupboard and they are likely helpful to Psychotria if only from an organic fertilizer source point of view but most importantly I think from a mycorrhizal point of view. Inexpensive drug store acidophilus can be a very inexpensive source of many strains of both aerobic and anaerobic bacteria which are helpful to plants. Just trying to think outside the box using the K.I.S.S. principle.  I will update as I find more information.
   Any comment thoughts and or corrections if I am in error would be most appreciated. Thanks. Best regards mj.


http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?pid=S1517-83822010000400002&script=sci_arttext

Endomycorrhizae fungi are what work with Coffee plants and so a likely choice with Psychotria

PS: I cannot find any documentation of EM fungi on Coffee grounds so far. Given that roasted coffee is not likely to be much of a host for a lot of fungi spore though some must survive the roasting process.  I think it is possible and quite probable that there are an assortment of spores on the beans.  Never the less it would appear that a broad spectrum inoculate which contains Glomus Etunicatum spores should be of benefit to the growth of the plant. I am looking into specific products which contain this fungi and will post more later.

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[FewTrueSeed]

Trichoderma mold is very good for many plants, good for the roots. Many companies innoculate soil mixes, especially in choir or peat moss. I would like to excavate some soil samples from the Amazon basin to investigate symbiotic fungi. Its hard to say whether those specific micorrhizal fungus would ever survive in other climates or a planter pot. I wish I had the resources for such an endeavor. I bet the Amazon has some wicked fungi.

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[plantlight]

Just trying to think outside the box

Lots of food for thought.  I usually mix a bit of - Mykos(Glomus Intraradices) in my soil mixes but I have never performed any tests to determine its effectiveness.  I feel a test coming

[mj]

Trichoderma mold is very good for many plants, good for the roots. Many companies innoculate soil mixes, especially in choir or peat moss. I would like to excavate some soil samples from the Amazon basin to investigate symbiotic fungi. Its hard to say whether those specific micorrhizal fungus would ever survive in other climates or a planter pot. I wish I had the resources for such an endeavor. I bet the Amazon has some wicked fungi.

Check out this link: https://books.google.ca/books?id=xK2hGbU7bFoC&pg=PA209&lpg=PA209&dq=glomus+Etunicatum+spores+%2B+purchase&source=bl&ots=O9Sf4JdGsa&sig=bQfYLRBbPRl84o8L3l70s4Zr5fI&hl=en&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=glomus%20Etunicatum%20spores%20%2B%20purchase&f=false

[nobody]

As P. viridis is a understory shrub I would imagine that finding leaf mold from the amazon would be what you are looking for. In theory it should be easy, have one of the Brazilian members send you some, then it would be a rather simple to propagate more. I have a paper around here somewhere that describes how to cultivate wild EM cultures from any locality that might help as well. It always struck me as strange that people purchase mass produced EM as it is the easiest thing to make.



nobody

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[LIBERTYNY]

 Canned goods are almost always sterilized, thats why they last so long

 A while ago I was looking into the same issiue for different plant,  I learned in some parts of the world after a plant naturally die's back the bacteria/fungi produces spores that can store a long time safely, So they pull up the roots shake off the lose soil, dry, and store untill the next year when they make a tea to mix in with the soil of the crop which is said to innoculate  it.

  I have a few documents somewear I will dig up on the subject.

[mj]

I found this interesting video on obtaining your own local mycorrhiza and multiplying it to use in your garden. Interesting comment about bamboo. Very good video. Best regards mj.

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[LIBERTYNY]

 Intersting video

 But I have to be the critic and point out that he is actually cultering anerobic bacteria, which is generally considered harmfull,  Not only that but his method of capturing the bacteria is a crap-shot (like the one I mentioned above)

 When I first saw the rice I was thinking EM-1
http://www.hawaiihealingtree.org/how-to-make-your-own-em-1-inoculant-and-bokashi/

 He mentioned bambo as a great source of mycorrhiza,  Anything to back that up, (not doughting it just never heard it before)

 A site that has a ton of great info. on mycorrhiza  ---   http://mycorrhizae.com/document-library/

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[mj]

Intersting video

 But I have to be the critic and point out that he is actually culturing anaerobic bacteria, which is generally considered harmful,  Not only that but his method of capturing the bacteria is a crap-shot (like the one I mentioned above)

 When I first saw the rice I was thinking EM-1
http://www.hawaiihealingtree.org/how-to-make-your-own-em-1-inoculant-and-bokashi/

 He mentioned bamboo as a great source of mycorrhiza,  Anything to back that up, (not doubting it just never heard it before)

 A site that has a ton of great info. on mycorrhiza  ---   http://mycorrhizae.com/document-library/

Why would he only be gathering anaerobic bacteria? At ten inches down in a fresh hole in the ground there is bound to be some available oxygen, as much or more than at a plants roots which are that deep? If you dug up soil to the same depth would you not be digging up the same stuff that was there to infect the rice? I would have thought that at ten inches you could find bot aerobic and anaerobic organisms? Please correct me if I am in error. Am I missing something? Thanks for the Hawaii Healing Tree link that's a keeper. Best regards mj.


This is an interesting series of videos           There are seven parts. Part six is very interesting.

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[LIBERTYNY]

The sock full of rice part seems fine (to me)

But when he puts it in a bucket full of water and molasas, Without airation the mixture will become anerobic in a short amount of time

[BubbleCat]

In the OP it says used coffee grounds, is the idea that those will attract or can host beneficial fungi or is the idea they actually carry fungi on them ? I feel like after preparing a coffee from this there will be no fungi on the coffee for some time. Then if a fungus finds out coffee grounds suitable and takes possession of them, wouldnt it be more plausible that those fungi are there to digest the grounds and so the case that they could prove dangerous to any plant related to coffee would be likely ?

Ground green beans feels like a different case tho.

[mj]

ok I understand now. That really brings home the importance of aeration for things like this or when making tea for your plants you need to keep all the aerobic components alive too. So now I need to get a small air pump some tubing and an air stone. That should have clicked for me when I keep reading about people using air stones to bubble water when rooting stem cuttings and the improved results they achieved doing so. DOH!
   Thanks for pointing that out to me. I started some plant tea last night but I don't have a way to aerate it yet so this batch will be less than ideal. Best regards mj.

[mj]

In the OP it says used coffee grounds, is the idea that those will attract or can host beneficial fungi or is the idea they actually carry fungi on them ? I feel like after preparing a coffee from this there will be no fungi on the coffee for some time. Then if a fungus finds out coffee grounds suitable and takes possession of them, wouldn't it be more plausible that those fungi are there to digest the grounds and so the case that they could prove dangerous to any plant related to coffee would be likely ?

Ground green beans feels like a different case tho.

BubbleCat: it would seem that what I first read and which prompted this thread was most likely incorrect. I don't think there would be much fungi left on used coffee grounds but I would expect there to be plenty on the green bean. Coffee grounds do make a great host. I think that there is usually a symbiotic relationship between the fungi and the host, they each get something that they want/need.
   With Nato the organism that is responsible for fomenting the Soya bean comes from straw, when I make Nato I just use a little Nato from the last batch rather than use straw same as making yogurt from the last batch. Best regards mj.

PS: I know that the fungi used to make Nato is fine with boiling water temperatures so some fungi are ok with that and some may not be I guess. You could test coffee by taking fresh grounds and placing them in a sterile container and see what grows.

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[steveoi812]

I would look into something like great white or orca...amazing products from a great company....
not trying to spam btw....personally used both on plants and brought amazing results....totally in love with the idea and the symbiosis between the rootzone and myco fungi....such a beautiful thing..

[mj]

Steve: I was looking at great white last night I and I went to you tube to have a look at user feedback and found a five or six part experiment with a quantity of Tomatoes grown over a summer twelve plants all in twenty gallon containers half treated and half not treated. There was no difference between the two groups. This seemed to be a real video but there is no way to be 100% sure. I did not find any other videos which showed dramatic differences. Do you know of any? I have seen lots of pictures most from manufacturers but not so much from users. Best regards mj.