Helpful Hints: Mycorrhizal Fungi

Believe it or not, fungus can be good for your plants! Millions of years ago, plants established a symbiotic relationship with soil organisms called mycorrhizal fungi. The fungi serve as a secondary root system, extending themselves far out into the soil to extract water and mineral elements for their host plants. In return, the plant supplies the fungi sugars on which to live.

Plants with thriving mycorrhizal root systems are better able to survive and grow in stressful environments because the mycorrhizae are able to absorb, accumulate and transfer water and mineral elements to plants more effectively than roots without mycorrhizae.

In forest soils, mycorrhizal fungi are abundant. However, most of today's landscape environments have been created as part of construction projects that disturb or remove the topsoil where plant roots and these beneficial fungi live. As a result, the ground has no natural topsoil and is virtually devoid of mycorrhizal fungi, making it much harder for these plants to thrive.

Through Plant Health Care's pioneering work, methods have been developed to grow mycorrhizal fungi spores in commercial quantities, and formulate them into products for landscape planting and maintenance projects. Now mycorrhizal fungi can be restored to lifeless soils so that beautiful landscapes can be established naturally. 

Plant Health Care's Mycorrhizal Products

Plant Health Care manufactures quality mycorrhizal products for all segments of the landscape industry including:  PHC® Tree Saver®, PHC® Plant Saver® 4-7-4, PHC® Flower Saver® Plus 3-4-3, PHC® Turf Saver™ 3-4-3, PHC® Palm Saver® 6-3-6, PHC® Injectable for Trees, PHC® Ecto-Injectable, PHC® Vertimulch, Flexx® 3-0-20, PHC® Nursery/ Media Mix and PHC® Root Dip.

For more information about any of these products, please visit our retail garden center.

 ~ Information courtesy of Joseph Broyles from Plant Health Care

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