30 Benefits of Mycorrhizae to Green Plants for home gardens + landscapes

Did you know? Myco (fungi) and rhizae (roots) have enjoyed an ancient symbiosis between higher green plants and friendly fungi for about 460 million years.  This perfectly safe and all-natural relationship of plant roots with friendly fungi, plus beneficial bacteria, benefits both and includes 85-90% of all higher plants.

Green plants photosynthesize and provide sugars and carbohydrates for the fungi to use as an energy source.

In return, the fungi provide a plethora of benefits to the plants in your gardens and landscapes, including:

1. Up to 1,000 times better absorption of nutrients needed for plant growth and health (!)
2. Non-toxic, biodegradable, natural
3. Provides a “secondary root system” that supplies extra water and nutrients
4. Especially beneficial to plants in nutrient-poor soils; improves uptake of ions
5. Increases plant establishment in questionable soils
6. Improves absorption of nutrients in acid (low pH) or alkaline (high pH) soils
7. Increases water uptake and water holding capacity
8. Improves drought tolerance and decreases drought stress
9. Improves resistance to insect pressure; healthy plants have long been known to survive attacks more easily
10. Improves resistance to soil pathogens; some of the Friendly Fungi (Trichoderma) naturally out-compete soil-borne fungal diseases
11. Friendly Fungi trap harmful nematodes
12. Eliminates or reduces the need for chemical fertilizers and saves money
13. Eliminates dangerous pesticides
14. Improves seed germination
15. Improves survival rates in pots, planters and plant nurseries
16. Improves transplanting rates and decreases transplant shock for landscape plants
17. Increases productivity and yield at harvest
18. Produce healthier, safer foods due to improved mineral uptake
19. Increases mineral nutrition available to your family in harvested crops
20. Improves soil structure and reduces soil compaction by increasing friability, aggregation, flocculation and porosity
21. Restores ruined soils (e.g. strip mines) and helps plants to grow in barren soils
22. Helps plants survive soils contaminated by salts and heavy metals
23. Enhances the plant’s ability to utilize water and fertilizer, significantly reducing the ever-rising cost these elements
24. Reduces carbon footprint for landscaping and greenhouses because inoculated plants require less water, nutrients and actually sequester carbon
25. Reduces plant warranty replacements
26. Reduces usage (and costs) of irrigation
27. The death of Friendly Fungi releases nutrients contained within them to the rest of the microcosm
28. Friendly Fungi supply phosphorous in an available form and excrete nitrogen as NH₄ ¯
29. Friendly Fungi lock away nitrogen and other nutrients that might otherwise enter and pollute the groundwater
30. Some Friendly Fungi are on duty in hot summer soils, others work best in cold winter soils

Research (approximately 48,000 articles) in the public domain has demonstrated these benefits.

-Geri Laufer