Mycorrhizal fungi are incredible helpers when it comes to soil and plant health.

They provide nutrients and water to plants in exchange for food in return. It really is a partnership.

In fact, they’re among the most important microbes that partner with plants.

You can buy the fungal spores as a powder. Some of my clients swear by this stuff.

I’ve had landscapers install new lawns with my powder and contact me afterwards in total shock at how much faster and fuller the lawn came up.

I use mycorrhizal fungi in my organic garden, too, almost every time I seed or plant, especially in a new garden or a garden where I feel the fungi might not already be established.

They should already be abundant in our soil, but often aren’t anymore because of compaction, tilling, overwatering, chemical use and other reasons.

So it makes sense to spend a few pennies here and there to reintroduce them.

There are two main categories:

  1. Endomycorrhizal fungi (aka arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi) associate with over 90% of plant species, including vegetables, grasses and many ornamentals.
  2. Ectomycorrhizal fungi associate with only 5 or so percent of plants, but are especially important for some deciduous trees and especially conifers.

You can buy a mix of both and then you don’t have to think about it. It’s best to apply them at planting/seeding/sodding in order to promote contact between the plant roots and fungi. That’s where the partnership occurs.

  • When planting, rub the fungi on the root ball or throw a pinch into the planting hole.
  • When seeding, mix it with the seed before sowing.
  • When sodding, mix with water and spray it on the soil before laying the sod, or second best would be to spray it on after and water it in.
  • If your plants are already planted, you can mix a powder form with water and spray it onto the soil. This works best on more porous soils, or after aerating a lawn if possible.

You can definitely mix the product with biostimulants before you apply it.

And if you treat your soil well, you don’t have to apply it more than once to a plant (whereas something like compost tea or effective microorganisms is best applied once in awhile).

I sell mycorrhizal fungi on this site. That link has even more detail about how it all works.