I've read, with a great deal of fascination, of the relationship between fungi and soil, microbes and plants.
I have 8 beds currently, one of which is raised. The raised bed is the only one I have topped up with soil from a mature (and slightly overgrown) wooded section of my property. Very dark soil and it smells wonderful. The bed is the only one which is completely covered in small brown mushrooms, when the conditions are right, and habitually I leave them to it, and I do not plant amongst them, prefering to let them cycle through alone.
I planted it up with lettuce, kohlrabi, raddish and turnip and also planted stronger seedlings of each in two other beds. I found the raised bed out performed the other two. These were all late spring plantings, so temp not an issue.
Clearly, there may be other factors at play here, and I'm interested in what they may be, or can the healthy fungi/microbe balance in the raised bed be responsible alone for the better growth?
I'm interested in exploring this more, and this leads to my main question - Can I seed my remaining beds with the fungi/microbe balance from my woods, by digging in small amounts evenly dispersed throughout the beds, or should I cover completely with a thin layer?
Or should I do it at all?
Well, I'm by no means the microbe expert here, but from what I've read and researched on the subject, it would be better to apply the soil as top-dressing. The reason I say this is because when you till and dig the soil, you are disturbing the existing microbial ecosystem that is already present. Fungi, especially, are some of the first to die when you start messing with the soil too much (at least to my understanding.
I wold also try it a few more beds before you do all of them like this. Just in case the first bed's performance was a fluke. If all those beds do good, as well, then it probably wouldn't hurt to do more like that. Also, make sure you try different varieties of plants, too, and see how they respond.
I wold also try it a few more beds before you do all of them like this. Just in case the first bed's performance was a fluke. If all those beds do good, as well, then it probably wouldn't hurt to do more like that. Also, make sure you try different varieties of plants, too, and see how they respond.
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applestar
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Your results make sense because according to an article at Fungi Perfecti, living mushroom spawn layered as mulch around started brassica (B. sprouts) resulted in improved growth due to symbiotic growth. I'm pretty sure the mushroom used for this was Oyster mushrooms so similar dead-wood fungi found in the wood's soil could have similar benefits.
I've read that King Oyster mushrooms form symbiosis with umbelliferae (carrot family) roots.
I've read that King Oyster mushrooms form symbiosis with umbelliferae (carrot family) roots.
Apps, what do you mean by "spawn"?
I think we have really neglected to consider how important fungi are in the garden. Most of the time, we always focus on adding hi nitrogen materials...which (if they are organic) tend to benefit the bacteria...which means less room for the fungi.
In Teaming With Microbes, the author seems to say that vegetables prefer a bacterialy dominated soil. However, it looks like, for the folks who have tried it, increasing the fungal content of the garden has proved to be beneficial. Perhaps many gardens are funally-deficient. So, while it seems like we are making them fungally dominated, we are really just bringing up drastically low levels to where they should be.
I think we have really neglected to consider how important fungi are in the garden. Most of the time, we always focus on adding hi nitrogen materials...which (if they are organic) tend to benefit the bacteria...which means less room for the fungi.
In Teaming With Microbes, the author seems to say that vegetables prefer a bacterialy dominated soil. However, it looks like, for the folks who have tried it, increasing the fungal content of the garden has proved to be beneficial. Perhaps many gardens are funally-deficient. So, while it seems like we are making them fungally dominated, we are really just bringing up drastically low levels to where they should be.