Re: Citrus and Peppers
- Subject: Re: Citrus and Peppers
- From: Tony and Moira Ryan t*@xtra.co.nz
- Date: Sun, 13 Oct 2002 20:55:01 +1300
Ryan Gyurkovitz wrote:
>
> Carolyn,
>
> my guess would be a mycorrhizal association, most plants (some
> 95%) form symbiotic relationships with soil fungi (myco=fungi,
> rhizo=root: "fungus root"). These associations are often not found in
> home gardens because typical gardeners prevent them with tillage,
> excessive watering and frequent applications of fertilizer. Such
> conditions are perfect for ruderals, but don't suit stress tolerant
> plants very well. Ironically, the lack of fertilizer is likely a
> contributing factor to your success. Just a caution, only garden
> plants that are true perennials (tomato, eggplant, pepper etc.) will
> likely benifit from such treatment, don't bother trying this with your
> winter crops, they're almost all ruderals (non mycorrhizal plants).
Ryan
My garden has been run entirely on organic lines for nearly 30 years
( no-tillage, fed only with compost and organic mulches, never sprayed
with poisons etc), but I still can't grow good peppers, though many
other plants give outstanding yields and enjoy high health.
While mycorrhizae are indeed of the utmost importance to the good health
of a majority of plants it seems possible that something other than/
extra to a mycorrhizal association is involved when just one specific
plant seems to benefit another so markedly, but I can't really say what
the mechanism may be.
I am most interested in the first instance, as I wrote to Carolyn, in
seeing whether I can reproduce this finding in my own patch. If I can it
would be worth taking the matter further.
Moira
--
Tony & Moira Ryan,
Wainuiomata, North Island, NZ. Pictures of our garden at:-
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/cherie1/Garden/TonyandMoira/index.htm
