Inoculation with vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in the greenhouse production of asparagus seedlings

Abstract

Two experiments were carried out to see if asparagus seedlings raised in a greenhouse could be successfully inoculated with vesiculararbuscular (VA) mycorrhizal fungi before being transplanted to the field. Experiment 1 showed that for optimum mycorrhiza development in plants grown in peat-pumice medium, mycorrhizal inoculum should be applied at approximately 20 g/litre and superphosphate at approximately 0.7 g/litre. Experiment 2 showed that mycorrhizal inoculation resulted in large plant growth responses in soil but not in peat-pumice medium, probably because of differences in P sorption by the 2 growth media. Mycorrhizal inoculation of containerised seedlings transplanted to the field is very cheap and could be widely used in horticulture.

Effect of Glomus fasciculatum on the Growth of Asparagus and the Incidence of Fusarium Root Rot

“…The increased growth in the field after 3 months (Fig. 1, Table 1) and in the greenhouse under adequate soil moisture (Table 2) supports the findings of previous researchers (Chang, 1985;Hussey et al, 1984;Powell and Bagyaraj, 1983;Powell et al, 1985). The growth difference between plants inoculated with GF and noninoculated plants was less pronounced in the field after 14 months (Fig.…”

“…Asparagus seedlings respond to inoculation with VAM fungi in controlled environments (Chang, 1985;Hussey et al, 1984;Powell et al, 1985) and in the field (Powell and Bagyaraj, 1983). Evans et al (1985) found that P levels were lower in the roots of asparagus plants grown in fumigated soils in the absence of VAM fungi than in roots grown in non fumigated soils.…”

Growth of asparagus in a commercial peat mix containing vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal (VAM) fungi and the effects of applied phosphorus

“…The data presented here support results of previous studies on the benefits of VAM fungi to asparagus growth in the field (Powell, 1983;Wacker et al, 1990) and in the greenhouse (Burrows et al, 1990;Hussey et al, 1984;Plenchette et al, 1982;Powell et al,, 1985). The use of a peat planting mix infested with VAM fungal propagules proved to be an effective way to introduce VAM fungi into commercial transplant production systems in the greenhouse and may be of importance for field growth and survival.…”

“…Asparagus can benefit from vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal (VAM) infection in the greenhouse (Burrows et al, 1990;Hussey et al, 1984;Powell et al, 1985) and in the field (Powell, 1983;Wacker et al, 1990). The primary advantage of VAM formation is derived from enhanced nutrient uptake (Cooper, 1984) resulting in, for example, higher plant weight in mycorrhizal ferns (Ponton et al, 1990), increased drought tolerance in soybean (Nelsen and Safir, 1982) and disease resistance in tomato (Caron et al, 1986).…”

“…However, since soilless substrates are commonly used in greenhouse transplant production, preinoculation with VAM fungi in the greenhouse prior to transplanting to the field would be less laborious and fit well into current commercial production practices. Although attempts have been made to use soilless media, especially peat-based mixes (Caron and Parent, 1988;Ponton et al, 1990 andPowell et al, 1985), very few commercial VAM inoculants have been developed.…”