Pecan Associations with Mycorrhizae

It could be true if you were in a riparian area of Texas where Pecan grow naturally that the specific species of Ecto Mycorrhizae could be air born and therefore capable of inoculating a tree.

However I’ve personally seen orchards in that region of Texas that did not have a mycorrhizal infection and suffered nutrient update inhibition. Once we inoculated the trees with the proper species of mycorrhizal fungi the trees rapidly begin to benefit from the infection.

In working with a company in Mexico that has the majority market share in agriculture for the distribution of fertilizers and biomimetic materials such as mycorrhizal products, we’ve seen the same thing.

I recall a conversation with a pecan grower in Texas about 15 years ago while I was attending the Texas Organic Farming conference, where the grower noticed that trees across the road from his orchard growing in the nearby river flood plain did not show zinc nutrient inhibition. He was curious why his trees had this problem while the wild trees across the road did not.

I theorized that his trees lacked the mycorrhizal relationship so we treated his trees and solved the problem.

Therefore I don’t put much stock in the academic world when they challenge this concept as they simply don’t have the years of experience or access to the science that I’ve had.

The images below show pecan roots with the fruiting body of mycorrhizal fungi and the mycelium in soil showing up after the trees are treated that are now showing up in an orchard that we inoculated only months earlier.

Already the trees are showing improvement in nutrient uptake, no zinc deficiency in tissue tests and no outward symptoms of zinc uptake inhibition. In fields within a stones throw we are not seeing the same thing on the same farm.

These images came from an organic pecan farm here in New Mexico taken a few weeks ago. You are welcome to share these, just give me credit for where they came from.

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