The Secret Relationship Between Mycorrhizae and Your Roots: How Fungi Can Help Your Cannabis Plants

Mycorrhizae: These Fungi Can Benefit Your Cannabis Plants

The best kind of fungi you can have growing in your cannabis garden are mycorrhizae. A product of the phenomenon of permaculture, mycorrhizae forms a symbiotic relationship with the roots of plants to sustain a healthy growing environment for all the plants around. To learn how to benefit from this phenomenon, keep reading this article!

In the living world of biology, there are many different plants that depend on the hidden magic performed by mycorrhizal fungi. Because most of us here are cannabis lovers, we’ll be talking about how these sweet little mushrooms give your roots one of the healthiest environments to grow in.

Essentially, things like mycorrhizal fungi are why people say growing in soil produces the best flowers. The symbiotic relationship between this fungus and plant roots is a mysteriously healthy one for cannabis growers to explore.

What is mycorrhizae?

Mycorrhizae: These Fungi Can Benefit Your Cannabis Plants

Mycorrhizae is the scientific name for a family of fungi that forms in a root system, purely for the purpose of satisfying a symbiotic relationship. Initially, mycorrhizae were divided into two categories, being endomycorrhizal and ectomycorrhizal. The first refers to a group of mycorrhizae that live around the outside of the root cell and envelop it. The second category refers to a group of mycorrhizae that penetrate and enter the root cell.

There is a whole modern nomenclature for this special fungus, further dividing the first two categories and turning them into seven. The new names are more specific to the kinds of plants they grow near, and aren’t entirely necessary for learning how these little helpers get to work in your cannabis garden.

A special partnership

What makes mycorrhizae so special to the roots of your cannabis plants is that the relationship exists purely for the purpose of symbiosis. Mycorrhizae are born out of the essential needs of the roots of your plants to draw nutrients from the soil, which isn’t always easy. This is where fungi come in, helping the roots of your plants draw nutrients and absorb more water.

The hard work of these little mushrooms isn’t free, however. They do charge a fair price. In exchange for helping your root system, mycorrhizae are offered some of the carbohydrates produced by the plant during photosynthesis.

The more the fungi grow, the more it can help the plants surrounding it, too. The surface area covered by the fungi signifies the amount of area that the plant can draw nutrients and water from. The more space they cover, the bigger the pool of plant food that your weed can eat. So as you can tell, this relationship is a win-win.

The beauty of organic gardening

Mycorrhizae: These Fungi Can Benefit Your Cannabis Plants

It is a natural phenomenon that mycorrhizae exist, and it is just what makes organic gardening beautiful and mysterious. In fact, it suggests that so long as you are looking after your garden properly, it is going to do everything it can to give you the best quality plants! Nature can look after everything for you. Those who grow in soilless growing mediums miss out on the real benefits of this kind of permaculture, where mini ecosystems are created.

More modern technology, has, however, allowed growers to use mycorrhizae in hydroponic growing systems as well as soil growing operations. They can now be added to a nutrient solution and used just like any other nutrient boosting product you could add to your plants!

How to add mycorrhizae to your cannabis root systems

The trick when choosing mycorrhizae to add to your roots is to pick the right kind. As discussed earlier, there are two major groups of mycorrhizae to choose from, namely endomycorrhizae and ectomycorrhizae. Weed isn’t actually able to work with ectomycorrhizae, meaning if you would like to successfully add fungus to your cannabis garden, you have to feed it endomycorrhizae.

Mycorrhizal products can be purchased in just about any gardening store. They come in liquid and powder forms and are super simple to use. Just a pinch of powder or a few drops of liquid is enough to get your mycorrhizae going.

Once they live in your cannabis garden, you can feed them sugary carbohydrates such as molasses to keep them happy, and they will keep the roots of your cannabis garden in perfect order.

Do you have experience with mycorrhizae? What did you think? Let us know in the comments!

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  • Author_profiles-WSS-Emma Ryte

    Emma Ryte

    Born in Germany, lived in England my childhood years and spent my high school era in the US. My parents are basically hippies and that is why I have had the possibility to speak freely and explore my passion for the cannabis plant. My love for writing followed soon after. Writing about this subject has taught me so many things about the use, cultivation, health benefits and industrial options, and I love that I can share this knowledge with you! I visit Amsterdam as often as I can and I love the vibe there when it comes to weed, it lets me try new things and learn about the newest developments in the industry. The one person I would love to smoke some with would have to be Stevie Wonder. I love relaxing to his music while high and I would love to meet him!
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