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I'm occasionally asked about test protocol for trials of mycorrhizal fungi on various plants, often by researchers.   Here's my suggestions for the procedures to follow:   1.  If you have handled the jar of inoculant, wash your hands before setting up the tests.  Just a few microscopic spores can pretty easily accidentally get where they are not supposed to be.   2.  Set up all of the "control/without" plants first to avoid any chances of cross-contamination with spores on hands or tools, and be sure they are in separate water trays if the test is indoors.  If the test...

OK, this just feels weird, setting out tomato plants in November. But here in Palm Springs it is one of the recommended times, especially for Determinate types. I'm also trying one Indeterminate, Pineapple - one of my all-time favorites - just as an experiment. I'll start the rest of my Indeterminate heirlooms and tall hybrids around Christmas, setting them out in late February to get a crop before the killer summer temperatures and low humidity arrive in late June. Last year, my first season here, I was surprised to discover that my most successful varieties were those that were developed...

Anyone who spends enough time researching plant physiology will invariably be led to the same conclusion to grow better: For best plant health and performance plants need biological partnerships with other living soil organisms, especially mycorrhizal fungi. Chemical fertilizers alone can never match the full benefits of building up great natural soil conditions. There are many living things in soil that are important to full plant health, including beneficial bacteria, decomposing fungi, and earthworms - and soil chemistry cannot be completely ignored - but the unique symbiotic relationship between mycorrhizal fungi and plants is the key factor for organic-growing success....

In last month's newsletter, I discussed the problem of fertilizer runoff and run-through, and how our rivers and drinking-water aquifers are being contaminated. I suggested that home gardens, lawns, and smaller farms could all change to cleaner biology-based organic techniques without too much effort, while larger farms are pretty much trapped into the use of synthetic fertilizers. One of my newsletter subscribers wrote to me afterward. Here is what he had to say about that subject: "Nice rant, Don: We own an Ag Chemical Co. and Farm in Southwest Arizona. What you have said is right in line with what...

I wonder what ever happened to the idea that people should be considerate of those who live downstream. As in, "It's not nice to empty your chamber pot into the river - the people downstream swim in it, too." Is it ignorance or apathy - "I don't know and I don't care" - that leads us to continue gradually ruining our environment with fertilizer runoff and run-through? (I know, I know, the very use of the word "environment" labels me as one of those enviro-wackos to some fertilizer dealers, but so be it.) We're all currently distressed and angry at...