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View Full Version : maple decline: add mycorrhizal fungi to roots?



SilverLeaf
08-19-2009, 12:43 PM
Living as I do out on the prairie, every one of the few maples I've got is very valuable to me. One of my 30-year old silvers is showing some solid dieback, that has progressed for the past 2-3 years. I've ruled out verticillium wilt and there doesn't appear to be any pest issues going on. Soil is a little alkaline but otherwise good (and silvers are generally cool with alkaline anyways). There's been no compaction of the soil recently. So I've no idea what's going on other than a generic "maple decline".

Has anyone ever tried adding extra mycorrhizal fungi to the soil to assist the roots? I've read a little bit (mostly positive) about this, and saw HGTV do it once for a stressed tree, but no nursery w/in 150 miles of me seems to know anything about this soil amendment, much less whether it might help. Has anyone ever tried this? Did it help?