I would definitely try some if Menard's wasn't an hour away.

I bought a 25lbs bag of this stuff for less than $10. I couldn’t believe the price...so I thought I’d give it a try.

I have heard good and bad about mycorrhizae, like the mychorrizae have to be the right kind for certain plants to be beneficial, or something like that. What’s your experience z t?

Seems to me to be a quite expensive, 25 pounds per 650 square feet, fertilizer when there are others of similar sources that cost less. My sole experience shopping at Walmart was seeing a "special" sale of oiled sunflower seeds in 25 pound bags being sold for $7.99 when a locally owned store had 50 pound bags regular price for $9.99.

James, some plants are non mycorrhizal (very few) while others are species specific. It's certainly not 'bad', but how plant and certain fungi have evolved over millions of years.

The only bad thing about this is that people simply aren't informed about how, when, and why the fungal spores should be used. I can tell that you aren't aware that mycorrhizae are a symbiotic relationship and not a variety of fungus.

To see any benefit from the implementation of mychorrhizal fungi, one must evaluate the need, the environment, identify the plants as receptive to inoculation, and ensure that the product purchased is a match for the assortment of fungi included in the package.

James, what would your reasons be for purchasing a product with beneficial fungi added?

I use mycorrhizae and beneficial bacteria on a lot of flowers around the house. Lawns and annuals like a bacteria dominant food web where as perennials like a fungal dominant soil. When you apply mycorrhizae it balances things out. Synthetic ferts, fungicides and pesticides diminish the microbiology of a soil. So I like to add things that have them just in case. Lawn clippings especially promote a bacteria dominant soil. If you notice mushrooms that pop up every now and then it's a good sign that mycorrhizal fungi are doing their thing.

@kimmq...if I’m not mistaken it’s regular application rate for a lawn is on par with milorganite.

@rhizo_1...I’m transitioning my lawn/soil over too organic ferts/food to get away from the synthetic stuff. Right now, I’m planning on doing a yard renovation in the front and the back. One of the first things I’m doing right now is adding lime to my yard. Then in the fall when I aerate I’ll be working to add organic matter in because my yard has more clay and compaction then I’d like. My end goal would be to create an environment that is more self sustaining needing less and less amendments over time.

@z t...Thank you for helping understand this whole thing a little bit more.

IMHO the best thing you can do now is deep watering once a week along with any organic fertilizer. You can apply the fertilizer now and 3 weeks before you start to renovate.

Where do you live and what kind of grass are you moving toward?

If you have impenetrable soil, then spray with shampoo at a rate of 3 ounces per 1,000 square feet followed by 1/2 to 1 inch of water. Organic fertilizer and deep watering creates a good environment underground for the beneficial microbes to bloom.

I live in Missouri. I was thinking of buying a bag of Turf Blue HGT and mixing it with a perennial rye in the front yard. Then in the back I was thinking about a kbg/fescue/rye mix for the dogs.

So just a quick update...I wish I took pictures of before and after, but after making the “compost tea” recipe the company provides on the bag twice and putting down another round of the granules on my vegetable garden I would recommend this product to try. My pepper plants (jalapeño, sweet banana, red and green bell peppers), eggplants, corn, tomato’s (Roma, Sweet 100’s, and Better Boy), and a peanut plant all have reacted well to it. The pepper plants and the peanut plants have reacted the best growing new foliage that has perfectly dark green leaves.

Ive also tested it on some grass areas that I seeded super late (right around the last week of June) and that grass has grown well. Anyone around the Missouri would know that we basically didn’t have much of a spring so I didn’t expect the grass to do much but it’s grown in well and has stood up to the abnormally high temps we have been having.

In addition, to the turf and vegetables I also applied granules and the compost tea to a Nico plant, Lilac bush, Azalea, three kinds of roses, ghost ferns, hostas, dianthus, mums, clematis, honey suckle, chocolate vine, and sweet woodruff. The results have been awesome. The Nico plant was moved to a new location during this hot weather and it has recovered well. All the plants have shown new growth and stood up to the intense heat very well. For one $10 bag of dehydrated chicken poop (still have a 1/3 of the bag left) it has performed better than I expected.

I almost forgot that we have also applied the granules and the “compost tea” to our herbs and strawberries as well. The eucalyptus, patchouli, lavender, sage, basil, oregano, chamomile, and a few others the misses tossed in have all shown exceptional growth as well.