Screening Commercial Peat and Peat-based Products for the Presence of Ericoid Mycorrhizae
Pieris floribunda (Pursh) Benth. & Hook., a known host of ericoid fungi, was used as a model plant to investigate the presence of ericoid mycorrhizal fungi in select peat and peat-based products. After growing in each medium for 75 days, roots of seedlings were examined and average percent colonization was determined for each sample. Results indicate that these fungi are present in the majority of peat and peat-based media tested. Seedlings grown in some of the selected media had a greater percentage of root cells colonized by ericoid mycorrhizae than others in the study.Abstract
Contributor Notes
The authors would like to acknowledge David Heleba for his technical support and Gary Badger for his statistical assistance. From a thesis submitted by N.R.G. in partial fulfillment of the requirements of M.S. degree.
2Former Graduate Assistant.
3Assistant Professor. To whom reprint requests should be addressed. E-mail address: Mark.Starrett@uvm.edu.