Xtreme Gardening

Biology rather than fertiliser

Nothing on this page feeds a plant the way a fertiliser does. The range is living organisms that change how roots work — mycorrhizal fungi that move into the root system and stretch its reach, plus bacteria that free up nitrogen. Judge them as biology. A nutrient chart is the wrong ruler.

Mykos

Granular. Four dry sizes: 100g, 454g, 1kg and 9.1kg. You place the granules against the root or into the planting hole. Colonisation only starts where fungus and root tissue actually meet, so a dusting on the surface is wasted.

WP wettable powder. Two sizes — 340g and 1kg — that dissolve for irrigation or a root drench. That is the format once plants are already in the pot and you cannot get granules down to the roots.

Azos

Four packs of nitrogen-fixing bacteria: 56g, 170g, 340g and 3.7kg. Azos turns atmospheric nitrogen into a form roots can take up. Growers typically apply it at transplant and on cuttings, when root development is the job at hand.

Calcarb

Calcarb sits apart from the inoculants. It is a foliar booster in 85g and 180g, delivering calcium through the leaf rather than the root. That matters when uptake is stalling even though the reservoir already has adequate calcium. More leaf-applied products live under Foliar Sprays.

Making the inoculants work

1. It has to touch the root. Granular Mykos only works in contact with root tissue. Drop it in the transplant hole or dust the root ball. Leaving it on top of the medium does nothing.
2. Watch the fungicides. A broad-spectrum fungicide does not spare the fungus you just paid to introduce.
3. Wait it out. Colonisation is measured in weeks, not days. None of these products is a next-morning result.
4. Match the pack to the job. Living products have a shelf life, which is why the 100g pack exists.