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Growing Hemp Using Mycorrhizae on Your Plants

Thursday, September 7, 2023

PRO-MIX offers a wide variety of value-added growing media for hemp growers, even for certified organic crops. As hemp is grown in greenhouses and transplanted in the field, PRO-MIX also offers a mycorrhizal inoculant to give your crop the best chance of success after transplantation. Here’s quick overview of PRO-MIX CONNECT and its benefits for hemp growers.

What Is Mycorrhizal Inoculant Powder: PRO-MIX CONNECT?

PRO-MIX CONNECT is a highly-concentrated mycorrhizal inoculant in powder form, designed for medicinal crops. With 6000 viable spores per gram, this inoculant is the most concentrated product of its kind on the market. By applying it directly on the root zone when transplanting into the field, you put viable spores in direct contact with the root system.

Mycorrhizal fungi then develop a symbiosis (the “mycorrhizae” are the symbioses themselves) with plant roots. The fungi will develop a secondary root network of filaments, called hyphae, that will explore the soil, uptake nutrients and water, and transfer them to the plant.

For field crops like hemp, mycorrhizae mostly benefit the plants by accessing low-soluble nutrients, such as phosphorus, and water outside of the root zone.

The Benefits of Mycorrhizae on Hemp

The mycorrhizal symbiosis, a very well-studied natural phenomenon, has multiple benefits on hemp plants, among which we find:

• Enhanced root growth;
• Faster growth & increased mass;
• Abiotic stress resistance (drought, salinity, compaction);
• Transplant shock resistance;
• Better soil structure;
• Increased yield;
• Higher flower quality (cannabinoid & terpene content);

Applying PRO-MIX CONNECT During Transplant

There are multiples ways of applying PRO-MIX CONNECT with more or less automated methods. Whatever the technique you’re using, we recommend an application rate of 1 g/hemp plant (i.e. 6000 viable spores per plant).

Here’s a quick overview of the application methods growers can use. Every method necessitates to calculate the amount of product needed for the quantity of plants to transplant.

*Using a water wheel planter to apply PRO-MIX CONNECT, Premier Tech recommends using an electric aeration system, such as Koenders LD 1.5.

Satisfied Hemp Growers

CB Dilley Hemp Farm

In 2020, CB Dilley Hemp Farm’s Partner Tom Epler (Oregon, US) went into his 4th year of hemp production, aiming to grow a new CBG strain using PRO-MIX CONNECT. He observed “nice big plants, nice big flowers, and one thing I did not realize until late is the absolutely massive root systems […] And that, as a nurseryman, gets me really excited, because as long as the plant has a really good base, nice root system, it'll survive through a lot.”

Asked if he saw a difference compared to his previous crops, he noticed that “[…] with the mycorrhizae, it's helping the plant utilize every little bit of water and fertilizer that it gets. We don't have to throw extra water out. I never saw any of
these plants stress at all, even when we were hitting 100 °F for four days straight […] We've never seen that before.”

“I would do this again in a heartbeat.” - Tom Epler

Heritage Farmacy

As part of a pilot program in Indiana, Heritage Farmacy (Crawfordsville, IN) grew organic medicinal hemp, mainly dedicated to CBD oil extraction.

In what he describes as an “easy-breezy” process, Co-owner Mark Davidson dipped clones’ roots into PRO-MIX CONNECT right before transplantation in the field. Observed results throughout the process and after harvest were simply stunning:

• 20% decrease in plant mortality
• 68% yield increase in dried flower weight
• 3.9% increase in total CBD

The grower also observed a real difference in plant size, leaf color and overall quality and vigor of the treated plants. A difference that just became more and more evident as weeks went by. “A child could have seen the difference”, says Mark.

Mark is satisfied with the increased yield, but also on the improved quality of his crop. He can now focus on bringing the best possible product on the market. Heritage Farmacy took home three 2020 Indiana Cannabis Awards.

For more information, contact your Premier Tech Grower Services Representative:

Ed Bloodnick Horticulture Director South Eastern US, Japan and Overseas	Nathan Wallace-Springer Horticulture Specialist South Eastern US	Lance Lawson Horticulture Specialist Western US and Western Canada	Victor Brantly Horticulture Specialist Central US
Troy Buechel Horticulture Specialist Eastern and North Eastern US	Susan Parent Horticulture Specialist Eastern Canada and North Eastern US	Jose Chen Lopez Horticulture Specialist Mexico and South Western US