Alberta Spruce soil issue / white "mold" in soil and lost of percolation

[Ugo]

Hi!

Hope everyone is doing well!
Potential issue with soil in the container of my Dwarft Aberta Spruce that was repotted in March 22'
The tree was up-potted, the goal being to let it grow untouched for 3-4 years.
Spring/Summer were great, tree pushing alot of new growth and great bud formation all over the tree.
I recently watered the tree and observed a great lost of water percolation.
Water sitting on top of the soil with unusual longer time to drain.
I realized the drain holes were alost clogged with white dust residue.
After clean-up the water could drain "better" but I also realised that this white fluffy stuff everywhere in the pot, the top of the surface doesnt really show that white crust but if I dig about a 1/4 of an inch in the soil that layer is simply covered by it and is "hard".
When I remove it it comes in big chuck of soil all attached, no wonder why the water doesnt get in the soil proprely.
Anyone experienced this?
The tree doesnt seems to suffer from it so far by I unfortunately plan on doing a repot in March 23' if I can extend until that.

Mix: DE, Lava rock, Pumice

After repot top was covered with Sphagnum moss to keep humidity and it was removed at the end of summer.

Tree was watered as needed during seasons, almost full sun 12hrs, shaded from 12:00 to 1:30pm.

Forgot to add that this tree will be kept between 2-5Deg C this winter

Thanks
Ugo

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

I have a strain of very agressive mycorrhizae in my pines, it cakes up the soil in a season. I love it.
My pines do too, because it seems to produce neat antifungals and seems to keep needlecast under control.
The loss of percolation is not an issue in my case, for some reason the trees get enough water to function well, and enough oxygen to produce fine roots.

You're probably seeing something similar. And I would just see how things go if I were you. In the heat of summer, parts of the fungal colony can shrink and die off, giving you back that percolation.

 

[Ugo]

Hi thank you for your answer!

I should add that when up-potted the root mass had trace of mycorrhizae all over which is really good but I never experienced this type of quantity in the soil before!
Perfect so Ill keep doing what Im doing and wait! Its not like I have much choice atleast until buds swell but I prefer not touching anything especially with mycorrhizae active in the pot!
I still can deal with the lost of percolation by soaking the pot in water when needed.
I just hope the balance of water and oxygen will be proprely maintained.
Drainage doesnt seems to be an issue anymore.
As a test I completely watered the tree and tilted the pot for 12hrs. The soil moisture seems to react accordinly with the upper part being drier.
Hope the tree still can achieve a few years on this repot!

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

In my pines the first time I saw this I was kind of amazed, because the entire soil was one chunk of fungal mass. But it seems that the fungus is pretty OK at distributing water and it seems that even though the soil doesn't percolate as well as fresh medium, it still does a good job.

Of course, if things go south you should act accordingly. But from my own experience - which is limited, mind you - it's mostly beneficial.

 

[Ugo]

entire soil was one chunk of fungal mass.

You describe it perfectly!
Yes Ill keep an eye on the tree as I always do.
Since I started with this tree it always amaze me the speed it recover from the conditions it was when I found it.
It offers me great learning opportunity since day 1!
I know what to do if it gets really out of control but if from your observations you had no "issues" with water getting to the sheen and on my side I see the soil can drain and "dry" theses are conditions the tree can live in.
If it gets out of theses parameters Ill correct the situation.
If it gets out of hand and theres more lost of percolation I can always rework the top of the soil only.

Thanks again for sharing
Ugo

 

[jszg]

Take a sample of the fungi and colonize a bigger or in-ground confier with it! My uneducated guess is a vigorous symbiote means a vigorous tree. If so, it would be a shame to lose this strain if something happens to the tree or soil. Having a back-up of this aggressive clone might come in handy.

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

Take a sample of the fungi and colonize a bigger or in-ground confier with it! My uneducated guess is a vigorous symbiote means a vigorous tree. If so, it would be a shame to lose this strain if something happens to the tree or soil. Having a back-up of this aggressive clone might come in handy.

If you ever find a fungus like this, jam some wooden skewers in the soil and it'll colonize it. Not necessarily because it eats wood, but because wood consists of a matrix and holds moisture fairly well. Should take about a week or 3 at room temp. Then transfer it to the next pot by simply jamming it in there.
It takes a couple tries and good conditions, spring and fall seem to be the best times. But from my own experience, it seems to be working quite well if you use four or five skewers at a time to inoculate a new pot. OR just put a tray underneath it and scrape that off every once in a while.

 

[Ugo]

For sure Ill give it a try thanks!
Seeing what this strain of mycorrhizae can do, it makes me think that maybe I should keep this little trick for trees with strong roots structure that will be able to penetrate the soil (conifers in general) and keep this in mind when choosing soil granulometry?
Very interesting subject, for a reason I was under the impression that the ''tree'' was bringing the fungus when transfered but never thought it would be possible to transfer only the fungi's to another pot.

Thanks again for your time!
Ugo

 

[jszg]

(Apologies for tangent below)

And save it also if you ever decide to try growing the acid-loving species of Cypripedium or other hardy orchids. They're really lovely flowers and apparently quite easy to grow once you give them the specific soil they crave.

Whenever I see them growing wild, it's in pine duff full of molds just like yours. I always wanted to grow them myself, but I get ocean flooding too often to risk dropping the cash to buy flowering aged seedlings.

They'd make one hell of an accent planting.

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

Very interesting subject, for a reason I was under the impression that the ''tree'' was bringing the fungus when transfered but never thought it would be possible to transfer only the fungi's to another pot.

It does. Some fungi are non-transferrable and connect with a tree on a genetic level and reject all other trees that don't have the same genetics. But.. Fungi are some of the most complex organisms out there and I wouldn't be surprised if there are as many exceptions to the rules as there are fungi that set these rules.

 

[Ugo]

Good way to see it!
Fungi is a subject I should studie more.
Unfortunately my knowledge stops at: having mycorrhizae in the pot is good for obvious reasons but the formation process and proper conditions for this to happen is something I will have to understand.
Let says what you guys suggest above will be my first hand-on experiment and it will be interresting to note if Im able to "propagate" it to another test tree.
In the end it will worth the try and it will be one more tool in the box!

Thanks again
Ugo