Trichoderma: Nature’s green ally for plant health and growth
- intelligentfarming
- 12 minutes ago
- 3 min read
It is one of nature’s finest fungi, in my opinion, and can be found everywhere naturally on Earth. Its name is derived from the word tricho, meaning ‘thread-like hair’ and derma, meaning ‘skin’. Trichoderma spp (Ascomycota, Hypocreales and Hypocreaceae) has been shown in many studies to show good disease control. Trichoderma is also very good at stimulating growth, unlocking phosphorous from the soil, and making it available to the plant. These free-living organisms also play an important role as decomposers in their symbiotic relationship with plants in the rhizosphere. The fungi help increase biomass by decomposing other organic material using their enzymes to feed the host plant and increasing the development of root hairs, which encourages more of the rhizophagy cycle to happen. They increase growth and penetrate deeper into the soil, alleviating compaction and gaining access to more nutrients to feed the plant. In addition, Trichoderma withstands drought conditions, accessing more water to keep the plant going for longer. It also increases organic matter content by being a cellulose digester, which is the green process used for liquid biofuel.
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