I always love learning about new and better ways to care for my indoor jungle and Grosafe Root-Gro ticks a lot of boxes. Plant health starts with a healthy substrate. If you've heard about myco (mycorrhizae), you'll know plants and myco are best buddies. Root-Gro feeds not only myco, but also microscopic soil microbes. It organically creates an overall healthier soil, and in turn, supports healthier, more disease-resistant and pest-resistant plants.
 

It's not quite this simple or straight-forward of course, but if you consider plant health like our health, you'd put a product like Root-Gro (along with looking after substrate health in general), in the preventative or probiotic approach to health - versus the 'ambulance at the bottom of the cliff' antibiotic approach.

What is myco?

Myco is a living extension of a plant's root system, which can grow faster and reach further than a plant's roots alone. Myco is short for mycorrhizae (plural for mycorrhizal fungi). Dig down a little into healthy soil outdoors and you'll likely find a network of tiny, white hairs or threads that look like super-fine roots. No, it's not mould. That's myco, a type of beneficial fungi (those white threads are called hyphae). You might have heard of mycelium also, which is the name for a web of hyphae.

Here's an example of myco below... 

What does myco do for plants?

Fancy Latin words aside, myco and plants are best friends. Plants feed their myco and myco in return looks after their plants. Plants divert extra sugars they've produced when they photosynthesize, down through their roots to feed their myco. The myco absorb those sugars as food. 

In return, myco give plants better access to nutrients than plants can get using their roots alone. Myco absorb essential nutrients such as phosphorus, and take it directly to the plant's roots. They also help roots access water, reducing the risks of under-watering. They exchange water and other essential nutrients for sugar from the roots. Win win.

Myco also act like miniature bodyguards, protecting their plant from a host of illness and attack. Myco create a protective web around the roots, blocking harmful fungi and bacteria from setting up home and infecting their plant, reducing the risks of diseases and toxins from harming or killing their best buddy. 

What is Root-Gro?

Root-Gro is basically 'soil food' which encourages growth of myco and other tiny soil super heroes to organically create healthier soil for our plants. Certified for organics, including indoor and outdoor ornamentals (that means plants we grow to look at, not to eat), as well as lawn, fruits and vegetables. Root-Gro makes potting mix and soil more fertile and able to support bigger, healthier, more pest-resistant and disease-resistant plants.  

How do you use Root-Gro?

FOR INDOOR HOUSE PLANTS & OUTDOOR ORNAMENTALS

5mls Root-Gro per 1 litre of water. Apply when you water, from late winter right through the growing season, every 3 to 4 months, until late Summer / early Autumn.

FOR VEGETABLES

Either apply as a soil drench at 5mls per 1 litre for every square metre, or as a foliar spray at 5mls per 1 litre water. Ideally drench the soil with diluted Root-Gro immediately before planting, and/or drench soil or foliar spray every 3 to 4 weeks right up till harvest.

FOR CITRUS, GRAPES and BERRYFRUITS

5mls Root-Gro per 1 litre water, applied at 3 to 4 weekly intervals, starting late winter dormancy through bud burst, until harvest.

FOR ROSES 

5mls Root-Gro per 1 litre water, applied at 3 to 4 weekly intervals, starting late winter continuing right through the growing season.

FOR LAWN / TURF

5mls per 1 litre water per square metre. Apply at sowing, and during spring to late summer, at 3 to 4 weekly intervals.

Can you use Root-Gro and myco together?

Absolutely, yes, especially when establishing a myco network for a new plant in fresh soil or potting mix, when potting up or transplanting. Perfect timing to add a sprinkle of myco (this is the one I use), and your plant's first feed of Root-Gro at the same time. 

Contrary to the hype, myco doesn't do much of anything for your plant for some time. It can takes weeks or even months for a new myco colony to get going. Use Root-Gro for at least the first season following adding myco to a new plant to get that myco magic happening sooner. Even without adding myco, Root-Gro helps organically establish and feed myco and other beneficial soil microbes for newly planted as well as established potted plants and gardens.

Can you use Root-Gro and fertiliser together?

Yes, you can. Root-Gro doesn't replace fertiliser. Continue your fertiliser routine as usual, however note that a fertiliser too high in phosphorus can reduce myco activity (best to aim for fertiliser below 70 ppm phosphorus).