Mycorrhizal inoculation techniques Several factors should be considered before applying any type of inoculum. Inoculum sources should be given strong considerations. An advantage of using soil inoculum is that it could contain nitrogen fixing bacteria. Pathogens can be reduced if proper sanitation is practiced and a surface sterilant is applied to destroy some of the organisms. It may also take 3 to 4 weeks longer than vegetative inoculum to germinate and infect a root.
Several techniques are available to apply inocula.
Broadcasting consists of spreading a known amount of inoculum over an area of soil surface and then mixing the inoculum into the soil to a depth of 10 to 20 cm. Most types of inoculum can be applied with banding inoculation. Mycorrhizal seedlings have been used to infect other plant roots . Mycorrhizal inoculum used in conjunction with other techniques could improve reclamation success. Mycorrhizae are an essential piece to reclamation success on mined lands.