So glad Gary is getting some more exposure. I have been watching his videos on soil and avocados for some time. He is who put me on the right path for success with my avos. Epic info!👍👍
It’s always exciting to make trip from LA to Santa Ana to your nursery Gary. Your soil is the best what I could find for all my plants. Every time I’m there I wonder what it takes to run a successful nursery.
Gary is THE man that got me into grafting! I love his ideas on soil however it's simply not possible to source in some 3rd world countries like where I live in South Africa
Great great interview! The host should be congratulated! Good questions, great respect for the speaker, allowed the appropriate time for the guest to answer and expand, broad base discussion and to the point, for the opportunity for Gary to educate us ALL. There is not a minute that goes by listening to Gary that I am not enriched! I could listen to him daily but my brain is not big enough to hold all that information! So, I take him in does like this one! Thank you both! CU in the dirt!
This is the first time that I have heard of Mycorrhizal fungi. This makes alot of sense with the way electro-culture antennas work and are helping revolutionize gardening. Very interesting how grass does not have Mycorrhizal but many of garden plants do.
Grass has a very deep connection to mycorrhizae fungi and is used as a pioneering species to reestablish mycorrhizae in areas where tillage has damaged fungal networks.
Awesome interview with the master. After watching many of his videos on soil and avos over and over to the point where I could pretty much recite the gospel I decided to run an experiment for myself. Last year a got 20 tinyliners straight from Brokaw. I potted up the majority in a Sandy loam from my local rockery but a few potted up in one of the typical ground up big box dead crap. Sure enough after several months some (not all) of the avos planted in the big box “soil” were going downhill so I ripped them out and sure enough - root rot and a horrible SEWER GAS odor 🤮. This season I’m following your lead and potting up everything in DG. Will be at Gary’s this Wed 2/22 to pick up some of the liners he just got in from Brokaw
You can't grow mycorrhizae on dead bamboo, it is dependent on living roots. Not saying your technique is not helpful at growing mycelium or other beneficial microbes or nutrients.
For the orchards, if you want to order plants often times you gotta order them years in advance. Yes definitely there aren't many good growers who use good sandy loam soil for their avocados. I myself mix my own soil DIY with sand,peat moss, pearlite & decomposed granite. My newly grafted GEM grew 5feet in 4 months 😅😅😅
Excellent interview with Gary 😊 real good information for my small gardening 😇 did Gary mention about decomposed granite mixed with compost for clay soil ? Oh, I subscribed your channel ! 😀
Great video! I have a question about Gary’s recipe for top pot: I used 1/3 peat, 1/3 pumice, 1/3 sand. Mix drains very slow and after many days is still damp. Is it supposed to be like that? Please advise. Thank you.
Great job, appreciate these interviews with true knowledgeable experience people, they are truly out there to help out. I wasted years listening and taking advise from the " University Degree Experts" common sense they work for the corporations. After my 1st class with Gary, my avocado, citrus trees and over all plants grew in 1 year what I couldn't get in 10 years taking advise from the others. Great job!
Have there been experiments with sand and charcoal substrates? Also the offhand comment about if plants didn't decompose we would have 1000s and 1000s of feet, that happened before fungi had adapted to digesting lignin that woody plants and ferns had evolved during the Carboniferous/Pennsylvanian Era in low areas!!! (There was also algae and stuff I think)
Ok. So let’s say I have 8 potted fruit trees freshly potted in big box soil mix. What can I do to move towards a healthier soil mix without repotting and spending tons on new soil mix?
I have a two-year-old potted avocado tree that is dying. I am going to transplant it and try to cure whatever disease it has. However, since I could not find Gary's top pot soil online anywhere, I am trying to follow your recipe, but it is different from Gary's. You have three ingredients, whereas he has five. Does your variation work the same?
Mollasses mainly help by making the soil make more bacteria. You need to add it continhesly though since the bacteria count will go back to baseline again if you stop
My trees are in 25 gallon containers using Gary’s acid soil. I don’t have the space in the Bay Area so I don’t have enough dead leaves. What do you use as mulch since bark is not good?
You can still use natrual bark mulch on *Top* of the soil. As long as you don't mix the mulch into the soil it will do well to keep the soil hydrated and cool in the hot summer months. Make sure you keep the mulch away from the trunk so it doesn't rot it. I've had great success using shredded mulch that the cities give away and natrual (uncolored with no chemicals) bark mulch. If you want to get leaves, see if any parks around you will let you collect them in the fall. I got several bags at my local park that were just sitting in a pile waiting to be put into the dumpster. I asked and the gardeners said I could take as much as I wanted. As for grass clippings, make sure you know what's been done to that grass before using clippings. You want to stay away from grass that has been treated with weedkillers. Also, I know this will sound odd, but you can also use sand. Sand makes an excellent mulch as it's porous, well draining, and doesn't rot the trunks. I'd get clean sand from the big box stores, not beach sand.
He is great I use his mixes. His information is wrong at times though. Like he claims that organic matter mixed in to clay soil will ruin your garden. It could not be further from the truth.
@@AJTheGraftMan its the number 1 prescription on how to loosen up and improve clay. I have done it myself with great sucess. The channel "Gardening in Canada" has a video on it. She is a soil scientist. Only way I see something similar to what Gary explains is if you put in way too much fresh manure and if goes anarobic.
@@AJTheGraftMan Well, planted some transplants in sand, peat and perlite this year. Then I found out perlite and sand are either/or and if you use peat, you are supposed to add lime.
@@AJTheGraftMan Just rewatched one of your videos and it sounds like I imitated your formula, pretty much. That's what I was trying to do. Hope it works.
Gary has wealth of information and glad he takes the time to share. I enjoy watching his Saturday class and visiting the nursery when in the area. Very good interview!
This is wonderful. Thanks to both of you. I've talked to Gary many times as I used to live within an hour or so of his nursery and even though that's not exactly close, I'd buy most of my plants there and always stop to ask him questions. But I never got to have a long conversation like this. He has so much valuable information to share!
Soluble phosphorus is detrimental to establishing mycorrhizae connections to plant roots. If the plant has enough Soluble phosphorus it won't be successfully colonized with mycorrhizae. This doesn't apply to dry amendments like cal phosphorus, but does apply to garden phos which has phosphorus acid in it.
I have learned so much from you and Gary Matsuoka. I just did my first two grafts, Bacon avocado scions on unknown rootstock. Both have been successful, since I followed your direction. After killing many avocados over the past 35 years, I discovered from Gary's videos that the soil I was using was no good. Based on his recommendation, I now have 7 thriving avocado varieties growing in my backyard. You two guys, and Greg Alder, are providing a great public service! Thanks
These last few videos of Gary that Ive been watching has really amswered a lot of my questions. The past 4 years almost all the garden plants Ive grown failed or died after a few momths. I followed the growing science prescribed as acceptable practice (lots of compost, compost tea) Gary's take on the soil mixes his nursery uses is now my next experiment to see if I can get a healthier, more productive garden (fruit, herbs, vegetables, flowers, succulents, trees). However my ground is essentially coral with dead organic matter. So will try the sand, peat, silt, charcoal mixes. I also experimented with biochar in the soil which is a slow process. Last year's biiochar soil is this year's incredible soil. I read about mychorhizae when it was first discovered in the late 80s, early 90s. The bacteria as I understand it eats the nitrogen (fixes it) poops it out as nitrate which is what the roots can absorb ( correct me if I got it turned around) same goes for the other mineral nutrients. We'll see how it goes following the Laguna Hills per Gary's advice and information. Next I really want to learn how to graft fruit trees, and also how to start Bonsai. Avocadoes on our island and we have several species or shapes and tastes essentially grow wild tall trees, lots of fruit, some bland fruit as well. Also easy to grow orchids here on the island, almost no maintenance, plant a few feet off the ground with good air currents blowing thru. Orchid medium we use is the coir from mature coconuts. I mixed up bacteris and fungi. Mychorrhazae is fungi.
@@AJTheGraftMan I'm on a Western pacific island, marianas chain. What I read about mycorrhazae is that the bacteria takes (eats) the nitrogen that comes from compost etc., and poops it out in a form (nitrate, a salt?) that the plant can use as a nutrient all the while attaching itself to the plant roots, very thin filaments which is why originally it was thought to be part of the root itself. I could be wrong about this though. I understand there are many different kinds of mycorrhazae (bad spelling) each particular to the type of plant. Anyway I'm following his direction as far as water, fertilizer, pots, soil, etc. However the biochar I made and amended the coral/clayish soil here took about a year n half to really kick in. Almost Everything I throw into the raised biochar beds grows crazy. I've never used seaweed before cause of sea salt killing plant, but now since it's free and easy to gather from the reefs and beaches, I'll see what it does as an amendment. The avocado and citrus videos I followed. We have several species of avocado here, as well as a couple of asian limes, and the peach mango (probably the tastiest mango in the world.) Also doing dragon fruit, and vanila orchid. Managed to hand pollinate the vanila and after the tedious boiling, drying etc, got a dozen or so beans (the fragrance was over-powering. I read the book on vanila (vanila wars?) In south asia, madagascar, it is a dangerous business. Running at the mouth. Sorry.
@@AJTheGraftMan thanks bud. I have a garden growing right now, but all the trees are babies. Maybe one day you'd like to come and see. Avocados: lamb Hass, gem, Reed, Hellen, JB. Citrus: Kara Kara, gold nugget, tango, and a couple of others. Sapodilla: Hasya, butterscotch. Mamey Sapote: pace, lorrito. I'd like to add some mangos: taymour and one other but still researching and gotta make room somewhere... also have misc trees like figs and dragon fruit vines. It's a work in progress.
Every time Gary Matsuoka is on a video, it makes me want to buy his bags of soil.
Same. His soil is amazing. It's like night and day compared to any other soil I've tried.
Gary is awesome! So glad to see his content being shared by more gardeners. He completely changed my practices in the garden for the better.
GARY is THE MAN when it comes to growing, I got several avocado trees from Laguna Hills Nursery-and I can tell the difference from Big Box Stores.
So glad Gary is getting some more exposure. I have been watching his videos on soil and avocados for some time. He is who put me on the right path for success with my avos. Epic info!👍👍
Thanks for watching. His message is great
Gary is a wealth of knowledge. I’ve been watching his RUclips channel for 4 years. Just went there today to buy a macadamia tree. Great interview
Just want to thank Gary for sharing his deep knowledge on youtube.
Gary literally changed my life with his videos.
I watch Gary's youtube almost all of them, I hope every one loves his youtube too.
I know I do 👍🏽
It’s always exciting to make trip from LA to Santa Ana to your nursery Gary. Your soil is the best what I could find for all my plants. Every time I’m there I wonder what it takes to run a successful nursery.
Gary's the GOAT
Gary is a wealth of knowledge. Glad he's willing to share.
Gary is THE man that got me into grafting! I love his ideas on soil however it's simply not possible to source in some 3rd world countries like where I live in South Africa
Good interview !
Thanks! It was really fun to do.
LEGEND!
I am learning so much from both of you. Awesome job.
Yup. Gary is great. I also watch his videos every Saturday.
Great great interview! The host should be congratulated! Good questions, great respect for the speaker, allowed the appropriate time for the guest to answer and expand, broad base discussion and to the point, for the opportunity for Gary to educate us ALL. There is not a minute that goes by listening to Gary that I am not enriched! I could listen to him daily but my brain is not big enough to hold all that information! So, I take him in does like this one! Thank you both! CU in the dirt!
Thank you! Your comment is much appreciated!
This is the first time that I have heard of Mycorrhizal fungi. This makes alot of sense with the way electro-culture antennas work and are helping revolutionize gardening. Very interesting how grass does not have Mycorrhizal but many of garden plants do.
Grass has a very deep connection to mycorrhizae fungi and is used as a pioneering species to reestablish mycorrhizae in areas where tillage has damaged fungal networks.
Wow! That was an amazing interview!!!!
The legend🙏🏻
Too much organic matter in my soil causing root rot... aha! Totally makes sense now, but I had to hear why. Thank you Gary.
Awesome interview with the master. After watching many of his videos on soil and avos over and over to the point where I could pretty much recite the gospel I decided to run an experiment for myself. Last year a got 20 tinyliners straight from Brokaw. I potted up the majority in a Sandy loam from my local rockery but a few potted up in one of the typical ground up big box dead crap. Sure enough after several months some (not all) of the avos planted in the big box “soil” were going downhill so I ripped them out and sure enough - root rot and a horrible SEWER GAS odor 🤮. This season I’m following your lead and potting up everything in DG. Will be at Gary’s this Wed 2/22 to pick up some of the liners he just got in from Brokaw
Thanks Pat. Yes they got a big shipment of trees in. Pretty cool varieties too
Great interview. Thanks for doing this.
Smart man
I got a great GEM Avocado Tree from Gary. I used his dirt for awhile until I switched to a mix of sand, ground soil, perlite & peat.
That’s a fine mix
Very valuable information thank you for sharing
Thanks
I grow the Mycorrhizal on chopped bamboo, and fertilize with seafood compost in water. I use JADAM for a booster. thank you for the info.
You can't grow mycorrhizae on dead bamboo, it is dependent on living roots. Not saying your technique is not helpful at growing mycelium or other beneficial microbes or nutrients.
Great post!
For the orchards, if you want to order plants often times you gotta order them years in advance. Yes definitely there aren't many good growers who use good sandy loam soil for their avocados. I myself mix my own soil DIY with sand,peat moss, pearlite & decomposed granite. My newly grafted GEM grew 5feet in 4 months 😅😅😅
Excellent interview with Gary 😊 real good information for my small gardening 😇 did Gary mention about decomposed granite mixed with compost for clay soil ? Oh, I subscribed your channel ! 😀
Thanks for watching and subscribing! He didn’t mention that. I can ask him about it next time
Great video! I have a question about Gary’s recipe for top pot: I used 1/3 peat, 1/3 pumice, 1/3 sand. Mix drains very slow and after many days is still damp. Is it supposed to be like that? Please advise. Thank you.
It will be like that for a while, and then the drainage will improve
Great job, appreciate these interviews with true knowledgeable experience people, they are truly out there to help out. I wasted years listening and taking advise from the " University Degree Experts" common sense they work for the corporations. After my 1st class with Gary, my avocado, citrus trees and over all plants grew in 1 year what I couldn't get in 10 years taking advise from the others. Great job!
Thanks for watching. Trying to spread the word
@@AJTheGraftMan Always
“You didn’t sell it fast enough” hahaha 🤣
What do you think of ground soil, sand worm casting mix also rabbit manure for feeding
Have there been experiments with sand and charcoal substrates?
Also the offhand comment about if plants didn't decompose we would have 1000s and 1000s of feet, that happened before fungi had adapted to digesting lignin that woody plants and ferns had evolved during the Carboniferous/Pennsylvanian Era in low areas!!! (There was also algae and stuff I think)
I’m not sure. Ya it’s cool how the fungi adapted to plants
Ok. So let’s say I have 8 potted fruit trees freshly potted in big box soil mix. What can I do to move towards a healthier soil mix without repotting and spending tons on new soil mix?
Good question. I don't know.
👍
can the pumice be the course size, like 1/4"+, or should it be small like sand?
He uses small parts in hes mix. Personally I used big pumice
I have a two-year-old potted avocado tree that is dying. I am going to transplant it and try to cure whatever disease it has. However, since I could not find Gary's top pot soil online anywhere, I am trying to follow your recipe, but it is different from Gary's. You have three ingredients, whereas he has five. Does your variation work the same?
Only one way to find out 😉
Molasses seems to me more likely that it is a source of minerals not necessarily carbohydrates
Mollasses mainly help by making the soil make more bacteria. You need to add it continhesly though since the bacteria count will go back to baseline again if you stop
My trees are in 25 gallon containers using Gary’s acid soil. I don’t have the space in the Bay Area so I don’t have enough dead leaves. What do you use as mulch since bark is not good?
Lawn clippings, coffee grounds, potato peels, old lettuce, etc.
You can still use natrual bark mulch on *Top* of the soil. As long as you don't mix the mulch into the soil it will do well to keep the soil hydrated and cool in the hot summer months. Make sure you keep the mulch away from the trunk so it doesn't rot it. I've had great success using shredded mulch that the cities give away and natrual (uncolored with no chemicals) bark mulch.
If you want to get leaves, see if any parks around you will let you collect them in the fall. I got several bags at my local park that were just sitting in a pile waiting to be put into the dumpster. I asked and the gardeners said I could take as much as I wanted.
As for grass clippings, make sure you know what's been done to that grass before using clippings. You want to stay away from grass that has been treated with weedkillers.
Also, I know this will sound odd, but you can also use sand. Sand makes an excellent mulch as it's porous, well draining, and doesn't rot the trunks. I'd get clean sand from the big box stores, not beach sand.
He is great I use his mixes. His information is wrong at times though. Like he claims that organic matter mixed in to clay soil will ruin your garden. It could not be further from the truth.
How do you know this? Explain your opinion…
@@AJTheGraftMan its the number 1 prescription on how to loosen up and improve clay. I have done it myself with great sucess. The channel "Gardening in Canada" has a video on it. She is a soil scientist.
Only way I see something similar to what Gary explains is if you put in way too much fresh manure and if goes anarobic.
But everybody on youtube uses potting soil and they reuse it the next year, with some doctoring.
Depends what you’re using it for. Also depends on the plant
@@AJTheGraftMan Well, planted some transplants in sand, peat and perlite this year. Then I found out perlite and sand are either/or and if you use peat, you are supposed to add lime.
@@AJTheGraftMan Just rewatched one of your videos and it sounds like I imitated your formula, pretty much. That's what I was trying to do. Hope it works.
I kept killing avocados until I watched one of Gary's videos.
Gary is great with an immense amount of gardening information. Wish he'd come to our area to give us a seminar.
Gary has wealth of information and glad he takes the time to share. I enjoy watching his Saturday class and visiting the nursery when in the area. Very good interview!
thank you very much for sharing interesting information with us god bless.😊😊
This is wonderful. Thanks to both of you. I've talked to Gary many times as I used to live within an hour or so of his nursery and even though that's not exactly close, I'd buy most of my plants there and always stop to ask him questions. But I never got to have a long conversation like this. He has so much valuable information to share!
I watch him every Saturday. He is so great!
Would Garden Phos be hard on the mycorrhizae?
Not sure. Good question
Soluble phosphorus is detrimental to establishing mycorrhizae connections to plant roots. If the plant has enough Soluble phosphorus it won't be successfully colonized with mycorrhizae. This doesn't apply to dry amendments like cal phosphorus, but does apply to garden phos which has phosphorus acid in it.
Thanks for your videos with Gary. I've seen many of his videos on his channel and every time I learn something new. Same with your videos. Thank you!
I have learned so much from you and Gary Matsuoka. I just did my first two grafts, Bacon avocado scions on unknown rootstock. Both have been successful, since I followed your direction. After killing many avocados over the past 35 years, I discovered from Gary's videos that the soil I was using was no good. Based on his recommendation, I now have 7 thriving avocado varieties growing in my backyard. You two guys, and Greg Alder, are providing a great public service! Thanks
Thank you for your wonderful words. I’m glad to hear about your grafts!
These last few videos of Gary that Ive been watching has really amswered a lot of my questions. The past 4 years almost all the garden plants Ive grown failed or died after a few momths. I followed the growing science prescribed as acceptable practice (lots of compost, compost tea) Gary's take on the soil mixes his nursery uses is now my next experiment to see if I can get a healthier, more productive garden (fruit, herbs, vegetables, flowers, succulents, trees). However my ground is essentially coral with dead organic matter. So will try the sand, peat, silt, charcoal mixes. I also experimented with biochar in the soil which is a slow process. Last year's biiochar soil is this year's incredible soil. I read about mychorhizae when it was first discovered in the late 80s, early 90s. The bacteria as I understand it eats the nitrogen (fixes it) poops it out as nitrate which is what the roots can absorb ( correct me if I got it turned around) same goes for the other mineral nutrients. We'll see how it goes following the Laguna Hills per Gary's advice and information. Next I really want to learn how to graft fruit trees, and also how to start Bonsai. Avocadoes on our island and we have several species or shapes and tastes essentially grow wild tall trees, lots of fruit, some bland fruit as well. Also easy to grow orchids here on the island, almost no maintenance, plant a few feet off the ground with good air currents blowing thru. Orchid medium we use is the coir from mature coconuts. I mixed up bacteris and fungi. Mychorrhazae is fungi.
Yes his approach really makes a difference. I’m not sure about your mycorrhizae question. I’m guessing you’re in the Caribbean?
@@AJTheGraftMan I'm on a Western pacific island, marianas chain. What I read about mycorrhazae is that the bacteria takes (eats) the nitrogen that comes from compost etc., and poops it out in a form (nitrate, a salt?) that the plant can use as a nutrient all the while attaching itself to the plant roots, very thin filaments which is why originally it was thought to be part of the root itself. I could be wrong about this though. I understand there are many different kinds of mycorrhazae (bad spelling) each particular to the type of plant. Anyway I'm following his direction as far as water, fertilizer, pots, soil, etc. However the biochar I made and amended the coral/clayish soil here took about a year n half to really kick in. Almost Everything I throw into the raised biochar beds grows crazy. I've never used seaweed before cause of sea salt killing plant, but now since it's free and easy to gather from the reefs and beaches, I'll see what it does as an amendment. The avocado and citrus videos I followed. We have several species of avocado here, as well as a couple of asian limes, and the peach mango (probably the tastiest mango in the world.) Also doing dragon fruit, and vanila orchid. Managed to hand pollinate the vanila and after the tedious boiling, drying etc, got a dozen or so beans (the fragrance was over-powering. I read the book on vanila (vanila wars?) In south asia, madagascar, it is a dangerous business. Running at the mouth. Sorry.
Where can i buy that spray on concotion to make trees grow faster?
I’m not sure. You’ll probably have to make it at home 🙂
@@AJTheGraftMan thanks bud. I have a garden growing right now, but all the trees are babies. Maybe one day you'd like to come and see. Avocados: lamb Hass, gem, Reed, Hellen, JB. Citrus: Kara Kara, gold nugget, tango, and a couple of others. Sapodilla: Hasya, butterscotch. Mamey Sapote: pace, lorrito. I'd like to add some mangos: taymour and one other but still researching and gotta make room somewhere... also have misc trees like figs and dragon fruit vines. It's a work in progress.
Great collection!
I mix mine the way Gary said, one tablespoon of each in one gallon of water.
....very informative an detailed explanation