[compost_tea] Fw: Yahoo! News Story - Canada Hopes to Slay Dandelions with Common Fungi

From: Jeff Lowenfels <jeff_at_gardener.com>
Date: Wed, 3 Mar 2004 14:55:10 -0900

Yahoo! News - Canada Hopes to Slay Dandelions with Common Fungi

Canada Hopes to Slay Dandelions with Common Fungi
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20040303/sc_nm/enviro=
nment_canada_dandelions_dc


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                  Canada Hopes to Slay Dandelions with Common Fungi
                  1 hour, 1 minute ago Add Science - Reuters to My Yahoo!=
 
                 

            By Roberta Rampton

            WINNIPEG, Manitoba (Reuters) - A common fungus could blanch dan=
delions out of existence by robbing the pesky weeds of the green-colored ch=
lorophyll they need to live, Canadian researchers said on Wednesday.



                       
                       
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            The fungus could replace some chemical herbicides, which have b=
een banned because of environmental and health concerns in a growing number=
 of cities, including Canada's largest, Toronto.


            Scientists at Agriculture Canada found the naturally occurring =
fungus, called Phoma macrostoma, can be spread on soil to prevent weeds fro=
m growing, without harming grass.


            "It causes those plants to turn white so they don't produce any=
 chlorophyll," said Karen Bailey, a weed pathologist at the federal departm=
ent's research center in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.


            "If plants don't produce chlorophyll, they don't grow, so they =
die very quickly," Bailey explained.


            The fungi was isolated from sickly Canada thistles across the c=
ountry, Bailey said.


            Trials show that spreading the flour-like fungi on freshly plan=
ted or clean lawns prevents more than 80 percent of weeds from growing, Bai=
ley said.


            "If you're going to seed a lawn or want to prevent weeds from e=
ntering into an area, that would be how it would be used," she said.


            The organisms live about four months in soil before they start =
to die. By the following year they are gone, Bailey said.


            "We don't want (the fungi) to really change that microbial bala=
nce, because that's not the only living thing in the soil," she said.


            The department has a three-year research agreement with the Can=
adian division of The Scotts Co., maker of Miracle-Gro fertilizer and other=
 gardening products.


            It gives Scotts the first right to commercialize the fungi if i=
t is found to be safe and economical to produce in large quantities, Bailey=
 said.


            Scotts also markets Killex, a synthetic herbicide that uses 2,4=
-D to kill weeds after they have emerged.


            The potential market for the fungi is "huge," said Barry Maynar=
d, vice president and general manager of Scotts Canada Ltd., who did not ha=
ve projections.


            "Whether it's golf courses or cemeteries or consumer lawns, bas=
ically it could have appeal for all those different areas to use the produc=
t," Maynard said.


            The fungi could be on shelves in four to six years, Bailey said=
, if the research continues to show promise.


            But first, researchers need to figure out how to formulate, pac=
kage and store the living organisms, which are sensitive to temperatures an=
d moisture.

                   



            "It naturally exists in the environment. The challenge is: How =
do you harness it?" Maynard said.




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                  Next Story: Canada Hopes to Slay Dandelions with Common =
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