Any new technique to determine fungal population density?

[F. Raziq]

I am a PhD student at the University of Reading (England) and am working
with the biological control of Armillaria root rot. I inoculated potted
strawberry plants with Armillaria mellea and a host of biocontrol agents
(Trichoderma spp., Chaetomium, etc.) at the same time December last year. 
Although I did not determine the initial population density of the
biocontrol agents, I want to know the relative number of colony forming 
units for the different strains and correlate them with the survival of 
the inoculated plants. I know I can use the dilution plate method or soil 
plate method. That will be too laborious and time consuming. Does anyone 
know about any new technique? Please e-mail your comments/suggestions.

Fazli Raziq (F.Raziq at reading.ac.uk)
The University of Reading
2 Earley Gate
Reading, Berkshire RG6 6AU
England, UK