Have got a couple of packets to try. Its organic, a live culture of harmless bacteria. You coat the seeds with this powder prior to planting. What it claims to do, is fix the nitrogen in the plant to produce better and bigger pods. Has anyone used this before and with what results?
Up in the far north, we need all the help we can get!
It sounds like it is rhizobia which is the nitrogen fixing bacteria that grows on the root nodules of legumes. If that is the case it is fairly common practice to inoculate legumes in this way and it does improve the nitrogen fixing capacity of the plant and hence its growth.
David
Doesn¹t the inoculation also enrich the soil as well. I'm not sure.
No, it is applied in only small amounts and provides the bacteria for the root nodules not a direct nutrient, if you haven't grown lugumes in that spot it might be absent from the soil. The growing symbiotic bacteria then does the nitrogen fixing which enriches the soil.
David
You mean beyond allowing the pulse to fix nitrogen? They are in the nodules making NH4, which in turn could support a microbial ecosystem, which in turn supports . . ., and so on and so forth.
I use this every year with my beans, peas, etc. In tests, it increases yield by 30% over using untreated seeds. One warning is that they are bacteria and are subject to dying. While it takes only a small amount to treat your beans, I keep mine in the fridge when not using and I replace it EVERY year. Pinetree Gardens in New England sells it in small packages as does Bountiful Gardens in Willits California. Every commercial farmer who grows legumes knows to inoculate the seeds for maximum yield. I only have very limited room and always throw a bunch away but it is still worth it to me. My pole beans produce and produce. Rattlesnake green beans (from Pinetree for warm climates produced so many in six cat litter buckets filled with potting soil that I was able to can 16 pints of green beans over what my wife and I were able to eat. Definitely worth the $3.50 or so I spent for the inoculant. Just my experience. Jim in So Calif
You do know that once you grow legumes, the rhizobia is in the soil. You don't have to re-inoculate each year.
I've used it and it does seem to work. Soaking the seeds for a few hours before planting seems to work, too. Try it both ways, seed is cheap. -aem
How would you know that the inoculation of rhizobia works? Rhizobia exists naturally in the soil. An inoculation speeds things up the first time, but once you have grown legumes, the population of rhizobia in the soil is much higher. It seems like throwing good money away.
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