what do they mean when they say that certain seeds (ie peas) do best if soaked overnight in an inoculant? Thanks, Philip
The inoculant is a mixture of beneficial bacteria that live within the Pea(Legume) roots. The bacteria absorb Nitrogen from the air, allowing Legumes to actually add Nitrogen to the soil if used as a green manure. Even if you are not going to turn the plants under at the end of the year, leave the roots in the ground. You will still add Nitrogen for next year. Without the inoculum you will still get the bacteria, but there seems to be more bacteria with the addition of the inoculum from the beginning.
thank you for that...but when they say to treat the seeds first with an inoculant...what do I use? Do I just soak in water as others? Thanks, Philip
No real need to soak pea seeds overnight, you should get 95%+ germination without soaking. There are a number of seed inoculants, they are a powder like this:http://www.westcoastseeds.com/product/Gardening-Supplies/Inoculants/
Ditto on the point about not pre-soaking pea seeds. I used to put my pea seeds in a container, mist them with water, sprinkle on the inoculant, then stir and plant. Quite messy. Now I just plant the seeds in a furrow, drop a pinch of inoculant on each seed (the inoculant must touch the seed to be effective), cover, water and put a row cover on to keep the area moist until germination. Once you've grown legumes in an area, the rhizobium bacteria will be present in the soil for subsequent legume crops, so you won't need to use inoculant again. So if you're rotating your crops / varieties, be sure to make notes of what got planted when-- keep track of which beds are already legume-friendly. Also, inoculant has a shelf-life of about one year. Instead of storing it, sprinkle the package contents on your other garden beds to add the rhizobium bacteria for future plantings. The black dusty medium, commonly called "black earth humate", is very beneficial for the soil as well.
